How to get the 300F look?

Saharanturtle

Saharanturtle

Active member
I'm shooting a little video and I need it to look aw if the temperature is 300deg Fahrenheit, how can I do that? I need to simulate the look where the heat causes the image you're seeing to shimmer


Some ideas I had to get the "heat wave" look:
Soak the Actors clothe in the chest area
Use a spray bottle to spray a mist of water droplets on his face


Any help appreciated
 
You could use a propane torch, as I recall from my commercial roofing days the flame is relatively low but the heat shimmers would come off well beyond the flame. You could mount that between the camera and the scene and should get the obscurring heat shimmer you are after.
 
Creating the effect in Camera will always look better and be less Computer intensive however if you can't and want to try and get the look in AE, there are many ways to skin cat...but one of the simplest would be this...

1) Import your shots into AE you want to apply the affect to and create a New Composition for either each shot or all the shots, depends on your work flow
2) Create a New Adjustment layer on top of your filmed footage
3) Apply the Turbulent Displace filter to the Adjustment layer
4) Tweek the settings of the filter to your taste something like Amount 16, Size 20 might be a good starter
5) Then OPTION / ALT LEFT MOUSE CLICK the Stopwatch icon on Evolution (this will take you into Expressions mode in the Timeline window...
and type in TIME*90 then Mouse Click off the highlighted typing area or press Enter on the Numeric keypad. This means that for every second on your time line the Evolution will move 90 units, you may have to tweak the number 90 to your taste.
Going into Expression Mode means you won't have to Keyframe the cycle of Evolution on every shot.

Then you can simply Duplicate the layer and apply across all your shots and tweak the settings as necessary.
 
@larry

That's a good idea that's good to know for the future, but in this case I need it to be a close up face shot so no can do with a flame torch

@rob

Thanks, I'll try that and get back to you on how well it works
 
Yep, check out The Bullet tutorial on videocopilot. Uses the Turbulent Displace filter quite a bit for the effect
 
If you are going for realism then in a close up there won't be much heat waves between the camera and the actor. The heat waves will produce in the distant background.

I would say do it practical an put the torch behind the actor. Otherwise you will have to roto the head in post to put the heat waves in the distance, creating a lot of work for yourself.
 
Thanks Eco, I'll check that out

I don't think I'll use a torch this time, trying to keep it simple

So I tested out what you said Rob and added what Mr Blue said by masking out my actor and keeping the displacement behind him and it looks pretty decent so far. I also added a smoke(atmosphere) asset and overlayed it on top of the footage and it helps a bit

The actor was laughing and joking so I think it'll look better when he's soaked with sweat and looks miserable in the heat

I'm thinking of trying VCP's set extension tutorial and adding a desert near by

Thanks for all the help! will return with updates and more noob questions
 
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