Movie/video special effects editing?

[mojo1701]

I'm an amateur filmmaker (I've made such productions such as lightsaber battles, egg commercials, school projects, and the like) with my friends. I use these hi-power computer at school on my projects.

I want to know if there's anyone out there who does editing (esp. special effects [e.g. like lightsabers]) who would like to give some tips to some of my questions from movies I've seen such as:

1. In LotR, how did they get the hobbits to look so short, esp. when they're in front of the other characters? Did they use camera angles and blue screens?

2. Force Lightning. Nuff said.

And if you have any program suggestions (must haves) for special effects production, please share them.

 

[Ranger REG]

The answers to #1 lies in the Appendice disc of the LOTR Extended Edition. To summarize: camera angle, short body doubles, two similar sets built in two scales, perception, etc.

 

[Tsyr]

Been working on some force lightning for a starwars fanfilm I'm directing/editing... I don't know of a "good" way to do it, though, I'm afraid. So far it's been basicly frame by frame editing. I've actualy had an interesting thought about using some layered vector graphics, aranged in a vaugly human-skeleton type arangement, but I havn't got around to actualy trying that one yet.

And as for the hobbits... yeah. Creative camera work, short actors, short sets, occasionaly some slight visual deception here and there.

I did my midgits on the cheap, though... one of our actors got his little brother to play the jawa jedi, and since you can't see them anyhow...

 

[mojo1701]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. Thanks, guys. I should mention that my softwars is somewhat limited. I use Adobe Premiere 6.0, Photoshop 7.0, and on the odd occasion to make simple animations, Flash MX.

Btw, do any of you know how to work in Flash?

 

[cybernetic]

Myself..I don't do much live action work...I do mainly CGI and use Lightwave 3D, 3D Studio Max, Combustion, and Aura for most of my work....if you could get your hands on a copy of Aura (by Newtek) it could do wonders for adding vector graphics to live footage....although it is rather expensive

 

[mojo1701]

Is there a preview or trial version of Aura, cybernetic?

 

[Tsyr]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. Thanks, guys. I should mention that my softwars is somewhat limited. I use Adobe Premiere 6.0, Photoshop 7.0, and on the odd occasion to make simple animations, Flash MX.

Btw, do any of you know how to work in Flash?

Some. I can manage graphics manipulation and animation in flash; coding is still coding, which is beyond me.

 

[mojo1701]

I didn't mean coding, I meant animations.

For future reference.

Because I want to make animations, but I can't work with transparencies (if I draw the picture somewhere else [i.e. Photoshop] and copy it, it's the picture surrounded by a white rectangle) in Flash like I can in Photoshop.

I'd work in Photoshop, but Flash has a bunch of easier aspects dealing with animation, such as tweening.

Do you have any idea?