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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