This is part of our behind-the-scenes series on a slow-motion, live-burn fire shoot shot on a Phantom Flex4K.
If there's one indelible image from 1991's firefighting actioner Backdraft, it's the sight of flames licking out menacingly from underneath a door. It may be that the folks on Backdraft staged and filmed the effect as it happened for real, but on the short Phantom Flex4K promo Let Me Know When You See Fire, director Brendan Bellomo and DP Greg Wilson came up with a creative way of achieving the same effect without actually setting a room on fire -- or being in a room at all. Check out this ingenious way of achieving the effect:
And for reference, here's the best clip I could find of it happening similarly in Backdraft (if memory serves me correctly, there are other instances, but this is the one that's available online):
Next time you need this particular shot for your own film -- now you know how, without burning down your house!
Links:
