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Home: Video University Forums: Wedding & Event Videography:
Motivation behind special effects

X-Gregory_Lee
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Apr 26, 2003, 3:24 PM

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Motivation behind special effects	Can't Post

After watching a number of online demos of montages which include special effects such as dissolves, black+white, letterboxing, slo-motion, deliberate jump-cuts, solarization, diffuse filter, etc. (devices often seen on MTV music videos), I wonder if I should explore or even try these things just for the heck of it. Or if there should be some motivation or reasoning behind doing a special effect?
I would use a dissolve instead of a cut to show a lapse of time - I know why I would choose a dissolve. Black + white often has a nostalgic or "artsy" look but don't know when to actually employ this device. I think I've explored every wipe pattern that Premiere 6 has, and I think over-using them can look cheesy. I have yet to explore the FX in After Effects, as I haven't figured out the software yet (I can only seem to import 10 seconds on the timeline).
Certainly using special FX appropriately is my goal, and the demos I've seen on websites look extrememly professional, due to the creativeness of the FX used. Just wondering how I can learn to justify using them.

X-MikeH
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Apr 26, 2003, 3:46 PM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects	Can't Post

X-DGates
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Apr 26, 2003, 5:04 PM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

A good barometer of someone's talent is their use of special effects.
The newer videographer, the more effects they use. Once they have more talent, they learn that effects shouldn't be the focus of the video.
Dirk

: After watching a number of online demos of montages which include special effects such as dissolves, black+white, letterboxing, slo-motion, deliberate jump-cuts, solarization, diffuse filter, etc. (devices often seen on MTV music videos), I wonder if I should explore or even try these things just for the heck of it. Or if there should be some motivation or reasoning behind doing a special effect?
: I would use a dissolve instead of a cut to show a lapse of time - I know why I would choose a dissolve. Black + white often has a nostalgic or "artsy" look but don't know when to actually employ this device. I think I've explored every wipe pattern that Premiere 6 has, and I think over-using them can look cheesy. I have yet to explore the FX in After Effects, as I haven't figured out the software yet (I can only seem to import 10 seconds on the timeline).
: Certainly using special FX appropriately is my goal, and the demos I've seen on websites look extrememly professional, due to the creativeness of the FX used. Just wondering how I can learn to justify using them.

X-Gregory_Lee
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Apr 27, 2003, 1:38 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for the help on After Effects, I am able to increase the duration now.
Certainly, the content should be more important than the special FX, but I would like to know how and when to employ the hundreds of effects out there. Is there a book or a course which teaches this? I'm sure I can figure out how to use After effects, from reading a book or figuring it out myself, but that doesn't teach one how to use the FX in the right situation.
: To set the lenght of your timeline in After Effects, go to Composition->Composition Settings, and change the value in the "Duration" text box at the bottome of the dialog window. At least this is the way to do it on a PC.
: Hope that helps.
: Mike.

X-MikeH
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Apr 27, 2003, 2:06 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

: Thanks for the help on After Effects, I am able to increase the duration now.
: Certainly, the content should be more important than the special FX, but I would like to know how and when to employ the hundreds of effects out there. Is there a book or a course which teaches this? I'm sure I can figure out how to use After effects, from reading a book or figuring it out myself, but that doesn't teach one how to use the FX in the right situation.

That's a tough one. I am not an expert on video by any means, but I did start out by doing special effects, titles, and motion graphics.
If you are referring to the transitions to black and white, blurs, soft focus, glows, etc... I just use a gut feeling. I don't really know how else to answer. If you feel that something else is needed, experiment. Remember moderation, but at the same time remember that in some capacities you are the artist and it's your masterpiece.
Of course, there are the obvious times; the scene calls for the bat-plane wizzing by or laser beams, and they aren't in the scene. Time for some FX... ;)
People really do like the "simple and clean" principal more than having things spin and buzz all over the place, so I keep that in mind (sometimes)...
So, your the artist. Create.
MikeH.

X-mikeb
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Apr 27, 2003, 3:41 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

I think we all kind of know the language of effects from watching tv and films, like you say that a dissolve means that time has passed.
If we had the luxury of multiple cameras, angles, and multiple takes, then simple cuts would suffice. In a wedding video with only two cameras shooting live documentary style then I feel that we can get away with using the dissolve more freely in that it need not necessarily indicate a time gap, but a gentle romantic transition from one angle to another or from cutaway back to the main camera.
The other thing that you talk about I think of as an emerging new visual language of shooting and editing, and like you I call it MTV style. It can be fast extremely short cuts, breaks the cross the line rule, jarring, handheld, deliberately distorted.
Whether you want to follow the old rules of subconsciously understood traditional language of film, or you want to create or use a new language and develop your own style, it is up to you (and of course the taste of your viewers/customers).
I haven't come across one book which discusses transitions and this language yet.
I, like most people, think too much is too much in a traditional wedding, but as you say, a talented cameraperson/editor can pull off complex, creative things if the context of their visual language/transitions work to support the story they are telling.

X-Gregory_Lee
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Apr 27, 2003, 4:02 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah, I've been trying to notice how directors employ SFX in movies/TV. Shows like NYPD Blue, often employ hand-held looking shots, with lots of shakey closeups, fast pans, and bluish colors, it a reality-documentary look.
The most recent movie I saw, "About a Boy", used abrupt jump cuts quite frequently, simply to show a passing of time or to speed up the action.
In most of the wedding demo montages I've seen (on websites), black and white (or sepia) is used, and juxtaposed with color.
Gregory

X-vince
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Apr 27, 2003, 8:31 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

how much time does it take to edit one of these fx weddings ?
Thanks
Vince

X-Doug_Graham
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Apr 27, 2003, 10:18 AM

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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

: After watching a number of online demos of montages which include special effects such as dissolves, black+white, letterboxing, slo-motion, deliberate jump-cuts, solarization, diffuse filter, etc. (devices often seen on MTV music videos), I wonder if I should explore or even try these things just for the heck of it. Or if there should be some motivation or reasoning behind doing a special effect?
Well, yes, there should. But sometimes, the motivation is (and need be no more than) it just looks good with that shot, or at that point in the video.
Slow motion can indicate a dream sequence, or recall of a sentimental moment, or set a romantic tone. Ditto for the use of blurs.
Blurs can also be used to simulate the viewpoint of someone who is drunk, or who is losing or regaining consciousness.
Strobe effects can be used in a way similar to slow motion to focus attention on the action in a shot, or to produce an effect that synchronizes with the music beat.
Fast motion is used to show urgency, hurry, or to show the passage of time in a comedic way. Reverse motion is used to allow a "do over" that is impossible in real life, but often longed for...or to give the viewer a chance to "see it again".
Jump cuts can be used to indicate the operation of magic (Elizabeth Montgomery snaps her fingers and disappears). They can also be used just for fun, to create a visual sequence that has an element of playfulness and fantasy in it. Often used in a "hide and seek" sort of sequence.
Black and white can be used to indicate a recalled event, often in the distant past. Sepia tone is used in a similar fashion, and implies the existence of old, aged movie film. A sudden shift from B&W to color has been used since the "Wizard of Oz" to indicate the transition from the ordinary and humdrum to something fresh, new, and magical. A single colored object in a B&W world is used to focus the attention.
Fade to white can be used to simulate the overexposure that occurs when the tail end of a film reel runs through the camera. It can simulate a photo flash, or a nuclear explosion (just use different sound effects!) Both this and a rapid fade out to black and back in are used for "arty" effects in commercials, or to indicate a change of time or place in a manner similar to a dissolve, but with greater emphasis.
Chromakey or matting is, of course, used to place the subject in a setting that did not (and in some cases, could not) exist in reality.
Letterboxing is used to give the impression that a piece was shot for the wide screen or for the movies, and may lend a "cinematic" air. It can also be used to provide a place to put text. In a few cases, the letterboxing is there because the piece really WAS shot in widescreen mode, and is being shown on a standard aspect ratio TV.
Solarization and posterization are effects sometimes used to simulate the viewpoint of someone on drugs, particularly LSD. They can also be used to indicate the operation of some weird force or technology in a science fiction film. Posterization can also be used to simulate the viewpoint of a computer, or an electronic surveillance system.
None of the above is a hard and fast rule. I don't think there ARE any hard and fast rules for using this stuff, except "don't over-do it"...and even that's not cast in stone. I've seen some pieces that were almost ALL special effects that looked wonderful.
Regards,
Doug Graham

X-Paul_Holt
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Apr 27, 2003, 8:42 PM

Post #10 of 10 (1053 views)
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Re: Motivation behind special effects [In reply to]	Can't Post

Doug wrote
"Blurs can also be used to simulate the viewpoint of someone who is drunk, or who is losing or regaining consciousness."

LOL! who the B/G or the cameraperson;-).Actually a few lines there that made me chuckle.

Regards Paul Holt

: : After watching a number of online demos of montages which include special effects such as dissolves, black+white, letterboxing, slo-motion, deliberate jump-cuts, solarization, diffuse filter, etc. (devices often seen on MTV music videos), I wonder if I should explore or even try these things just for the heck of it. Or if there should be some motivation or reasoning behind doing a special effect?
: Well, yes, there should. But sometimes, the motivation is (and need be no more than) it just looks good with that shot, or at that point in the video.
: Slow motion can indicate a dream sequence, or recall of a sentimental moment, or set a romantic tone. Ditto for the use of blurs.
: Blurs can also be used to simulate the viewpoint of someone who is drunk, or who is losing or regaining consciousness.
: Strobe effects can be used in a way similar to slow motion to focus attention on the action in a shot, or to produce an effect that synchronizes with the music beat.
: Fast motion is used to show urgency, hurry, or to show the passage of time in a comedic way. Reverse motion is used to allow a "do over" that is impossible in real life, but often longed for...or to give the viewer a chance to "see it again".
: Jump cuts can be used to indicate the operation of magic (Elizabeth Montgomery snaps her fingers and disappears). They can also be used just for fun, to create a visual sequence that has an element of playfulness and fantasy in it. Often used in a "hide and seek" sort of sequence.
: Black and white can be used to indicate a recalled event, often in the distant past. Sepia tone is used in a similar fashion, and implies the existence of old, aged movie film. A sudden shift from B&W to color has been used since the "Wizard of Oz" to indicate the transition from the ordinary and humdrum to something fresh, new, and magical. A single colored object in a B&W world is used to focus the attention.
: Fade to white can be used to simulate the overexposure that occurs when the tail end of a film reel runs through the camera. It can simulate a photo flash, or a nuclear explosion (just use different sound effects!) Both this and a rapid fade out to black and back in are used for "arty" effects in commercials, or to indicate a change of time or place in a manner similar to a dissolve, but with greater emphasis.
: Chromakey or matting is, of course, used to place the subject in a setting that did not (and in some cases, could not) exist in reality.
: Letterboxing is used to give the impression that a piece was shot for the wide screen or for the movies, and may lend a "cinematic" air. It can also be used to provide a place to put text. In a few cases, the letterboxing is there because the piece really WAS shot in widescreen mode, and is being shown on a standard aspect ratio TV.
: Solarization and posterization are effects sometimes used to simulate the viewpoint of someone on drugs, particularly LSD. They can also be used to indicate the operation of some weird force or technology in a science fiction film. Posterization can also be used to simulate the viewpoint of a computer, or an electronic surveillance system.
: None of the above is a hard and fast rule. I don't think there ARE any hard and fast rules for using this stuff, except "don't over-do it"...and even that's not cast in stone. I've seen some pieces that were almost ALL special effects that looked wonderful.
: Regards,
: Doug Graham