Make Cheap Special Effects

Check out this video guide on how to make a cheap special effects blood cannon. This inexpensive SFX machine not only cheap, but an effective Special FX blood cannon for any zombie movie or gunshot wound or blood splatter effect! The blood cannon shooter parts: 22mm PVC pipe ...more

For those who want to make zero budget films with special effects, there's only one way to go these days... with a computer. They may look like crap, but they're cheap!

Follow along with Dr Kreepy in this quick video tutorial on how to do cheap and easy tombstones for your home haunt. You will need a marker, a hobby knife or X-acto knife, a hacksaw, an electric rotary tool, black acrylic paint, black spray paint, white paint, a spray bottle f ...more

Indy Mogul Backyard FX is here with an awesome, cheap, special effect build that will have your audience jumping out of their seats. If you're a filmmaker on a budget you've got to watch this video and learn how to make a hole in the chest effect that look exactly like there i ...more

Keir MacDonald shows you a cheap technique for making a practical blood-splattering effect for gunshots and other special fx in your films.

There are a lot of videos out there that offer instructions for creating all sorts of fake wounds. Most of them, however, focus on cuts and gashes rather than that other devious and action-packed type of wound: the burn. This three-part video features detailed instructions for ...more

Adding special effects to your video can make it look more professional and entertaining. Learn how to add Apple iMovie effects to your clips with ease.

This tutorial goes over a few of the advanced features offered in the special effects and video editing software WAX 2.0. Specifically, you'll learn how to add particle effects (like snow) and create a picture warp for transitions to add to your films and projects.

Running over someone's head or burying them alive so that they can rise from the grave are dangerous, and not worth using in filmmaking generally speaking. But yay, there are special effects! Watch this video for a guide to running over someone's head with a car or burying the ...more

If you have a DSLR, you can take some interesting photographs of Christmas trees and holiday lights this year. Here are six different ways to achieve a special effects look for your Christmas photographs by adjusting the settings on your camera.

No matter how desperate they are for work, most actors will not let you crush their heads for your film. The potential for career development afterwards would be limited. This video will teach you how to crush a head with special effects for a film and then how to use three-po ...more

In this tutorial, we learn how to make simple special effects for movies. First, you will need to set up a ladder that's tall enough to make the rail look like it's falling down naturally. Make sure the rain is hitting all around the person or you have sealed off an area. Make ...more

The Terminator— it might not seem like an obvious choose for a woman's Halloween costume, unless you're thinking of the T-X from "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", played by Kristanna Loken. But this Halloween makeup look actually feels more like the Governator's famous por ...more

Does your low-budget film need an explosion, a fireball explosion? This video tutorial shows how to build a simple cremora (fireball) and safely use it. There are many filming techniques, you'll have to figure them out on your own though. This video is for pyrotechnic special ...more

Indy Mogul shows you four ways to create movie effects to make yourself look like a giant both with and without a green screen.

This short video is on how to use your new Eye Mold Kit from Ken Banks. It's simple and easy, and it makes a great looking acrylic eye for any special effect.

Alien invaders are a constant threat, so it is important that filmmakers continue their long tradition of making educational films like Independence Day to ensure that we know what to do when the invasion comes. If you want to make aliens films yourself, watch this video for t ...more

In this video, learn how to create a realistic looking bite mark on your skin for Halloween, film or theatre projects. This look is actually easier to do than you may think and looks completely real. So, get ready to take a bit 'ol bite outta your arm with this informative vid ...more

Want to stick a load of blood and guts in your film? Don't have a lot of money? No problem! Just go to your local butcher shop.

A quick and easy way to achieve the effect of fountains of the red stuff flowing forth from a zombie-bitten neck. Your film will look so real, for what it's worth, that nobody can deny your greatness.

Let's learn how to create some cool special effects in iMovie HD. In this video tutorial you will learn how to make night vision, old time movie, and stormy effects. The effects are really cool and easy to do too! Create special effects in iMovie HD. Click through to watch thi ...more

This week Brandon demonstrates how to perform a few special effects that can improve the visual dynamics of your videos. He explains special effects such as projector feedback loop, levitation camera trick, "use the force" trick.

In this video, we learn how to use food for special effects film makeup. Using familiar ingredients you find in the kitchen, you can make a scene from a movie that looks real! Food can be made to look like really gross things in movies, using the right colors and consistencies ...more

Check this video to learn how to make DIY squib special effects for your film.

This video shows you how to light up a bluescreen for special effects. The bluescreen must be well lit in order for the effect to be more seamless win post production.

This tutorial tells you about most common variables and extra special effects and others to make your character better in Mugen - the custom PC game engine.

This is an interesting video that shows you how to use special effects make-up to turn a 20-year-old into an old woman. So, if you can make, or get your hands on the proper products, this video will show you how to use this cool stuff.

PhotoKey is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop if all you want to do is work with green screen effects. This tutorial shows you the basic Chroma Key functions available to editors in PhotoKey, so you can start adding your own backgrounds and special effects.

Watch to learn how to turn an ordinary photo into an interesting photo using special effects either created by you or provided by Photoshop.

John demonstrates an easy way of creating an out-of-body special effect.

This video will give you basic ideas on how you can create special effect squibs, or fake gunshot wounds, from materials such as rocket fuses, fake blood and condoms.

You've seen them at Disneyland's Fantasia. And in big budget movies like "Waterworld" and "Lord of the Rings." Spectacular, glowing fire effects that seem to ripple with the wind are a staple of action movies, and though it may seem like you need a super good video editing tea ...more

Whether you're an aspiring makeup artist or someone looking to gross out your friends on Halloween, learn how to apply a bloody injury to your hand. With makeup and product, achieve a fake exposed-knuckle injury to gross out even the strongest of stomachs! Most of the products ...more

Dr. Diana teaches you how to make fog, a gaseous, bubbly pumpkin for your Halloween Party, and well as other experiments using dry ice. The guests at your Halloween party are really going to love these effects.

Watch this visual demonstration for detailed instruction on how to airbrush Psycho Paint brand paint on rubber. This is a great technique to make toys, props, or masks.

Learn how to use make up to create a fake slit wrist for Halloween or making movies.

In this video series, our experts Grace Fraga & Brad Schecter will teach you how to do special effects makeup. They will teach you how to apply gelatin, black makeup, and red to make it look like burning and charring. They will also teach you how to make fake shards of glass a ...more

This video shows you how to add some smoke and muzzle type flash effects to video footage of a gun being shot. The video says it's using After Effects, but the software is really Adobe Premiere Pro.

Use this method to make a glowing, burning flower similar to the glowing tomato. Makes a cool trick to impress your friends.

Ben and Paul of Zero Budget studio Blunt Productions demonstrate their way to do vomit effects on the cheap in the first of a many part series.

Make sure and watch this episode as we tackle another heavily requested effect... making someone look blown in half! Jam packed with cheap special effects, Frisbee fun, and a Test Film guest directed by Maniacal Rage!

Home security is as important as having a job. You have to protect your family and your valuables. If you can't afford a high tech security system, then maybe a fake security camera will do the trick. This security camera dud is also a cheap alternative for a film prop. Watch ...more

What's a proton pack without a ghost trap? Useless, that's what. Don't pay megabucks for some fake Ghostbusters costume when you can build your own with household materials. This is a perfect movie prop for your indie Ghostbusters fan flick. Watch this video from Parker's Tut ...more

A breakaway chair is one of the best pranks, or one of the easiest effects for your indie film project. A breakable chair can be made out of simple household items, and is very cheap. The biggest material needed is cardboard. So basically, you'll make a cardboard chair, that b ...more

A grenade is the best way to make your indie action war flick more realistic, but anyway you try it, it's not going to be completely "realistic". You need a prop grenade, and you can eerily make it yourself out of cheap household materials. Watch this video tutorial to learn h ...more

We all know that movies now-a-days don't use real rocks, but fake rocks for their film sets. Why? Because it's safer, lighter, easier to movie, and you can design them exactly how you want them. So if you need a rock for your indie film project, make it yourself. There's nothi ...more

It's time to smash that iPhone, but wait… you don't really want to break your iPhone, do you? That's were a fake iPhone prop comes in, perfect for any homemade movie. Just make this, and switch it out with the real one during the anger attack. Watch this video tutorial to lear ...more

The FN P90. Everybody wants one, but more than likely, you can't get your hands on one, especially if it's illegal in your area. Designed by FN Herstal back in the 80's, the P90 personal defense weapon is the cream of the crop. It's full name, Project 90, specifies a weapon sy ...more

Bring a little bit of super technology into your indie film with a prop robot dog. This is not a real robot dog, but a fake robot dog made from foam core poster board and a few other household materials. Think Lost in Space and The Jetson, only the robot is a dog. Watch this v ...more

It's medieval mayhem and you need a sword prop. Maybe you're larping, or maybe you just need a fake, dull movie prop blade for your action epic. Either way, this is a great weapons build project for a cool replica wooden sword. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to build a ...more

Yes, a smashable board of wood. Just what the propmaster called for. A long 2x4 piece of wood prop is perfect for smashing overtop somebody's head during an action scene. The smashable board is easy to make, too. But not as easy as breaking it. Watch this video tutorial to lea ...more

A fake brick is a great movie prop for any action film. You can break through brick walls, smash a brick in two, or throw a brick at someone without being charged with murder. The majority of this fake brick is made of foam. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make a fak ...more

Dynamite your way to movie success with an explosive bomb. A fake explosive bomb, of course. TNT on a timer is a great movie effect for you action flick. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make a prop movie bomb. ParkersTutorials is a DIY filmmaking show for all of you ...more

You can't have a werewolf movie without a werewolf, but how do you make one. Well, you should start of small. Try your hands at the wolf claws. To create these furry werewolf claws, you'll need a glove and some other materials. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make a ...more

Everybody has that destructive feeling sometimes, when you just want to smash your computer to bits due to a glitch or virus or freeze up. If you're making a film, it's a little more plausible that the computer would actually get smashed, considering it would be a fake prop co ...more

An RPG is a rocket propelled grenade, which is a common tool for enemy combatants in Iraq these days. If you need to have an RPG for your action war movie, then it's best to build your own prop one, since RPG's aren't exactly legal. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to ma ...more

If you need a little advice about film sound and music, these tips should help you out. Find out a good place got get royalty free music to add to your low-budget film and see when not to use music with vocals. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to improve your moviemaking ...more

Having trouble with your green screen? You may not have it lit right, or it may not be secured properly, or you might not be using your editing software right when using chroma key. If you want to learn a few tips on how to fix a bad green screen, this is the place. Watch this ...more

Three awesome film special effects, one video. Ryan at Film Riot sure knows how to make one-stop shopping filmmaking tutorials. This video will show you how to shoot someone's head off, use a jib and dolly together to get more dynamic shots, and also how to make a great cheap ...more