Need advice for FX shot

M

MikeC10305

Member
OK I'm shooting a scene for a short with 5 special forces guys lined up in a row unloading into a hoard of zombies. Unfortunately it seems like the state of new york doesn't care for people who want to shoot off a couple full load blanks out of some assault rifles in a field. So now we have to put in our own muzzle flashes, bullet casing, etc. So for the muzzle flashes we wanted to capture some actual flashing lights on set with some strobe lights to simulate the light from the muzzle's. Then later the FX person will sync up the light flashing with the muzzle flash. Will this work? Am I missing a step? Sorry for the long post.

--
 
after you shoot it without the guns firing.

make a reference of the scene without the 5 guys.

make a reference about the scene including the exact framing of the 5 guys with the guys, and do the scene again somewhere else same light condition with actual firing.
 
It's generally easier to have the compositor add the light effects as well. It's not that hard to brighten part of the image/add shadows/etc. But getting flashing lights to not look silly can be harder than it looks(and a lot of work for what at best will be a single frame). Keep it simple, focus on making the real look real. Make sure the actors act like they are firing a gun, make sure the rate of fire is realistic. Have them "act". The muzzle flash, smoke, light effects, shadows, bullet casings, etc can all be done in post. (VideoCopilot is your friend at seeing some of the things that can be done. As well as a zillion other tutorial web sites).

No matter how awesome your muzzle effect work is (moving camera, smoke, shadows, light effects, etc) it's barely a tiny part of your story and easily not worth the zillion hours of development. If your actual flashing light requires someone do a ton of roto work to hide/remove the light rig, you've failed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top