SFX INDUSTRY.
CHERISH THE REAL
Everyone from the director to the audience seems increasingly keen to see things done in camera, even if for different reasons. Finding the sweet spot of special effects has become an increasingly important way of getting – quite literally – more bang out of the production budget
WORDS. Phil Rhodes IMAGES. Various
S pecial and physical effects cover a huge range of disciplines. Upscaled rigs that launch stunt performers or create spectacular pyrotechnics might be the most common fixtures of behind-the-scenes material, but the field also brushes with specialist costume, prop and set design, as well as the intricate field of building and filming miniatures. Physical effects most often enter a set in the context of atmos and weather. It’s not unusual for a camera truck to make room for the industry’s favourite pocket-sized fog machine, Le Maitre’s venerable Mini Mist, which runs conveniently from pressurised canisters of fluid
and can even operate for a while after having been unplugged. Larger set-ups, meanwhile, or anything from the rest of Le Maitre’s spectacular pyrotechnic repertoire, are likely to demand the attention of a specialist. But not everything in special or physical effects involves explosions, as Artem’s Mike Kelt explains. The company’s work, which began in the late eighties with some ex-BBC special effects people, has always involved a variety of disciplines. “The company started out doing TV programmes and commercials, and it quickly became known by production companies because it provided everything under one roof, from model making to weather effects or pyrotechnics.” The company would soon go on to provide effects for broadcast and commercials, with early highlights including The All New Alexei Sayle Show for the BBC and Ridley Scott’s commercial work. Some of those offerings have been more common requirements than others in the decades since, though the last few years have been – as for much of the industry – intensely busy. “There’s been a sudden, exponential increase in streaming services and an unprecedented demand for TV content,” Kelt
notes. “We moved into our current main 20,000 sq ft workshop in West London in May 1995. Since then, we’ve added one in Glasgow and a new space in the Manchester area is being prepared as we speak.” Audiences’ enthusiasm for real-world, physical effects (or perhaps their disdain for poorly executed alternatives) is no secret. The financial equation from a production perspective is perhaps a little less straightforward. Complicating a shooting day with an elaborate practical effect set-up, after all, is potentially
IN CASE YOU MIST IT Le Maitre’s Mini Mist is the industry standard for adding on-set atmosphere
“There’s been a sudden, unprecedented increase in demand for TV content”
45. AUGUST 2023
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