Simulating Rain on Set...

T

TWJP

Active member
Not sure what forum would be best for this... so forgive me if it doesn't quite fit into the Cinematography section...

I'm looking to create rain for my next short film, which is being shot in SoCal... so obviously, we need to 'fake' it.

All I need is for the rain to hit a window or two for the most part... with only one or two scenes outside (in small, contained areas).

I'm thinking of of a simple sprinkler, set up above frame at an angle... and just letting it spray upwards, then obviously the water will 'rain' down somewhat naturally (I hope).

Has anyone else done something similar with any success? Is there a particular type of sprinkler I should get, or a different tool altogether?

They key word that I've left out is 'budget'... we're on a very tight one!
 
You might be surprised at how easy it is to fake rain. In contained areas, yeah a sprinkler or two should work fine. As long as rain is falling on your actors and you're not shooting wide, and especially if you're focus falls off behind the actors, it's almost impossible to tell there's no rain falling in the background. Aiming the water up so it falls more naturally is the right idea.

.
 
What camera are you shooting on... Different shutters, and variable frame rates will capture different levels of sharpness or blur in the rain drops, making them crisp or misty.
 
Thanks for the confirmation, Chris.

Charles, I'll be shooting on the HVX200A... in 720pN. I usually stick to the standard shutter speeds/frame rates... but I'm definitely open to suggestions!
 
Just make sure that the sprinkler head has extremely large holes for the water to come out of. The rain drops need to be extremely fat and back lit in order to be captured on film or video.
 
Actually, you could even fake rain falling on actors by having it fall in the foreground of the actors, as long as they were at least wet and pretending to be getting rained on. As for lighting, as long as you have light anywhere behind the falling water, it will show up.

.
 
A fog/mist machine behind your actors helps a lot to make it look real, if you have only a view rain in the foreground. Shoot at dusk/dawn if it´s not totaly overcast, to prevent hard shadows.

Frank
 
Back light the rain so it shows up: meaning aim the light at the rain in an angle so that it is not a frontal light. An HMI is best for daylight balance. But if it's a tighter shot and you can't afford an HMI, you can use a punchy open face, or even strong fresnel and put half blue gel in front of it to get a semblance of day light on the rain. It doesnt have to be a soft light but make the source wide as is reasonable with grippage and diffusion so it doesn't look like there's a beam shooting through rain drops. Something like that. Depends on what exactly the setup is. Good luck.
 
IndieMogul RAIN MACHINE!!!

IndieMogul RAIN MACHINE!!!

I built a "rain machine" based on IndieMogul for my last film and it turned out great... and yes, as long as you don't shoot too wide, it'd be fine! And back light is a MUST! Add in sound fx and you GOT RAIN!!! Check it out below:

Test footage:
[MOVIEHD]0a99d9b51d1de1c087[/MOVIEHD]

The assembly:

156wcgy.jpg


16h3ifc.jpg


j9mz9u.jpg


Rain Machine in action:

2nlb5z4.jpg


2wguofo.jpg


335ec1u.jpg


29epf9.jpg


Enjoy and hope this helps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top