Rain... man

[dmccoy]

I was wondering if there was an effective way of faking rain.
Sort of bladerunner esque feeling maybe.

I live in a somewhat arid climate.

Thanks

[miker]

a compromise may be to hose the set down prior to shooting ... like it has just been raining. then hose down your cast to make it look like they have just been rained upon ...

when I think of bladerunner I don't immediately think of the rain ... I think of the reflections in the puddles and the overall dark industrial feel.

[dmccoy]

Hey thanks for answering so promptly Miker!
I have this one shot were it was going to look far too bland without the little bit of pizaz that a rainy, miserable, day gives it.

Agreed on Bladerunner

Thanks again

[sn-films]

A while back, Justin M. mentioned something about using trash bags/bin liners filled with water. He poked small pin-holes in the bags to let the water drip out. You may want to try getting in touch with him for more information. Below is a link to his original post.

http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ult...c&f=410&t=5451

[twister!]

Yep, that's what I did but I only needed a small area in a fairly tight shot.

I also recently did a photoshoot for a client (stills photography) that required rain - we did it in post. We added a layer that had the rain on it which were just small streaks of blurred white - set at bout half opacity - this was done by a re-toucher at BBH (Bartle Bogle and Hegarty the ad agency), but is actually not that hard to do. With video you could create a large photoshop file (vertical) and then set it to move down accross your footage. As miker says you'll need to hose down the whole area first, clothes and hair etc.

You'll definitely need to compose your shot based on the technicalities rather than based on your 'artisitic vision'. You may need to use several techniques at the same time based on the shots you need. For instance if you have a close up - the rain needs to be seen to be hitting things and you'll need to do that for real with bags or whatever. If it's a long shot it will be much easier to do in post (but you may need to avoid any camera movement) etc etc...

[twister!]

Oops, double post.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 04, 2004 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Justin M. ]</font>

[crookedfeatures]

I saw a documentary on the making of "neighbours" (yes the crappy aussie soap (and yes I know)) being australia they didn't get much in the way of rain so when they needed it they turned a hose in the air, partially blocking the nozzle to break the water flow into a spray. Obviously you'll need good water pressure (and access to a hose) and it still doesn't look so good but it is the minimum hassle approach. I mean you're going to have a hose if you're hosing down your set or filling bin liners etc.

Alternatively you can check out Jitesh's "rain gods" script and start praying for the real thing! Although everyone knows the surest way to make it rain is to light a barbeque. [img]wink.gif[/img]

And don't forget to water proof your camera [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[dmccoy]

Hey excellent. Lotsa feedback.
Thats a good point about rain filters and layers, I've done some of that before and it looked horrible. Probably becuase all the characters were bone dry.

Out of curiosity; am I gonna have to mess around with the shot in post because most of the days this time of year are bright, sunny and cloudless. If I turn down the contrast maybe?

Thanks again for responding. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[dmccoy]

Originally posted by Kiff_Kroker:

And don't forget to water proof your camera [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oooh yeah. Good point. I would feel pretty stupid if I schizzled my camera.

[twister!]

Originally posted by Pualey:
...most of the days this time of year are bright, sunny and cloudless. If I turn down the contrast maybe?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I assume you're not in the UK then. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Try shooting at dusk. You can make it look darker and gloomier by adjusting the shutter speed and iris settings on the camera as well as tinkering with the footage in post.