Convincing Rain

M

mrzarquon

New member
So I am working on a music video for a song that could benefit wonderfully from the Ikiru "Man on swing set in the rain" shot.

This is a no budget feature, so right now I'm considering a garden hose (or a few of them) and some PVC pipe structure with holes drilled at 10 and 2 oclock, to provide an arc to the water flow.

Has anyone had any experience improvising a rain storm? I was thinking about trying to put some digital rain in also, but I would want something in the original shot also, so i can get some multilayered effect.
 
You're talking about a lot of water here. But really a plugin isn't going to be convincing on its own, so I think you're on the right track. There are of course many variations on professional rain rigs but obviously if you don't have the money or the insurance those are out of the question.

The problem is water flow. You could build a structure with pipe and intermittent holes drilled in them, but unless you're putting a very high amount of water pressure through those pipes the holes will mean you end up with uneven water dispersal. And in most scenarios that would mean LESS water towards center of frame, the opposite of what you probably want. Unfortunately I'm no engineer so I don't have a step-by-step solution here.

In any case, the key is lighting. If you've properly backlit the water to show up, you can get away with much less. Perhaps two arrays (rows) of water falling perpendicular to camera, one foreground and one background/interacting with the actor. I would think that this, coupled with a bit of digital rain, would sell the effect pretty convincingly.
 
Also, make sure the falling water isn't too regularly spaced or anything, and don't make sure it's too much. For some reason, "fake" rain always looks like people are getting buckets poured on them from above (which is probably what's happening).

Then again, I'm from southern California, so I don't know what rain actually looks like. :huh:
 
are you familiar with rotating lawn sprinklers? those domes that you put in the middle of a lawn, ? i've seen people suspend those upside down. since the dome spins, the droplets are random and realistic. this is even more effective at night when used in combination with an occasional strobe.
 
..the old school water sprinklers that are sort of a bent meatal tube that goes bak and fourth and makes a water spray pattern like a peacocks tail work really well.. if you shake it around a little and aim it so the water falls in the general area you want.. it makes small droplets and nice mist too if the wind is with you.
hozelock-2972-water-sprinkler-tn.jpg


or this hose attachment works well..

water-sprinkler.jpg


...at least this child seems to be enjoying it. seriously though.. if you look at the water pattern coming out.. its great.. a couple of these and some people to shake them around quickly over the area and your set... your small rain set is set. its important to note that whenever possible. IMHO i think that spraying anything in the up diorection produces better results. .. it allows the air to seperate the strems and form omre droplets than if you just sprayed it stright down.
 
An old film tric for creating rain is to mix in a little non-fat milk with the water (if you're using a self contained rain rig with it's own re-circulating pump) to help it photograph like..well, real rain. As always, side light or 3/4 back light to taste.
A pro rig is best, but you can build your own from a large garbage can, in-line pump for a portable drill and the appropriate PVC. Keep it fairly close to the camera and have a trough/tray to catch the water if you're on an interior set.
Hope this helps.
Ken
 
get friends to put their thumb on a few hoses and point them almost straight up. Make sure you get your surroundings wet beforehand. This makes extremely convincing rain...Even in bright sunlight...Just watch "Bright Future" (Kiyoshi Kurosawa) to see what I mean.
 
I saw this rig on the set of road to perdition, it was a large tube that ran up and had a giant almost sprocket or circular disk at the end, and with a hole at the middle, and rain shot out of the sides and the middle part. As it fell it all evened out.

With that said I think the key is having it go way up then go down and it will correct itself... supposedly.
 
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