Andre LeBlanc

Oh yes! I think it was Temple of Doom, after Jones stops the mining crate on its tracks by putting his feet on the tracks to slow it down. I'll look it up. Using some form of powder sounds like a good test to try. In terms of shooting the smoke, and then comping it in post, it's a tricky in this case, because it's a hero effect, and our character will be right in the foreground. I also considered doing all the smoke in post, but for such a close-up shot, it's better to spend the time to figure out a practical solution. It will just work better. In terms of the compressed air solution, that sounds interesting. I've never tried that. Isn't it freon that leaks out when you turn the can upside down?

Hello all, I need to do an effect where it looks like smoke is trailing off my actor. He'd be fully clothed, but as he moves he'd be leaving a trail of smoke behind him. His range of movement wouldn't be too far-- possibly 6 or 7 feet, and in the shot you'd probably see him from the knees up. I tried a test using a fogger, but it was tough to control... even with flexible tubing directing the smoke. Also, the smoke doesn't need to look like it's shooting off of him (the fogger effect), mostly just trailing. Anyone ever seen this type of effect done before practically? I'm sure I've seen it in other movies. I just can't remember which ones. Any info is greatly appreciated!

Hi all, Anyone know of any good locations that could double as a science lab? Basically just looking for a room that's about 500-600 square feet, has off-white walls, a smooth floor, and a window if possible. There's a couple of abandoned hospitals in the area that get used for production, and look great, but can run an arm and a leg-- especially for an indie short! This is in and around Los Angeles. I realize this is pretty general, but I thought I'd check if anyone knew of anything off-hand.

Being one of those visual effects people myself, I think the green screen could work, but it might be a bit tricky. If the character wasn't wearing the tinfoil suit, then I think it could work very well. It's one of those things I'll want to test both ways before we actually do the shot. But I have a lot of experience on the comp end of things, so we should be able to figure that part out. In general, it sounds like there's two schools of thought: 1) attach some conceilable flash bulbs to the actor (taking care that they won't burn), or 2) have some pars/flashbulbs either off frame, or away from the actor's field of motion, removing them in post if necessary. Speaking of flickering lights, has anyone had experience with the Dataflash AF 1000 lights? Might be overkill for this type of effect, but someone had pointed them out to me as possibility for doing the flashing lights.

Hi Jonathan, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I'll definitely be adding the sparks in post... no question about it. It's the strong source lights caused by the sparking that I've been considering doing practically (at least for the moment). In reality, everywhere a spark occurs, an intense interactive light brightens up the area. I was considering the reverse workflow: I would first try to create the flashes of light on the actor using practical lighting. In post, everywhere there was a flash of light, I would add a spark. The problem is achieving this type of intense, very source specific lighting practically on a moving actor. It just sounds extremely difficult to control... to the point that I'm almost ready to do the lighting in post too. But that will never look as good. Any ideas?

Hi all, I'm trying to brainstorm an effect which involves a character wearing tinfoil, which is sparking due to microwave. I have a method to do the sparking, but my biggest concern at the moment is the strong point light sources that this type of interaction creates. I've been watching several youtube clips of people putting tinfoil in a microwave, and the flash light sources are extremely intense. Any ideas on how to achieve this strong, yet very specific light source practically? The main issue is that the light flashes from the sparking only affect the character wearing the tinfoil... and only in specific areas of his body during each flash. I've been trying to reasearch a practical method before relying on a 2D composite... but I might be out of my mind. Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Interesting... thank you for the replies! I wasn't aware that you could hook the SRW1 VTR to the F900. Just out of curiosity, are there many places that still rent the F950? I've been doing plenty of Internet searches, and although the F900 is still readily available, the F950 is tough to come by. It's obviously been discontinued... but to what extent?

Hi all, I only recently learned of Sony's HDCAM SR tapes, which have 4:4:4, 10 bit data capability. If this is true, then do any of the current crop of Cinealta cameras record to these tapes, and take advantage of this data rate? Any info, or clarification is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

If you're looking for stock, you could always try gettyimages: www.gettyimages.com

Hi Jeff, Shots look great! Where was the classroom location? I'm looking for a similar type location in the LA area.

Hi all, I'm planning on doing an effect that involves a microwave and tinfoil reaction... basically a character in an enclosed space, wrapped in tinfoil, and the tinfoil is sparking because of the microwaves. For simplicity, assume the camera is static. Coming from a 3d background, my first thought was to put a couple of track marks on the character, and then use a 3d package to create a dynamic simulation of sparking coming off of them. For this, I probably wouldn't even need track marks. But then I began worrying about interactive lighting and smoke, and realized my method may not be so sound. I wondered if there were more practical ways (obviously without using REAL microwaves) to achieve this kind of affect. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks. Andre

Hello, I'm wondering if any directors out there have had the experience directing/producing two back-to-back short films. I'm talking about indy projects you helped shephard into production (not gigs you were hired for). As an example, imgine you had two shorts that would take 3 shooting days each. You would do pre-production for both at the same time, and then shoot them back to back over, say, 1 week (as one of many possible scenarios). Then maybe you'd spend the next weeks doing post on both shorts. Have any of you done this? Just wondering what your thoughts and experiences were. Thanks!

Hello, I'm working on a short film script where one of the characters sings a single line from a well known song, but he parodies it by changing some words. If the words to the song line are changed, is it still a copyright infringement-- also keeping in mind that he just sings one line. This seems like a gray area to me. Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated!

I'd say 3-5k is more realistic for the 2-3 minute realm. The most time consuming aspect is the extreme detail that anime cartoons tend to have in their matte paintings and backgrounds. The animation itself can be limited, and still work well if planned properly. I went to school for 2d animation several years back... and I'd say half of our class was interested in learning anime style cartoons, while the other half was interested in the more Western style. You may want to hit up an animation school, and see if there are any students interested in working on your project. It may help with your budget. If you live in a large enough centre, you'll probably be able to find some sort of program. The problem is, many traditional animation schools have been transformed to 3d.

I've found this to be a great resource. It may not be a direct link to indie animator websites, but you can probably use it as a launching pad. http://www.awn.com/ One of the most famous indie animators, Bill Plympton, has a website here: http://www.plymptoons.com/

There is no easy way to do this with a moving camera, unless you're just replacing the background with trees or sky. Your case sounds trickier, since you need to replace the actor with the car interior. The most common method (and it's by no means easy) is going to involve you doing 3D tracking on the scene... if you have 3D tracking software. Then you'll need to create 3D models for the missing car elements that you want to put in the background. The more intricate your background, the harder this will become. This is pretty standard workflow, but it can be terribly complicated, time consuming, and expenive. Your best bet might be to re-plan the shot in a way where you can eliminate at least one of your obstacles (moving camera, complicated background...). Just my 2 cents.

Hello, I'm in the process of creating DVDs (standard-- not blueray) for a short film that originated on HDCAM. Basically, I've captured the full HDCAM res tape onto my hard drive, and I'm using Premiere Pro 2.0 to convert that to an NTSC res DVD. Has anyone followed this workflow before? If so, are there any tips for retaining maximum quality when creating the DVD? I realise I'm going from a resolution of 1920x1080 to 720x480, but I'm guessing there's some dos and don'ts when doing a conversion like this. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi all, I'm a newbie who's shot a bit of film, and a fair amount of video. I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has ever purchased a beat up film camera (8 or 16mm) for purposes of taking it apart to learn the ins and outs. If so, was it a valuable experience? I'm sure if I were to attempt something like this, I'd ruin the camera, but I've been wondering if the process is not beneficial (or at least therapeutic). Or is it just a waste?

It looks like everyone's given you some great advice. In my own experience, if you're not trying to go for incredibly difficult camera moves, then locking the camera down (not moving it at all) might save you some nightmares. If you're doing anything with pans or tilts or push-ins you're going to complicate your work exponentially by having to track or stabalize the footage... . I find even the smallest micro-movement in a track, or most minor swimming in a green screen key can make everything look very amateur. The simplest you can block off your location plates, the better. If you're doing the work yourself, then you'll want to simplify as much as possible-- unless you're trying to make an fx reel.

Hi folks, I have a film 101 question dealing with marking actors' placements on set. Is there a standard set of colored tape when marking their positions? Say, for example, I have two actors in a shot, and each moves to a different respective position during the shot. Are there specific colors used for each actor at each position? Or does it vary entirely from shoot to shoot? Are there any general guidelines? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi, Checkout DV Rack from Serious Magic. It emulates a field monitor on your computer or laptop. Not sure what the quality is like, since I haven't used it. But it looks like you can get a free trial. http://www.seriousmagic.com/dvrmonitoring2.cfm

Thanks for the input folks!

Hello, This is definitly a newbie question, but I was wondering what 24p actually means. Does it mean a frame rate of 24 fps, or does it mean a frame rate of 23.98 fps? Do pro HD cameras (CineAlta, Viper) shoot at both 24 fps, and 23.98, or in the video world does 24 fps always equate to 23.98 fps? If pro HD does both frame rates (24, 23.98) then what would be the benefits of one over the other? Am I wrong in thinking that this sounds suspiciously like NTSC's 29.97 frame rate? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

If you're worried about codecs, you could always try exporting your footage from FCP as an uncompressed image sequence such as targa or tiff. That would generally work.

Hi, I'm nearing the end of post production on a short film shot on HD, and I'm ready to look into color correction options. I've been calling around different post houses, and asking what they use for color correction. Many --as suspected-- use a Da Vinci 2k system. But I spoke to a few places that use something called Discreet Lustre. Has anyone had any experience color correcting on this system? Is it similar to a Da Vinci, or is it an entirely different beast? I've had some exposure to other Discreet products, but this one is new to me. Thanks in advance!