DIY Rain

[stephen_nugent]

hi,

working on a film where id like to simulate rain on two occasions.

one is an day exterior shot, more or less high angle framing a man OS sitting on a porch when rain begins to pour, not necessarily keeping the sky in shot. Would a powerful hose do if the local fire brigade lends us a hand? And how is this done, by angling the hose upwards until it looks realistic enough in the viewfinder?

second is a night shot, a window rain shot, backlit i guess to enhance the effect. What are the practicalities of doing this, any good DIY setups?

thanks,
stephen.

 

[Sad Max]

You could build yourself a rainbird - it's basically a length of pipe, sealed at one end, with a hose fitting at the other, punched full of holes, in between. Rig it at the required height, attach a garden hose, turn on the water and: rain.

Make it out of PVC pipe for probably less than US$25.

 

[stephen_nugent]

You could build yourself a rainbird - it's basically a length of pipe, sealed at one end, with a hose fitting at the other, punched full of holes, in between. Rig it at the required height, attach a garden hose, turn on the water and: rain.

thanks sadmax, you referring to the window rain? sounds workable but is there a little more elaborate design that might get that random raindrop effect? Hmm.. maybe i could also include a household fan in the equation..

 

[spidey]

back light it if you want to see it.

 

[sfoster]

Actually if you set up several sprinklers on the drip tubing overhead, it makes great looking rain if you're looking for a drizzle. If you want a downpour, get two firehoses and point them up from either side and mess with nozzle settings. It will rain. Remeber hypothermia is easy to catch when you are wet!

 

[doncamillo]

Maybe these links can help you get an idea:

Some photos of a rig

and this

rigg in action (click 'the rainmaker' on the left)

 

[Capt Quirk]

Invite 50 friends to a kegger, then point them towards that roof...

 

[kplo]

Old trick: add a little milk to the "rainwater" for better visibility on screen.

Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

I did rain one time in a short. We just pointed the hose toward the sky, and when it came back down it looked like rain. It worked okay because the actors (and myself, with my camera wrapped in a trash bag) were actually wet and dripping, in front of them it looked like it was digitally superimposed or something.

 

[McLeish]

Kurosawa added black ink to his rain is Rashomon for visability and it looked great....although sometimes you can see some black smudges on the actors...

 

[spidey]

hmmm pretty good idea for black and white.. i wonder for color