SkunX
john Q. Director
Posts: 2
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Post by SkunX on Aug 3, 2004 9:41:45 GMT -5
Okay..i'm new here and a few of my friends and I are planing a film...this is actually the opening scene and it's basicaly prretty straight foreward...a group of vampire is muncing down on a corpse and they notice a group of human/witch vampire hunters/slayers..one of the vampires takes off runing towards the group and jumps at them..well the "witch" is going to suspened the vamp. mid air and the "humans" will then light the vampire up with sub-machine gun fire and pistol fire...I just wanted to know what the best looking way to suspened a person mid-air would be..we already know how the "squibs" are going to work ( this will be the 2nd time we've used them)..We are almost negative budget filming..in debt to our parents ( lol ;D )...
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SeanHope
Ridley Scott
Director of Creative Design
Posts: 60
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Post by SeanHope on Aug 3, 2004 11:18:08 GMT -5
Well it looks like you are just going to have to tied a rope around he waist of your actor and hoist 'em up. This is not a recomendation, but since you are working with a negative budget - it's impossible to do this correctly.
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Post by Multiplex Manner on Aug 3, 2004 11:24:34 GMT -5
You could cheat it with some trick camera shots - show the vampire's reaction to getting thrown backwards, then his feet flying off the ground, and then have him be lifted into shot but don't show his feet.
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Post by goriddle on Aug 3, 2004 12:05:46 GMT -5
If you know anyone who works construction or anything similar, ask if you can borrow a harness. The hard part is going to be figuring out what the actor would be hanging from (tree? scaffolding? old swingset?).
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Post by Mommy's Little Monster on Aug 3, 2004 12:56:09 GMT -5
You can always hit junkyards and tear out seat belts from cars. Use these to make a harness. I'm sure you know at least one person with a sewing machine.
Make it kinda like a parachute, around the waist, around the legs and over the soulder. Also add an extra strip of seat belt accross the back (horizontally) at about the level of the shoulder blades. Cut two slit in it and reinforce them with more stitching. Slide in a hollow metal tube. Finally on the sides of the the rig at waist level you will have to affix some "O" rings. Or you can use two grommets on each side(those little metal circle things used in canvas bags that you thread the rope through to tie it up) and some carabeaners.
Now that you have all this it's time to pull off the effect. Go down to your local harware store and purchase some cable, it must be strong enough to support your actors weight and then some (you can't be too safe!!). Make sure to test out the cable! Cut off a piece of the cable and attach it to one side of the rig. attach the other piece to the other side. Use a cable crimp (not those crappy plastic ties, these are heavy duty crimps, ask for them where you bought the cable), crimp the cables together 4-6 inches below the hollow metal tube. Cut off any excess from the shorter cable. Now thread the cable through the metal tube and you are ready to go. Just affix the other end of the cable to whatever you plan on floating your actor from, and make sure to light the sceen so that the cable is hidden.
The formation of the cable and the placement of the cross section with the metal tube should keep you actor fairly vertical and make it look like he is floating and not just hanging. This is the same rig they use for hanging people. Just hide the cable using rope and slip on a fake noose. Just make sure that the noose isn't firmly attached to anything and will slide right off should anything go wrong. Also if you can try to pull off this effect on the downward slope of a hill. This way you can get the illusion of hight but your actor will only be a few feet off the ground, so should anything go wrong it a very small drop.
This is a pretty cheap effect to pull of, it should only run you about $50 (more or less depending on how much you have to pay for the seat belts, or you could always just steal them from the junkyard). Either way it's a great investment to make because you can use it over and over.
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Post by darksorcorer on Mar 16, 2007 1:14:09 GMT -5
I used this for a movie where a bunch of teen supernatural creatures levitate. Get your actor to jump off something somewhat high. But dont hit record until he is in the air. Follow him down to the ground. When you put this on the computer and reverse it. he will appear to be magically suspended
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