Plan and design physical special effects

This standard is about planning and designing physical special effects.
It will involve creating and developing an effect, knowing which materials are the most appropriate and communicating the necessary information to production.

You will need to work in collaboration with a range of production departments in order to design the effect and plan for its implementation. You will also need to work in collaboration with your team and any third party such as private fire crews to ensure the safe, accurate and effective execution of effects.

This standard is for those who plan and design physical special effects.

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1. design physical special effects that meet the brief, budget and production requirements
2. work in collaboration with other departments and key personnel when designing and planning physical special effects
3. survey, recce and document locations to confirm their suitability for the planned effects
4. prepare and present design specifications for physical special effects in specified formats
5. check and confirm all aspects of designs and their implementation meet health and safety legislation and regulations
6. assess the risks involved and assign appropriate precautions to combat them
7. provide completed safety documents as required
8. provide advice and guidance to production on all aspects of health and safety for effects
9. confirm that designs incorporate all key aspects of effects, including mechanics, chemicals and materials to be used
10. liaise with prop and material manufacturers to ensure all parts are appropriate for intended effects
11. check and confirm that necessary approvals have been sought and confirmed by production
12. check and confirm that any testing is conducted in line with safety standards and recorded
13. record all aspects of risk assessment and risk management providing documentation as required
14. suggest and provide alternatives designs, within budget and schedule, when original ones cannot be employed
15. communicate all aspects of designs to relevant people on your team and the production
16. employ crew with the required skills and experience for the job
17. provide documentation and instructions in sufficient detail for team members to produce effects
18. consider sustainability and the environmental impact of the effects
19. confirm that locations are returned to a safe state once physical special effects have been executed

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1. how to research and plan required elements and materials for designs
2. how to assess what will be required in terms of materials to create effects, how they will impact on effects and the rationale for their use
3. the mechanics of desired effects and how to recreate them in a convincing manner that meets safety legislation
4. the benefits of assessing locations where possible prior to implementation
5. how to simplify the physical special effects process
6. different camera formats and technical specifications available including different lenses, formats, framing principles and ratios, mounts, angles of shots, depth of field, principles of perspectives and scale limitations
7. the production’s legal requirements and policies, including health and safety, insurances, budgets and schedules and how these affect physical special effects
8. measures to put in place to ensure safe, accurate and effective execution of effects
9. how to fabricate and implement action props and materials
10. how to use inanimate and articulated dummies and the mechanics involved in using these
11. how to create models and scale up and down from existing elements
12. how to use photographic projections, methods of scaling, digital scanning, printing and rapid prototyping, materials and processes
13. the challenges of testing effects in workshop conditions and how this can be replicated in both studio and location settings
14. how stunt performers work and the safety parameters they must operate within
15. the hierarchy of production and who needs to be passed information and at which stage of the design process
16. timetable, budget, schedule, constraints and planning of both your department and the needs of other departments
17. the process to follow to gain approval for physical special effects work during production
18. how to employ crew with required skills and experience including third party specialists to work collaboratively within a team
19. what can be achieved by post production and visual effects for the effect required

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3

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2027

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Current

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Original

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ScreenSkills

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SKSPSFX2

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Special Effects Trainee, Special Effects Technician, Special Effects Senior Technician, Special Effects Supervisor

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physical special effects; risk assessment; design; plan; script breakdown; budget; schedule; communicate;

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