RAIN!

[Mr.Ark]

Hey,

I'm shooting a fight scene in a few weeks thats supposed to be set during a terrible storm. I was going to use a garden hose for rain and some cheap lighting effect for lightning...anyone got any hints or tips about shooting these kinds of conditions... or a way to make the rain look better, or to recreate wind without some industrial unit that costs ten million pounds! Thanks

[Yammeryammeryammer]

I would suspend a tarp or two above them, with holes in it, and continuously spray water onto, that way you can more or less control the rain... and it is cheap... and don't forget to cover the camera...

[Chance5]

back light the water if you are to have any hope of succeding, also mix milk in with the water so it shows up.

[Marcelg]

The old theatrical trick for lightning was an open photoflood bulb and a momentary contact push switch. An initial stab of about one second followed by some finger trembling is a reasonable substitute for the real thing. A pale violet or blue gel may help but don't overdo the depth of colour. Don't expect the bulb to last many hours , they are overrun at the best of times to get the brightness but they do have a fast turn on.

[joepiechura]

Sorry I have never tried this before, and the only place I can think of with water and a big fan is a car wash. But I do have a few points that might be useful.

If you're doing a martial arts type of fight, make sure the actors are wearing clothes that make it easy to manoeuvere in, because when they're wet, it will make it all the more harder.

Use more than one camera, or you're actors will freeze to death whilst having to repeat the action while you shoot it from different angles.

Stick to close ups, and that's a smaller area you have to turn into a convincing storm (also makes the action more intense).

If you do use lots of close ups, you may be able to get away with a big domestic fan placed close to the subject, alhough it will make it difficult to record any decent sound.

As always, remember not to mix water and electricity.