Hello filmmakers! My name is Clif Roberts, brand new member to the Stage 32 community. Here's hoping that I can make some new and interesting friends!
I live in Gainesville, FL where I, along with a few other creatives, am making a go at creating a turn-key solution for filmmaking needs in our area. My education certainly outweighs my actual experience, but I'm learning everyday about VFX, videography, and the use of storytelling to convey effective messaging in narrative as well as commercial works.
Most of the work I do now is in the advertising and marketing space, but am very proud to have been a part of a mainstream film release, 5-25-77.
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Welcome to the community, Clif Roberts. Thank you for your service. What genres of movies do you wanna make?
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Great to have you here, Clif!
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Maurice Vaughan I don't know that I've found a genre that I prefer making over another, though if I had to choose right now, I would drift towards sci-fi, horror/suspense. Those offer some great challenges for in-camera effects as well as visual effects, which I love working on.
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It’s great to meet you here in the community, Clif. So many great filmmakers cut their teeth in advertising, from Ridley Scott to David Fincher. I recommend checking out the Stage 32 education portal - there’s world class education here to support creatives like you grow and excel. You can browse all of Stage 32 education here at this link: https://www.stage32.com/education
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Hi there Cliff, welcome to Stage 32! In regards to your education outweighing your experience, that's a good place to be. To quote a good friend of mine that is a retired Visual Effects Editor Tom Bryant: "One does not know After Effects, one grows with it." Your education should be a life long endeavor - especially in Visual Effects :-) As a Cinematographer I've had to make sure the clean plates I got made the compositors job as easy as possible, so from the other side of that isle - I can't wait to get to learn more about you and your works.
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Welcome to the community, Clif! Glad you're here and hope you share your knowledge and continued journey with us!
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Welcome to the community :-) Looking forward to seeing you around the community!
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Cool, Clif Roberts. I write/watch those genres. What's an in-camera effect?
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Hey Clif! If VFX is where your interest lies definitely worth a career consultation with Tyler Winther! Write us at success@stage32.com and we’ll hook you up with a discount so he can help point you in the right direction!
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Maurice Vaughan , it's just referring to effects that can be created practically as opposed to being comped in post production. Techniques like Pepper's Ghost, which utilizes reflections to create ghostly images. If you've ever been on the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, it's how they project the ghosts. There are lots of ways to do special effects that can be enhanced in post production, as opposed to relying solely on post.
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Welcome to Stage 32!
Oh cool, Clif Roberts. I'm guessing in-camera effects are cheaper than CG.
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Maurice Vaughan not always; and it's not so much a cost saving measure, although in cases where an editor and compositor are trying to apply effects to a scene not set up for it, you could end up paying more in man-hours trying to get that done in post. It's more about having your actors react to something that is actually present, which informs better performance. And also, even if you do end up replacing the practical element with some comping later, the practical piece on camera gives great reference for light, dimension, and animation if applicable.
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Welcome aboard Clif Roberts Glad to meet you.
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Great
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Welcome to the community Cliff! I am the Director of Development Services at Stage 32. If my team and I can ever recommend any of our script services to help get your projects in front of the right executives, please email us directly at success@stage32.com. Always happy to help!
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Welcome to the Stage 32 community, Clif Roberts! We're so excited to have you here!
The best way to network here on Stage 32, is just to put yourself out there by posting, commenting, and connecting with people from all over the world. The best networking comes out of building genuine relationships. You can start by checking out the Post-Production and Filmmaking Lounges where you can join discussions with other VFX artists and filmmakers, pose questions that you may have, provide advice or insights, and share news/announcements that interest you.
You can find both lounges through the toolbar at the top of your browser window. Simply click on "Lounge", which will direct you to a new page listing all of the current lounges available to you. Then select "Post-Production" or "Filmmaking/Directing". I hope to see you over there!
Thanks for the insight, Clif Roberts. I've heard of directors doing tricks on set for night vision scenes. Is that an in-camera effect?
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Maurice Vaughan Dressing a scene for a night shot isn't strictly an in-camera effect, but separate elements to help convey the surrounding tone and mood could be. If you're looking to do a stormy night for example, lights can be set on a timed strobe effect to simulate lightning, and that would qualify.
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Maurice Vaughan This is a good breakdown of what generally qualifies as in-camera effects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-camera_effect
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Thanks for explaining and thanks for the link, Clif Roberts. It says in the article, "A popular example of this type of effect is seen in Star Trek, in which the camera is shaken to give the impression of motion happening on the scene." I've seen that in a lot of movies, but I didn't know it was an in-camera effect.