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~ ~ a
. . ~ ~ . . . .
14.2
Nonelectronic ffects
and How to
Use Them
W
ill
you now need ex pensive,
hi
gh·end
sw
itchers and
computers ,
jlh
unique software programs 10 ~ t e th e
dazzling digital video effects dis
cu
ssed in sec tion
14 .1
?N
O
at all . You will be surprised to find that even a modera
te
tk skt
o p
sy o tel
can create
many
kn ock-\hcir- socks-off
effects. And yo u ca ll save a great d eal
of
time a nd e
ff
o rt
by staring with
som
e
of th
e tried-and-1m\:
op t
ical and
eft « ts pe
rf
ected in filmmaking and du r ing the
predigilal st
a :es
of television
produ
ction.
Optical e
ff
ects in cl ud e
th
e use ofscenic d
ev
ices placed
in
fr
Onl o f the cam('ra or attachments lO Ih e lens thai ma
nipuhlle the image. The
illusion
of
snow, rain,
or
s
mok
e
can o ften be produ ced more read ily by mlX hanic,,1 rather
than
by
digital mea ns. Before usin g such effec
ts,
hO''e
vcr,
ask whe ther they are rea
ll
y necessa ry. If th
..
answer is
yes,
tr
y t
hl
' lll out before the
pr
oductio n
to
ensure that
th
ey
are reliab le . There are two other factors to consider before
se
ui
ng lip optical or mochanical effect
s.
The firs t is the relative mobilit y o f telev ision equip
ment. Rather than bri nging
a u
o
fog m<l
chine
into Ihe stud io
to
simulate fog, simply take the camera
outside on d
fo
ggy
day
or u
se
a
le
ns filte r
that
simulates
fog.
Wh
en u sing I-f (imernal
fo
cus) lenses
on
ENG/
EFP
cameras, you can atl ac h allY type of filter 10 the fro nt 01
Ihe lens and kee p it fro m rOlaling even when
YO
ll foclls.
The second
faC
lor the enormO
llS
co
mmun ic
ative
powe r of telev ision audio. In mao y instances yo u ca ll
curla
il
or eli
min
ate a variety of
video
effects by c
ombin
ing good sound effects wi th a
si
mple video
pr
esenultio
n.
The s
oun
d of pouring rain,
fo
r example, combi ned with
a close-up of a
dr
ipping.wN acto r may we ll
pr
eclud e the
use of a rain machine. On television, reaction is oftm more
telling than actio n.
Fo
r example,
to
suggest a car crash,
yO
Il
can simply show a d ose-u p of
a
shocked onlooke r
combini:d w
ith th
e famili ar cras
hi
ng sounds, making the
scene certa inly mo re e
conomi
cal and safer th an
ha
ving
stunt drivers wreck new cars.
Thi s section takes a brief loo k al some
of
the o pt ical
an
d me
ch
anical effects th at are still in use because
th
ey
have proven to be effective, reliable, and easy \0 do.
....
OPTICAL EFFE(1S
relevij.j()n gobo , reneClionJ, 5 ar filler.
di
ffuJIOfI flllef5,
and defOCU
5
....
MECHANICAL EFFECTS
Rain, JrIOW. fog.
wirKt
~ m o k e fr,
e
ond igh
ln
ill<}
OPTICAL fF m
There are
five
majo r opt ical effects: I )
te
levision gobos,
(2) reflections, (3) st
ar
fili er, (4) diffusion filters,
and
5) defocu
s.
TELEVISION
GOa S
In t
el
evision and film prod uction, th e term go/Jo enjoys
great pOpUIMity. Unfortun :
Ie1
y, Ihis popularity e ."tends
to the number
of
definitio ns. In
film pr
oducti on
gobo
i$
o ften used fo mean Jlng which , us you recall, refe rs to a
sm
all
solid o r semit ransp arent sh ie ld used to block t.he
li
ght
from hitting certain a
re as. In li
gh ting terminology
it
can
stand
fo
r
cuc
ri or coo kie, the small metal cu tout that is
ins
t r
ted into
an
e
ll
ipsoidal spotlig
ht
to
produ
ce shad ow
pauern
s.
In video productio n a
go
bo is d CUtout o r an object
that ac ts
as
<In
actual foregro
und
frame for backgro und ac
lioll . Tradit iona l gobos consist of such foreground pieces
as
pictu re (( . mes, pr ison bars,
or
oversized keyholes. For
example,
yo
u
ma
y want to
introdu
ce a
fas
hion model by
loold nga t her first through a picture frame, then dollying
in \0 il closer shot while losing th e picture frame.
A
simp
le
cardboa rd cutout can simulate the popular keyhole goOO.
Th
e camer c
an
do
ll
)' in to it and then l
oo
k thro ugh it to
ob
serve
th
e goin
gs
o n in the magic toy kingd
om. A
few
simple bars attached to mit stands will lock the pri
so
ner
firmly
in
his c
eU
. SEE 14 .. 5
The
advantage of using a g
ob
o instead o f an elec
tron
ic
key is that
yo
u can dolly in to the go bo , or (l fC past it, to
gradual ly reveal Ihe to tal backgro und eve nt. To create a
337
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338
hapter
4
VISU L EFFECTS
14.
35 TElEVISION GO O
This television go places
the ilctor behino bars.
,
•
- ,
GR;J
• • •
,
,
,
Cal'lll'ra
similar dreer throu
gh DVE
would require comp
lic<lt ed
pre· or post production work.
REFLECTIONS
You
can achieve startling effeclS
by
reflccting a 5C o< ne off
mi rrors, si lve r pol yester sheets, or wa ter. You
<He
no doubt
famit
i , wit h the
well-known (and well-worn) over-th
e-
shoulder shot of a person looking into a mirror and then
s
ee
ing
so
meone approachi ng
fr
om behind.
(Be
careful th ilt
this "so
nH'onc
Q
isn't the
C,1I
1W ra )
Bou nc
ing SO
Illl: lights of
f
mirror mosaic c
an
pro
duce ini
cresTing
('freel s,
and shooting into
it wi ll ma
ke
the reficc
ud
scene loo k startling
ly
cubist. To
ma
ke such
J
mirror mosajc, glue
5eve
rolllarge pieces of a broken mirro r
o nto
plywood
or Masonite.
If
yo u are superstitio us, see
if y
ur
f t l a
co
ntains such an effe
ct
before
br
eaking
a mirro r.
Sh;:{'ts of h
ig
hly reOec ting polyes ter, such as silve r
Myla r, serve as a Oexible mirro r. For example, yo u can
h
av
e dancers move
in fr
a n
or
suspended pa nels (such as
IO -by-
4- f
oot Mylar sheets) and then point the camera at
th e reflectio ns. By allowing the
Myla
r sheets to move (by
the air movement from
th
e studio air-conditioniJlgs
yst
em
or a slow-moving fan), you will create a great
va
rielYof
rando m eff
,· ,
ts.
You can achie
ve
a slIuilar effec t by pointing Ih e camera
at a tub filled with \...at er and then ca usin g the water to
ripple. For good rcflectio ns the inside or lll\:' tub should be
,
.
.
,
,
,
pa inted black. If you need more wllIrol over the reflections,
of CO llrse, need to use
DV
E.
Whenever you
IV
ant to ach ieve good re fl ections, l lK'
li
ght
tHu
st be on the event Ihal is
to
be refl eCied and not
on the reflecto r itself.
Fo
r exampl e, if
$o
mebody looks too
dark \"hen seen
in a
mi
rr
o r
or
water
tub S
hO
I, put
m o r ~
lighl on the person, not on the mirror o r water.
ST R FILTER
One o f the mos t
cOlllmon
filter effect s is (r('ared with the
star
filler
a lens attachment Ihal changes high-intensi ty
li
g
ht sou rces or reflections into four r six
starlike
beams.
This eff('el is
of
te-n.used toj Jlk ns ify
the-
strell lamps on a
rainy nighl >the beams of car headlights. o r the colored
lights illumina ting
a
singer
or
music al gro u
p. The
studio
lights as caught by th e wlde ·angle camera. and even the
glitter on the performer's clothes as seen by the e u p
ca mera . are all
tran
sformed in
to
pro minent starlike. rays
on televisio n sc ree
n. You
ca n also ust" ,\ slar filter to
heighten
the
em
ot io
na l Impact
of
a candleli
;
ht proces
sion, a chu
rc
h service, or an establishi ng shot of a night
scene. SlE 1• •36
OIF
FUSION
FILTERS
Diffusion filters
giv
e an entire
sc
ene a soft ,
sl
i
gh
t
ly
Olll
o f-focus look . Some diffusion tilters soften only the edges
of a
pic tu re and lc:wc the cen ler
dear
and
c r ~
soften the whole scenc. You ,,;an use diffusion fil ters
\
em
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•
• •
ection
14 2
.'
-
iio'i J(
.. . .
.
-
•
Nonelectronic ffect s and
How
to Use Them
339
!:I
a . •
•
...
.. .. . .
r · " .
I ' . •
t ~
, ,
" . ~ .
-
.
!
.
, 4 36 ST R
filTER mEa
T
he
~ t r filter ch<lnge$
blight
light sou
lces
imo sI3rlike
Ilgh
l
beami
.
plwsize the
g : ntie
or roma ntic
natur
e of a scene or even
to
o f t e l 1
a
performer's
face.
SlE
1
4.
)7 Parado)j<ally,
HDTV
has rekindled
th
e use
of
d iffusion filters. In th e qu est for
making electronic cinema look like
fi
lm, DPs (direc tors of
photography) h.wt' been trying out a variety of diffusion
tilters to softell the harsh , slLperdefinition of HOTV.
Try
experiment
i
ng
w
ith
va
riou
s tilter m
ed
ia that you
ca n stretch over the lens, such as plastic \vrap, gauze ,
or ny
lon stockings.
You
ma
y find Ihal
~ f t . .
fillers l
ook
much
more artificial th
an
your slO ckillg-over- the-le!1s method.
A fog
fi lt
e
r
a specific type of diffusio n
Iil
ter. crea les
tne illusion of fog. If you
do
n't nave such a fil ter. you can
achie
ve
a simi
la
r effect by
ve
ry
li
ghtly greasing the edges
of a piece o f gla
ss
w
ith
a I
ni
n layer
of
petroleum jelly and
t
aping it
over the lens. If you grease
onl
y the edges. leaving
d d ear area in the middle,
yo
u get a so ftening of the edges,
,ith the center remaining in sharp focus. DQ
1101
grease
I
l
ens
directly The
grease,
or
its subseque
lH
removal, cou ld
pe
rmanentl
y da
mage
an expensive z
oo
m
lens.
Whatever
filter device you use,
keep
it away from
th
e l
ens
gla
ss----c
ven
a s l11 <1l1 scratch
will
put a len
s
out of service.
DEFO US
Th e defocus
effeC
I is one
of
the s
imp
lt'si yet mOst
hi
ghly
effective optical effects. The cameril operator simpl)' zooms
in,
ra cks
O
lll
of
f
oc u
s, a
nd
, o n
cue
,
ba;;k inlO fm' us again .
Th is effect is used as a transitional device or to indi cate
s
tr
o ng psyc
hol
ogical disturbances
or phy
siological im ·
bal:lIlce.
A
popu];u
rack focus applicarion
is
to
s
tart out
of
foc us
on
a
S(-rics of
lights. s uch as burn ing ca ndles o r
reflecting wa u drops, a nd then rack int o focus to re\ 'eal
the actual light sou rce
in
the
see-
ne.
For
a
transition
you
cou ld rack
ou
t
of
focus
on
a d ose·
up
of a young girl seated at
,I ta
ble, cha nge actors quic
kl y,
,l nd
then rack back into foc us
on an
o ld
woma
n silt ing in
the 5.1me chair. Because complete dd o
Ctis
ing
co
nceals the
image almost as com pletely as going to black, it is possible
to
change
th
e
field of
v
ie
w o r the objects in front o f the
C;lIller1t while on the air.
MECHANICAL EFFECTS
Mechanical e
ffec
ts afe needed mnstly in the
pr
esentat i
on
of
televi
sion
plays. Al tho ugh small commercia l stations may
have lillIe
opporlunity to do dr a
ma, co
ll
eges
and
un iversi
are mo re frequentl
),
i.nvolved in the production of plays.
Yo u may a
ls
u find that nonbfoadcast television productions
(all for such effects. Fo r ex
ample
,
d-.e
stud;,)
produ ;
t ion
of
a s.cene
Oil
trafftc safety ma y call
for
ra in .
, lRd on
e
011
fire
safety
ma ),
ca Ufor smo ke.
A
lthough
the techniques for
producing common
mechanical effects are n01 univer
sa
ll
y dgre
ed upon
,
such
effecls offe r an excellent opportunity for experimentation.
, 4 37 DIFFUSION
EffECT
A
The or
IgInal close-up
WIth
out filtration .
B The image
takes
0fI a
d,eamh
ke quaU
ly when shot
with
a
d i f f u ~
filt
eL
-
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34
hapter 14
Bef
ore
you
en
gage in a
pp ly
ing any mechanical effeel, ask
yourself
th r
ee questions: s the effe T doable? s 1/ reliable?
is
it s
d
If y
our
a
ns
wN
to
all three is ye s,
go
ahead. If ol1e
of them is a no, resort to yo ur DVD software.
Remember
th
ai
nl1l ny
effeelS are best ach ieved by
shooling under the desired co nditions. For examp le, 10
\' ideotape
som
ebody waiting at a
bu
s stop
in
the rain, take
the c3
n1
co rder to a bus SlOp
on
a rainy day.
As
mellt
io
n
ed
,
y
ou
can
al
so suggt'st many
si
tual ions
by
show
ing an
ef
fect
only partially NtJ ile relring 0 Ih e a udio track to supply
the rest o f th e info rmation. Also,
throu
gh
chroma
k ~ y i
yo u can us e mallYeffects
fr
om a prerecorded source, such
as a s
tiU ph
oto. a videotape, o r (he ESS system.
Tha i said,
som
e special e ITeclS are relatively easy to
ac
h
ieV('
mechanica
lly,
especially if thc effect it
sel
f
e m t i n ~
periphe
ra
l and 3uthen ticity is
nO
t a pri mary con ce
rn
.
Keep
in m ind that effects need not lo
ok
realist
ic
to the p
eo
ple in
the studio: allth3t counts is how they appear to the televi
sion viewer.
R IN
Soak th(' actors'
cl
othes with wa ter and superimpose the
rain from a videotape recording.
If yo
u wa nt to sh
ow
rain
throu
gh a window, mi st the
windowp,ll1e
with a
spray
bottle, back the window with a .:hroma·key
dr
op, and
chroma-ke y rain in to \. indow area. Avoid wa tcl' in the
slud
i(}----<
vcn a sma
ll
amount c
an
be hazardous to pe
rf
orm
ers and equipment. The best op tion is to simply wait for a
ra
iny day and s
hoot
outside.
SNOW
Sp
ray
comm
ercial
l l } \ ~
from aerosol cans
on
a piece
of
glass in
fr
o nt
of
the lens or sprinkle plastic
sno\'>'
from
above. Cover t
he
actors with plastic
SIl OW.
As with rai
n,
lakt'
your
scene outside when it
is
sn
O\ ,
ing.
FOG
The wi
dd
y uscd method
of
putting dry
ice
into hal
wa
ter
unfo rt un ately wor ks o
nl
y in sile
nt
scene s because th e
bubb
ling noise ir makes may be so loud tha t it drowns o ur
the dialogue. Dry-ice fog
is
illso heavier than air and tends
to settle just above Ih e studio floor. If yo u must shoo t fog
indoors, ren t a fog machine. If the fog does
nOI
have to
move, s
im
ply use a fog fi lter o n
th
e lens.
WIN
Use
large electric fans
10 si
mui;
lI
e
wind.
The prob
le
m,
of
course, is Ihe noise.
Yo
u can eit
he
r d rown o ut the f'
lIl
no ise
wi th
r or
dli'd
wind noise
du r
ing
th
e vi de
otap
ing
or
replace
or
VISU L EFFECTS
I. t
4.38
flREEFfE T
To
proje<t nickering onto
it e l .
move a banen with
sil
k or
ny
lon
sl rips stapled to it in front
of
an l l i p ~ i or PAR
spot.
the noise wilh th e r e d sounds in postproduction. To
min
imize the ran noise, try to bli
mp
the fans as much as
possible by shielding them wi th sound-abso rbing ma.le-
ria
l. Have th
e
pcrf
ormers
W
( IT lavalieres for
vo ice pi
ckup
or
u.,e shotg un mics that
ar
e close to the performers
bu
t
t
urned
away f
ro
m the
fa
ns. If yo u simulate the wind effect
caused by riding in a co nvert ible, no te th at lhe occupants'
hair often flies toward Ihe fro nt, against
th
e di
re
ction
of
t ra
vel
, and not to\\'ard the b
ac
k
of
th e CHr, opposite Ihe
direction of travel.
SMOKE
Do not ma
h '
smoke by pouring mineral o il on J ho tplat
e;
a
ll
ho
ugh effective
vi
sually, this type
of
smoke
smells
bad
and
ir r
itales Ihe
eyes
and t
hroa
ts
of
crew and talent. And
if
the o il
ge
ls 100 ho t, it llI
ay
Gllch fire . Commtrc i
al
smoke
machines p roduce less-irrit ating
smoke,
but
th
ey lend to
leave an oily film on perf
or
me
rs
, lenses, equipmen
t,
and
th
e
s
tudio fl
o
or
.
It
may
be
cas icst
an
d least ex
pen
sive to
simply super a S
io
ck
sh
ot of smoke over a scene.
FIR
Never
liS£'
fire
iI/
s
ide
lite stu
dio
The risk
is
simply t
ou
greal
for the effect. Use s
ound
effects of bu rni ng, and have
ni
cke ri
ng
light
eff
ects
in
the backgrou nd. For tbe fire
ref1t C-
tiOIlS staple large strips
of
silk or nylon
cl
oth o r alum inu m
foil
on
a small batt
en
and
projecl the shadows o
nt
o the
sct with all ellipsoidal spo
t.
l l 14.
38
You can also reflect
a strong spo tlight o ff o f aluminl1m foi l or a
si
lver Mylar
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Sec r
ion
14.2
Nonelec
r
onic
E
f f
ects and How t o Use T
hem
s h ~ c l . By movi ng th e shee t, t
he
ligh t
re
flections
on
the ac
tors and the set suggest the flicker ing
of
fire. You can also
try
to .
upe r a videotape of flames
oyer t
he scene.
Wh en
using
a b
arb«
ue g rill o
utd
oors, carefully
ignite
rags soaked in kerosene and shoot tht: scene throu gh
th
e
lames. Again, he extremely careful with even small fire s.
Always have a fire ex tinguisher at the ready and be sur e
th a t tlH. tire is com pletely o ut before leaving the scene.
LI HTNIN
Pl
ace t
wo
large p
hoto
flash units abo ut te n feet ap ar L
Trigger them o ne r
ig ht
after the
oth
er. Lightning should
alw.lys come from behi nd ti lt set o r scene. Do n't forge t
the audio effect of thunder. Ob viollsly, the quicker the
thunder succeeds th e light
fla
sh, the d ose r \.. e percdve the
t
hunder
storm to be.
You maybe
tempted to imitate the spectacular explo
sions yo u see in so many (usually to make up fo r
story ddici ellcies). Don't veil thill k of il. Even demoli
tion ex perts, the
produ
ction
crew
, :l nd es pecially the
sl
unt
peopleare on "pyro-days," production t i ,
wh
("n
pyrotechnic d
evic(.'s
are used. As
....
·ith fire, stay away
fr
0 1l1 explos i\'e devices, even if you have "experts" guar
ant ee ing that no thing bad w i
ll
happen. You can
suggest
ex plosions: Ta
ke
a do se- up of a frightened face an d slowly
sola rize it to the
sounds
of vario lls ewlosion s. Your next
shot
can show
du
st settl ing
over
th e scene
or
des t ructio n.
A bas o f flour dum ped into the scene from a ladder wi ll
do the tri c
k.
~ _ a
.•• _
• Optical effects indude television gobos. refle<:t ioni. star
f i l t e ~ diffusi
on filt
ers, and de focus.
• A te le
vis
i
on
9000 is a cutout or Inree·dimensiooal
obj
ect
through which the cam era looks 01 1 the scene.
• Mi rror s can be used for unu sual came ra
ang
les and cub is t
effects. Water is also effective for re
fl
ections.
• Star filters turn light
.Our
ces
in
to fou
r·
or
si
x·point $ta
rli
ke
rays. Diffusion fil ters .Often a
ll
o r
part
of the cam
er
a pklUre
and can simulate fog. Defocus effects are used as transi·
tions
and fo
r suggesting an
aCIOr'
s subject
ive
experience.
• Mecha nical e ffects include rain, snow.
fog.
wind.
smoke,
fi
re. and lightning. Avoid water- and at a ll costs,
fire-
Inside
th
e studio. Never set off a
deton
ating device:
simply suggest explosions thr
oug
h apptopriate light
an
d sound e ffe<;ts.
For
your reference, orlO
tr
K k your work. each
i
o·
Lob prog
ram
cue in
this chapter
is li
sted here with
it
\.
corresponding
page
number.
T H I N G ~ T r . l m i t i o n mi
x/dissolve
322
mD- W I T C H I N G ~
E f f e c t s ~ ke
ys
322
£rID T C H t N G ~
e c t s ~ special effects 126
m S W I T C
N G ~ T r a n s i t i o n s ~ wipe
I
try it
327
341