SFX INDUSTRY.
Magic miniature
The creation of the miniature world in Slice of Life showcased remarkable ingenuity and resourcefulness. Buildings were crafted using objects ranging from an old telephone to a VHS tape and a speaker.
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above their competence, and timely communication suffers. We turn down more work than we take on simply because of the lack of available people. We’re employing more full-time staff who in turn need training, so it’s not a short- term solution.” Similar concerns are hinted at by the attention paid to new entrants by Any Effects, whose landing page (at anyeffects.com) states: “There is no shortcut to experience.” The company’s credited history goes back decades, boasting an impressive range of productions from Star Wars instalments to Hellboy and Willow . Your correspondent is duty-bound to disclose that he was, decades ago, a work-experience student at Any Effects, when the 1996 miniseries Cold Lazarus was still fresh in the memory of science-fiction fans. If the company had offered then what it does now, he would have been extremely interested. What it does offer, alongside details of its work and capabilities, are two training courses called SFX101 and SFX102. The syllabus
for these include introductory and more advanced coverage of several core effects techniques such as smoke, wind, rain, fire and explosions, though the level of training and experience required to actually work in the field will presumably ramp up for those techniques involving greater risk. The company currently suggests that prospective students should register for updates on when the next course will run. Model making might seem like yesterday’s news, though with the likes of Christopher Nolan preferring miniatures, it’s not hard to see the appeal. Blowing things up, as we’ve seen, is often something best done for real. But even without the demand for destruction, it’s hard not to be impressed when microbudget short film projects such as Luka Hrgović and Dino Julius’s Slice of Life – easily findable on YouTube – can achieve such spectacular results. The short looks almost more like a Blade Runner sequel than the actual Blade Runner sequel, and was made using models built
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IN MINIATURE Model making is still a fantastic option for films of any budget
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To watch a step-by-step guide to the making of the miniature world in Slice of Life , visit youtube.com/ watch?v=XJUHbdE0Dmg
47. AUGUST 2023
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