sparkler effect

[MiguelOrtega]

how would i go about if i wanted to FILM someone writing for example their name with a sparkler firework, i seen it done alot with still photography where you leave exposure on for a while but how can i achieve this with motion and a red. sorry if this is obvious but i dont know.

example
http://www.jeffwignall.com/images/600_Sarah-2-name-Wignall-Sparkler.jpg

 

[Clint Johnson]

I don't think that exact look can be achieved with the Red. That photo seems to be about a ten second exposure with a quick flash at the end to get some light on the girl. The longest exposure I've been able to get out of the Red is one second when in varispeed using a 360 degree shutter and 1fps. So unless you find a very fast writer or someone named "O" then I think you're out of luck.

If you don't need to see the person while writing, it might be doable for a short piece if you want to do a compositing/keying job. If I were tasked with trying to get that shot, I would start testing by shooting it at 24fps with a 360 degree shutter. Expose to the sparklers so that everything else is crushed into the shadows and then, at the end of the writing, hit the subject with a light that exposes them to the same level as the sparklers (or near enough). The effect would probably work best with a black backdrop that the light is flagged off of.

In post, I would cumulatively layer up the sparkler only frames - the first frame by itself, then the second would have 1 and 2, the third would have 1,2 and three... on up through the few hundred layers need to get to the end. Jumping over to Photoshop and flattening every once and a while might take some of the burden off AE (or your compositor of choice).

Getting to the frame just before the light comes on, I would flatten the sparkler layers and key out the black. Composite that final "sparkler signature" over the rest of the lit writer's frames and the result should be a dark screen with sparkler writing appearing and hanging in the air- the light hits the writer and they stand behind the sparkler writing that is just hanging before them.

A gotcha to look out for is the light from the sparkler illuminating the writer - make sure that you are exposing the image to the brightness of the sparkler (even under expose if needed) and then crush the background as much as you can in post... this should result in deep black everywhere but the sparkler.

This is just off the top of my head and my camera is out on a job so I can't test it but now you have me curious to see if it will work... maybe next weekend.

 

[Cail Young]

If you don't need to see the person while writing, it might be doable for a short piece if you want to do a compositing/keying job.

Very easy - you can lumakey the sparkle then grab each frame of it and build it up in the composite.

 

[Sarah C.]

My $0.02.. with any motion camera...

Shoot it "normally" and enhance within your favorite compositing software(2D outta do it, but 3D could be very cool for added depth cues and smoke fx). Lots of what's going on in this picture has to do with a single exposure to the very same frame.

Hello from Solvang, CafeFX! (I'm actually down in LA as I write this though)

~Sarah (another one)

 

[Julio Quintana]

This effect is done by a long exposure on a SINGLE frame. So, by definition, a motion camera cannot replicate that exact photo over SEVERAL frames.

 

[Clint Johnson]

This effect is done by a long exposure on a SINGLE frame. So, by definition, a motion camera cannot replicate that exact photo over SEVERAL frames.

I think that the idea was to build the sequence to end with as close a match to the picture as we could get.

 

[David Wyatt]

Sounds a bit like the Red Hot Chili Peppers video for "Fortune Faded" - pretty cool effect, check it out here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=epkhJJxRftA

I'm not sure how they did it but I'd imagine it was some clever compositing.

INXS did something similar back in the day on their "New Sensation" promo but I think that was a combination of stills for the light blurs and motion picture for the normal bits - still a pretty cool promo, have a look here:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OMUILorWSMM

Good luck!

 

[MattGahan]

I would shoot the footage and expose for the person. Then in after effects motion track a particle emitter to the tip of the sparkler.

Trapcodes Particular is pretty awesome. I haven't ever tried to get a sparkler effect but I'm sure it could be done.

Here's a tutorial for Apple Motion. Same basic principles you'd use for after effects. http://www.motionsmarts.com/tutorials/finger/finger.html

 

[MiguelOrtega]

I would shoot the footage and expose for the person. Then in after effects motion track a particle emitter to the tip of the sparkler.

Trapcodes Particular is pretty awesome. I haven't ever tried to get a sparkler effect but I'm sure it could be done.

Here's a tutorial for Apple Motion. Same basic principles you'd use for after effects. http://www.motionsmarts.com/tutorials/finger/finger.html

yes but the thing is...i dont wann do it cg, i do too much of that...i want it in camera..just cause i wanna figure it out..



thanks guys

 

[MattGahan]

I should have looked at your website first. You clearly could have figured out my suggestion on your own.

 

[Sarah C.]

Ffwheew... Oh I see! That is a tough one. My first thought would be to simply "drag the shutter" of the Red, but at best that'll give you a blurred trail...not a total image like the still photo you are referencing. I'd be interested to see this experiment: shoot and drag the shutter, keep a normal fps, and comp all the relevant frames in a building-up/sequencial manner: if you had a 10 sec comp.. layer 1..frame #1(starting at 00:00:00) has the whole 10 sec. duration of the comp, layer 2(above layer 1)frame #2 is 9sec and 23frames long(starting at 00:00:01).. etc.. etc..

just a thought.. I know.. that's no fun because it drags you back to comping again...might be a cool fx

~Sarah
(fellow light bender = vfx)

 

[Max Brand]

I know this thread is from a while back, but I currently find myself in the same situation. Miguel, were you able to find anything out?