Hey everybody!
I'm trying to accomplish the illusion of a car running over somebody. In fact, much easier than that. I dont need the actual crash. I just need to make it look like for sure the guy is getting run over before I cut to black. I think I can accomplish this by having the last shot be from a significant distance where the car can be driving really slowly towards the subject while still giving the idea that he's going really fast. I know i can accomplish that by adding sound too, but are there any other tips as to how I can go about this and making it look real? Also, if I use this techinique of having a shot of the car going really fast when he's far away, and then when he's near, having it go really slowly, do you think it will work?! Drop by your thoughts! Thanks alot!

Watch the Jeff Ray film "Recycled." It's on this site. I don't know how he did it, but it sounds 100% like what ur looking for.

well, in pulp fiction, when mina gets that adrenaline shot, travolta was just pulling the needle out real fast and the film was reversed later to look like it was plunged in real fast---so maaaybe u could like...drive the car in reverse real fast and...reverse the film later- i dunno- sounds like it would work

This message has been edited. Last edited by: teenagdcelluloid,

Well, if you're going to do it in reverse, why not do it in real time, going forwards?

Film the actor seperate. Have him act like he is getting hit by the car. Then film the car zooming past the camera. Composite those to clips together.

^What he said. You can do this very simply with After Effects and masks.

Get your actor to walk out onto the street - look at that film Recycled and get your camera angle like that. Then have your car zooming by. Make a maks over the part of the screen the car is going by, insert that clip, and do the same for the person. Then cut to black - it should work if you know how to use After Effects (And if you have it)

I hope your actor is good, because the way I'm about to tell you requires precise movements.

When people tell you, "just speed it up" they're leaving out important information. The movement of the actor will look very choppy and unnatural if he doesn't preform it in the right matter.

I recently did a scene where a car was supposed to hit me.
We had the camera inside the car looking out.
the car crept up slowly on me, the bumper hitting my shins. I then stood tip toe, spread my arms out slowly and let the movement of the car push my legs out from under me and then I sloly turned my body so that I would land on my shoulder. As my shoulder touched car, the driver hit the breaks, making me slide up the hood slightly, I flailed my free arm, added my own exaggerated bounce, then rolled off the hood.

I know it sounds like a lot, but the shot only lasted 1 second after we sped it up in post.
but it looked great.

Thanks for the tips.
I watched Recycled, but that type of crash isn't exactly what I'm looking for. This is supposed to be an action sequence that pretty much builds up in intensity as the audience sees the car coming closer. I was thinking that if I had the car coming really slowly when it's near the actors, and I showed that from a head-on angle, it would still give the idea that the car is going fast. Would this work?
It's actually something similar as to what Roberto Rodriguez did in El Mariachi with the school bus. Can anyone recall that?

If I were u i wuld film this from above with a car that's kind of jacked higher off the ground u have the car move slowly forward the actor falls to the ground going completely flat, letting the car go over him. speed it up in post and it will look pretty convincing.