Easy-Medium Special FX monsters

[Squirmin Dog]

Hello fellow filmmakers,

I am writing a short film about a group of people that have to fight off a couple waves of monsters. I'm fairly confident I can make a demon on After Effects thanks to Film Riot's tutorial, but I was asking if there were any other monsters/ghosts I could create.

I'm a high school student, and pretty decent with AE, but definitely not incredible. Are there any suggestions on what monster I could make fairly easily? I have a green screen, and my friend even has a green-man suit I could borrow if necessary.

Thanks guys!

 

[JakeSully]

First rule of AE VFX, you do not use demon face.
The second rule of AE VFX, YOU DO NOT USE DEMON FACE.

Try to use as many practical elements as you can, rely on AE for slight tweaks, not the inclusion of actual elements.

 

[Anim8]

Cheap:
Go to a fabric/craft store and get a few rolls of foam and some duct tape. You can mock up a bulky looking character in a few hours if you have someone to stand still long enough.

Other ideas:

 

[DeJager]

Cheap:
Go to a fabric/craft store and get a few rolls of foam and some duct tape. You can mock up a bulky looking character in a few hours if you have someone to stand still long enough.

Other ideas:

Such a fantastic idea. That's really clever.

 

[_Rok_]

For such a dark character I'd suggest you go practical and build a suit, instead of using the green screen.

Properly lit, the suit will look better than CG, be perfectly integrated in shot (because it's actually there), save you the hassle of planning all these VFX plates, allow you to use camera moves that you'd need to avoid when mixing plates and locked G.S. elements (see below), and MOST IMPORTANTLY allow your actors to look at (eye lines) and interact/ the monster (get clawed/killed by one).

Interesting camera techniques that would be a pain when doing the G.S. version (Shaky hand held shots, long dolly in z-axis, curved dolly, monster behind objects) can be handled as regular photography if you have a person wearing a costume onset.

Use the VFX to augment the shots, not create them. One suggestion is to put retroreflective tape in place of the monster eyes (and maybe even body parts, like claws) and then add a low intensity light right next to the lens. When the creature is in shadow, the tape will return a bright reflection which you can eye and modify in After Effects. This gives you a nice effect without all that tracking, or keyframing as described in that tutorial.

I've supervised lots of features involving CG creatures. The technique they demonstrate in the tutorial is a good for a single shot, but is (in my opinion) not suitable for a series of shots that are suppose to hold your interest. Again, there are exceptions to every rule, and plenty of opinions that will run counter to mine.

If you want any further advice, or ideas on how to plan the shoot, I'd be happy to give you some specifics.