fake rain
- Thread starter LDS
- Start date
Is the scene indoors or outdoors? Or did you want to do it in post?
And I assume that you want to do it for $1.83......
Part of selling it is, of course, the sound.
And I assume that you want to do it for $1.83......
Part of selling it is, of course, the sound.
If you want torrential rain, you could pierce a hose pipe along the length and rig it up to somehow fall where you want it. Easy.
That's a sure fire way to make people sick if you're just plugging into a tap.
Since it takes a while to get shots, you tend to want to use heated water, and all of this tends to get rather expensive. I haven't personally done it, though my understanding (well what I've been taught) is if you don't back light the rain, you won't be able to catch it on camera. Not sure how true that is these days, but it's worth considering.
Since it takes a while to get shots, you tend to want to use heated water, and all of this tends to get rather expensive. I haven't personally done it, though my understanding (well what I've been taught) is if you don't back light the rain, you won't be able to catch it on camera. Not sure how true that is these days, but it's worth considering.
You're probably right, although I was assuming the rain would be falling on perhaps a car window, rather than people!
Normally audio comments like this from you and AFE annoy me slightly (coming from a no budget background so as you know sound is often cheaped out on) but this is an example where I thoroughly agree that the sound could very much make or break your fake rain.
EDIT: Oh and I know that sound is important, it's more that I get frustrated that I can't afford to lift the quality of my overall sound mix
Check out the DVD extras on "Forrest Gump" where Randy Thom discusses the Viet Nam rain sequence, and the challenge of making the sound of different types of rain (Forrest - "One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night... ")
The "secret" is literally in the details. Sonically rain comes across as a lot of white noise, so you need to add "close up" details to provide more information. In the film "TrailerPark" I used the detail solution as a part of a thunderstorm; the scene was indoors, so I used "window splats" (shooting the hose at my own windows) and a gutter downspout (again from my own house) to enhance the ferocious rainstorm idea. The thunderstorm was also from my personal collection.
This applies to many more situations, and preplanning the audio post of your film during preproduction can allow you to do things that you might have thought beyond your budget. In the film "11" they shot a "huge" political rally with only 50 extras by keeping it POV from close to the "stage." After the shot was completed the sound team got the extras to do multiple audio takes of cheering, chanting the "candidates" name, etc. I put all of that into layers and supplemented it with more crowd noise (library) and a couple of loopers. The result was quite gratifying.
You can do the same with a restaurant, transit station (train, bus, airport), a crowded bar and lots of other locations. By shooting close and judicious use of extras, who have multiple changes of clothes, sound can substantially support the illusion. They used the bar solution in "TrailerPark" and when the shooting was completed opened the bar. People trickled back in after changing back into street clothes. They kept the juke box shut down for an hour and I got a lots useful stuff, from a couple of people to a several dozen (including crew and significant others), so I could have a quiet Tuesday night or, by layering, a packed Saturday night.
Now now, you do realize you don't GET a cold from BEING cold, right? It's a viral thing...
Just be smart about it; have blankets, make sure everyone has a change of clothes. If there's lots of takes, keep the wardrobe simple (ie. jeans and a solid colour t-shirt) and change regularly. I had to do a number of shots with a body in a pool (in cool weather), we just had changes of clothes (we chose jeans, no socks and a white t-shirt) and after a while we stopped and the talent dried off, changed, warmed up, then we repeat.
That being said, tap water does get _extremely_ cold quickly, if the ambient temperature isn't sufficiently warm, you'll not likely get the desired performance.
I once made a pretty decent rain maker out of a fire suppression sprinkler head. With enough back lighting, it was pretty convincing, at the time at least. It's long gone now, but I am going to need to make another and that's the route I'll be taking. I'm hoping the normal facet pressure can drive at least two this time, otherwise it gets more complicated. Tests will commence when this darn snow is finally gone...
CraigL
Seriously though, it's not all that complicated... Get some water...
How wide is the shot? What is it of? Torrential downpour or light rain? An entire street or? A whole car or a window?
We've done it before with an INT scene, with heavy rain falling on the windows at night - we used what were essentially sprinklers rigged in certain positions.
And yeah, backlight it so you can actually see it
There was a rumour going around a while ago that Hollywood productions would use watered down milk instead of water so that it would actually show up on screen... Not sure how true it was (I wouldn't suggest doing it) but the principle is backlight it so you can see it 
heat water? LOL.... I've been working on couple of productions with water and trust me, it was FREEZING! and I am not talking about amateur productions but X Men first class, Harry Potter etc... the fake rain... was NOT any warm!
You should have said that. For the major productions they bring in specialists.
Yep, there are companies that specialize in rain. Huge rigs attached to water
trucks. And you're right - the water is never heated. Hot (even warm) water
will steam as it hits the colder air. People do not get sick because of cold water.
Completely non-sequitur...
Back in the '60's Mad Magazine did a spoof on "The Fugitive" TV series. In the last panel, as Kimball slinks away on a wet street, there's a guy in coveralls that say on the back "The Making It Look Like It Just Rained Company."
There's this idea as well"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezeldeRdkD8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezeldeRdkD8
There used to be a really good tutorial I'd refer people to about doing it with CG.. but it's been so long since I've pointed anybody to it I can't remember where it was or who it was from.
Not one of the 'go to' things that people always reference these days though.. not VCP, Film riot, or the indiemogul folks... ah well..
Not one of the 'go to' things that people always reference these days though.. not VCP, Film riot, or the indiemogul folks... ah well..