Hit by a car! at DVinfo.net

Alex Sprinkle · January 23rd, 2007, 04:09 PM

Ok, so I'm trying to learn how to make it look like someone was hit by a car. Preferably from a distance, but close is fine for now. Any ideas? After Effects? Shake?

Nick Jushchyshyn · January 23rd, 2007, 05:24 PM

Storyboard? Shot description?
Potential answers really depend on what exactly you would like to show in the shot.

Alex Sprinkle · January 23rd, 2007, 06:53 PM

shot from across the street, zoomed to fit the char. walking. Turns to jaywalk as the shot pans back, walking almost toward the camera. Then, car!

Nick Jushchyshyn · January 23rd, 2007, 11:16 PM

Shoot a clean plate of the background scene. Both with video and still cameras. (always good to have plenty of clean plate material to work with)

Shoot the chracter action up to the point of getting hit "live" with moving, zooming character.
For the car, if it's going to drive right through the frame without stopping, you could use an animated, blurred still image of the car.
If you plan to have the car screach to a halt, shoot that on location against a clean background using a locked off camera.

Matchmove/animate the car on the character walking plate.

For the character impact, shoot few plates with locked off camera of the character reacting to the "hit" in different ways. Falling onto a cusion whatever. Should only last a few frames each, so whether you use green/bluescreen or not doesn't matter much because you can use roto to cut a mask of what you need. You can even take your favorite leg motions from one take with your favorite torso/arm motions from another.

At the point of impact, roto out your character from the original plate, replacing with clean background to fit, and insert your hybrid impact character to taste.

Well ... that's one way anyway .... lots of options.
Either AE Pro or Shake would be effective for this.

Sean Mewshaw · January 24th, 2007, 05:45 PM

We achieved this very effect for a recent DV project in FCPHD alone, with just a quick 8-point mask and well-timed cut... Take a look at the last shot of this 30 second trailer, to get a sense of the results...

http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/conten...B9855B3C4E348B

I had shot the scene with a locked off camera (separate shots of actor reacting to car hit, and car screeching into frame), but then also shot it hand-held, and for our purposes the two handheld shots composited together fine.

Clearly, the rough compositing is compensated for by the quick editing and strong sound fx, but regardless, this shot has gotten tremendous reactions in all our screenings...

The horse stuff on the otherhand, is just able stuntwork...

Lee Wilson · January 26th, 2007, 03:58 PM

Look at the last 20 seconds of this little piece - step through frame by frame - should give you some good direction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAmljaj5stA

Lee

Alex Sprinkle · January 29th, 2007, 12:44 AM

Yeah, I've seen this. It's hard to get YT files to play frame by frame though. Ideas?

Andrew Clunie · June 11th, 2007, 04:45 PM

This is quite an easy effect to achieve. Put the camera on the tripod and film a road, then film your actor walk onto the road and react to being hit by a car. Then film a car driving (make sure the camera hasn't moved) then in after effects, mask them together and keyframe the motion of your actor for a more realistic collision. Using this method, you can achieve something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqDLA6VSOCo

Aric Mannion · June 12th, 2007, 10:17 AM

Either get a stuntman or a dummy. The simplest car crash effect I saw was in "run lola run". A it was practicly a wipe effect compositing a guy lying down with an ambulance driving by shot from above. Or if you can see "panty hoes heros" There's a good example for a stuntman... although he spent a long time in the hospital and may have been crippled.
Yeah, just do the wipe effect with a 4 point matte, you can shoot from above or the side it's the easiest.

January 23rd, 2007, 04:09 PM	#1
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	Hit by a car! Ok, so I'm trying to learn how to make it look like someone was hit by a car. Preferably from a distance, but close is fine for now. Any ideas? After Effects? Shake?

January 23rd, 2007, 05:24 PM	#2
Nick Jushchyshyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Posts: 548	Storyboard? Shot description? Potential answers really depend on what exactly you would like to show in the shot. __________________ Nick Jushchyshyn Matchmoving, Compositing, TD imdb

January 23rd, 2007, 11:16 PM	#4
Nick Jushchyshyn Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Posts: 548	Shoot a clean plate of the background scene. Both with video and still cameras. (always good to have plenty of clean plate material to work with) Shoot the chracter action up to the point of getting hit "live" with moving, zooming character. For the car, if it's going to drive right through the frame without stopping, you could use an animated, blurred still image of the car. If you plan to have the car screach to a halt, shoot that on location against a clean background using a locked off camera. Matchmove/animate the car on the character walking plate. For the character impact, shoot few plates with locked off camera of the character reacting to the "hit" in different ways. Falling onto a cusion whatever. Should only last a few frames each, so whether you use green/bluescreen or not doesn't matter much because you can use roto to cut a mask of what you need. You can even take your favorite leg motions from one take with your favorite torso/arm motions from another. At the point of impact, roto out your character from the original plate, replacing with clean background to fit, and insert your hybrid impact character to taste. Well ... that's one way anyway .... lots of options. Either AE Pro or Shake would be effective for this. __________________ Nick Jushchyshyn Matchmoving, Compositing, TD imdb

January 24th, 2007, 05:45 PM	#5
Sean Mewshaw Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Portland, ME Posts: 28	Even simpler? We achieved this very effect for a recent DV project in FCPHD alone, with just a quick 8-point mask and well-timed cut... Take a look at the last shot of this 30 second trailer, to get a sense of the results... http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/conten...B9855B3C4E348B I had shot the scene with a locked off camera (separate shots of actor reacting to car hit, and car screeching into frame), but then also shot it hand-held, and for our purposes the two handheld shots composited together fine. Clearly, the rough compositing is compensated for by the quick editing and strong sound fx, but regardless, this shot has gotten tremendous reactions in all our screenings... The horse stuff on the otherhand, is just able stuntwork...

January 23rd, 2007, 06:53 PM	#3
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	shot from across the street, zoomed to fit the char. walking. Turns to jaywalk as the shot pans back, walking almost toward the camera. Then, car!

January 26th, 2007, 03:58 PM	#6
Lee Wilson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 376	Look at the last 20 seconds of this little piece - step through frame by frame - should give you some good direction. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAmljaj5stA Lee

January 29th, 2007, 12:44 AM	#7
Alex Sprinkle Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Moore, Oklahoma Posts: 408	Yeah, I've seen this. It's hard to get YT files to play frame by frame though. Ideas?

June 11th, 2007, 04:45 PM	#8
Andrew Clunie New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: London, England Posts: 12	This is quite an easy effect to achieve. Put the camera on the tripod and film a road, then film your actor walk onto the road and react to being hit by a car. Then film a car driving (make sure the camera hasn't moved) then in after effects, mask them together and keyframe the motion of your actor for a more realistic collision. Using this method, you can achieve something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqDLA6VSOCo

June 12th, 2007, 10:17 AM	#9
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	Either get a stuntman or a dummy. The simplest car crash effect I saw was in "run lola run". A it was practicly a wipe effect compositing a guy lying down with an ambulance driving by shot from above. Or if you can see "panty hoes heros" There's a good example for a stuntman... although he spent a long time in the hospital and may have been crippled. Yeah, just do the wipe effect with a 4 point matte, you can shoot from above or the side it's the easiest.