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The PMI Smoke Ninja is a phone-sized smoke machine

The new tiny smoke machine, the PMI Smoke Ninja (249$), is only 142mm tall. 5mm shorter than an iPhone 15. It’s the size of a phone but a fully-fledged smoke machine. Well, a light smoke machine. Let me explain.

The PMI Smoke Ninja was funded on Kickstarter with over $640,000 of funding dollars. It is a hyped entry-level alternative to the PMI Smoke Genie. It is about 30% smaller and much simpler to use. But don’t discount it just yet. The Smoke Ninja can provide all professional needs on set, with only one real exception.

Creative colored light with silver mylar

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I’ve shared several silver mylar lighting techniques over the years, so I’m sure most of you know many of the tricks to get the best from this very cheap yet remarkable material. But if you’re new here or simply just need a reminder, what is all the fuss about when it comes to this incredibly versatile product?

As I mentioned, silver mylar is pretty cheap, and you can get it from all of the typical online mega-corps, but you won’t find it in the usual photography category. Or if you do, you’ll find it for ten times the price. Silver mylar is used for a variety of things, from food storage, party supplies, helium balloons, and even gardening, but what we’re using it for is a way to create beautiful reflective patterns. If you purchase silver mylar from the gardening section, you’ll find it available in long rolls, as the very pliable and highly reflective surface is exactly what we need to make the effect we’re after.

The Smoke Genie is my secret weapon for small sets

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Today, we are going to create two amazing scenes in a super small space, and almost zero budget, but we have a secret weapon, the Smoke Genie. The Smoke Genie is a portable smoke machine for small sets. This video uses the Genie (buy here), but PMI also recently announced the Smoke Ninja, which has similar features but for a smaller budget.

This is how classic movies pulled off epic special effects

Vintage special effects are among my favorite things to watch. I enjoy not only seeing them in movies but also breaking them down and learning how they were pulled off. In their latest video, folks at Film Riot break down the special effects from nine iconic movies, from 1901 The Man with the Rubber Head to 1993 The Fugitive.

These are the ways vehicles are rigged for extreme destruction in the movies

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There’s nothing more exciting in the middle of an action movie than some good old destruction, especially of the vehicular kind. They’re the kinds of crashes and explosions that can often make real life seem a bit boring. That’s because most vehicles these days are built to pretty high standards of safety and security. The kinds of explosions and crashes we see in movies just don’t happen in the real world.

In this video from Insider, the team at JEM FX pulls back the curtain to reveal some of the secrets they use in order to make the crashes spectacular and cinematic for the movies. Some of these have been well-popularised in behind-the-scenes videos from movies, but this video really breaks things down – both figuratively and literally – to show just how choreographed and well planned out these crashes really are.

Stranger Things’ Vecna is the perfect merger of practical makeup and VFX

The fourth season of Stranger Things is over, and I finally got to watch the finale two days ago. Even if you haven’t watched it yet, I’m sure you’ve seen Vecna, the monster appearing in the series’ latest season. I mean, memes are all over the Internet!

Either way, you may find it interesting to see how this creepy creature was made. It was almost entirely practical effects, with a dash of VFX just to make it extra-terrifying. In this video from Vanity Fair, you’ll see how Vecna was made, what challenges the team faced, and you’ll hear plenty of interesting details from the set. Whether you’re a Stranger Things fan or not, I’m sure you’ll find the video really fun.

10 tips for filming miniatures to make them look larger than life to the camera

Miniatures have been a part of filmmaking pretty much since filmmaking began. They’re typically used when building a full-sized set or prop would be impractical or just flat out impossible. Sometimes they’re used to create forced perspective shots to make a miniature look like it’s part of the real world or to be able to blow something up that they couldn’t blow up in real life or to create something that could just never really exist in the real world.

Whatever your reasons for using them, they’re a lot of fun and can be very effective when done right. But how do you do them right? Well, you can start by watching this video from Steve Ramsden where he goes over his top 10 filmmaking tips for filming miniatures to make them look (and act) like they’re a part of the full-sized real world.

Nope, those 30-year-old Terminator 2 bullet effects weren’t CGI, they were practical effects

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When 1991’s Terminator 2 was first released, it was an effects marvel, in terms of both Special Effects and Visual Effects. The two terms are essentially differentiated by their use of computer graphics, and Terminator 2 was pretty groundbreaking in terms of the latter. But it still contained a lot of practical effects – and that included the bullet hits on the mimetic polyalloy (“liquid metal”) T-1000 Terminator, portrayed by Robert Patrick.

A recent post to the Stan Winston School Instagram account recently shared a behind the scenes clip along with an excerpt from The Winston Effect: The Art and History of Stan Winston Studio by Jody Duncan. It demonstrates and explains how the bullet impacts were created using “vacumetalized” latex, foam and a spring-loaded mechanism triggered by an RC controller.

Recreating the Apollo 13 rocket launch with practical models at home

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Winner of multiple Oscars, BAFTAs and SAG awards, Apollo 13 was a pretty epic movie. And with a budget of $52 million it had some pretty spectacular effects, too. Apollo 13 was a mix of model and miniature effects as well as CG and compositing, with one of the most memorable scenes being the launch itself.

DIY filmmaking and effects guru Steve Ramsden wanted to have a go at remaking this scene for himself with the help of a model rocket, some stock footage and Google Earth. Ironically, this was exactly the way the VFX team on the actual movie didn’t want to shoot it, but Steve’s interpretation turned out pretty well.

This is how special effects artists made the muscle and “fat” suits for Bill & Ted Face the Music

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Many of us will remember the original adventures of Ted Theodore Logan and Bill S. Preston Esq., and their long-awaited third movie was finally released last month. There was quite a bit of makeup and effects for certain parts of the movie, though, as… well, this post will likely contain spoilers so I’ll save it for after the jump.

But this 9-minute behind the scenes look goes through the process of how special effects artists like Kevin Yagher (who worked on the first two Bill & Ted movies, countless others and is also creator of the original Chucky) built the muscle and “fat suits” for Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter for various scenes during their reprisal of those two iconic characters.

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