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The 50 Most Frequently Asked Questions On

Movie Special Effects

Subscribe to the Special Effects ideo Series

Copyright 2012 Daniel Sudhakar. All Rights Reserved.

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1. What is meant by the term !ovie Spe"ial #$$e"ts%&

The specific techni#ues that filmmakers use to make audiences see

and believe something that really isn,t there are termed as ovie

/pecial Effects,. !or e0ample* we know that dinosaurs don,t e0ist

anywhere on earth today &at least we assume they don,t'* and yet we

see a variety of dinosaurs parading onscreen in movies like 1urassic

2ark and 3ing 3ong. (ow how do the filmmakers show things on

screen that don,t e0ist at present in reality4 5e know that humans

don,t fly or crawl up walls* and yet we see our superheroes doing

those very things on a movie screen. 6ow do they manage to take

such shots and make them look so convincing4 5ell* the e0act

techni#ues that are employed to bring such magic onto the movie

screen are what are termed as ovie /pecial Effects,.

2. What are the various types o$ movie spe"ial e$$e"ts&

There is a wide range of effects that is used in the industry today. )ou

have makeup effects* +7 or computer generated imagery*

compositing* puppetry and animatronics* motion control* miniature 8

model making* matte paintings &both traditional and digital'*

pyrotechnics* stunt effects* sound effects and a lot of other effects

techni#ues. )ou also have a number of obsolete techni#ues like front 8

back pro9ection* cel animation* clay animation* stop-motion go-


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motion animation which are seldom used today. The list keeps growing

as time goes by* and sometimes older techni#ues give way to newer

and more sophisticated ones.

'. Whi"h is the most popular and (idely used e$$e"ts

te"hni)ue&

Effects techni#ues are usually used in combination for any given shot*

and are seldom used in isolation. %nd there is no effect that can be

singled out as the most used techni#ue. But the one !0 techni#ue that

can come close to being labeled as the most widely used, is

"ompositing. +ompositing is the techni#ue whereby two shots are

superimposed one over the other to form a composite shot. This

techni#ue has been used for more than half a century and has

survived all technological innovations.

*. Whi"h is the best (ay to learn movie spe"ial e$$e"ts&

%s mentioned earlier* there is a wide range of effects that is used in

the industry today. )ou have to first see which particular !0 techni#ue

suits your taste* knowledge and skill. 5hich is the one techni#ue that

you would want to focus on and become a master of4 nce you

determine that* you can find booksand (ebsitesthat shed more
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light on the topic. )ou can also search for a $ilm s"hoolthat offers a

course on your particular field of interest.

+. ,o( does one get into the spe"ial e$$e"ts industry&

The !0 industry is one of the most competitive arenas in the entire film

industry. Techni#ues keep changing and evolving at a rapid pace. The

techni#ues used in other disciplines like acting* script-writing or

directing don,t change as rapidly as the ones in the !0 industry. To

e0cel in this industry* you have to be constantly improvising and

keeping up-to-date with the evolving technologies almost on an annual

basis. This is not intended to scare you* but the truth has to be

mentioned nevertheless. 2eople who cannot ride the cutting edge of

technology will find enormous pressure 9ust to survive in this industry.

That being said* there is a lot of scope for talented people who e0cel in

their work and would love to constantly learn new things on the 9ob. 7f

you e0cel in any particular discipline of special effects* one of the first

things to do is create a portfolio of your work on +D or D


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course in a $ilm s"hoolmight also put you in touch with people in the

industry. 7f you are talented and if you are persistent* you can get into

the industry eventually.

-. s there a di$$eren"e bet(een the terms spe"ial e$$e"ts% and

visual e$$e"ts%&

5hile these terms are more often used synonymously* there is indeed

a subtle difference between them. 5hile the term special effects,

covers the entire gamut of techni#ues employed in the !0 industry* the

term visual effects, refers to those specific !0 that fall into the optical,

category. !or instance* computer animation would come under visual

effects, while puppetry* pyrotechnics or miniature 8 model making

wouldn,t. 7n general* !0 that are more mechanical in nature would not

be classified under visual effects,* while those that are more optical

would come under that category.

/. s there a se)uen"e in (hi"h are done in a movie&

!or more practical reasons* !0 techni#ues are split into 2re-production*

n-production* and 2ost-production !0. %ll the !0 that need to be done

before principal shooting begins* are completed first. !or instance*

miniature 8 model making* set creation* props* makeup and all other

!0 that have to be done before the filming begins* would come under
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this category. !0 that are employed on the set during the shoot are

done ne0t. 2yrotechnics and various weather !0* motion control* stunt

!0* animatronics and a host of other things that are done in real time

as the cameras roll would come under this category. !inally* !0 that

are done after the actors and shooting crew pack up and leave are

done last. +7* compositing* sound !0 and everything else that is done

with and to the film reel on hand would come under this last category.

This way of se#uencing the !0 helps the technical crew divide the 9ob

and work out a time schedule. !or instance* all the 2re-production !0

have to be given priority and work on them have to start first* whereas

2ost-production !0 and the crew re#uired for that 9ob can be brought

in much later. 7n fact* until filming is over and the film reel made

available* the 2ost-production team will not have anything to work on.

/o* this method of segregating the !0 work into 2re-production* n-set

and 2ost-production !0 helps filmmakers logistically plan and utili=e

their resources to the ma0imum.

. What is meant by ront or 3a"k 4ro5e"tion&

This is a techni#ue used for combining live action with e0isting

footage. The footage is pro9ected on a translucent screen and the live

action is enacted in front of the screen* and both together are captured


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on camera. The position of the pro9ector before or behind the screen

determines whether it is front or back pro9ection.

!or instance* to take a shot of a car cruising on a highway using back

pro9ection* you can park a car inside a studio* and position it 9ust in

front of a pro9ection screen. % live footage of the highway is pro9ected

onto the screen from a pro9ector placed behind the screen. The car* its

occupants and the footage are then filmed together by positioning a

camera in front of the car. The resultant footage looks as if the car is

cruising on the highway.

This techni#ue was used almost till the >?,s and was later replaced by

the more sophisticated techni#ue of compositing. 7t was used most

often when conversation between the actors in the car had to be


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recorded without much e0ternal disturbance. By taking the entire shot

inside a studio* the filmmaker had more control over the environment

and could record a sound track with much more clarity than if it were

done outdoors on a real highway. Though it made things simpler for

filmmakers* it was at the e0pense of realism.

6. What are 3lue S"reen and 7reen S"reen& What are they used

$or&

/uppose you have an e0isting footage of some e0otic location like the

rand +anyon. )ou now want to superimpose an actor over that

footage* so that it looks as if the actor is on location* at the canyon.

)ou can film the actor inside a studio and merge this shot with the

rand +anyon footage.

(ow the space surrounding the actor has to be transparent for the

mountains to show through. To create this transparent area* you can

film the actor in front of a screen that is either blue or green in color.

That is the reason why these are called Blue or reen /creen shots.

nce the shot is filmed* the blue or green regions of the film can be

erased and made transparent so that the background detail can show

through.


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10. What is Compositing& What is it used $or&

7n @A* we saw the use of front 8 back pro9ection. The same effect can

be achieved by means of compositing* but with much greater clarity

and realism to the shot. +ompositing is the techni#ue whereby two

shots are superimposed one over the other to form a composite shot.

The two shots can be merged together optically through an optical

printer or digitally using composing software.

1ust as in back pro9ection* the car is stationary inside the studio. But

the screen behind the car is not a pro9ection screen onto which the

background footage is screened as in the back pro9ection techni#ue*

but rather a plain blue or green screen.


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The floor on which the car is parked can also be blue or green so that

the entire car is surrounded by this uniform color. !rom the camera,s

perspective* the shot looks like this.

The background scenery footage is not mi0ed live while the car is

being filmed. The background footage is kept separate and looks like

this.


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%fter the filming is completed* during the post-production phase* the

two footages are composited together either optically or digitally after

erasing the blue8green portion of the foreground footage* and the final

scene looks like this.

% lot of care has to be taken while filming the car inside the studio.

The direction and intensity of the lighting has to match that of the

scenery footage as closely as possible to make the composite shot look

real. The camera angles and the focal length of the lenses also have to

match perfectly to get the correct perspective. 7f done accurately*

audiences simply won,t be able to distinguish between a composite !

shot and a normal shot of a car at the actual location. 7n fact in most

movies* special effects shots like these go unnoticed. They look so real

that audiences don,t reali=e that they are viewing an !0 shot.


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11. What is Animation&

7f we analy=e a strip of film reel* we would find that each consecutive

frame of the reel would depict progressive stages of movement of the

characters* fro=en in time. These frames of film had been captured

using a movie camera. But that need not be the case always. 7nstead

of using real life sub9ects before the camera* drawings and paintings

depicting progressive action can also be captured using a movie

camera* one frame at a time. 5hen this reel is pro9ected onto the

movie screen* the drawings and paintings magically come alive. %ll

cartoon movies use this particular techni#ue. /ince these drawings and

paintings are made on celluloid film* it is termed as +el, animation

12. What is 2D animation&

%ny drawing or painting that one does on a plain surface* like a paper

or canvas* lies on a flat surface that has only two dimension i.e. length

and breadth. The third dimension of depth that we e0perience in real

life has to be depicted using perspective* where closer ob9ects are

drawn bigger and ob9ects further away are drawn smaller.

% sense of depth can also be brought about by adding shadows and

subtle shading to the characters. %nimation that is done primarily

using flat surfaces* relying on special shading techni#ues and


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perspective to bring about the sense of depth* is known as CD

animation.

1'. What is Clay Animation&

/ometimes clay models and puppets are used instead of pictures* to

create animated movies. The models have to be positioned and posed

depicting progressive action and shot one frame at a time using a

movie camera. This techni#ue is known as stop-motion animation. ne

of the drawbacks of this techni#ue is that the film looks a little 9erky.

To overcome this problem* the models are moved at the precise time

of film e0posure to introduce a slight motion blur in the frame to

smoothen the action. This techni#ue is known as go-motion animation.

2hil Tippet pioneered this techni#ue while filming The Empire /trikes

Back.

1*. What is 'D Animation&

FD animation uses all the three dimensions of space i.e. length*

breadth and depth. 7t doesn,t depend on a flat surface as does CD

animation. 7n fact* +lay %nimation is a form of FD animation since it is

created in real FD space. This creates an enhanced sense of realism


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due to natural shadows* real shading and true depth in the scene. FD

animation can also be created using a computer.

1+. What is Computer Animation&

%nimation is a labor-intensive process. /ome of the processes in the

animation pipeline are a little repetitive and mechanical in nature.

These processes have now been relegated to a computer* thereby

relieving the artists to concentrate on the artistic aspects of animation.

This kind of animation is known as +omputer %nimation* where the

computer aids the artists in the animation process pipeline. Both CD as

well as FD animation can be done using computers.

1-. What is 4uppetry&

The art of animating puppets is known as puppetry. 2uppets find a

wide range of application in !0 shots. They are normally controlled

using wires and rods manipulated by off-screen puppeteers. /imple

puppets can be articulated by a single person* but comple0 ones might

need more than one puppeteer to animate them convincingly.

/ome puppets are so elaborately built that it would take an entire

team of puppeteers to bring the puppet to life. ne person might be


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assigned to each limb* one might work on facial e0pressions* one on

the eyelids* another on breathing movements and so on.

1/. What is Animatroni"s&

%nimatronics is another kind of puppetry. But instead of using wires

and rods to animate the puppet* servo motors are used in the 9oints to

move the puppets and elaborate electronic circuits or computers are

used to control them. This method of using electronics for animation is

termed as animatronics. The puppets can be filmed live as well as

using stop-motion techni#ues. !amous e0amples of !0 movies

featuring puppets are %liens* 3ing 3ong &GH>I'* +lose Encounters of

the Third 3ind and E.T. all created by +arlo "ambaldi.

7n fact for 3ing 3ong* "ambaldi created a life-si=e arm of 3ong that

was electronically activated* but manually controlled by five

technicians* one for each giant fingerJ Bob attey was another great

animatronic puppet maker who created the life-si=e animatronic s#uid

for C?*??? Keagues $nder The /ea* and the shark for 1aws. The

current reigning wi=ard in this art form is /tan 5inston who created

the T-"e0 and other animatronic dinosaurs for 1urassic 2ark.


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1. What is !otion Control&

5hen compositing one shot over another* the camera movement in

both shots has to be precisely identical to make the composite shot

look realistic. %ny discrepancy in the movement would make the shot

look fake. To synchroni=e the movements of both cameras* a computer

controlled rig is used to move the cameras with pinpoint precision. This

techni#ue is known as motion control and was pioneered by 1ohn

Dykstra for /tar 5ars Episode 7< in the late >?,s.

16. What is Rotos"oping&

This involves the tracing of shapes and figures from live action footage

for a variety of reasons. The earliest application of rotoscoping was

tracing live actors, body movements from live footage to create

cartoon character movements. +reating lifelike movement solely

depending on the animators, skill was e0tremely difficult. "otoscoping

provided a means of translating a live actor,s body movement onto a

cartoon character. "otoscoping is also used for creating hold-out

mattes for digital compositing.

20. What are !atte 4aintings and (here are they used&

atte paintings are an alternative to miniatures. The entire

background for the scene is painted on a rectangular piece of glass*


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and forms the backdrop for the live action shot. These paintings are

very elaborate and look e0tremely lifelike. The foreground action is

shot against a blank screen either blue or green in color. Then the

matte painting alone is shot with a separate camera. Both the shots

are then combined by compositing them together.

Earlier* matte paintings used to be done manually by artists on glass.

The painting being a still image re#uired the camera shooting it to stay

stationary as well. (owadays* matte paintings are done in FD using

computers. /ince they are FD environments* the cameras are free to

move inside these environments and the shots have no space

limitations whatsoever.

21. Apart $rom !ath and S"ien"e8 (hat other sub5e"t is

involved in movie spe"ial e$$e"ts&

+hemistry plays a huge role in many different disciplines of /pecial

Effects. 7n fact +hemistry is involved to a large e0tent in akeup

effects. /pecial chemicals are used to create synthetic skin* fake blood*

fake body parts and many other props used for special effects. any of

these techni#ues are used for effects used in horror movie.


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22. ,o( are !akeup used in movies&

akeup has been around from the earliest days of theatre. The theatre

artists often used a lot of makeup to make the facial e0pressions look

more dramatic. The same tradition followed once motion picture came

into the scene. /ome movies re#uired special kinds of makeup than

the rest. 7n fact a lot of monster and horror movies have relied on

special makeup effects to a very great e0tent. Back in the old days

they had to rely on 9ust powder and grease paint for makeup !0. But

now* the art of !0 makeup has advanced to a very high degree of

realism with the use of foam* li#uid late0 and other special materials.

2'. ,o( are hair8 $ur and other tetures "reated by makeup

artists&

ost often* real or artificial hair and furs are used and sewn one strand

at a time into the base to create realistic looking te0tures. The process

is very time-consuming and painstaking. E0tremely skilled artists are

employed to create life-like te0tures for most of these makeup effects.

2*. Can the same hair and $ur e$$e"ts be generated using

"omputers&

+omputer software packages have become so sophisticated that hair*

fur and a number of other te0tures can be simulated with life-like


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realism. +omputers software can also make the hair and fur move

realistically in relation to the body,s movement* the impact of wind and

various other physical parameters.

2+. What is 4yrote"hni"s& What is it used $or&

2yrotechnics is the art of creating fireworks in a controlled

environment. 7t is more of a science that makes use of materials that

are capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained

e0othermic chemical reactions that produce spectacular firework

displays. +hemistry once again plays a huge role here. %part from

fireworks* pyrotechnics are also used to create smoke* fog and even

certain sound effects.

2-. What are Stunt &

%ction movies rely on outrageous stunts. ost of them can be very

dangerous or even prove fatal if something goes wrong. /tunt men of

the bygone days literally risked their lives while performing their

stunts.

(owadays* even though the stunts are e#ually dangerous* they are

more scientifically coordinated and the outcomes are relatively more

predictable. /tunt coordinators nowadays use computer-controlled rigs


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and harnesses to guide the action of the actors* so that every

movement is precisely controlled and e0ecuted as planned.

/uch advancements have raised the limits of comple0ity of the stunts

dramatically and brought about thrilling and outrageous stunts onto

the movie screen. /tunt !0 coupled with visual !0 have spawned a new

breed of movies like the atri0 and the /piderman series.

2/. What are Sound &

The background sounds that we hear in a movie can be as simple as

footsteps created by !oley artists or the e0tremely synthesi=ed sounds

like those of the light sabers used in /tar 5ars.

!0 technicians use synthesi=ers and mi0ers to concoct their own

sounds. They also mi0 them with natural sounds recorded live* to

make the !0 sound more real. /ound !0 have gained a lot of

importance as they keep pace with the visual effects they compliment.

2. What are !iniatures 9 !odels used $or&

+reating full-scale models for filming can be #uite e0pensive and time-

consuming. oreover* the comple0ity of the pro9ect goes up

dramatically. /ometimes the script might need an alien landscape that


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is hundreds of acres wide. +reating such a huge set would be #uite

impossible. The best alternative is creating miniatures and filming

them from a close-up angle to make them look life-si=e. /paceships*

alien creatures* alien landscapes and cityscapes can all be built easily

using this techni#ue.

26. ,o( are people made to look smaller on the s"reen than

they really are&

7n the movie Kittle an* arlon 5ayans plays +alvin /imms* a dwarf

9ust C ft I inches tall. /ince arlon 5ayans is not a dwarf in real life*

special effects techni#ues had to be used to help him play the role of a

dwarf.

Two actors eventually had to play the role. The scenes were first

filmed with Kinden 2orco* a nine-year-old >L cm &C ft I in' tall dwarf

actor interacting with the other actors in the set. Kater* arlon 5ayans

alone was shot against a green screen wearing a green skin-tight suit.

5hen the green was removed* only arlon 5ayans, head remained in

the shot. 7n post-production* 2orcoMs head was replaced with arlon,s

from the green screen shots. 2orcoMs body was also painted brown to

match arlonMs face.


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5hile computer technology enables us to erase and replace heads

today* such conveniences were not available even two decades ago.

!ilmmakers had to rely on another techni#ue known as !orced

2erspective to shrink or enlarge actors on screen.

'0. What is or"ed 4erspe"tive& Where is it used&

!orced perspective is an ingenious techni#ue used to create the illusion

of large space within a confined area. b9ects seem to look smaller as

they recede into the background. % si0 foot tall person standing a few

feet from the camera and a huge mountain G? miles away would be

the same height due to perspective. To recreate this scene inside a

small studio* you can place a I foot tall painting of a mountain 9ust

behind the person* and make the artificial set seem to e0tend for G?

miles.

'1. ,o( is or"ed 4erspe"tive used to shrink or enlarge a"tors&

!orced perspective can create the illusion of different si=e based on the

distance of a sub9ect from the camera. % person standing close to the

camera will look larger than life* while a person standing very far away

will look like a miniature. 5atch this video to understand more about

!orced 2erspective and how it can be used to shrink or enlarge actors

on screen.


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7f you wish to watch more videos like this* subscribe to the /pecial

Effects


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flying shots use such wire rigs to simulate flight. any of these

systems are nowadays controlled using computers. The use of

computer-controlled rigs enables technicians to make the rig repeat

the same motion accurately on every single take. This can prove very

helpful in certain shots where precise movement of the rig is re#uired

time after time. 5atch this video to understand how these rigs work.

''. What is !otion Capture& What is it used $or&

otion capture is the process of recording the movement of an actor

or any moving ob9ect* and translating that movement to a digital

character created inside a computer. $sing this process* a +
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character created using computer software can be made to move in

sync with a live actor,s movements. 7n other words* the live actor,s

body movement is captured and then transferred onto the +

character. %part from body movement* even facial e0pressions can be

captured and transferred onto + characters. 7n this case* the process

is known as performance capture. ovies like %vatar used both motion

capture as well as performance capture e0tensively to animate the

real* life-like* central characters of the movie. 5atch this wonderful

video that sheds more light on the sub9ect.

7f you wish to watch more videos like this* subscribe to the /pecial

Effects


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'*. ,o( does a $ilmmaker "hoose bet(een C78 old s"hool

te"hni)ues or a "ombination o$ both to shoot a parti"ular

Spe"ial #$$e"ts shot&

% number of factors can influence a filmmaker,s decision on the effects

techni#ue to be used for a particular shot. !irst of all* the director or

his effects team would want to use a techni#ue that they are

comfortable with. Budget considerations would play an important role

in the decision. Time constraints could impose restrictions and make

them favor one techni#ue over the other. /afety concerns* feasibility

and the overall result of the techni#ues involved would also influence

the decision. /o there could be a number of factors that persuade or

force a filmmaker to choose a particular techni#ue for a specific shot.

'+. ,o( do you make something appear $rom no(here8 out o$

the blue&

%s early as the late GA??s* a !renchman by the name of eorge

elies* often called the !ather of /pecial Effects* invented the stop edit

or the 9ump cut. $sing this techni#ue* it is possible to make things

appear out of nowhere* or to make them vanish into this air. 5atch

this video to see how this techni#ue works.


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'-. ,o( does 'D (ork&

5e see the world around us in three dimensions N namely height*

width and depth. % movie screen however has only height and width.

7t lacks the third dimension of depth. "egular movies therefore look

flat. !ilmmakers have come up with ingenious ways to introduce depth

on a flat screen.

5e see the third dimension of depth because of the way in which our

eyes and mind work. Every normal human being has a pair of eyes

separated by a distance of about IL mm. The different vantage point
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of each eye makes it see a slightly different version of the same scene

that the other eye is seeing.

To understand this effect* place an open book about three feet away

from you and then hold a pencil vertically about two inches in front of

your nose. 5hen you close your right eye and see with your left* you

will see the pencil in front of the right page of the book. 5hen you

close your left eye and see with your right* you will see the pencil in

front of the left page of the book. This shows that each eye sees a

slightly different picture of the same scene.

Keft Eye 7mage "ight Eye 7mage

Both these images are fed to the visual corte0 of the brain* which

analyses these subtle differences in the left and right images and then

gives us the perception of depth. /o* it is the brain that helps us to

perceive the world around us in FD.


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7f we can artificially feed each eye with a separate image with these

subtle differences* then the brain will interpret it correctly and give us

the impression of seeing a FD image.

'/. ,o( are 'D movies made&

/ince each eye has to see a different image* two cameras are used to

shoot a FD movie. The camera lenses are placed about IL mm apart

to mimic the distance between our eyes. 7n the movie theatre* these

two separate images are pro9ected onto the movie screen. Through a

number of different techni#ues like using polari=ed or anaglyph

glasses* each eye is made to see only the image pro9ected by its

corresponding pro9ector. This gives the perception of depth while

watching a FD movie.

'. Can regular movies be "onverted to 'D&

)es* regular movies can indeed be converted to a FD format. 6owever*

the conversion process is cumbersome* time-consuming and

e0pensive. %fter the FD success of %vatar* a number of filmmakers are

9umping on the FD bandwagon. Even older CD movies are now being

converted to FD. 2opular movies like /tar 5ars are now being

converted to a FD format for re-release.


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'6. ,o( are bla"k:and:(hite movies "onverted to "olor&

There are a good number of old classics that people love to watch all

over again. But many of them have been shot in black-and-white.

any studios have made the effort to have them converted to full color

films. This is a laborious process which involves going frame-by-frame

over the entire movie and coloring each frame one at a time.

+omputers have helped speedup the process considerably. ost static

scenes have very less change in detail from one frame to the ne0t.

%rtists can color one frame and let the computer use those colors to fill

up other similar frames in the shot. oreover* the black-and-white

frames also have all the brightness and contrast details. The artists

only need to choose the appropriate color to fill different areas of the

frame.

%lthough the work that needs to be done on a single frame is

considerably reduced* thanks to the computer* the number of frames

for the entire movie can be enormous. otion picture is filmed at the

rate of CO frames per second. ne minute of film contains GOO?

frames. %n hour of film contains AI*O?? frames. /ome old movies run

for more than two hours. The number of frames would appropriately


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increase. That is what makes coloring these movies e0tremely time-

consuming.

*0. What are ;on:linear editing systems&

Before the entry of computers into the movie making industry* editing

was done using film reels and magnetic tapes. /ince the scenes were

recorded in se#uence on film or tape* you had to run through the reel

to get to a particular se#uence. These systems gave access to the

shots in a linear fashion.

5hen computers entered the post-production arena* the shots could

be digiti=ed and stored on computer hard drives. 7t was now possible

to 9ump to any shot stored inside the computer without having to go

through the other shots in se#uence as in a reel. These systems were

therefore called as non-linear editing systems. The difference between

linear and non-linear editing systems is analogous to how we get to a

particular song in a cassette tape and an K2 record.

*1. ,o( to setup an Studio at home&

% few years back* e0pensive hardware and software were re#uired to

produce decent !0 work. ost of the !0 were carried out on high-end

graphics machines like /7 workstations. (ow* most of the software


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have been ported to the 2+ environment* and hence the cost of setting

up a 6ome !0 /tudio is within almost everyone,s reach.

% 5indows 2+ or ac with good processing power* sufficient "% and

large amounts of storage space is an absolute must for your 6ome !0

/tudio. % FD animation software like aya or FD/ a0 can be used for

the animation work. %n !0 software like %dobe %fterEffects*

+ommotion or +ombustion can be used for post-production !0. %nd

!inal +ut 2ro or %dobe 2remiere can be used for editing. )ou would

also need a blue 8 green screen studio* a good D< camera for filming

your shots and some basic lighting e#uipment. The rest is up to you to

learn how to put these tools to effective use* write some outrageous !0

scripts and start making your own !0 shots. 5ith these tools* you are

more than e#uipped to churn out good #uality !0 films that would

make everyone sit up and take notice.

*2. ,o( to build a 7reen S"reen Studio&

There are a number of vendors that sell green screen e#uipment.

reen screens come in a variety of formats. )ou have green paper*

green cloth and even green paint from which you can create the green

background needed for your studio. 5atch this video to learn more

about green screens.


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!or more green screen videos click here - /pecial Effects


35/41

**. Are there any pre"autions to be taken (hile shooting a

green s"reen shot&

ost amateurs make the mistake of placing the actor too close to the

green screen. This will make their shadow fall on the green screen*

making it difficult to remove later in post production. The actor or

foreground sub9ects need to be at least L feet in front of the green

screen to prevent their shadow from falling on the green screen.

%ctors should also avoid wearing dresses that are green in color or

have green patches in them. These green portions will be later erased

and become holes through which the background will become visible.

$nless this is the effect that you are looking for* you need to ensure

that your actors do not wear green clothing.

6owever* you can achieve interesting effects by wearing green clothes

to make yourself partially or fully invisible. % small variation to this is

wearing green patches in specific portions of your body to make

certain parts of the body invisible. !or instance* if you wish to have a

regular actor play the part of an amputee with a hand or leg missing*

you can make them wear a green glove or sock to make that limb

invisible. The glove or sock will perfectly blend with the green screen

behind them and render it totally invisible in the shot.


36/41

*+. ,o( to light an a"tor in a green s"reen studio&

)ou need to have separate lighting for your green screen and your

actor. The green screen has to be lit evenly as described earlier* with

two e#uidistant lights. !or the foreground sub9ect* you can use a

three-point lighting system.

%s the name suggest* in a three-point lighting system* you use three

separate lights to illuminate your sub9ect. To ensure that these lights

do not interfere with your green screen lighting* you need to place

your sub9ect about L feet in front of the green screen. $se a main light

to illuminate the sub9ect from one side. This is known as the key light

and is placed to the side of the actor and a little in front of them. The

key light illuminates one side of the actor and casts shadows on the

other side. )ou then need to use a fill light on the other side of the

actor to fill in the dark areas created by the shadows. The fill light

needs to be less intense when compared to the key light. )ou can use

a diffuser to reduce its intensity.

!inally* you use a backlight behind and above the actor to provide a

bright lining or halo around the sub9ect to separate them from the

background. The three-point lighting system will provide a clean and

professional look to all your indoor shots.


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*-. ,o( to remove the green area $rom the $ootage using

so$t(are&

ost editing and special effects software have special filters that can

remove the green areas in the shot and isolate the sub9ect in the

foreground. Editing software like %dobe 2remiere 2ro and Effects

software like %dobe %fter Effects have powerful chromakey filters that

help you remove the green areas in your footage. The software have a

number of parameters and settings which you can tweak to get rid of

the green areas in your footage. The process will be much easier if you

light your green screen evenly and keep it devoid of shadows.

*/. What are the best "ameras to use $or homemade spe"ial

e$$e"ts&

The 2anasonic FD +amcorder 6igh Definition 6D+-/DT>L? is a great

camcorder to use for taking effects shots. %part from shooting regular

footage* you can use this camera to shoot in FD as well.

7f you are on a budget* you can go for the Toshiba +amileo /F? !ull

6D +amcorder which is a great* low-priced video camera which still

produces great shots. 5atch a video of these two nice cameras here.


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*. Whi"h is the best "omputer $or editing8 "ompositing8

animation and visual e$$e"ts&

The 62 PO?? Desktop 5orkstationis one of the best 2+s for graphics

and post-production work. 7ts architecture is designed to power multi-

tasking* and help you accomplish more with your time and money. )ou

can run more tasks* processes* and applications simultaneously with

the 62 5orkstation PO??since it comes with the latest processors*

memory* graphics* and storage technologies.

7f you are a ac lover* then the ac 2ro &model +LI?KK8%'is a great

choice. 7t is powered by a single hyper-threaded C.A 6= @uad-+ore

7ntel eon Q(ehalemQ series processor with a Turbo Boost feature that

automatically boosts the processor clock speed based on workload. 7t
http://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/f825c2sg25.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/f825c2sg25.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/a526f27g26.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/d624yja024.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/f825c2sg25.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/f825c2sg25.phphttp://www.moviespecialeffects.org/FxVid/a526f27g26.php


39/41

also features the %T7 "adeon 6D L>>? graphics processor with G B of

DD"L memory. 7tMs outfitted with G TB of hard drive storage and F

B of G?II 6= DD"F "% that are well-e#uipped to handle large

volumes of graphics data. The interior provides easy access to all

components within the ac 2ro for hassle-free e0pansion and upgrade

capability--up to GI B of "% and four hard drive bays for up to A TB

of storage under the hood. 7t comes standard with a GA0 /uperDrive

&which you can use to burn D


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+0. ,o( do be"ome a spe"ial e$$e"ts $ilmmaker&

There are a few basic things that you should know before you start

learning movie special effects. )ou need to know the various special

effects terms* what they mean and what can be achieved by using

each techni#ue. !or a total beginner* a simple video course on special

effects would be an ideal starting place. 7f you are a beginner* you can

subscribe to the /pecial Effects


41/41

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