'Nique of the Week --- Sets and Special Effects

When I decided to film "Blue Magic" I wanted to experiment with making sets. I had made sets for "Roll it Gal" but in certain scenes you can see where I didn't position the camera correctly. For example, while Jakeysha is asleep on her couch after work you can see outside. The key to using sets is to remember your boundaries and keep the camera within those boundaries. The traditional shape for a movie set is an open box. Using build mode in The Sims 2 create a three-sided space. Then paint the walls, add a floor, and decorate if desired. TAH DA! You have just built a movie set. Pretty easy, right? Check out an example below:



Now you're ready for more complex sets. The beach in the "Roll it Gal" video is an open set. I used the water tool to create a large water mass. In the floor category, there is a sand texture that i used to surround the water. I simply placed some palm trees in the background and I was done. Actually, a beach is easier to make than a traditional box set.



My favorite set, the city scene in "Blue Magic", was a little more annoying. The size of the headache depends on how big you want to make your city. If you want to film a big sweeping city shot (think CSI: Miami), I suggest that you consider using the Downtown neighborhood from the Nightlife expansion pack. If you don't have Nightlife or you only need a small strip of skyscrapers, then you are free to use my method. Basically, build a bunch of rooms with the wall tool then add a new layer. For variety, make buildings of different heights to look like a real skyline. Since my city scenes were shot at night, I decided to paint the buildings grey and just added some streetlights. You can't build across the street from your house so if you want a street you'll have to use the street flooring in build mode.

YEAH! Now we get to talk about the fun stuff --- Special FX! I haven't really experimented with special effects but one of my favorite scenes in "Blue Magic" uses the Sim Effects mod which can be found at insimenator.net along with other cool mods. The Sim Effects object (looks like a fire extinguisher in the electronics category) let's you add fire, soot, and sparkle to a Sim. In the last scene of "Blue Magic" I used the Sim Effects object to teleport Jay-Z and Pharell which provided the perfect background for the title.

And there you have it! If you have anymore questions feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP!