Special Effects: 7 Sizzling Cool Camera FXs!

There are many things you can do to "fool" the audience into "seeing" an effect that really isn't. Having a character dressed in a black suit walk in front of the camera, completely obscuring the field of view for a partial second, allows you to hide a cut in there, or you can also hide a cut in a fast pan to still give the idea that a shot is contiguous when it is not. The following are seven more cool effects you can do quite easily, with a little pre-planning and attention to detail.

Try telling a complete story with only one camera move.

Gaspar Noe's disturbing Irreversible, and Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes both contain extended scenes which appear to be (though they are not actually) single, contiguous shots that go for long periods of time. Aleksandr Sokurov went a step further in his production epic Russian Ark which actually was done in a single 90 minute shot (on the third take). Mike Figgis did the same thing in Timecode but shot with four cameras following different actors who sometimes collided (and all four camera views are shown at the same time in a divided screen). Hitchcock filmed much of the movie Rope in long scenes comprised of a single shot, but was limited by the ten-minute length of a film reel and by the large tripods used to hold the camera. Very lightweight video cameras and inexpensive Steadicams make it much easier for video producers today to do extended scenes.

Try shooting things in either slow or fast motion, how about time lapse? Check your camera's manual to see if it has an "interval recording" feature - many do. Compress an entire evening into a few minutes, see if your cat really does follow that patch of sunlight while you're at work, watch a flower bloom or a shadow cross your yard.

Explosions are important special effects that are integral parts of many action movies. Now, you may or may not have access to a lot of high explosives and adequate space to blow up a Dodge Dart. Thanks to advances in computer technology, this isn't always necessary anymore. Software packages like particleIllusion from Wondertouch allow you to create digital explosions from the comfort of your computer screen without risking your life and without the long and aggravating cleanup.

Things have come a long way from the days of the old Star Trek TV show where a photon torpedo hitting Captain Kirk's ship would mean the camera would tilt to the left and all the actors on stage would run, slip or crash to the right. Modern seismic productions, like the submarine quaking Hunt For Red October actually build sets on hydraulics so that the actors will all fall in the same believable fashion and, unlike in Star Trek, things on shelves also fly off them realistically.

Today's small video cameras don't require hundred pound tripods to keep them steady, which means they're easier to shake. Think about using this special effect subtly - rather than the violent shaking of an earthquake, consider gently tapping the side of the camera to simulate events such as the shaking of a car when the engine is turned off, or when a door is slammed.

While a wobbly camera is typically considered a bad thing, camera shake can be used to bring the viewer into the scene more. We subconsciously associate unsteady cameras with home, news, or documentary video, judicious use of a handheld shot can give an authentic "you are there" feeling to the video you're shooting.