How can I achieve this special effect?

Dude, you're getting this wrong. Some people here already gave you a good advice, but I'd like to tell you one last thing.
You're not supposed to try to impress people, you just need to find your own voice, your own subjects, your own style and work with it. Who cares if you're over 30? Start to enjoy the path instead of the destination because that's what all this is about.
Some people are better learning by themselves, some are better being mentored in an institution. I think that institutions are good mostly for putting you in contact with other people wI think the same interests and the same level as you, and that helps a lot in finding the most suitable crew.

Just relax, think of what moves you, what do you want to tell and then try to do that as simply as possible. It's the soul of a project what makes it good, not only technicalities.
 
I want to make it look like an actor's jaw has been broken off of his face, but still hanging by half. I wan to do this while the actor is moving around.

Is there any ways to make this work with it looking real? So far the best idea I have is to just put make up on him, making it look like half of his jaw is gone when really, his jaw is still there, but even with make up covering the jaw, you can still see that it's there, and it's difficult to make a jaw look like it's not there and it's a neck only, going up to the mouth.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Cool idea why not add a Inception like crumbling city in the background too. You could do it by drawing a flip book of a crumbling city, filming the flipbook in process, and then puting it in the background of the actor by keying him/her. It may look like crap tho. My point being whole VFX teams are needed to pull an effect like this off. You are one person stick to a script you can do and more importantly can realisticly make to a high standard. By all means be ambitious (the realistic sort of ambitious) but dont half ass stuff you only regret it.
 
H44, this thread is hard to read. Just shoot anything and complete it is the best advice and I think everyone is trying to give you. You are making it way to hard on your self. I'm a fair to poor editor. I have no idea how to color. But that doesnt stop me. I do have a knack of completing stuff. But I keep it simple. I started out just using my family/friends at simple locations. Here is the biggest truth of them all. The last few shorts I did I shot on a flip cisco. I think I bought it for 99 bucks and you can find them for 50 now. I wasnt worried about quality. I just wanted to do it. I wanted to work on acting and get my own reel. If I waited around for people to cast me I wouldn't have a reel. Here is an example. I did this for a 48 hr film contest. *Do those by the way, they make you complete them in a weekend. All shot on a flip. http://youtu.be/WSzT9KnmgG4?list=UUniOeeMhFzPFjmXVli8X4Jw

Here is another one. This one is me shooting the screen while my movie is playing at tre film screening. So the quality looks horrible but again all shot on a flip. Again I just used family members. This movie has special meaning to me as this was the movie I put my foot down and took over creativity from my dad. We stopped production for 6 hrs during this 48 hr film contest. My dad finally caved and we did it my way. http://youtu.be/q_xNBNAoh64

I wish you good luck. Dont over analyze and keep it simple. If you tell me who you can get I will write you a one or 2 page script that you can go shoot.
 
Okay thanks, I will do the same and not let lack of quality or resources bother me. I have a one page script I would like to do, however, I have been having trouble getting actors interested. Is there a good way to talk actors into doing it, and tell them that it's okay, even though the movie will not be a high quality award winner? It seems that if you have lack of crew, or no crew, that they become uninterested.

How can I get them to be more okay with practicing, rather than aiming for high standards right off the bat? Like there is one actress I would like to work with, but she is a theater actress, and asking her to do a sub-par one page script, might not interest her, so what can I do to get them interested in making a practice short?
 
Your mindset is way off...

Never ask someone to do something not so good.
Make sure it is interesting and fun to do.
There must be wannabe actors who want to have a shot at it.

Always go for the best you can do with what you have.
That a different mindset than don't be bothered by lack of whatever.
You should not be STOPPED by not having a full crew, but write something that needs less crew.
That's not the same as not being bothered by it...
 
Okay thanks. I don't tell them that it's not as so good, though, I don't phrase it like that. But before actors were becoming discouraged when they had to do ADR since there was no PSM. That's what did it for them I think, not the way I phrased it. However, I should rewrite the script so that no dialogue has to be spoken and it can be narrated. Should I tell them I am just practicing filmmaking and wanting to get my feet wet, or does that come off as bad, and I should act like I have more experience?
 
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It's not that you don't phrase it.
The problem is that you think it.
And thinking it, eats your confidence and motivation.

Do you really WANT to do it?

ADR is complicating things, always.

Instead of shooting for 1 day, they have to come back somewhere later to do ADR. That scares people off indeed, because that is less fun and not so easy.

Nor is it fun to act, do your lines while knowing some narration will replace it.
If you use narration, don't let them have any lines.

BUT:

Stop obsessing about a PSM. (Sorry, audio guys, but H44 needs to be shooting the simple way.)
You need someone who booms adequately and maybe a second mic hiding somewhere. Or 2 lavs.
Anyway, think in solutions.

Let them have their lines, boom it.
If the location is too noisy, rewrite the location.


Let me ask you this:

- what is your one page about?
- what look and atmosphere do you want to achieve?
 
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I have two boom mics right now, no lavs. I will see if I can get a friend to boom, but in the past, they were not very good at it, and ADR still had to be done. I will see if anyone can do it, and teach him/her better. Noise in the location is not a problem, just need someone to boom while I go behind the camera or vice versa. The one page is sort of a romantic comedy type scene, which I wrote in a bigger script, but thought I would do the one scene as a short skit on it's own.
 
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Ok, 'sell it' as a romantic short.
Is the pay off a surprise?
That could help. Just tell them it ends with an unexpected twist.

Post a crew call for a good boom op.
 
Okay thanks. I already posted it but so far only camera related people are responding, even though I asked for boom op, specifically in a separate add. I will look around more and see. There's no pay off really since it's only one page. Do you mean the pay off in the full script or just the one scene?
 
Well, if you make a short film, no matter how short, it still needs an ending, right?
A conclusion, a joke, a surprise, whatever...
 
Well, if you make a short film, no matter how short, it still needs an ending, right?
A conclusion, a joke, a surprise, whatever...

Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to attempt to make a one page scene from a larger script since it can be considered anticlimatic.
 
Dont worry about if it's a good idea or not. Just shoot it. Seriously, just ask a few people if they want to be in a film? Give them there lines and get going on it.
 
Give them there lines and get going on it.
Agree.


H,
Quit d!ckin' around and get on with it.

1IlTN.jpg
 
Dont worry about if it's a good idea or not. Just shoot it. Seriously, just ask a few people if they want to be in a film? Give them there lines and get going on it.

Okay thanks. However I did not get enough responses on my adds. I will look to posting them elsewhere. I think people may be disappointed that it's just one page, but that is just my theory. I will keep looking elsewhere for actors. When I get actors to sign release forms, do I have to put some sort of clause or something in there, granting me permission to use someone else for ADR after, if they do not come back, or is that not an issue with release forms?
 
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I was thinking. You need a front man. A producer who believes in you. Someone who can help you deal with the public. Someone who will stop you from doing dumb stuff. This is exactly what you need.
 
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