Blogs » Something to be said about Special Effects
Something to be said about Special Effects
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Maybe everyone's smart enough to do this already, but for those few who aren't this came as quite a shock to me just about 6 videos ago and I think it's a crime not to know it. It may sound simple, even obvious when you hear that you must plan for special effects, but I'm here to tell you you really have to PREPARE for special effects. Before my last 6 films i previously spent long hours struggling through over 50 films with special effects that were not prepared for. One time we had Matt driving a car that was actually parked, don't worry, I said, I'll add a background speeding by in post. My green screen was sitting inside the house at that very moment. Another time we'd have a guy shooting an alien in a shaky scene, While I could cut out the alien and get him shot, I should've made it shaky in post. You guys get the idea, as much as we tell ourselves in our minds that we are capable enough to do this in post I must tell you as simple as it seems in your head it'll be ten time's harder when you get there (not to mention longer). If there's not some extra prop or green screen or some sign of extra effort going into your shots that will receive special effects than you're not doing enough. Make it easy on yourself, every extra minute in pre production is a saved hour in post. Believe me, planned for special effects are not only easy, but cleaner looking. Before you start filming don't hesitate to play around with whatever 3d renders, colors or effects you're hoping to apply to your final product. I can't tell you how many times I've run into some new bottleneck because I overlooked some small part of how the special effect functions or if it'll fit or if things'll be running over it or whatever. Save yourself sometime and frustration, save your audience undue boredom and embarrassment at your crappy effects, work them into your storyboard and your shot angle. Before I finish one big word to the wise; special effects are easiest if there is no movement of the camera or if your pans are smooth and in one direction so GET A TRIPOD. Alrighty, thanks for listening.