Hmm, not sure if gag is the right word - I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression! :-)

I had some fun at the weekend with some simple special effects tricks, and thought some people might like to see them...

They're not original, slick or clever, but they were fun, and might give someone an idea?...

trick 1 (http://www.coulsonmedia.co.uk/danrob.wmv)

trick 2 (http://www.coulsonmedia.co.uk/boxfall.wmv)

trick 3 (http://www.coulsonmedia.co.uk/danfall.wmv)

Interesting!

The first one seems to be a car overlay passing by while the actors lay on the ground. Simple, but effective.

The second and third I can't seem to figure out. It seems like you paused the frame and cut the actor/boxes out and placed that over the video, but I'm stumped as to how you "unpaused" it with another actor in the shot.

Let us in on your secret!

The second and third I can't seem to figure out. It seems like you paused the frame and cut the actor/boxes out and placed that over the video, but I'm stumped as to how you "unpaused" it with another actor in the shot.

Let us in on your secret!

Some simple rotoscoping in AE would accomplish this.

These kinds of things are always fun to play around with. Now, next assignment: do it again with handheld shots! :)

www.Videocopilot.net is just heaven for anyone who has After Effects!

those kinds of things are fun to do ... rotoscoping can be a pain in the butt

You don't really have to actually rotoscope these pieces. They can be done in After effects with masking layers and time freeze. As Chris says, good ole Andrew Kramer has a great tutorial at Videocopilot.net

Thanx for getting us inspired to think and expand our horizons. As a community we should all administer these little fun quizzes and share different ways to think about a problem

third one was done with photoshop I take it?
you erased part of his foot.
still nice though.

third one was done with photoshop I take it?
you erased part of his foot.
still nice though.

nope, it was all done in After Effects - a bit like photoshop, but for video, instead of still pictures.

The third one would've been much more convincing if the shadow (of the boy) hadn't disappeared when the freeze frame occurred.

The third one would've been much more convincing if the shadow (of the boy) hadn't disappeared when the freeze frame occurred.

Good point Mr eagle eyes, but funnily enough, you didn't mention that fact that the girl magically appears from nowhere! or can I get extra credit for making that a convincing effect? :-)

They're hardly perfect finished effects shots, worthy to be put up against Mr Lucas's best! I might have spent longer than 5 minutes putting them together in that case! :-)

They're hardly perfect finished effects shots, worthy to be put up against Mr Lucas's best!

I'm assuming you're not talking about the new Indiana Jones trailer. ;)