How Jedi Roast Marshmallows
Zach King, a famous YouTube/TikTok star, was hosting a film competition with the theme of recreating famous visual effects from movies. The prize was a chance to be featured on his YouTube channel. I decided to make a short video in which I use a lightsaber to roast a marshmallow.
Making it Loop
I wanted to challenge myself to make it perfectly loop. To do this, I had to make sure the video ended in the same place that it began.
Beginning Ending
I used the lightsaber passing across the screen to splice the beginning and ending together.
Making the Blade
To make the blade more realistic, I used a practical light on set. When I brought the lightsaber onscreen, my assistant uncovered the light.
Light Off Light On
To create the blade, I used an AfterEffects plug-in called Saber. For every frame, I repositioned the lightsaber blade to track it to the footage.
Finishing Touches
To make the marshmallow catch on fire, I had my assistant hold a blowtorch up to the marshmallow. I then used a clean background plate to edit the blowtorch out of the shot.
Before After
Since the blade of the lightsaber would be covered up, I did not worry about removing parts of it.
Once I finished my video and added some copyright-free Star Wars music, I submitted it to Zach King. It got featured in his video which you can watch here:
