W10 | Techniques | Budget Storm Lightning

Filmmaking Tips – Budget Lightning/Storm

How to do a lightning effect?

Using After Effects to replicate the lightning.
- Post-production is not the best way to go. Because of the real shadows and highlights are hard to replicate except pushing the image to overexposed.
- I have tried it in the last project, most of the effects are done in post-production. Overexposed is fine sometimes, but to reach a higher level, creating one in the setting is essential and worth studying.
Creating lightning with storm stimulators for pro.
- Prices are around $80 to $400, which is expensive and unrealistic for a student project. Also, it’s hard to find one in local in a short time.
- But I might still need one in the future. The tutorial is below, by the frugal filmmaker (2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Sh4lIrj90
I have also tried the Lightning Stimulator on iPad
- It’s unreal, the lightning is too small and hard to control
The best way – Using various LED lights to simulate a same effect in the setting
1. Requires two 160-LED and a LED torch (all under $100)
2. One of the LEDs is already set up between the subject and the window, to create an initial light from outside of the window in a night time. Adding a weak diffusion to make it soft and we don’t want it to be as harsh as the actual lightning.
3. An initial blast of lightning:
  - Another LED light is raised off the ground and it’s pointing down at 45 degrees. It lights up the whole room.
4. 2-3 frames of aftermath lightning:
  - I
  - t is done by a LED torch to create the aftermath lightning which is not powerful or colossal as the first initial lightning. It’s a quick on and off a few times by the LED torch.
5. Putting them all together:
  1. Total black background with thunder sound effect
  2. 3 or 4 quick blast
  3. Biang (thunder sound effect) – 1 big light
  4. 1…1 2 3 4 quick blast
  5. Biang (thunder sound effect) – 1 big light
  6. Thunder sound effect