Splashing hot tea on one's face

Raymond O'Neil · May 16, 2007

Hi, i have a scene coming up this weekend where one character splashes a cup of hot tea onto another's face. How do I make it believable that its hot. I guess it should be very steamy but how do I achieve that effect? Thanks a lot

Edited May 16, 2007 by Raymond O'Neil

Stuart McCammon · May 16, 2007

I can't think of a way to create steam safely on an actor's face - there is the two-part chemical used for food shoots, but I think might be toxic. This effect might best be accomplished through a combination of a strong reaction from the actor and audio effects.

Nick Mulder · May 16, 2007

hmmm,

that sounds like fun !

Just the one shot ? or can you cut ?

I'd think about having a shot with real hot water being thrown like a fake punch at the actor (put glass in between them for safety perhaps) - backlight the steam and try to be in as cold and dry atmosphere as possible ...

then cut to a close up of the wet face with steam coming from another source just out of shot ...

something along those lines could be worth putting some test time into ? yeh yeh nah ?

You will prob end up doing a heap of takes until the ol' butterfly flaps its wings just right

keep us updated as to what you end up doing !

Michael Collier · May 16, 2007

chill the room as much as you can, and make sure the humidity is as low as possible. then throw something heated enough to steam, but not enough to be uncomfortable for the actor.

Brad Grimmett · May 16, 2007

They did some great steam effects in Children of Men. They were adding breaths in that film to simulate cold temperature, not steam, but it's basically the same. If you have the budget you may be able to add it in post.

Zamir Merali · May 17, 2007

Maybe you could do it with no visual effects. Have a shot of the steaming mug to establish that the tea is hot. Then when the tea is splashed onto the actors face, use cold tea and rely on sound effects to maintain the illusion. If the actor does a good job with mimicking pain then the effect should be able to sell with no steam. I don't think steam would come off his face anyway in real life, because the tea would cool as it flies through the air. When you spill coffee on your clothes it doesn't normally steam.

Joseph Nesbitt · May 17, 2007

Well what do you intend to show? the Tea doesn't have to be hot if your just having one actor throw it as stated earlier. If you want a shot of an actor with steam coming off his face and or clothes then there are some methods to acomplish this.

You can try using a normal smoke machine and blowing a little bit right next to the actors face, use a tight shot and it will look good if the actor screams and stuff.

There are also special effects that can work for a brief shot. Even the cheapest online download has a smoke effect that you can composite into the video with little or no effort.

finally you can make the cup look like it's steaming by getting some dry ice and finding a way to get it to stick to the bottom of the cup. if you have some water in there smoke will pour out even as you throw it. The water is just cold so it can hit actor B

Hope that helped

Raymond O'Neil · May 17, 2007

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it. Dry ice and post work sounds doable. I willl let you know how it goes.

Chris Keth · May 18, 2007

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate it. Dry ice and post work sounds doable. I willl let you know how it goes.

Eh, dry ice fog will flow down where steam floats upward.

David Sweetman · May 18, 2007

One idea to get it in a single shot - have two identical mugs, one hot and steaming, the other room-temperature. At the head of the shot, frame the mug and steam, then boom up to frame it out, place the luke-warm mug on the table, the actor picks it up and throws its contents. Once the water is in motion, it doesn't need to be hot anymore.

James Steven Beverly · May 18, 2007

GUYS they make a thing called canned smoke,

www.studiodepot.com/store/index.cgi?cmd=view_category&parent=1012&id=1202

maybe you've heard of it? :rolleyes: ANYWHO, if you spray some in the barrel of a prop gun, it looks like it's just been fired, spray some in to a half-filled teacup, it looks like it's hot. It's harmless, non toxic, odorless and a can of this stuff will last a while. It's a little pricey at between 10 and 20 bucks a can BUT it works and every good FX kit should have one. B)

Edited May 18, 2007 by James Steven Beverly

James Steven Beverly · May 18, 2007

Actually you'll have better results if you google spray smoke FX. I've always heard it refered to as canned smoke, same diff.

May 29, 2007

Eh, dry ice fog will flow down where steam floats upward.

Very good point. Use a small (quiet!) fan just out of frame to blow it upwards, or get your assistant to use a hand-held fan to waft the steam the right way.

Phil Rhodes · May 29, 2007

Do it in a chest freezer and the water will barely have to be warm.

Phil

Daniel Smith · May 29, 2007

Just use a sound effect. Some hissing.

I can't imagine how seeing steam coming off someones face is going to look like a splash of tea... It would look more like acid. (Or it would look like the wicked witch of the west all over again)

Edited May 29, 2007 by Daniel Ashley-Smith