Episode 004 - Make Day into Night, Shrimps into Giants, and Actors Fall to their Death

Tim is chasing Ashley, but for what? She looks scared out of her wits. Also Josh is caught in a building fire, and it's up to Tim and Arris to save him.

Episode Run time - 12:09

Day for Night Effect
The first thing you want to make sure of is not to show the sky.
 * Difficulty: Easy
 * Needs:
 * the Sun
 * Editing Software
 * Cost: $0

''"Unless you can do sky replacement, it's a dead give away." ''-Ryan

Ryan recommend to get as much in camera in possible before going into post-production.
 * 1) Set the correct exposure in camera. Shift your white balance from Daylight to Tungsten or Indoor. This will shift everything to blue.
 * 2) Now drop your exposure between 2-4 stops by adjusting gain, iris (aperture) or shutter, preferably gain or iris. If you increase your shutter speed too much, it will look choppy.
 * 3) Wait for clouds to block the sun for diffused light. You can also do this on an overcast day. Shoot your footage.
 * 4) Now import your footage into your editing suite and tweak the mids, shadows or highlights.
 * 5) Add a blue filter and desaturate. Ta-da! Day for night!

Day for Almost Night Effect
(I guess we could just said "Same as Day for Night" and saved us all a lot of time...) -Bumper
 * Difficulty: Easy
 * Needs:
 * the Sun
 * Editing Software
 * Cost: $0

Day for Almost Night is pretty much the same as Day for Night except for two things, according to Ryan.

First, there are no tweaks in the camera settings. All of the color corrections are done in post production. Second, break the no-sky rule.

The Giant Effect
This effect is a practical, visual effect and is a play on perspective. To further sell the effect, have the actors interact with an object, like a sheet. To it look like someone is really high up or that they are a giant looking down to you:
 * Difficulty: Easy
 * Needs:
 * Actors
 * Camera
 * Cost: $0
 * 1) Have your actors stand next to each other.
 * 2) Move one actor away from the camera until they are at the desired height. Have the moving actor look where the other actor should be and not where they actually are.
 * 1) The actor standing farthest from the camera will hold a sheet with an assistant to hold the other end.
 * 2) Have the actor standing closest to the camera block the assistant and guide their hands to match up with the sheet.

You can also do this in reverse if you want to shoot the actor looking up towards a giant, something in the sky, a man on a building, etc.
 * 1) Your actor will stand on a ladder with assistants to steady the ladder.
 * 2) Shoot the actor from a low angle.
 * 1) Stand on a ladder with assistants to steady the ladder.
 * 2) Have the actor stand in front the the ladder and film them from a high angle.

Man Falling off Building Effect
You will need software and a green screen. Many non-linear video editing software will allow you to do keying. The green screen, however, may cost a little bit depending on the option you choose. While doing the effect itself cost nothing, the required equipment will have a cost. That said, you can buy thick, bright green fabric or you can also paint cardboard or foam board bright green and have those act as your green screen.
 * Difficulty: Medium/Hard
 * Needs:
 * Green Screen
 * Adobe After Effects
 * Cost: $0
 * 1) Put your actor in front the green screen. Have them lay on their side and pretend to fall and film.
 * 2) Bring your footage into your timeline in After Effects and key out the green using the Color Key or Keylight preset.
 * 3) *For more details about color key, see for Corridor Digital's "Shoot Your Friends: Greenscreen" on YouTube.
 * 4) Add position points on the timeline so that your actor moves downward.
 * 5) *Move the clip of your actor on top so that their body is out of frame. Set a keyframe for this position.
 * 6) *Advance 2-4 frames forward (Page Down), depending on how fast you want your actor to fall. Move the position of the clip below the frame and set a keyframe for the position there.
 * 7) Add motion blur to the clip of the falling actor.
 * 8) Using the Pen Tool (g), mask out any foreground elements that you want your actor to fall behind. And done!

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