Here’s an interesting little tidbit from David Bonneywell, a professional special effects artist from Great Britain, who’s worked on such shows and films as Dr. Who and Clash of the Titans. For a television show he was working on several years ago, he had to create a special effect of beer flying out of a glass in slow motion, with the results pictured below.
Here’s how Bonneywell describes the process he used:
For an episode of the TV series ‘Keen Eddie‘ they wanted a Matrix style ‘bullet time’ shot of a bar room brawl. However, these type of shots normally require dozens of cameras and lots of time and money, things sorely lacking in TV productions! The answer?? Suspend tables and chairs on wires, get your actors to stand VERY still in mid punch etc and get some FX guy to make plastic, freeze frame beer!!
Using photos of real beer in flight I cut a shape from clear sheet plastic and shaped it by heating and bending it. I stuck this into a real beer glass and then built up the ‘beer’ with epoxy glue coloured with brown inks. Considering it’s not the sort of thing I normally do (no boobies, monsters or blood!!…lol) I thought it turned out quite well.
For the same series I also made some over head rubber masks of Duran Duran (the group not the film character) used in an episode as disguises by some bank robbers!!
The series was an American show but for some reason was made in the UK…I’ve never actually seen it. If anyone here has I’d be interested to know how well this worked in the show!!
Kinda nailed it, I’d say.