Cinemagic #17 (1982)

Aigilt: John Jardine plays an Amencan soldier In Vlel Nam In Brandon Reynolds' film Quitting Time. Reynolds wrote. directed and produced Ihe 2tJ minute Super~ him. 8elow; Brandon Reynolds plays a Vlel Cong soldier In Oulrtlflg Time, which is one of the many Independent trims announced In thiS Issue's Producers' Bulletin Board sectron See page 16

Below: Film dips from The Deadly Spawn show actress Eillua Nerl"s head berng savagely anacked and eaten by an air en creature The film clip on the e~lreme left shows the actress With a latex appliance gash on her cheek. Hie other two clips are insens of a mechanrcal head created by Arnold Garguilo. See page Z8

CONTENTS

Editor

'

s Bench

4

Scriptwriting,

Part 3

Davkl Houston tells you how to turn a film treatment into a shooting script in the final installment in his series on scriptwriting.

How Low Can

You Go?

The fine art of production managing for

low budget films.

By Larry Contino.

Filmmakers

'

Forum

_

_ _

A regular department devoted to readers' comments'and correspondence about fantasy filmmaking.

Super-8

Spoofers

_

17

Chris Callaghan and Bob Griffith talk about their many Super-S spoof films that they show at science fiction conven-tions. By John Clayton.

Electronic

Special

Effects

,

Build your own light "chaser" circuit to simulate computer banks, miniature runways and more with this flashing LED circuit

By

Chris Stevens

.

CINEMAGIC/

8VAContest

Rules

Get an early jump on your competition by knowing what's expected of this year's entries in the CINEMAGIC/SVA Short Film Search-I 982.

Iss

u

e

#1

7

Producers'

Bulletin

Board

_{_ _ _ _}

₂₆

-

,

'

.

_ _

-...J

Secrets of

Graphic

Gore

_{_ _}

_{_}

_{_}

₂₈

How to tear off a woman's face and leave nothing behind but a battered, smashed bloody pulp clinging to skeletal remains.

By John

Dods.

Cinemagic

Marketplace

34

Oassllied advertising and announce-ments.

Issue /I. 17

Publlahedby

O'QUINN STUDIOS, INC.

475 Park Ave. South New York. NY 10016

PubUmen

Norman Jacobs/Kerry O'Quinn

.... aod.te

PubUsher Rita Eisenstein Clrcul.tlon DIrector Richard Browne Editor David Hutchison

Art

Director Steven J. Plunkett Managing Editor John Clayton Senior De8lgner Neil Holmes

E4Itorial Contributors

Chris Callaghan Larry Confino John Dods Bob Griffith David Houston Chris E. Stevens De.lgoers Diane Cook Shelly Marks Leah Rachlis

Production ...

launta

Joan Baetz. Eileen Dempsey Norma Garcia Cindy Levine Sue Oster

Founder of

CIKEMAGlC Don Dohler

About the tover: John Doell! treated this grisly mutlll!ltlon d I!I woman's severed head for the Fllmllne Communltatlooll release. The Deadly Spawn, which was produced by Ted Bohus. See Dods' article about creallng graphic: gore makeup on page 28. Cover photo by John Dods.

4 ONEMAG/C If. 17

Editor's

BENCH

SNIPS & TRIMS

I

t been saving up like seems one column sceevery year is ne trims stored on a spare reel. So now devoted to odd comments and remarks I can unwind that a biL I've After much intraoffice discussion we have decided to add an experimental video category to this year's film contest Obviously video is not the ideal format for the fantasy filmm1,lker who requires a lot of frame by frame animation--a situation I discussed at some length last month. But effects do not make a fantasy film ... the HOI)' does. So if you have a fantasy script (or SF or horror) thatdoesn't require effects and you get over the editing hurdle (lml if you are working in video, you may enter the contesL I think we will all be very curious to see what, if anything, is submitted.

I've mentioned before that the most asked question that comes across my desk is: "Should I go to film school, or should I just get a job in the industry and work my way up?" Well. now d new wrinkle has been added: "Should I learn on video or film?" At a recent film seminar at N.Y.U"lee Dicter (re-recording engineer, OI'lIlhl/'{/p. Hol/m't'r. FOllr Frjl'mll) suggests sticking to film. He believes that people who come up through filmmaking afe more disciplined and know much more about the art of image mak· ing than their video cousins.

In place of the usual Careers piece in this month's issue, there is an article from Larry Confino ("How low Can You Go"'). whose experiences as a first·time-out pro, duction manager on a low·budget film will give you some idea of what the business is like when you are just starting out

David Houston concludes his 3'part series, "Everything There Is To Know About S<:riplwriting For Short Films In Three Virtually Impossible lessons:' by creating a final shooting script If you are a new reader. I urge you to acquire the first two parts of this series. You simply won't find this information (l/Iy"IIl'fe else and it will be a couple of years before we return to the subject. S<:riptwriting always seems to be the /(I~'I thing that a professional filmmaker learns. Unfortunately. a lot of film has gone through the camera before the average filmmaker learns the basics of scriptwriting, so here's your chance to get a good head start.

Among the interesting articles we have scheduled for the rest of this year is an article on home computers and movie making. A few filmmakers have already started to take advantage of the revolution in home computer hardware and are using the computers to control their Super.S cameras. These mini·Dykstraflexes produce some quite startling imagery and remove some of the drudgery from animation by au· tomatizing the mechanics of the craft. (Your editor is currenUy saving his free·lance nickels and dimes for an Apple 111.)

Even though. I rarely find the time to write individual replies to your letters, J appreciate your comments about the magaz.ine and suggestions for articles, Many of our readers have been making good use of Filmmakers' Forum. Since names and addresses are published. it is possible for aU of our readers to help each other with problems, or suggest techniques. or just find out about other fantasy filmmakers in their area. I get a lot of mail from people who claim that they are the only CINEMAGIC filmmaker within 100 miles. but CiNEMAGIC helps them stay in touch,

Good filmmaking!

-David Hutchison

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Everything There Is To Know About

Scriptwriting For Short Films

In Three Virtually Impossible Lessons

Lesson Three: Turning A Film Treatment Into A Shooting Script

O

brought into ut of several young filmmakers existence in Les-son One (animators, makeup

and costume designers, etc.) we turned out, in Lesson Two, to be model

builders and animators ;n search of a script that will use to the hilt our special

talents.

OUT starting point. a battle in outer space, went through thellumerous difficult

s

tage

s of

the

creative

pr

ocess,

in lesson

One. to become a full-fledged story idea. In

a nutshell:

Two planets are at war. The daughter of the commander of one fleet loves the son of the commander of the opposing fleet and the kids have a plan: they will change

places and become hostages. compelling

their fathers to sit down and talk peace. In Lesson Two. that single paragraph was expanded into several pages that were, in essence, a detailed description of a movie that doesn'\ exist yet-much as you'd describe one you've just seen to a friend. That was the Film Treatment.

It was written in third person and present tense, the way the pros do it. and con-tained all the scenes. in order, roughly de-scribed, with much of the dialog approxi

-mated, (There would be comparatively less actual dialog in the treatment for a full

-6 CINEMAGIC

#

17

By DAVID

HOUSTON

length movie: ours is a low-budget 15-minute extravaganza with post-dubbed sound and consequently a minimum of dialog.)

That Film Treatment must now be

transmuted into a Shooting Script--an older term for which is "shot list," which is what it really is: a list. in sequence, of every separate time the camera equipment is

turned on and off.

What follows is a blueprint for a "master scene" type of shooting script of the sort used (with minor variations) in the movie and TV industry all over America. Miracu

-lously, if you adhere to this format. one page of script will equal roughly one min-ute of running time of the finished, edited, picture-whether the page is mainly dia-log, description, camera directioM or what (If by some happy circumstance you find yourself doing a professional shooting script for a certain production company. find out what peculiarities in format that company likes. Otherwise. consider the blueprint here workable and average,)

Typing with pica, not elite, type, set your page so thal the left edge is at zero on the carriage gauge. Set margins and tabula-tions so that sequence (shot) numbers fall at 20: directions are from IS to 75: dialog falls between 30 and 60: parenthetical

bus-iness falls between 40 and 55: character

names are at 45; transitions are at 60; and page numbers, at the top, are at 75. (These terms will become clear later; just re-member where you saw these numbers; common as they are, you don't see them in print very often.)

Vertical spacing is as follows: the page number is 3 spaces down from the top of the page (on the right so a binder won't hide it); the first line of script is

3

spaces under the page number, Single space, as a rule, but double-space after each shot or sequence:between paragraphs of descrip-tion, between characters who speak within a single shot or sequence, and after transi-tion instructransi-tions.

A "master scene" script typically lumps together IInder one shot nllmhN

"n

Ihf' little pieces of a dialog interchange, even though there are numerous separate runs of the camera. In this way, a "shot" number becomes a "sequence" number. Under thai number, the separate camera runs can be given letter designations--as you would for a sub-category in any out-line. There's no hard rule here; number each shot as vou think best.

To clarify the jargon and gibberish in those last few paragraphs, look at Figure 1. which is page one from the non-existent

script of our movie, which still has the

awful working title:

Romeo

and

Juliet

in

Space

.

Below are notes keyed to elements of that page:

A-Title appears only on page one. Other information such as author(s), pro-duction company, copyright. registration with writers' guild, and date of this revision of the script. appear on a previous title page.

B-The

only

~ that comes

to

mind which does not "fade in" is Cl

ose

Encoun

-te

rs

of the Third Kind, which sort of

bumps in,

C-Shot number. Sequence number if more than one run of the camera falls within it (10).

O-EXT. for exterior; INT. for interior. This refers to the look of the finished prod -uct. not actuality. Even though a street scene Is filmed inside a sound stage, it Is still EXT. You can't get more EXT. than outer space.

E-Identiflcation of the setting.

F-Normally, this is where one desig

-nates DAY or NIGHT to indicate continuity

and lighting conditions; but outer space

has neither. This parenthetical bit

of infor

-mation (SFX) is added to indicate the type

of footage involved: special effccts.

Inci-dentally, FX is universally taken to mean

effects, but at some studios. SFX means

sound effects.

G-Camera instructions are empha· sized by the use

of all capitals

. as are

vari-ous other key words.

H-If additional opening titles and cred -its are used. they are listed and described each as a separate mini·shot. with the background described between each one.

I-A line

of directions

(15 to 75).

J-Character names.

as they

fall

within paragraphs of direction, are set in aU caps, at least the first time they are mentioned. In this script. t would capitalize them always (because it's a short script and the charac -ters have no proper names), and I would think of the space ships as characters.

K-Transitions (60). This is where you place descriptions of the editorial connec -tors: CUT, DISSOLVE. SWISH·PAN, WIPE.

L-The relative sizes of picture images,

as determined by camera lenses. are set in caps. Generally. the basic deSignations are CLOSEUP. MEDIUM SHOT and LONG

SHOT (sometimes WIDE SHOT), which

are qualified by the words

ex

treme

and

medium to

produce sUe relative image des·

ignations. These are often lIbbreviated: CU. MS. LS, ECU, MCU. and MLS,

M--Each setting is brieny described as it

is introduced, The characters who appear

,

.

A. title PAnES OUT, In enOrMOUS AED COAHAND SIIIP rocket. Into ,18 .. ,

CUT TO,

-@

2 EXT. OUTKR SPACE (8ATT~ SPX)

AnoUMr &I">!le, 'l"wo ... lft '~KITE PIGIM'ERS 10011 Into the .eeno, quickly ro lo ... d by three "",re. The rive c~nC. Urine: upon the •••• Iv. RED COMMAND SIIIP, which rlre. bright Iller bl •• t, in ret.ll, t lon, A rey .trike. .nd cripple. • WHITE PIGIIT:>!!, .. hlch t .... bl . . to ... rd the .urr.c. or the AJil) C:OlOllJiD SIIlP,

CUT '1"0,

) EX't. Out"ER SPACK (8A1"TU SYX)

,

l'IEDIUM CLOD SIIOT or IW'r.ce Dr AED COIOl,\.BD SillP . . ~IIITE

PIOH'l'li:R i ....

ctt

and .... porl, . . In I cloud ct

n,...,

.nd epllnwr,. Ct;':' TO,

UT. COKlWlD CIDi'rli:R, RED COlOWilO SHlP _ DAY (AR'!'ll'lClAL)

SeUi,.. I t .. 11dly technolo&lcel, colorful but I"UncU .... l. 1I.ln Iccent color 11 Rill), which Indlvldulte, COlt...-, " ... 11. SI-.ot

11 MBDIOM LOIIO, wtt.h RED COIOUJlDER .nd nlO .&1t/&$ ( . . tru) In rOJ'l&r<>Wld, Sitting .Ibr. t ... . nd lurchol .. ith Io'lIl'l"E 1'1GtrrKR looplct.

~ RED COHM.&BDER etudl ... hi' Inltrullent' Int.nt17~ RRD COlUWlD&A - '

tp\

(.lo .. ly, very worried) ~

rR\.

Ke .. p u, on cour.e. Reldl' the r>eJlt -

tQ\

~ Ittlck r"rc... ---..::::; CAMERA doiliel (Dr &00 •• ) p •• t the RRD COHMA~DER and , lngl., out I clblnet __ oue or 0I.nY--11ollE an out-of-the- ... )" ... 11. '!"he

cabln,t door open. ~r.du.117. the hand of the OIRL Ilip. Into dght.

DISSOLVE 'rD.

SUBSCRIBE TO

If you are a young filmmaker with a special interest in science fiction.

special effects and the limitless magic of the cinema ...

THI5 15

YOUR MAGAZIHE

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prodU(toOr1 secretsJ Step-by-step ~

'ustfa:ed ande:s 0011,1'119 methods you can use 10 create \fISlJ<'I1 effects, ma~eup

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'''''''''

,

Srn(l(<WI CII«t. Of mont"(OIOt' 0""",," 10

OOuorY! Stuooos. Inc

"IY

FIGURE

1.

\

~I

"I[

~1

)

...

---~

I

I

;

(t'..11'!ays

be

lQl1

yo

u

r

within the shot are listed with the descrip-tion.

N---A new paragraph for acto(s direc-tions.

O--Character name (45), in all caps.

P-Parenthetical business (40 to 55). If

this is more extensive than two or three words, it should be set in paragraph form as directions, as was done with line N.

Q-Dialog (30 to 60). It keeps this nar-row 30-character line even if the speech goes on for pages.

R-These words should have been capi-talized.

S-T

ransition to the

shot

that

begins the

next page.

IF

a shot is continued on the

next page. this is where the word

CON-TINUED appears. On the next page, the

shot number is repeated. followed by the

word CONTINUED.)

What follows now are extraneous tidbits

and tips that have not I1t into the natural

flow of things as this series of articles

developed.

8 ONEMAG/C # 17

RULE TWELVE: Always be prepared to kill your children. Giving birth to ideas is rather like giving birth to babies: once fully formed, you lend to love them no matter how rotten they are, Be critical! If. at any stage. you find yourself trying to wedge a square brainstorm into a round hole in the story-don't! Dump it no matter how

much it hurts if you can't justify its co

ntri-bution to your scripL

This rule is nowhere more applicable

than at the editing stage. when you'll be tempted to include every inch of film that

isn't damaged by fire or flood---:iust

be-cause you made

it

Be

selective! Better to kill several hundred feet of redundant

foot-age than to kill your audience's involve-ment in the film,

When selecting typography for your

credits, choosing music, deSigning sets, or anything else. and you feel stumped-try

anything. but never lose sight of Rule Nine:

see what's suggested by what you've al-ready got: don't go shopping in some

other story. Only Rule Nine (in Lesson One) insures the integrity of your work,

de-termines that every tiny piece of it belongs

in that story and no other,

There are probably hundreds of books

on scriptwriting. The best I've found is Film

Scriplwriting by Dwight V, Swain, pu b-lished by Hastings House in 1976. Industry

practices have changed a trifle since then,

here and there. but the book is awesomely complete.

The best book on dramatic structure I've

ever read is Lajos Egrfs The Art. o(

Dra-matic Writing, Simon and Schuster. origi. nally published in 1946. but the

informa-tion is timeless,

(The stories developed in this series are not copyrighted. Help yourself. In fact,

ClNEJ.\.A.GIC would love to see any films using ideas from them. For that matter,let us know if you find a better title for Romeo and Juliet in Space.)

Enough said_ Why fritter away your

valu-able time reading magazines? Get to work

on that screenplay!

This concludes ClNEJ.\.A.GIC's three part series on scriptwriting for short films, Les-son One appeared in issue # 15 and Les-son Two appeared in issue # 16. If you do not have these issues we strongly urge you to refer to the back issue order form

else-where in this issue. (Jf

David Houston was STARLOG

magazines first editor-in-chief. and later

a

frequent conlributor. He

is

author 0( numerous nouels including Alien

Perspective, Gods in a Vortex and the six

Tales of Tomorrow books (rom Leisure Publications. He has turned novels intTo screenplays and screenplays Inlo novels, and

was

story

COI1Suluml (or seueral recent (Ums. He wrote and directed the TV special They Went to the Stars, aboul liue science fiction on early television.

His screenplay Invaders at Ground Zero Is in preproducUon for filming in

1982.

His

firsl "exhibited" movie

was

an Bmm

super-extrauaganza made

eons

ago

in high school.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Production Managing a

Low Budget

Non-Union Feature Film For Fun

and

Profit

.

"Look,

/

can't stand

it

anymore.

rue been working

for

36

hours

straight;

without

a break./ really

can't

keep

going

like this

.

I'm going to

drop

..

.

"

A

fter a long period labor without sleep. I of hard physical found myself

appealing to the human side of a

hard-nosed unit production man·

ager. I felt abused and overworked. but the

production manager was faced with a

deadline to complete a horror picture thai was already problem ridden, over time and over budgel Naturally. his dilemma took precedence over my petty lack of stamina.

ReludanUy.1 went back to work. As I left his

office. the production manager stopped

me and protested compassionately. "Hey!

What do you want, this is low budget!"

B

y

LARRY

CON FINO

Although I was angered by this answer. I

knew there was some truth to what he was

saying. At the same time, I realized that

many of the hardships I had experienced

working as a production assistant. such as;

lack of sleep, overwork and doublework.

were the result of inadequate and

unreal-istic pre-planning.

Taking into account past experiences. I

find that as a production manager J am

now better able to deal realistically with the

limitations of Jow-budget production. The

best way to start organizing is to break

down the variables of production into two

basic categories--<ontrollable and uncon-trollable. To understand how these factors work separately (and how they interact) is the almost impossible task of the

produc-tion organization staff-unit manager.

production manager. location manager

and the production assistants.

Budget?

The mechanics of budgeting are

basi-cally the same for low budget as they are

for big Hollywood productions. In simplest

terms: How much can be done for X

number of dollars? ~sually when a

produc-Assistant Cameramall Mlcha~ Barley does a scratch lest and checks the film gate ~etweelltakes on the set of Ihe low budget horror film. Sp/8ner.

ClNEMAG/C 1117 9

i

I

Gnps loading up equIpment 10 lake to a locallon shont lor the low budget IIGno! film, Spl,tter. The

author sef~ed as production manager on the film. Even a small production requires a lot 01 olgal'll18bon

tion budget 15 prepared, all costs are over-estimated slightly in order to leave room for a reasonable margin of error. Then a

certain percentage of the initial budget. \

often called the contingency fund, is tacked ~

on to cover the inevitable cost overruns.

Unfortunately, in the low budget situation

the

production

manag

e

r

does

not

have the

luxury of this type of "loose" budgeting.

Less money to work with dictates a

nar-rower margin for error. The absolute most

must be squeezed from every available

dollar. This entails reducing the size of the

contingency fund. and shaving much

more closely to the pres<:ribed budget The

task of not going overbudget becomes nothing less than 1I fine art.

In other words, study the budget and get

whatever you can abSOlutely free. Re-member. money not spent for props, loca· tions and equipment can be used for more important things like: film stock and lunch

for the crew.

Priced conservatively at ten dollars a roll.

it is not inconceivable for a production to

use up three hundred dollars worth of gaf-fer's tape alone. Multiply this by the large number of seemingly insignificant ex·

pendable items used during production,

and it adds up to a substantial budget con·

sideration. Keep strict account of miscel·

laneous e)(penses. or e)(pendable items

bought with petty cash. These include: gas.

oil. tolls. vehicle repairs, light bulbs,

cam-should mandate that everyone work at /I

nat weekJy rale for the length of the

shoot-ing schedule. Additional shoot days and

reshoots remain the primary troublespots

for salary and other types of cost overruns.

Keep on schedule, and these costs can be

eliminated also.

A good basic budgeting form can be

ob-tained from Fe-B CECQ, 315 West 43rd

St., N,V.C., 10036. Request form #101

PICTURE BUDGET DETAIL, and send

$1.50 with an additional $1.00 for postage

and handling.

The

Murph

y

Shuffle

Basically, scheduling is a matter of

un-derstanding how much a crew is capable of dolng in X amount of time-taking into

account talent and location availability.

Uke budgeting. scheduling must be esti-mated conservatively. Ughting, preparing sets, and blocking out action burn up most

of a film's actual production time, And al-though a realistically conceived stripboard

and shooting schedule are the most

im-portanl basis for a production's

organiza-tion, scheduling seems deceptively con·

trollable in the preprodUction stages. There are always unforeseen elements

era tape. makeup. office supplies, bat-

i

leries, etc. Detailed cost projections for

these items can help to avoid any mid- •

production overbudget surprises.

!

Assuming the film has been contracted

I

as a strictly non·union production, over-time payments to cast and crew are not a

factor which will send the budget out of

control. To keep salaries at a fi)(ed con- Boomman Mike CunOlngham dips hiS pole on location for Spll"", Note that the outdoor location makes

troll able cost. employment contracts It necessary to put 8 wlndscrelln on the microphone and It also protects the mic against damage

which can throw off even the most well

thought out plans. Certain shots are

com-pleted ahead of schedule and others

be-hind. The camera is rolling and a crucial special effect fails after hours of

concen-trated pretesting. At the last second

loca-tions fall through, at talent arrives late on set. As a result, the production schedule

remains in a permanent state of change.

Everything hinges on the organizational staffs ability to shutne the production schedule with rapid accuracy.

Too MUCh JUiCe

In regard to shaving costs, the difference

between a good production manager and a great one lies somewhere in between a

little money and absolutely free, When se-curing locations, the production manager as slick salesman/freebie hound, must

convince property owners of the distinct

advantages of having a ntm shol on their premises, Occasionally. creative

sales-pitches are enough to open the necessary

doors. "Did you know that In homes where movies have been shot, property values

usually rise between ten and fifteen per -cent." Or, "In the past. business

establish-ments used as locations Immediately

begin attracting droves of customers, and are instantly declared local landmarks," If this doesn't work, the

best

approach is to

sell location owners on the mythical glamour of making a movie. Tell them about the lights, the cameras, the

excite-ment. the starlets and the wild wrap party you intend on inviting them to. Appeal to

their very real sense of vanity and

ego,

In other words, get the locations.

The problem Is, that when people hear

the term "movie crew"' they automatically big money is Involved. Dollar to roll around in their heads.

So

unfortunately, palms and doors open

simultaneously. Outside the big cities and California, a simple honest explanation of

the Umited funds available should make it easier to obtain most locations cost free.

When scouting locations, take inlo con-sideratioo aU factors, Even details as mi

-nute as where the sun enters a room at any

given time

of day

can be valuable bits of information.

There is a film industry legend about an electrician who accidentally blew out an entire community. Once, outside an old suburban residence, a large exterior loca-tion was set and ready to go, The electri· cian signaled ready, and the order was

given to throw the main power switch, All

the lights went on, and then immediately

off, along with every ligh

t on the block.

Ap-parently the midsummer drain from air conditioner use, combined with the

elec-trician's attempt to tap too much juice, set off a series of power outages that blacked

~ut the entire town of New Haven, Connec- Actress Noel Slllphen is "splattered" and dis.

IJcut for two hours. Needless to say, the emboweled In thiS sCleemng 01 dailies 01 Splatta" electrician should always make sure that

---==-=c-c==,---power boxes have sufficient output, when

Get

An Image

ever a tie-in is to be attempted. The undisputed king of low budget

pic-By touring the various locations during tures, Roger Corman, has in the past

ad-pre-production, the image people (direc- vised his first-time directors to ask three

tor, cameraman, gaffers and art director) simple questions of a IIIm's cameraman:

can get an overall sense of the picture as it "How long to make it beautiful? How long relates to their respective jobs, In this way, to make it good? And how long to get an visualization begins before a foot of film is image?" Although this is a slight exaggera -shot instead of on the set. which is where tion, Corman generally suggests to go with most low budget projects are realized. the image when you are dealing in low Thus, cameraman, director and gaffers budget

discuss how scenes are to be

lit

and The cameraman on

low

budget pictures blocked well in advance. This type of pre- must understand the concept of what low visualization helps the image staff to better budget really means. Ideally, the camera

-understand exactly what they need. and in man should be relatively free from clock

lum enables organizational staff to work pressure, but in Ii restrictions in terms of time It neee

s--..:r.~"":'

Soundman Nick O'ella, Nagra allhe ready, tll~es II shOll brea~ between ta~es as he walt510r the cameraman 10 Set up the next shot lor [he film, SplattBr.

sary to work within very strict parllmeters.lf

the shooting schedule dictates thllt a shot

should take one hour to complete, the the camerllman must get the best possible image within that time limit This is unlike big budget situations where if need be,

money can be obtained for days, Of even

weeks of overtime shooting.

Imagine; Talent and location are avail· lIble for one day only. The color temperll'

lure is shifting rapidly as the sun nears the horizon. Yet there is still one important shot to complete before the end of the day. A tired low budget cameraman loses con· centration and drifts momentarily. Off in the distance. an imaginary Hollywood director of photography shouts. "'Don't worry we'lI shoot it six months from now." The weary cameraman smiles. Then sud· denly he is roused from his daydream by a screaming low budget director. The low budget cameraman quickly snaps back to reality. where he is faced with either getting a mediocre shot. or not getting the shot at all. He regains his composure. and the camerll rolls just before the sun goes over the horizon.

From a production manager's stand-point. it is of course important for the cameraman to be concerned with image

quality. but when fighting against the clock and the bank. certain sacrifices have to be made in terms of quality. The more well planned the production, the less sacrifices have to be made. A solid organizational

base enables the director to then feel com· fortable improvising creatively. Strong guidance from the director. along with a decisive cameraman and a fast. accurate gaffer facilitate the kind of rapid crew movement (RCM) that can really make a production happen.

Creative Paran

oia

We now enter the grey area of a produc·

tion's uncontrollable variables such as: equipment breakdown. weather (acts of god), and human nature. Although these problems are a factor in any type of pro-duction, they must be paid particular atten -tion when there is a lack of time, money and expertise to fix things in the event thi!lt problems occur.

In accordance with Murphy's Law: If any-thing can go wrong. it will. Given the com-pleXIty of coordinating a film production. mlx·ups. screw·ups. and plain old ordinary mess·ups have more than ample oppor-tunity to surface. Murphy is always on set, working especially hard on a production's uncontrollable variables. The most potent weapons In the war against Murphy are;

checking all plans that hllve been made. If something goes wrong. what are the alter· natives? How can problems be compen· sated for without losing vllluable time and money? Answers to these questions and contingency plans must be available on standby for every facet of production.

Weather

Near the end of a recent production schedule. we had set up a night exterior shoot at a drive·ln movie theatre. The mas-ter shot was lit and completed when it

suddenly began to rain. All equipment was wrapped quickly and stored. while we crossed our fingers and waited for the storm to pass. Even if the rain did stop in an hour or so. we realized we would have to squeeze eight hours of shooting into the four hours of darkness available until sun-rise. With the knowledge that both talent and location might not be available again. we decided to try another alternative. Luck· ily. a building on the grounds of the drive· in was available for our use. Its large. open high-ceiting structure made it perfect for use as a soundstage. We realized that with a slight modification of the shooting plan, the rest of the scene could be shot indoors. By duplicating the mllster lighting set·up. and shooting tighter shots. we created the illusion that the whole scene was filmed outdoors. Quick thinking enabled us to complete a key scene with a minimum of sacrifice.

Even with forecasts. the uncertainty of weather conditions make it advisable to complete all exterior locations early in the

shooting schedule. This allows ample time to rearrange the schedule in the event that an exterior is rained out Also. while shoot-ing exteriors it is essential to have an

in-terior rain set on standby. Gaffers should

be aware. in advance. how this set Is to be

IiI.

So that

cast and crew can move there quickly and shool

With

proper preplan. ning, RCM is possible.

Equipment Malfunctions

Any piece of equipment which has mov· Ing parts has a tendency to break down. Camera, sound. grip and lighting equip· ment. i!lnd even production vehides are all susceptible to problems during produc-tion. if they have not been properly checked in the preproduction stages. The head people in each of their respective de-partments should be available to check out

all the equipment before it is all rented. Camera preproduction is especially cru· cial. At least a week before principal photography begins. the cameraman or assistant cameraman should go to the rental house and shoot 100ft. of test foot-age. with the lIctual c"mera and lenses that are to be used on location. On a recent

feature project. the camera crew did not

have the time to run tests on the equip· ment. As a resUlt. it was not until three days into production (while screening dailies),

Planning and Anticipation. ~

If all phases of production are planned with the assumption that everythifl9 will

go wrong. you will find yourself Just a

!'

couple of steps ahead of almost every

problem that could pOSSibly arise. AI· •

though this does not mean you have to be

!

completely paranoid. a certain level of

t

creative paranoia can only help.

Production staff must maintain a con· Makeup amsl AmodiO Giordano attaches a blood pump 10 actless Kathy lacommare 101 mUldel scene stant vigil. continuously checking and reo

that a defective zoom lens

was

detected.

At

least a whole day of work was out of focus and had to be reshot.

To avoid this: scratch tests, registration, collimnation. focus. sync, speed, acces-sories. batteries and chargers must all be checked thoroughly beforehand. Without this the production is left wide open for

disasters. Apologies and new equipment from the rental house cannot possibly compensate for the loss of time and money.

I cannot stress this enough: No one should handle camera equipment except

for the camera crew. This rule was unfor-tunately proved recently when an assistant

cameraman was not available on the set

Wishing to be helpful. a member of the

crew ran off to the camera truck to retrieve

what he thought to be an empty film magazine. Not seeing any rilm hanging from the magazine, he assumed it was

empty. and therefore available for reload-ing. He proceeded to confirm his assump-tion by opening the rear chamber of the magazine in broad daylight. Of course

Murphy was on set at the time, and the rear chamber of the magazine contained

a

whole roll of exposed footage. A complete

day of hard work was again ready for the

garbage.

AmodiO Giordano Ileft) and lIis assistant Aalpll Cordero IlIglIl) p!opa!e a prosthetic appliance

The over·eager crew member. however. is not the only one to blame in this in-stance. The assistant cameraman should

have immediately recanned the exposed

footage and stored it away; making it im· possible for such a mistake to be made.

A

V

OI

d

Crew

Mutin

y

The production manager as diplomat must consider a number of things that will aid in the running of

a

smooth shoot One of the biggest problems of attempting a kamikaze production schedule is that there is a tendency to neglect bask human needs. Simple requirements of the Crew Id such as food, shelter and clean clothing seem unimportant when considering the crew's ultimate mission to complete the film. Nevertheless, ignore these needs and

you

will have a mutiny on your hands, even

without a union leader

to

come down and

slap

you

on the wrist Planning crew com·

fort is a controllable aspect that can make uncontrollable human nature much more manageable.

FOOD:

Do

not skimp. Hire a cook. Cut a

big dance number from the film if neces·

sary. but do not expect a crew to work

when they suffer from malnutrition. BoI· ogna sandwiches for lunch, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner have a way of putting a damper on everyone's taste for hard work. Serve three solid meals

locations are too far away from home base for everyone to commute. I learned the

hard way that even the most gracious of hosts can get nasty when they are forced

to deal with the crazy hours and habits of a

film cre ... in production.

CLEAN CLOTHES: Arrange for a laun-dry service to pick up once or twice a week. No one has the time or the Inclination to wash dirty clothes during precious hours off.

llME

OFF: On one film we attempted to shoot for twenty-four days straight. without a break. I would not recommend trying

this. no matter how low the budget is. A

day off per ... eek is absolutely necessary for

the cast and crew to be alone. relax and wind down. Without some sort of leisure time things get very claustrophobic. and the crew begins to go for each other's

throats.

These simple suggestions might seem

obvious. but ignore them and you ... ill pay for it

PAY: Pay Cllst and crew on lime, and in cash if they wish. Money in people's hands

reconfirms the faith that they are not work·

ing for nothing, and assures them thaI they have no need to fear thaI the production might go under at any minute leaving them with nothing but a worthless rubber

check. In very low budget situations it is

sometimes necessary to pay the crew less than they actually deserve. In these cases it

is recommended to draw up a standard

deferment contract which will guarantee

them additional monies when the film is sold. Deferment contracts can sometimes make the difference between an enthuslas

-a d-ay. along with nutritious in between tic crew and an apathetic one. meal snacks that can be consumed

quick-ly. Cheeses. bread. raw vC:getables. and cut

The Most Hated Perso

n

On

set

up fruit are better than junk food for keep- Arguments. yelling and conflicts crop up ing up stamina. And coffee by the gallon ali the time under intense production

pres-should never be far away. sure. Arguing openly not only breeds more SLEEP: Make sure everyone is able to antagonism and slows up production, but

sleep comfortably. even the production as- it brings an air of contagious unprofes-sistants. Rent a large house or motel if the , sionalism to the project. If daily meetings

are held and lines of communication among the crew are kept open. many

p0-tential conflicts can be diffused before they

have a chance to explode. But sometimes conflicts continue to the point where only

the intervention of the production man-ager can settle differences. And since it is

hard to bring down the level

of

antagonism without antagonizing people. the produc-tion manager as labor mediator is co

n-stantly walking the tight line between force-fulness and diplomacy. In the battle to

keep the production in economic order and at peace at the same time, it's a real

challenge for the production manager not

to earn the title of "Most Hated Person On

Set"

"M

i

se·

En

-se

t

"

Cast and crew must feel that they are part of a production that is worthwhile. Since they are not really being compen·

sated for it monetarily, they should at least feel that they are involved in a project that will enhance their careers. Of course it helps if the script is phenomenal and the

acting even better. But most important is a

crew's positive sense that they are working as a team. and learning things from one

another that will be of value in the future. When the cre ... is enthusiastlc, the cast gets enthusiastic; and this is ultimately

re-flected in what you actually see on screen

in the finished film.

The lack of experience, money and time that low budget crews have to work with must be compensated for by talent. inge· nuity and energy. Talent must compensate for lack of experience. Ingenuity is needed

!3t

make the best use of the small amount

of money and resources available. And energy (RCM) is necessary to utilize the limited time for production most

eco-nomically. With the right preplannlng these ingredients can come together to form a very impressive low budget effort. If it's true

that hardships teach. then the low budget experience is the best teacher of all.

at

Filmmakers'

EORUM

Latex

Appliance

Hazards

.•. l'm an avid SCi-fi enthuslIIst /lnd

I ne-ed some answers to /I couple of

questions. F1rst. is there an

1I1~rn.!ltive to using spirit gum lor

applying latex appliances? It tends to mllke some people break out.

Second, i$ $lush mokIliltex tht! ~me M the F1ex Resh sold in Rick

&ker's makeup kits found In

stores? I'd lIppreciate II reply.

Todd Henry

428 Powell Ave.

Erie. PA 16505

... People who ltaue allergic reactions to spirit gum which causes fJJelf skin 10 bleak out

should

.see

a dermatologisl. before applying anylhing ID

/heir face. 'I's possible dUll any .sort of latex appliance adhesioe

could Cltt.tSe an allergic skin reactiOfl and ils best to gel III professional opinion about

what mlJy {)( may nol be safe 10

apply to your face. To our knowledge, Flex Flesh is the name {or /he material found In Dick Smiths makeup kit We have no knowledge 0{ any

makeup kit markeled by Rick &tker. The Flex Flesh ma/erial found In Smith's kit Is

gelatine-noll/quid ialex-which is II {air substitute for liquid la/ex except !hal it doesn '/ hold up under hoi. lights and yoo can'r gel il wet because il

will dissolve. Sec Q-aig Reardon's artlde about slush-molding .farex appllanccs In CINEMAG/C ' 12.

Scratch·on Lasers

••• I" m planning my first film, caned StUpe!". about a man who

steals a laser pistol and goes MOUnd the rounlty blasting

pe0-ple. The I"I"KMe requires !hat I

~how tldd the effects of the

laser fire coming from the gun. 1"m working with Smm Kodachrome 40 film. I"m wondering if anyone

can tell me how 10 creale the effect. I'm on /I vt:fY low budget

and I C/ln', really afford to spend

any extra money 10 create the

effect. I'd appreciate suggestions. Steve Walson

23635 L Drive Horth Marshall. MI 49068

Sounds like the only Ihing you can do Is Ihe old "scratch rhe film technique. Desptle the (act thaI II doesn'l cost an extra

penny. it can be quite e/feclil)(!. Any readers wilh O(her sugges· lions who would like 10 help StCrJe are Inuiled /0 wrile 10 him.

14 c/NEMAGIC # /7

JIIIode1log Tip.

... For those invollled in detailing

a scratch-buill model. r....e found that 3/16" or l/S" slIip$ of balsa

wood and an X«:to knife are excellent for producing tiny deu.ils and may be used as a substitute

for Itore bought model pam. They are much I1'lOI"e realisitc and can be cut to any size or shape.

Do any ~ know of an

Alternative Releasing

Agent

for Foam.

Rubber

... I Nrve ruined many a fOl:lm

rubber applience or animation

model using castor oil as a mold

sepanltor. Having tried many

substitutes. I finally came up (by

trtal and error) with the one described below. I believe it....;11

save many young make-up IIrtisls

lind iII1lmators II lot. d heartbreaks and repoir lime.

Using a cut-short model bn..Ish,l paint the nega~ mold interior and joining filCes thoroughly...;th

DUPONTS RN..LEY UQ(.JID CAR W/'IX. The w~"";[1 dry ...;thin one

half hour. and you can inject f()llm

rubber ....;thOUI fear of chemical cOfTOSion.

Nter baking, gently PlY the mold

aptlrt with a rocking motion. Patience. not force. does the tr1ck.

Brush off IIny dusty residue on the

IIppllance/rlQure with a sci! toothbrush. The foam will lIIIke

very

well to acrylic latex coIofs.

Using this _ on your plaster

mokb "";U yield extreme detllil

without ripping the foam. liS often

happens with II castor oil

$epill"lltor. The molds PfY open very easily with even elIcess fIiIshlng coming oul intact.

DavId P. OeGooyer

4074 Central A....e •• Apt. "4

SIIn DIego, CA 92105

Inexpensive technique by which I can photograph my rrodeI within a few Inches (in focus. d C"OtJf"Se) to stress the modeI's deteiI and

sup-posed lmenslty?

Clip Bfooksh_ 7338 Rustic: VII1!ey Or. Dallas. TX 7542S T'!J using Ihe technique des· cribed by Judith and Ron Miller

on

page 28 0{ ONEMAG/C

'15.

Lousy Pha

sers

... I am in~ted in finding a

rellsonable replica of the phaser Prop lind the communicator prop.

both used on the Star Trek lV

series. I have a good method for producing lllser effects but hllve nothing for the effects 10 come out

of. Don't suggest building them mysell, because I've tried thllt and they come out awful!

Steven GllrlInkd S054 Tee!ldale Ave.

North Hollywood. CA 91605

... The whole purpose 0{

ONEMAGIC magazine 15 to help

young fiImmakers learn IIhouI special effec15 techniques. ThI5 philosophy denwnds thai you be

willing /0 build prop:; yourself. or

try 10 rcoch someone who can

build rhem for you al a reasonable

(.:(.I:>L Wt!"'~ <T /iUle di:.co<,r"fje<l

/lUll so many fi/mmllkers wan! /0

copy /heir favorite science tid/OIl

mouies and N shows Instead 0{ altemp(ing /0 create an original

swry

0{ /heir 0UN1. Try using /he

ilf1/c/e on making a ray gun from a detergenl bottle in ONEMAG/C

'12 as a guide (but try 10 add your own lillie /Ouchcs). You'lX!

got. 10 be originall( you're going /0 succeed. Any readers who"d like

/0 help Sleuen out by building props kx him are inuited /0 write /0 him.

Explosion and

Stunt

FX

· .. In mllny Issues of ONEMACiIC

fellow filmmakers have been

plagued with questions conceming

the Issue of pyrotechnics lind find

-ing II suillllble subslitu\.e. M.y solu-tion: real fireworks. Crazy] No.

1 took along my Super-6 camefil

to II local falr last laU. When It .... .,,5

time for the fireworks. put on by H·

cen~ professionills. I just set. up

my tripod lind shot. I used ." roll of sllent Super-S type Ci EktiIchrome.

The results were great. The black background would be great for backwlnding. I had origillllily In·

tended 10 use the fOOlilQe for an ann"nation study. but later reahed

thai I CQUId rotoscope the expiI>

sions onto eels with lin IIlrbrush.

From these eels I GIn extract."ny parts to composite onto lIny

de-sired footage.

Another matter that Nil raised II

101 ofinterest is stunt work. Here's a technique worth uying. FIlm the

first ptlrt of a fall sequence. then

shoot the actor or actress exe<:uting the SlIIIrt of the fall. perhaps II foot or

two off the ground. Now for the

chanenging part. Build the set in mln.ature and dress an articulated figure in the SlIme clothes lIS the actor. TIle fall can now be filmed in

mlnillllLlre using stop-motion. Your miniature figure can execute an

incredible fall, kicking and nailing

all the way. With good editmg you clln get lin effect similar to the Nul staff cllr cnlshlng oyer the cliff in

Rltldcrs of /he Lost Ark.

In short. your l"Iealth Is IlOthing 10 roo/around ....;th. With a little optIclll work you can get professional·look

-Ing explosion effects without the

rI$k d blasting yourself Into II fioe red mist, and get spectacular fall,

without heving 11 sick ~ve attrib·

uted to powdered bones..

When people see your film they

may see an effect that does'nt look

I~ true-to-life. but they'll reali!e

thai the director was being Intelli· gent and respectful of other

pe0-ples' well·being and they will reo

..~ you for Ihi~

Kelly Fuller Milrlposa Rd.

DeRuyter. NY 13052

Grounded Hero

• .. I"m doing a spinoff rTICIYIe on The Greatest American Hero lind 1 ~ Ideas for flying effects. Arty.

body got ideas? I"d IIPPfeciate any

~ggestions. Adam lebowitz

22045 67th Ave.

Sayside. NY I 1364

· .. Any relIders ClJre. /0 help Adam

Quest for Caveman

Makeup

..• M.y friend and I are planning to

make a movie on the life of a caveman. We have everything planned out except for the makeup. We want the makeup to look like the makeup in Quest (or Fire. the movie about three Neanderthals on a search for fire for their tribe. We want to reproduce the following fea-tures of theQuesl fex Fire makeup; the ape-like mouth, the protruding eyebrows, and the fur that grO\llS out of the face, We would greatly

"PP,pci"'e "ny hetp you can giv<!-. Roger SlInte

1004 16th Ave. COnllville. IA 52241

.. , You can create /he .same kind o(makeup effects lhal you saw in Quest for Are with latex appli-ances. See ClNEMAGIC 112 (or Craig Reardon's ankle on slush molding latex appliances. You

can glue o-epe wool to the appli-ances and your face /{) create /he fur growing on the face. Also see

Ed Nahas enllgfltening article aboulthe making o(Quest for FIre In St.arlog 155.

Pac

Man

Fever

, . , I'm going to make a Pac Man movie this summer and I WIlS won-dering if I would be breaking any copyright laws.

Bany Cooperrider

845 Arrowhead Bucyrus, OH 44820

Matte Magic

.. Being a new subscriber, 1 am

truly fasonated with the lIssistance thllt CINEMAGIC gives to us young Cinematographers. LMng In the

Silverton. Oregon (where. you

say?) lIrea. there is little if any exposure to the filmmaking scene, Though it is hllrd to find fellow filmmakers among the pine trees,

they lire !here-If you look. Thllt"s just what

rYe

done.

Now, along with two others {the search wasn't In vain). I am striving to make a small part of my dre3m " reillily.

I read in Issue -10. the article on 'MaStering Mattes." it was very interesting. but will it work for sky scenes through trees? Second, our film. which is In pre-production. utilizes ~ser effects, starscreens and animation. ~ there any way to

do these without any expensive equipment? We don't have lin optical printer and couldn't even hope to buy one. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

John F.K. Pllrenteau 2955 Spring Wla Rd, S,E. Silverton, OR 97381

.. . Any suggesliom; from our readers?

Fort Worth

Aim

Club

. I am delighted to say that

response to my letter printed in issue I-15 came almost imme· diately from a young filmmaker named Jon Hale In my own cily! This says a lot for the circulation of your magazine. May its readership increase!

We would like 10 know if there are IIny other young, Inexperienced filmmakers in the Fort Worth area who would like to pool their talents lind resources together in an omoteur production company. If so.

write me. Each correspondent should list his experience, strengths and weaknesses.

Thank yOl.l for yOl.lr emphasis on storyboarding and script writing in the last two issues.lt"s understand-able that a filmmaker Is so enthused llbout special effects thaI the plot often becomes secondary. The chief concern of IIny film-maker. however. shOl.lld be to enle!"-tain or to make a point--and special effects should be looked upon as a means to that end, no matter how exciting the special effects are .

It is my belief that every film-maker should a)so be a student of

Correction

photography. drama. art emd litera·

... Due to a typogr<lphicaJ error in ture as well as film. Critics have an editorial reply to a letter in the rightly described many of the Almmakers' Forum section In recent blockbusters (such as Star issue 115 (Stock Elcplosion FX Trek TMP) as ·'big·budget B Wanted). the address for Rf.O movies."' We need to depend more L:!tex was mis·spelled. The COffect on the content of our films and less address appears below: on technology.

., You will ceftainly be txooking R&D Latex I hope CJNEMAGIC will be fea-a copyrighl/fea-aW by making II Pac 590 1 Telegraph Rd, turing more articles on art design, Man mooie if you plan to exhibit Commerce, CA 90040 acting and directing in the future.

the nfm fO(" a paying audience al I - - - -- - - L - - - l any lime In the future. Hotuever,

you Ciln make lJ Pac Man nfm fO(" your own pleasure without worry-ing about copyright laws. Ama-teur filmmakers frequently ulolale

copyright laws when /hey use

proteclt:d material In their scripts

0(" as props, but no

map

corpora-lion will come a{ter you fex using

/heir copyrlgflled material In a

film Intended only (0(" flame use

by /he filmmaker--especially If they neuer find oul aboul it!

3D Creature Aim

. . . I have II new film project in the

works caJled The Creature from /he Third Planet-which I am filming

in 301 Through the marvel of 3D cinematography you can actually be there as the creature mysteri-ously appears and goes on a rampage. Is he the forerunner of lin alien invasion? Director! Writer: Rick Panero. Cast: Dee De<e Panero, Nina Panero. Super-8, color. sound. Aimed entirely in PaneroDepth StereoVislon (engineered by Rick Panero.)

Rick Panero 3309 lewis Ave, long Such, CA 90807

.. , Let's see your 3D syslem, Rick.

Dave Allen at age 19 WIth a sto~motlOn dragon model.

Annature Preservation

have It in the mold before you spray

.•. I recently talked to stop-motion animator Dave Allen llbout II couple

of problems I had been hllving with my stop motion technique.

He

told

me

about a method for preserving my armatures that is chellp and works very well. If you can't nfford or don't have time to get your armlltures chrome

or

nickel plated, you clln use Krylon grey primer. Position the lIfffi8ture as you would

It down, then give it a good coat all over.

Let

dly. It might be stiff after It

dries. but given time the paint wiU be broken up at the Jointed areas. I recommend loosening the paint along the joints before you put it In

the mold. This method is very ecooomicni and easy to do.

Pat Steele 127 Mercator Dr. Greenwood, IN 46142 George Edward 3437E W, 5th St, Fort Worth, TX 76107

.. Good luck with your {11m club. ClNEMAGfC will be featuring

articles on the subjects you men·

lioned In the noor Alture.

Severed

Head

, .• I'm a long lime CINEMAGIC reader and I recently won first place in the three dimensional division of the art contest at the Creation Convention at New York City's Sheraton Hotel. Here's II photo of the severed head I created that won me the prize, It is mado 01 slush molded liquid latex. painted with a mixture of rubber cement and universal coloring. I learned the coloring technique from Kirk Brady's artide on mask making In CiNEMAGIC 16. The hair is wig hair that I snipped off a wig lind attached to the head with contact cement. ONEMAGIC has been of great value to me (and so has FANGORIA!) in my search for new

and useful makeup techniques. Keep up the good work!

Tom Lauten

P,O, Box 878

New Paltz, NY 12561

Interstellar

Dust

... I have recently acquired a Super·8 camera and while testing its special dfects limits. my friend and I thought up some new and Chellp effects for those of us with very limited budgets.

First. we developed an ··interstel· lar dust cloud"' effect. For this. I took II cardboard frame I made.

about 30" x 30", lind dnlped ordi· nary celophane

over

It. To make the ··cloud." take a dull white or grey spray paint and hold It about

16 inches from the celophane . Now sprny the desired pattem, adding other metallic colors as a highlight. Spray cans are prefera· ble over airbrushes because they

"splotch:' creating "stars:' AnOl:her effect we created is a "nova" effect. First, take a camera nash IInd-filming-nash it behind a chosen "star"' by putting a hole in your ~kground. lllen stop filming and put a brighter light behind the star and film some more. If your camera can pick it up. you'lI see a nash and semi.fade of a "nova." Good .. uck.

David Kramer 5263 Carriage Lane Santa Rosa, CA 95401