I'm working on a movie about Fallen Angels and Judgment day. At the end of the script angels descend from the sky. I'm not sure how I should do this, I'm on the tighest budget, but any creative ideas of suggestions would greatly be appreachiated.

I think the less you see the better. No one really knows what angels look like, so leave as much to the imagination as possible. Show people's reaction to the angels.

For the angels themselves, I would do something with a great fog of dry ice. Make it so the camera can hardly see anything and have some lighting go through the fog for an interesting effect. Make little angel cutouts and have them slowly descend through the fog, barely visible, but enough for people to be able to see it.

That's my best idea, anyway.

Good Luck

I don't have a ton of experience with this type of shot, but I think Gerdals has it right. Its not a matter of money so much as crew. Dry ice and water and buckets, you can get a dense fog for real cheap. Cut outs even from like poaster board or something. The descent would be the only difficult thing. Then have as much backlighting as possible, and you should get some interesting fog effects. Keep shooting, maybe you will even get that halo, light comming around the angel (cut out) affect. Good luck

i think another 'touch' would be to make them semi-transparent...

so for each shot you need 1 with the angels in the shot, and one without them...
then in an NLE, have the shot without the angels on the bottom, and then adjust the opacity of the angels on the top layer.

also, if you know a good bit about AE...
check out the 'Shine' effect from a company called Trapcode...(www.trapcode.com)

If you apply that effect with the transfer mode set to (i believe) ADD... you can then set the anchor point and it'll add some more 'wow' factor to the movie...

other than that, go with what Gerdals said...

good luck man!
j---

If you can go without showing the angels themselves you could always use lighting and contrast/saturation to show the light beaming from them blinding the onlookers. If shadows are cast enough you could move your lights vertically down, moving the shadows, and showing the downward descension of the angels, even though you dont see them specifically. Even with a big budget less is really more, so on a tiny budget it is even more critical. Good luck with it!

See, that's the problem. The main character is an angel and is shown throghout the whole movie. But I still like the idea of showing less at the end.

Two things:

1) Ever heard of computer animation??? (You know special effects)

2) A good director knows when not to do something.

First of all, never give up. Worst advice braininabox. There is always something creative u can do before u give up. I like the cut out ideas, I was thinking of that and showing the main characters on the ground with the angel shawdows over head. I got the idea from the new Muse Cd. Here is the cover.

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Andrew\My Documents\My Pictures\Muse.jpg[/IMG]

Any simple ideas how to get this effect?

Sorry, messed up, check out the CD cover here:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001LJC2K.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Actually that is very true advice. A good director knows when something is going to hurt his production more than it is going to help it. A good director knows when they have put too much work into something. A good director knows how to distrubute his talent and remain on schedule instead of falling behind because of exhaustive work on one topic. A good director can cut out ideas even if they are good ones. A good director knows what he has and what is the limit he can go to. A good director can balance ideas. A good director will try not to put anything visually unappealing in his film. True, a good director doesnt give up, but Im not saying give up. Im saying if something is going to be so difficult that you are going to have to stop your production progress, a good director would evaluate his resources and find a solution.

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A good director knows when they have put too much work into something

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yet your recommendation was computer animation? Everything else recommended to him was far less cumbersome to achieve than animating it. I don't think there was any reason to get preachy on him for asking advice. That's what the forum is here for.

Please use my quotes in context...

The whole point of my post was BALANCE. Im saying you have to create a balance between the two factors of

1) Time

2) Appearance

Wherever you want to draw the line is fine with me.

Sure making cardboard cutouts of angels is an idea. But just because its easy doesnt mean it looks good. CG angels will look better, but it could be worth the extra effort to you. Like I said you have to find balance...

Considering he said he was on the tightest budget, I doubt he can afford to hire a team of computer animators to show photo-realistic angels descending from the sky.

And if he knew how to do realistic computer animation himself, I don't think he would have asked for suggestions.

Besides, I don't think amateur CGI would look any better than the other ideas suggested here.

I think a resourceful director and keen editor can work around limited budget and special effects to produce a good product.

In fact, the restrictions on budget and special effects may create a better product in the end.

Then how can he expect to go anywhere in the filmmaking world if he doesnt have any knowledge beyond the amateur level. Tight budget??? How can you do anything on a tight budget??? You cant really do much, so you are stuck using amateur techniques. You have got to make an investment to go somewhere...

Maybe you can get away with a series of tilting close-ups with fans and rising lighting cues. Is this a day or a night scene? How many angels are descending? How fast are they descending? Where are they descending? Got access to a trampoline?

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Originally posted by braininabox:
Then how can he expect to go anywhere in the filmmaking world if he doesnt have any knowledge beyond the amateur level.

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It's times like this that I'm glad I was born with a professional level working knowledge of film production.

Nota "No, really!" Mono

Look at the movie "Evil Dead" or "El Marachi". Both amazing movies done on the tightest budget. You can still be proffisional with little money. I know I can do the CGI with alot of work. I'm just trying to figure out an easier way of doing it. The cutout isn't a horrible thing if done right. I can also use photoshop to add to it. But check out the CD cover at:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001LJC2K.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

There must be an easy way to pull this off. I'm just wonder if anyone has and creative ideas.

NotaMono

It's a day scene.
Many angels are descending.
They are moving slowly.
They are decending from the sky to the ground.
Yes I have a trampoline.

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Then how can he expect to go anywhere in the filmmaking world if he doesnt have any knowledge beyond the amateur level. Tight budget??? How can you do anything on a tight budget??? You cant really do much, so you are stuck using amateur techniques. You have got to make an investment to go somewhere...

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well then out of curiosity, how much did you spend on your last production?

I was using "he" as a general pronoun for any aspiring filmmaker...

You are only going to get out of a production what you put into it. I was just saying that maybe it worth considering putting a little extra effort into the equation to come out with a better product. I dont know... Maybe what you get out of the whole production process is experience (something needed desperately in todays world) Then, again its just my view. My philosophy is if you are going to do something, put everything youve got into it and try to make a lifechanging event out of it. No one notices the mediocre.

If you really want to know how much money I have invested in the filmmaking industry, I can tell you. (Like I said filmmaking IS an investment) We bought a $4000 CG program, a pair of XL1s', a $1000 DV editing system, an awesome computer (I cant tell how much it cost because of all the upgrades (I dont know how much they are worth)) A dolly, tracks, professional lighting kit, a pair of $700 shotgun mikes+booms, green screen, and more.

Also we are building a few sets. We have made deals with a local band with their own professional recording studio. Also many months of meticulous work...

Not like equipment means anything at all... Its what you are able to do with it. Experience is the key here.

The bottom line is filmmaking is an investment...

Sure if you can get the same outcome with an easier technique, go for it!