Noob Questions

Patriot Infinity

Patriot Infinity

Hi, I'm quite new to film making. I am very interested in filming short 'action' skits / scenes. That being said, I'd need things like squibs, blow back guns, and the like. Slow motion sequences is something I've always been fascinated with too, so that leads me to believe I'd need a high speed camera to work with.

This may not be the best example, but stuff like this is what I'm interested in filming (skip to 7:10). The whole slowing down the action and showing the impact with all the debris and the guy getting shot is all stuff I'd love to be able to do.

So what exactly would I need? What camera could I get (hopefully without breaking the bank)? What about squibs for peoples bodies and objects to show bullet impact? How would I make them, etc? What about lighting / color correction? What editing program would I use to add the slow motion effects of a gunshot/muzzle-flash (like in that video I liked you to. I currently use Sony Vegas Pro 9 to edit.)?

I enjoy making machinima films (videos shot within a video game engine) and have made quite a few. I'm full well aware of the types of angles I'd want to use and whatnot.

I can't quite think of anything else at the moment. If someone could answer these questions and maybe add some other helpful tips/advice/warnings/whatever, that would be great.
 
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directorik,

As I fancy myself a rather handy fellow, do you have any links to DIY bullet hits with air powered squibs?

Seems it should be very doable..

EDIT: I mean specifically for DIRT hits.. not blood or body..
 
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directorik said:
Squibs are not very dangerous at all. No more than an automobile
or a machete is dangerous. Used improperly both an automobile and
a machete can be a dangerous thing. Used correctly both are useful
tools.



I’ve seen it. I can’t imagine any efx artist thinking it might be
real - or even very expensive. Everything I’ve seen I could easily
duplicate and efx artists with more experience certainly could.
Materials alone I’d estimate in the $2,000 range. In fact, there
are several omissions that prove to me the efx people weren’t even
that good. Cut aways, shaky camera and too much grain for the time
period lead me to believe they were hiding less than excellent
makeup efx.

P.I. - To get that kind of fine mist blood spray in slomo with the
clothing ripping open an explosive squib will most likely be
needed. I know I could get pretty close with compressed air
because I’ve been doing it for a long time. With several attempts
I think you could do it to. It will be difficult - but you know
nothing about making a movie and getting exactly what you want on
video is going to be easy. Add the right sound effect, the right
reaction from the actor and good editing and you can get damn
close to that shot without a squib.

That shot might have be added in post. It’s kind of hard to tell,
but looking at the rest of the movie they are clearly using a lot
of CGI so that leads me to believe that bullet was also done that
way.
Click to expand...

As far as squibs, I meant more in the way you said it-use it correctly and it's not a problem. I just had odd visions of explosions going wrong on someone's chest with pyrotechnics:blush:


Thanks for the thought on the autopsy stuff. I guess it was neat for the time(but I too wondered why they "blurred" certain body parts, and cut at odd times-though I wouldn't notice the grain detail like you did :)
 
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Whatgrinder, that was an awesome video test for the whole slow motion thing. Exactly what I like to see. Do you have any camera suggestions that allow me to be able to do that? (Probably a stupid question, but;) The slow mo was done in editing, correct?
 
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Patriot.
Yes, the slowmo was applied in editing. The good news is that its almost 0% overhead on renders because your not DOING ANYTHING to the footage. Your just telling the NLE to "think about it differently" So technically, though slowmo is a special effect, doing it in this fashion keeps it an "in camera" special effect rather than an POST special effects, except of course you have to do it post.. oh never mind...
its cheap, works good , and last a long time.. what more do you need to know! :D:D:D


slowmo is basic camera film speed theory and applies to film cams to, google "overcranking film" to see what it means.


Any newish HD consumer camera (canon, sony, jvc, panasonic) should do 60i. Actually, your SD cameras do 60i (NTSC but Im not going there!)

So, really its just a matter of how much you want to spend. Entry around $500 upto as much as you want to spend.. literally $100k no problem..

for us just starting camera should have at LEAST these features:

Mic Input
Manual Focus
Manual Exposure
Manual Shutter Speed
If you want HD then it must do HD. (keep in mind SD is still going strong)
 
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wheatgrinder said:
directorik,

As I fancy myself a rather handy fellow, do you have any links to DIY bullet hits with air powered squibs?

Seems it should be very doable..

EDIT: I mean specifically for DIRT hits.. not blood or body..
Click to expand...

I don't know of any links. I'm a DIY fellow, too, and I never
had the internet to refer to when I was starting so I just
figured it out by trial and error. So I don't really look around
the internet for that kind of thing.

A dirt hit is as simple as an air compressor, a valve and a
length of tubing hidden in the dirt. The more air presser the
bigger the "bang".
 
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You'll have to do your homework for the camera.. Id recommend that you leave your wallet at home and then go down to the nearest big electronic store (best buy) and look and touch the HD cameras available...make a list of features you need and want..
 
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Patriot Infinity said:
I really don't know what precisely to look for when searching. Help me out here, I'm a noob.
Click to expand...
The most important things you need to look for is a camera
with a mic input and manual controls of shutter, iris, focus
and gain. In your price range you will not be able to afford
a camera with variable frame rates but you will be able do
do slow motion with your editing software.


http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=20705
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=20708
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=20677
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=20745
 
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When actually looking at cameras I look for what you said, but a lot of stuff I'm not even sure of. Basically I need a camera that shoots in HD (60i, which is 1080 at 30fps, yes?) and the features wheat mentioned. Suggestions would be great.
 
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