Visual effects

In a traditional sense, a jump cut is a transition used by filmmakers to show a time jump or a change of location during a film. However, when used creatively within a scene, a jump cut can be used to create an exciting visual effect.

In the following exercises you will find out how jump cuts can be used to create three different magical effects in your films.

What you'll need:

• Video camera (eg handicam, smartphone, tablet or DSLR)
• Tripod (don't have one? Get creative with these improvised versions)
• Video editing software (see our recommendations in the Editing module)

Some things to think about:

• Composition and lighting: Everything within your camera frame (except the things you want to move or disappear) need to stay consistent throughout the scene
• Spatial awareness: Depending on your desired outcome, you need to be aware of the actor's position in the scene
• Signifying event: Having an event to signal where to cut helps get your timing right. A loud sound works well
• Don’t stop filming: The jump cut will be created using your editing software
• No one way: The ways in which you can use jump cuts are only limited by your imagination

Let's get started. In our first jump cut activity, we're going to make an actor or object completely disappear!

Let's say you've found a magic kettle, and when you clap, it disappears.

Of course, the kettle is only an example! You could try this with any object or actor. Having a clap, or another quick sound, at the moment of disappearing will help you get the timing right.

Now, let's turn this into a real disappearing act in your editing software.

How did it go? I bet, if you really put your mind to it, you could make the kettle reappear using the same technique...

Time to put your new trick to work in your project!

You can use jump to create the illusion that something or someone in the frame changes appearance in a split second.

For example, let’s say you're heading on a trip to Hawaii. You click your fingers and voila, you're wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Again, a signifying event (like a click or clap) will help you to get your cut exactly right in post-production.

You can also use a jump cut to change the appearance of an object, like transforming an empty pot into a pot with a plant in it.

It's important to be aware of the actor or the object’s position in the frame. It can totally ruin the illusion if the actor or the object changes position. Some strategies to help with this might be to mark your position on the floor with masking tape or chalk, or take a photo of the frame to mark positions within it so you can get back into the same position.

Now, follow the steps below to create your very own instant change.

The jump cut requires attention to detail and allows us to create the illusion of instantly changing from one location to another.

This use of the jump cut here can be tricky, and pulling it off requires your actors to be in a similar position within the frame in both the first and second locations.

Unlike the change of clothes jump cut, you won't be able to mark your position on the ground, so your film crew will need to be really on the ball regarding the actor's position in the frame and distance from the camera. 

Slight shifts in position won’t totally ruin this effect, after all, if popular sci-fi has taught us anything, it's that something always goes wrong with teleportation. It could also be fun to mix it up, maybe a purposeful change in position can add drama to your scene, for instance, you might land too close to a dangerous object or on the wrong side of a door. Maybe, if a group of people are teleporting your actors could arrive in a rearranged order, or maybe one won’t arrive at all!

It can be a good idea to add in a few seconds of the location your actors are leaving (or entering) to show they've just left it or have yet to arrive. Just record a little bit of the location without your actors to edit in where you need it.

To add a little something extra to the teleportation jump cut, you can try the dissolve or 'a fading teleport'.

This can work at either, or both ends of the teleportation and can be really cool. You need to record about five or ten seconds of empty footage of the space you are teleporting from and/or to.

In the editing stage, place this after (for teleporting from) or before (for teleporting to) when you leave or arrive. Next, add a simple cross dissolve effect between the shot of the empty space and the space with actors in it. Make sure you get the order right.

Keying, or chroma keying, is a simple visual effect that allows us to make parts of what's in our camera frame disappear or become transparent. Chroma keying is often used in conjunction with a green screen so some other background or footage can be layered into the scene.

The part of the video we remove is based on colour.

Today the colour used is almost always green, but in the past blue screens have also been used. So why do we use these colours? And are there are colours that can be used? You'll find out soon enough but first here is a list of what you will need to complete the activities in this lesson.

What you'll need:

• Video recording device
• Tripod or static stabilisation support
• Video editing software
• A chroma-key backdrop (green screen)

Some things to remember when keying:

• Composition: Your frame will need to stay consistent throughout the scene, making sure the green screen takes up the whole frame
• Lighting: It's best if your lighting stays consistent throughout the scene. This will make it easier to key out later
• Spatial awareness: Remember to stay on the green screen to get the best result
• Have fun: This is a creative and fun activity, let your imagination run wild
• Location location location: Be creative with your new location. Think of going somewhere that you wouldn’t normally be able to go to, like outer space or an erupting volcano.

This simple activity will help you to understand which colours key well and why some colours are better for keying than others.

What you'll need

• A range of objects. Try to get as many different colours as you can.
• A stack of different coloured papers in a range of colours. Try to get red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange.
• A digital camera or cameras.
• Video editing software.
• A background image.

This exercise will see your actors transported to a whole new world (cue Aladdin song) or location just like magic. Try to have a reason why your actors will be in this new setting, as it will seem strange if suddenly, the movie location changes to somewhere unusual. Depending on the size of green screen you have, you may only be able to film mid shots and closeups rather than long shots

Use Google Image Search to find a location that is wild and wonderful, somewhere that your actors wouldn’t be able to go, but that fits with the movie script.

Using the tools options of Google Image Search, set the usage rights to "Labelled for Reuse". This means you can use the image without infringing the image maker's copyright. You should also set the size to larger than 6MBs, this means your image won't pixelate when it's enlarged.

Find a space large enough to hang your keying fabric and set your camera up on a tripod in front of it. Make sure your whole frame is taken up by the green of the fabric. If there are any areas not covered they won't be keyed and it could look odd in your film.

This exercise will allow you to create some fun and special monster or horror effects. By using the magic of the green screen and keying, not just to take you somewhere amazing, but to affect their own bodies in the movie. Your actors could lose an arm or a leg or even lose their heads. You will need some extra chroma key material to wrap around your limbs. We've demonstrated how you can achieve this effect in the video below.

Prepare

Use Google Image Search to find a location that fits with the movie script, remembering the tools options you used in exercise one.

Find a space large enough in your classroom to hang your keying fabric and set your camera up on a tripod in front of it, making sure your whole frame is taken up by the green of the fabric. If there are any areas not covered, then they won't be keyed and it could look funny in your movie.

Ensure your actor is wearing the keying clothes before the scene starts so that they don't lose their heads during the scene, or try combining this with a jump cut so that they do.

This extension requires a little extra coordination and two actors to play the same character. One actor will be the 'body' and another actor will be the 'head' being carried by the body. The actor playing the body will need to wear a chroma key hood that covers their whole head, you can get thin ones that are see-through from the inside. The actor playing the head will need to wrap their entire body in chroma key cloth, or wear a full body chroma key outfit. During filming, the 'head' will follow and be held by the 'body'.

Well done you've mastered chroma keying. Next up, layering and masking.

Layering is something that most video editors can achieve. It requires you to shoot a second reel of footage that you then can layer over the top of your original footage. This effect can be used to create really fun or really spooky effects in your video, or you can go really wild and create mind-bending double-exposure effects.

Masking can be used in conjunction with layering, can allow you to show or hide different parts of your footage, this enables you to make composite videos (two - or more - videos joined together to create one video).

In the following exercises, we will examine how we can use layering and masking in simple ways to add some cool VFX to your film.

What you'll need:

• Video recording device
• Tripod or static stabilisation support
• Video editing software

Some things to remember when layering or masking:

• Composition: Your frame should stay consistent throughout the scene. This will make it easier to add in your extra layer of footage
• Lighting: It will be best if your lighting stays consistent throughout the scene, this will make everything easier at the editing stage
• Space: When working with layering to create overlapping videos, you need to be aware of the position your actors take up in the frame to make sure the different layered videos don’t occupy the same space at the same time.

Effect: Screen overlay

This exercise will allow you to insert a clip into another clip to make it appear that your characters are watching something on a screen such as a TV, computer, tablet or phone. This can mean your characters can watch something or even interact with another character via a telecall/facetime call. 

Tip: When filming for this effect, make sure your camera is on a tripod and that the screen you're replacing stays still (really still). If the screen you're replacing is moving, then the overlayed footage that you're inserting will stay static while the screen behind it will wobble which can break the illusion.

In the effects options, your video editor will have the ability to re-scale, transform and re-position clips in your video. Different video editors will have different methods of doing this. If you get stuck try looking in the program’s help menu or a quick Google search will help.

Make sure you have the in-set clip selected and then scale, transform, and position it to cover the screen in your main clip.

Have you ever wanted to be a twin? Well, this is your chance. This exercise will allow the same actor to be on screen as two different characters/people at the same time.

Using layering and masking to film your actor twice on in the same location before bringing them together into that location using your editing software. This is good to experiment with as it allows you to shoot on location out in the world.

Preparation

Before filming it’s really important to figure out if the ‘clones’ are going to interact with one another if they’re going to have a conversation, then you’ll need to time each half and be aware of timing when you’re filming each twin, or you could get someone to stand-in and read the lines while you film each twin to help get the timing right.

You will need to be aware of your actors’ position within the frame. A good way of keeping things simple when filming (and in editing) is to allocate one area for each twin and have your actor stay within those bounds.

Have you ever wondered if ghosts exist? Well, wonder no longer as you create your own ghostly scene in your movie! This effect is achieved by layering a scene shot on a green screen over the top of a scene shot normally on location. When layering, we reduce the opacity to create a ‘ghost’ effect. This effect will allow your actors or objects in your scene to interact with, or be affected by, a ghostly figure, played by another actor. This can be fun if your film is a ghost story or if you’re exploring ideas of the supernatural!

Preparation

This type of effect requires pre-planning before the shoot. In particular, you’ll need to plan out the movements and position of your actors and objects in both the main clip and the clip to be layered (the over clip). As your ghost will be filmed on a green screen, you’ll need to guesstimate and transpose the position and timing of the actors from your main clip to the green screen. Having the main clip available as a visual reference and using some masking tape can be helpful.