Learn about the Special Effects of Ghost Roommate

Ghost Roommate is a new supernatural comedy short filmed in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador! It will debut at the Nickel Independent Film Festival June 14 and tickets are available now!

George is a naïve apartment hunter who finds a great spot, only to discover it comes with an unusual roommate – Izzy, a ghost who’s been there so long she’s included in the lease.

The film’s titular ghost is invisible and makes balls of yarn float midair, blinks lights off and on again, covers a friend with a blanket, and types on a keyboard without ever touching it. Spooooky.

Or not! Izzy was brought to unlife using mostly practical effects. A “practical effect” means the effect was done live and in-camera, not inserted digitally afterward. Director Veronica Dymond, Art Department Head Andie Bulman, and Director of Photography Rodrigo Berrecil pooled their resourced and used puppets, special equipment, and trick shots to create these effects.

Learn more about them below, and check out other Behind the Scenes pics!

All photos courtesy of Kevin Coffey

Floating Ball of Yarn

This effect was pretty simple – we stuck fishing line through a ball of yarn and attached it to a pole, then attached the pole to a C-stand. Andie kept a hand on the pole and made it bob slightly, to make it appear as if it was moving during the shot. The fishing lines were digitally erased in post.

Flying Blanket

Another fishing line effect, we ran line through the fabric of the corners of a blanket. Andie stood off-camera and simply pulled the blanket over Mikaela.

Flickering Lights

Izzy the Ghost can make lights flicker on and off. It’s not magic – it’s just special lightbulbs, connected to an app through Bluetooth and controlled on a phone. Our lighting crew Mike Fardy and Michael Peers controlled the lights.

While DOP Rodrigo, directing mentor Shara Desiree King, and director Veronica discuss a shot, grip/spark Mike Fardy switches out generic lightbulbs in a chandelier with special wireless ones. What a silly face you are making, Mike!

Ghostly Typing

Director Veronica Dymond made this puppet keyboard at home by disassembling an old broken one. First, she glued lengths of invisible thread to the keys, then sewed each thread through the keyboard’s silicon keypad. She drilled holes in the keyboard case bottom, pulled each line through, and marked the lines with their assigned letters. The keyboard’s keys go up and down, but it doesn’t actually type, so a wireless keyboard was used to make the letters appear on the computer screen. We didn’t have time to practice but it looks awesome and plays a critical role in the story.