Customer Reviews

Special Effects: How to Create a Hollywood Film Look on a Home Budget

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I recommend this bok for those who are too lazy to search online and find many of these tips he has in this book. If you have a basic knowledge of Final Cut, After Effects, and similar software, then you can do a lot of the digital effects. Some of the effects it discusses is the Star Wars lightsaber light, gun flashes, people disappearing, and rain. Most of this stuff if you've been making movies for a while you have discovered on your own. The reason I'm giving it the score I'm giving it, is because there are going to be many people who have never tried this stuff before and will love to have one book that has it all. But like I said, if you do a general search online you will find little tutorials that will tell you how to do the effects in this book. So you can save yourself the $30. No wonder they don't have a preview of this book yet, if they did I would have saved the money. I'm going to help you out.
PHYSICAL EFFECTS
Smoke and Dry Ice Machines
Snow
Rain
Fake Glass
People Dissappearing
Prop Guns
Bullet Hits: Paintball Shots
Models and Miniatures
Stage Blood
Arrow Hitting on Object

DIGITAL EFFECTS
Digital Software
Blue/Green Screens
Teleporter Effect
Gun Flashes
Light Swords
Stock Footage
FXhome
BlackPool Studio
DvGarage
HOW TO START YOUR OWN HOME STUDIO
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
CONCLUSION

I found this book to be useful and informative. It does exactly what it advertises. Cool special effects that anyone can do to enhance their films. The tips and tricks provided, along with the discussions regarding what software is use, make starting the process quick and easy. Maybe I could go on the internet and find some of these tricks, but I like the fact that the info I need is all in one convient book. I've sent many fruitless hours hunting for a specific program to do a specific task, only to find that what I've found didn't do the job. I appreciate the author's collection and recommendation of what's working for him. Also, I really liked that the author walks you through the process, step by step, helping you get the desired result. Over all, a great buy.

A couple of years ago I started doing more film work for my job. I have no real budget for most of the projects. The "on a home studio budget" part was what most intrigued me. Though the author does refer you to some specific companies (stage craft and software), most of what he recommends for his general sampling of special effects seems pretty inexpensive and gave me a good starting point for finding what I need. A quick look through the book also sparked my imagination on a few possibilities I had not previously considered.

I have worked with imaging software for a long time so it didn't take long for me to become pretty adept at the digital end of simple effects. I also have some stage experience so I knew how to handle some basic physical effects as well. While the book is mostly pretty basic stuff ("for the beginning filmmaker or the filmmaker who is creating a movie on a very low budget"), I was looking for something that could help me beef up my projects and have found this to be a helpful resource so far.

The author's language is casual-- very "friendly" which surprised me a little (especially for a book like this). But, in all, I appreciated that he didn't write like I was his technical peer, nor did he write down to me because I'm not.

Microfilmmaker has a good article to read before you buy. It gives you a good idea of what the book is about--a fairly accurate representation. I found it helpful.

I'm new to the special effects arena and don't have the time to read the huge manuals that come with the software and can't always find what I'm looking for online. This book was very helpful to me, again a begginer, as it provided me with a good amount of instruction that I could quickly duplicate and execute. It has made me more enthusiastic about learning more about how to do better special effect. I recommend this book for those who are interested in getting some good pointers and quick results.

I recently bought this book and it was worth every penny! Author, Mike Slone, is brilliant at the craft of movie-making, and offers priceless tips on producing movies within a beginner's means. However, even the more veteran producers can benefit from his wisdom. Buy this book... you won't regret it.

My first attempt at special effects was doing stop-motion animation with an 8mm camera that was not equipped for stop-motion animation. The results were, well, terrible. My second attempt was cutting out a cardboard "Star Wars" tie-fighter, attaching a stick to it, poking it through a star filled sky backdrop (black cardboard with holes punched in it) and then to film the tie-fighter straight on with someone yanking and turning the stick in hopes to show "movement." In this case it looked like the tie-fighter was attached to a stick and shaken back and forth.

If you want to create REAL special effects, this book is for you. Mr. Slone does an excellent job of going through the various special effects you might want to attempt. Some as easy as: "Rent a fog machine." And others as complicated as: "Once you have downloaded your image, pull it up on the computer and going frame by frame you..."

Where this book excels, though, is in it's presentation and content. It goes far beyond the "physical effects" and "digital effects" and talks about careers in the field, working with sound effects even starting your own home studio.

The book is also FULL of websites, resources and contact information. The book also includes full page graphics showing, step-by-step, how to do some of the basic effects (gun shot, teleporting, light saber) that would impress your friends and neighbors.

The only complaints I have with the book are these: I would have liked a section on how to make break-away furniture. He notes where to order break-away glass, but a section on furniture - either how to make it, or where to buy it, would have been helpful. And it would have been a huge added bonus to provide a DVD with either actual step-by-step film clips, demo versions of software, or other types of media that could possibly better explain the ideas and concepts laid out in the book.

Still, those are minor complaints. This is an excellent book/resource guide.

Gives any person looking for information on special effects a great start by introducing most of the major effects and where to find product and training.

Arguably the biggest revolution in filmmaking in the last decade has taken place in the field of special effects. CGI has irrevocably changed the way movie magic is created, and thanks to advances in computer technology many home users now have access to the same software used in Hollywood. So, in principle, professional-quality special effects are now within anyone's reach. The only question is: how does the budding SFX-enthusiast get started?
This is where Mike Slone's book comes in. Squarely aimed at the beginner, it details a number of the most common special effects used in filmmaking. Of course, not everything is done with computers, so the first part of the book concentrates on physical effects. These include creating fake blood and bullet hits, rain and snow, fake glass, disappearing tricks, the use of prop guns, smoke, dry ice, bullet and arrow hits and models and miniatures. Each of these techniques is explained in a clear and practical fashion, although if you intend to get into modelling, you'll obviously need to look for further detailed information.
The book then goes into digital effects, including green screen, gun flashes, and light sabres. There are extensive tutorials on each of these using Adobe Premiere Pro. The final chapters include interviews with a few SFX professionals and provide tips for starting your own FX company if you're so inclined.
Veteran SFX people probably won't find much that is new here, but anyone starting out in the field couldn't wish for a better introduction.

I like the way the book is layed out and is easy to understand for making special effects for my movie. It gives me written information and great photos which are the best way to learn about the special effects. I can't wait for the next book to come out on Amazon!

Most books in this genre assume a basic knowledge of special effects and computer technology that is beyond the beginning user. What this work uniquely contributes is a thorough and careful explanation of those basics. This is the place to start. If you are interested in making your productions better than scripted home movies, If you are frustrated by the difference between what you see in your mind's eye and what comes out on the screen, if you don't know where to begin, this book is perfect for you. The care taken in making no assumptions and explaining each step so very thoroughly sets this work apart. Highly recommended.