The Beauty of Smoke Machines
Our lecture today was filled with a full round of exercises around our beloved smoke machine.
For this, we set out to our soundstage with our Panasonic camera, a set of redheads, a reflector AAAAND... our smoke machine!
Within this soundstage, a street set has been installed by the students from CCAD Production Design and we naturally decided to set up our test scenes and experimentation rounds in there. After plugging in our smoke machine to let it preheat, our crew debated on where to set the readheads. We thereby learned and applied how to properly gel and position them, so that the light source it created would seem natural to the scene.
Having everything set up and done, we fetched the smoke machine and our lecturer gave us practical hand-on experience in filming with smoke, light and reflectors. Depending on the light temperature, the thickness of the smoke and the colour of the reflector, you can easily create the cinematic impression of icy fog, slight mist or even smoulder. I was particularly fascinated by the atmosphere that was created when adding a reflector. For the reflected light gave a much softer glow to the smoke than the direct (or even gelled light) from the redheads did. The difference might be subtle, but it was still highly dramatic nonetheless.
Down below you can see a setting in which the smoke is part of a larger fire (with the possible arsonist emerging from it).
We shot scenes of arson, graveyard scenes, scenes that could stem from a period drama set in Victorian London and even attempted to shoot a slightly noir film scene.
But after a couple of takes, we quickly realised on why it is so difficult to use a smoke machine out in the open: Even the slightest draft will quickly lift the smoke, thinning it out in front of the camera. Although we filmed in a relatively calm and draftless soundstage, the smoke sometimes thinned out so quickly that we did not have much on it on camera. And, depending on the style and look you go for, you might need a lot of smoke in order for the camera to catch it. Like, A LOT!
I really loved the exercise and when it was my turn to use the smoke machine, I was astonished by the sheer weight of the thing! Using it the first time around immediately made me realise that you will really need to keep its exhaust as close to the ground as possible to give it a more natural look (for no smoke or fog hovers 30 cm above ground!) and more time to cast and crew to perform their task while the smoke still spreads.
To sum it up, the exercise in using the smoke machine has not only made me more confident in using the actual equipment and get a profound feel for it, it has also inspired me in creating and envisioning more scenes and pieces containing smoke/fog/mist and it has furthermore reaffirmed my decision to use the smoke machine on my Me, Myself, and I.
I just need to make sure I inform the caretakers about deactivating the smoke alarms on location in time...
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