WARNING FOR PTSD SURVIVORS: POST CONTAINS VIOLENCE and WEAPON REFERENCES
Special effects are where the magic happens as things magically fly that shouldn’t. explosions and natural disasters are suddenly happening that have never happened, and my favorite the 3D ones that you reach out your hand in the dark theatre to make “sure” you can’t actually touch what seems to be floating in front of your seat.
There are special effects that enhance like flying sand in a sandstorm or long takes in a car chase that add rather than overshadow the core message of a shot or film but I would like to take a look at an example where special effects can ONLY enhance and shine! VR (virtual reality) has a lot of special effects that have to be filmed and happen from the first-person perspective to make you believe you are truly right there. I have watched “Hardcore Henry” several times since I ran across it a month ago accidentally and it deserves a place in this blog somewhere…so here it is:
From the rotating foot to the fruit explosion, I was hooked from the beginning. how you hold a detonator and watch the explosion occur a few feet away after the button push, how you seem like you are grabbing onto a speeding motorcycle, how you are riding down the middle of an escalator, it’s free on TUBI and was entirely filmed with a stabilized GoPro on someones face. Literally:
The Moscow cityscape was shot on a soundstage with black walls which were created frame by frame and required manual adjusting. I love the glitch transitions and side to side movement of the camera to simulate shaking your head back and forth when answering questions and other transitions that add to the overall effect as well. The film stars Sharlto Copley, star of “District 9” and “The A-Team” and also has a great soundtrack and humor as well:
Without practice even these worst special effects on you tube are amazing to me.
COMING SOON
