A Special Effects Question

Ol23456789

Ol23456789

Active member
Hey guys, I wasn’t exactly sure where to post this (a special effects question), but the DIY readers are nothing if not versatile, so here goes...


As a filmmaker I like to physically create as many of the special effects in movies as possible. For example, I’d rather spend a little extra work and cash on making a real explosive and risk my actors being near it than create such an effect in post. The more real experiences I can simply capture the better.
I want to start doing tests for a sci-fi short my brother has written and two effects I’ll need are creating a red sky and making the whites of the main character’s eyes yellow.



Has anyone created a simple but believable red sky from a normal sky (blue or dusk/dawn)? I would not be opposed to digital manipulation in this case as I think it would be best, but I’m interested in a very clean way to get this effect in a shot that shows the land beneath in it’s normal or near normal tones.
And finally does anyone know a safe way to dye an actors eye whites yellow? Short of that, any good ways to do it in post?

Equipment available:
DVX100B
Letus35FE
Nikon 50mm f/1.2
Adobe CS3 (preferred)
FCS2

Thanks in advance for taking a crack at this! :violent5:
 
We compositors also like when the production does as much practical as possible, it's tough to fake realism after all.

Digitally, sky's and eyes are common, both are some of the easiest tasks that we do in post. I have done a lot of sky's and a few eyes. such as the Fremen eyes in Children of Dune.
http://briansmallwood.com/gallery.html

Both need to be rotoscoped or keyed and then color corrected. It should be pretty easy to find someone to help out.
Good luck,
Brian
 
I think the sky should be quite simple... if it is a beautifull blue sky, just make 2 layers on the timeline of the same clip, in sync tweak the hue/whatever of the bottom one until the sky is the color you want. then just set the top layer to blue screen key. that way it should match perfectly and a few odd clouds should work also.
Well, thats how i would do it al least :)
The yellow eyes? hmmm
 
Jade, Thank you for the great link! I think this is definitely the way to go for sky replacement. I'll look into colored contacts.

MotionFX, your gallery is impressive. Oddly enough I'm reading Dune right now. I'd love to be able to do eyes like that.

Attic, I'm going to try your suggestion as soon as my editing equipment is in order.

Thanks again, I'll post again when I have my first tests if anyone's interested.
 
To turn a white overcast sky red you could use a red filter in front of the lens. The problem with filters is to bring it down to the horizon without bleeding over. the more open your iris the more difficult it becomes. If you were able to get a gold sunset it could look really good...

Bob
 
either an nd grad or a polarizer to give you some detail in the sky so its not blown out and then some post to turn in red.
 
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