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Shoot out VFX advise

dlevanchuk

dlevanchuk

I've got a scene in my next upcoming short movie where a guy shoots at the house with a minigun. I have no desire to destroy the house so my next option is CGI ;)

It looks ..all right.. for the test shot but something else is missing.

Maybe ask somebody to shake the bushes and throw some twigs in the air as if its getting shot at as well. or maybe shake a car as it gets shot and attach a cracked window or two..
I was thinking about blowing off a chunk of the house as well, but I don't have proficient 3dsmax skill set :(

Any other suggestions of how to make this scene look a bit more "demolished"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHYwoJKxCKM
 
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I'd add damage to the vehicles parked outfront. The window shattering needs to be sped up a little bit. Falling glass doesn't fall that slow. I think the minigun should have a wider spray pattern. Search on youtube, "Terminator 2 minigun scene" to get an idea. There should be little bit more atmospheric smoke since there's a crap ton of bullets peppering the house. Bullet holes and burn marks need to be added as well. You can shatter pieces of the garage door using masks in AE and compositing in some debri stock footage. There's the grass mound at frame right which can use some dust and debri elements to make it look like bullets are making contact with the dirt. And if you can, add a bit of tracer fire. I think that would look sweet. Hope this helps :)
 
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Sweet. Thanks for the input!

I was trying to find some reference video of a minigun destruction, but couldn't really find anything usable.. Terminator 2 didn't even cross my mind (personal FAIL)!
 
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Good start, perhaps get this guy in on it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RbL4PwTDsQ

One of the problems im having is that its repeating too much like there are puffs and bullet holes that are the same element, opacity and density the whole way through, try mix up the timing, size, opacity and colour to help make it look more organic. Also the way its shooting in a straight line constantly suggests to me there is no recoil and perfect accuracy which isn't looking right imo. Try out massive damage, pause, massive damage etc.

Would like to see the result.
 
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May I suggest checking out this video copilot tutorial.

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/dynamic_machine_gun/

It's about using a particle system in After Effect for dynamic machine gun fire. Might be more then you need, but he shows different steps to make the gun fire look real. I also highly recommend their Action Essentials 2 video pack. Has a lot of pre keyed stuff that could help you out. I bought the 2k version. But the 720 version is pretty resonable.
 
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One thing that would help is add some MOre cam movment.. I mean, If its supposed to be FOUND footage, I think the camera holder would be a bit more FLIPPED OUT and bothered by a mini gun going off over his head! .. .. yes, I am ADVOCATING for MORE camera shake! (what a sad state of affairs!) (but do it in post.)

When you shoot get some whip pans that can be cut into the shot.. that would allow more crazy panicked looking shot while still having a solid image to track.

EDIT.. DUMMY ME.. I see this is a TEST.. sorry for being late to the game..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
One thing that would help is add some MOre cam movment.. I mean, If its supposed to be FOUND footage, I think the camera holder would be a bit more FLIPPED OUT and bothered by a mini gun going off over his head! .. .. yes, I am ADVOCATING for MORE camera shake! (what a sad state of affairs!)
Click to expand...

Other way would be to put the camera on a tripod, apply all the FX to the footage and in the end add the camera shake.
This would make the FX a lot easier.
 
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More from the peanut gallery

This kind of shot wants to be random and chaotic; handheld, crazy, duck-and-cover kind of stuff.

Unfortunately, computers make everything ordered and symmetrical. As a result, everything looks like a copy of the previous event in both size and amplitude.

The effect doesn't hold up for very long, so my $.02 are:

- Shoot numerous (interesting) angles. Wide, Med, CU & ECUs. Pick angles that aren't just flat toward the house. Shoot some raking angles (up & and down shots from the sides) to maximize perspective. Shoot everything a little wider than the final framing, so you can add post-camera-moves.

- Cut it together in a series of fast cuts, jumping between frame sizes to keep it as jarring as possible. - Finish the cut and leave yourself 8X handles (just in case).

- Add VFX. Working to vary the results of bullet impacts as much as possible. Some hits would only leave a small hole in the house, others might tear it up, and other perhaps hitting the electrical wiring, or the gas line. Also, those raking angles will allow some hits to be in the BG (small) and others right at the lens (huge), further varying the size of the hits.

- Lock the edit.

- Add the post-camera-move last, and over the entire sequence all at once. This way, you won't have to go back-and-forth making the camera moves to work in the cut.


Thomas
 
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Thank you for your advice, everyone! I will definitely try to bring much more destruction to the house and its surrounding area.

Thank is a good link for the videocopilot.net. I'll have to see what I can learn from Mr. Kramer :)

gebo, i would love to bite the chunks off the house, but my 3dsmax skills ain't that great :(

Rok, that is a good idea about multiple shots. I'll just run around the side of the house get as much coverage as I can. Mayve various close ups of the firing gun, the shooters insane face. I want to shoot at the hanging light bulbs with the BB gun to "explode" them as well.



Im sure the mix of sfx and vfx will do the trick through!


Again, thanks everyone for the suggestions!
 
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