How would I make the effect of a chunk of plaster falling from the ceiling?

R

RedSpectrumPictures

Well-known member
I am shooting a short film on monday (my first ever short), and a simple effect is in it where a chunk of plaster falls from the ceiling and it presses a key on the typewriter.

Should I just get someone out of frame to drop the plaster?
 
One might want to take some test footage to check if it works. Some things to consider:

- If the plaster is supposed to press a certain key, how can that be shown clearly or otherwise communicated to the audience so that it doesn't look cheap?
- Have some amount of extra chunks of plaster for possible re-shoot.
- Is the typewriter in risk of breaking or does cleaning up for re-shoot take time - always be prepared for multiple shots.

Anyways this doesn't sound like something you should worry about too much. If you want to show the piece of plaster detaching from the wall, might be a bit more challenging..

Also, to make things believable, you should consider basic physics/gravity - plausible direction/speed/drop distance for the particle etc.. human eye is pretty good at noticing weird physics. I've screwed up with some fake objects when their weight and weight distribution make for some uncanny in-air behaviour, but in this case you'll probably use real plaster so that would not be an issue.
 
If I was going to do that effect, with zero dollars, I'd make it three different shots.

First shot - a wider shot of the wall and the typewriter/ desk, as someone hits the wall from the back to dislodge a piece of plaster and get it falling.

Second shot - extremely tight on the keys as someone drops the plaster onto the correct key, trial and error.

Third shot, just show the letter getting typed on the paper.

It's very doable with little discrete portions in a sequence.
 
With a manual typewriter it may be possible to attach something from the bottom with which to supply sufficient force to a depressed key to throw a piece of plaster up, then reverse the shot.
 
Just come to my house, wait until it rains, then point your camera at the ceiling. All my shingle money is in my RED account.
 
One thing you really may want to consider is that a lot of what is going to make this effect work is the SOUND of the effect. You should spend a little bit of time designing the sound of the piece of plaster pulling away from the ceiling, it falling, it striking the keyboard, and the sound of the typewriter key striking the paper. I am of the opinion that if you get the sound of the effect right, it will be totally plausible.
 
Just show the set up (a pile of plaster falling on typewriter) and the result (close up of the letter being typed). The audience will figure it out. If you want to go all out press a bunch of keys together at the same time, such that the hammers (is that what they're called?) stick together in a bunch but the desired one gets through. If you actually show the plaster hitting a specific key you will challenge disbelief (unless you get it perfect, and even then). If you let the audience fill in the blanks it won't so much because they complete the sequence themselves and hence become complicit with the filmmaker. Unless the key press itself is a key story element (guided by a supernatural force or the coincidence itself is a story serving instrument) don't draw attention to the mechanism of achieving the end result. A pile of plaster drops, a key gets pressed, move on. Suspension of disbelief is a team effort between you and the audience. Close down their imaginative options and it becomes harder to do.
 
There are a million and 1 ways to shoot something like this. Best would be to do many different detail shots. That way you can fine tune individual parts of the entire clip.
Plaster falling from the ceiling (frankly, you need something convincing to trigger that event).
Loose pieces falling around the typewriter.
That larger piece hitting the key.
Sound of the key being pressed/hit.
Then finally the final result of the key being hit.... i.e. Something typed.
 
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