Well I've been busy this past week trying my hand at special FX shots to see what I can and can't do. So far I think it's turning out pretty good but of course that's just me, this is where I need the public's point of view. The clips are in .wmv format so don't criticize me for that, I had to shrink them down to post them on my site. As a result of converting to wmv the colour is off and the blacks are a little bit grey, also I'm using a grain effect which didn't hold up too well in the compression but the fullsize file looks alot better.
For those of you using Firefox as a browser these links probably won't work, you'll have to use media player and choose open URL and paste the link in.
Learning muzzle flashes (for the front one I was trying different shapes)
http://www.jphphotography.ca/deadfm/muzzle.wmv
http://www.jphphotography.ca/deadfm/frontmuzzle.wmv
Shotgun Decapitation
http://www.jphphotography.ca/deadfm/decap.wmv
Headshot
http://www.jphphotography.ca/deadfm/headshot.wmv
Let me know what you think
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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca
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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca
It is nice to see someone is experimenting with visual effects! I watched your clips and will comment. The muzzle flashes were good and I liked that you experimented with the shapes for the front flash. That will let you see which one looks the most realistic. The side shots were my favorites. The decapitation looked cartoony. The splatter, did not have the same noisy and low res quality as the rest of the clip and was probably to big. I liked the masking on the torso though to make it appear headless. The shot in the head was impressive but the blood splatter was off the the right, when the hole was straight through the head. Also, seeing the white on the other side of the hole when the guy is shot, makes it seem fake to me as well. Take out that white, move the splatter and it would look pretty good. I thought the sounds were great. Good Job!
Matthew Sconce
Matthew Sconce
I thought the side muzzle flash was very impressive and to be honest with you I would like to know how you did it.
The front flash I have done.
The other effects from a creative standpoint were impressive. It makes those of us who are always looking for ways to do things open our minds.
Keep up the good work, thank you for posting.
Learn how to do something new everyday!
Nice work. Good attention to detail with the muzzle flash and the light on the actors face. The head shot was great, the decapitation not so much.
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
Thanks for the replies, I agree with everything all of you have said.
I think the decapitation does look cartoony but mainly because of the splatter, this was just a preliminary test. My "co-producer" is the guy with the drawing talent so if we try it again he's going to do the splatter or we're going to do real splatter and mix the two.
For the side muzzle flash I exported frames to photoshop and overlayed a muzzle flash, then using the "dodge" tool I lightened the wall around the flash as well as the actors face then dropped them back in with vegas. Each shot only took 10-15 edited frames and I've got it down now so that I could probably do each in less than an hour.
I think in the end we're going to try most things the old fashioned way, and maybe add the bullet holes with cg. One major advantage to having the contrasty B&W grain look is that it masks alot of the imperfections.
Thanks again for the feedback
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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca
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Check out my photography site at
www.jphphotography.ca
