Ideas! (creating car crash scene for video)

Sound effects, shaking camera, maybe on the inside of the car, the actors could simulate being jolted forward. Check out Automobile Crash FX 01 in Soundtrack Pro.

Or dont show it at all! Just show the implied crash, do a freeze frame and go into narration.

Well, I don't know what you are going for, what software you have or how much time you want to spend. I just watched something on the chroma keyer thing yesterday, so I wondered...

Place a camera in the car and say you want the car to roll over. So, you get the people in the car and setup how you want everyone to act and then you record it. Here is where the chroma feature things comes in that I dunno if it would work, but could you put green paper in the windows of the car, then take video outside a way from the car and roll (actually roll the camera to create the effect) shooting nothing but the background. Then in FCP make that video superimpose over the original shot on the green paper using the chroma keyer thing. This might be a stretch, but it would look cool.

If not this, then just show the driver getting all scared and thrown around without actually showing the car. Then just adjust the speed of the video to create the desired effect. Maybe after the wreck you could muffle the sound and show the person in a bit of shock etc.

m3gau said:

Cool thanks for the ideas guys. Some good ones. I'll give some of them a go. Any more people come up with will be welcome!

Click to expand...

I made a movie in high school where the main character drove his car into a brick wall. To achieve this we mounted the camera on the car, and drove toward the wall, at a speed of about 5mph. Then as the driver came to a stop(about 5 feet from the wall) the cameraman zoomed in. It took about 4 shots to get the stopping/zooming timing down. Then edited the footage so that every 10th frame was used, so it looked like we were traveling 50mph, and faded to white just as the camera was zooming into the wall. To this we added foley of a revving engine and crash sound, but the crash sound faded out as the video faded to white. The white screen stayed for about 3-4 seconds while an airy, etherial sound was added to the sound track. Everyone who screened it said it was quite effective at letting them know that the main character had just died in the car crash.

Side view, camera about two feet from the ground. Have the two cars drive by eachother, perpendicular to the camera direction. Make sure the ground is not in the shot, and cut before you see them pass. You can do this at a real slow speed and speed it up later as well.

This works best with Brigitte Bardot, Jack Palance, and a convertible.

Show them either pulling away from a gas station, or passing someone and hold the action there. Crash happens off-screen, usual sound effects. Slow crane or tracking shot to reveal the crash, a little cracked glass, a little smoke under the hood and a mangled body or two and that's it.

Added bonus is that if you pull it off well then it's an homage (if you don't then you're just a copycat).

Here's a chase scene involving a small car wreck I did a few semesters ago. Not the best, but it's one way of going about it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYE5uAyF8bg