Fake snow - what do you use?

Paul F said:
This looks ok. Its not super excellent, but it works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dea8DnuKGFAI


This one is pretty convincing


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp-...QX59fDhAw1FsMiEUwi-zZ9SKXRnrHinkvXxuEsUL8nCzA
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The first two look too artificial to me. The third is convincing enough. But again, I don't have AE or any expertise with it. This is a film being done by my church youth group, so there's definitely no budget to hire someone to do any FX work. Which is why I'm leaning towards doing a practical effect.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I don't know how wide you plan to get or how tall your crane/jib is. As a practical effect, I would build a large pan, bag or series of bags to hold the snow. These would be suspended above the set somehow. The pan/bags would be perforated, and when one shakes them the flakes can move enough that some work their way out and fall into the shot. Practice then determines the size of holes, number of holes, amount of shaking, etc. needed to complete the shot as you desire. Lots of factors but that's what it takes to make it look good.
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Good thoughts. Thanks!
 
Get an old strainer from your kitchen, duck tape a belt sander to the side of it, then suspend it over your scene using a long extended paint pole (metal one). Next get a long extension cord with an inline switch and turn on or off as desired.

Your sound guy will kill you, but at least everyone around you will be very impressed.
 
starcentral said:
Get an old strainer from your kitchen, duck tape a belt sander to the side of it, then suspend it over your scene using a long extended paint pole (metal one). Next get a long extension cord with an inline switch and turn on or off as desired.

Your sound guy will kill you, but at least everyone around you will be very impressed.
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Luckily, that shot doesn't require sound. :-)
 
starcentral said:
Get an old strainer from your kitchen, duck tape a belt sander to the side of it, then suspend it over your scene using a long extended paint pole (metal one). Next get a long extension cord with an inline switch and turn on or off as desired.

Your sound guy will kill you, but at least everyone around you will be very impressed.
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But I don't have an orbital sander. :-(
 
a drill with something offset in the drill chuck when spinning will shake the hell out of that kitchen strainer your wife will hopefully never notice is missing.

:thumbsup:
 
Well what is done in theatre is a snow bag. A long piece of canvas with a bunch of slits in it. You fill it up with "snow" (usually plastic flakes since we are reusing them a lot) and then you either shake or roll the canvas and the "snow" falls out of the slits.

A strainer seems like it would only let dust through and I think you would want bigger flakes.

how well CG snow works depends on the scene. If you are doing any close ups then you have the problem of the snow not ever landing on anything. If you have stationary bits you could create virtual objects that don't show but give something for the digital snow to land on. That works a LOT better at a distance than up close.

So if it's just a master shot you can probably get away with it but if you have say some Med actors in the scene then I would use the practical for the actors and add CG in the BG if you need it. Moving camera of course complicates things so I would shoot a test. I was on a shoot that used cornstarch "snow", it comes in "snow flakes" and like the potato flake is biodegradable which was a HUGE cost saver since they were blowing tons of the stuff up into pine trees. Looked great though.
 
I think the kind of plastic flakes used in theater may not look realistic enough for film.

I'm thinking of putting the instant mashed potato flakes into a shallow pan and having a fan blow across the top -- gently -- to blow the flakes out.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I don't know how wide you plan to get or how tall your crane/jib is. As a practical effect, I would build a large pan, bag or series of bags to hold the snow. These would be suspended above the set somehow. The pan/bags would be perforated, and when one shakes them the flakes can move enough that some work their way out and fall into the shot. Practice then determines the size of holes, number of holes, amount of shaking, etc. needed to complete the shot as you desire. Lots of factors but that's what it takes to make it look good.
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http://www.pnta.com/customer-service/faq/how-to-make-a-snow-cradle/
 
KurtF said:
Some tutorials on practical effects from J.P. Morgan of "The Slanted Lens".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Q87WniJYE

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_1SAF9eiG0

Here's his lighting - photography website:

http://theslantedlens.com/
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Very cool!

The suds machine gives a great effect -- but, of course, they're not cheap. Have to consider that, though.

The effect in the second video is a bit heavier in terms of snowfall amount than I want.

Thanks for the links!
 
Put a very very light amount of cover over the talent and area so it's not a problem that the particles disappear then add the effect in post is what I've been doing.
 
Policar said:
Put a very very light amount of cover over the talent and area so it's not a problem that the particles disappear then add the effect in post is what I've been doing.
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But I don't have the tools or the expertise to add snow in post. No money to pay anyone to do it. I want it to look real, which my attempts surely wouldn't. And when we get to that point, we'll be in a bit of a time crunch when it comes to editing. We're doing a Christmas film, to be shown at a pre-Christmas program at church. We'll be shooting most likely after Thanksgiving, so it doesn't give us very much time for trial and error. If I use a practical effect, I can spend all summer getting it down pat.

I should also add that there will likely be some camera movement as well. The camera will be on a crane, lifting upwards while remaining focused on an empty park bench, as the snow begins to fall.
 
David W. Richardson said:
But I don't have the tools or the expertise to add snow in post. No money to pay anyone to do it. I want it to look real, which my attempts surely wouldn't. And when we get to that point, we'll be in a bit of a time crunch when it comes to editing. We're doing a Christmas film, to be shown at a pre-Christmas program at church. We'll be shooting most likely after Thanksgiving, so it doesn't give us very much time for trial and error. If I use a practical effect, I can spend all summer getting it down pat.

I should also add that there will likely be some camera movement as well. The camera will be on a crane, lifting upwards while remaining focused on an empty park bench, as the snow begins to fall.
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I can send you a particle system I built and have been using recently but if you don't have After Effects and trapcode it isn't much use. It's similar to what they build here.

https://vimeo.com/112816993

It's about an hour of work to follow the tutorial and build it, then another hour to track and comp usually. But if you don't have particular it will end up being more expensive than a practical option, I'd wager. We just did a similar project and found post was easier especially for wide shots.
 
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