Use Eyecandy to Get Inspired by Cool Video Effects!

Eyecandy is an up-and-coming website that video editors are going to love! It’s a library of different editing effects that you might see in movies, music videos, and social media videos. Clicking on any of the effects will reveal what the effect is called, give a short description of it, and show additional examples. It’s a constant work in progress, as the creators add new effects and examples. It is currently a database of over 5000 gids showing these cool visual techniques. It can be used as inspiration or for a mood board.

The creator of the site has stated that one of the challenges of filmmaking is not knowing what things are called, and that some creative people choose to gatekeep ideas in order to gain a competitive edge. This website exists to share information and references with everyone, as well as to help give names to techniques – either established names, or ones that the website creator had to invent. It’s a community-driven resource, so check out Eyecandy if you want to help grow the library.

There are also Staff Pick films, a list of film directors to check out, and more.

Here are a few of the awesome effects you’ll learn about from Eyecandy:

Infinite Zoom

Infinite zooms are some of the most satisfying visual effects. They give the appearance of being in a never-ended tunnel. It is used in montages, to change scale dramatically, or just to look cool. This intro sequence from Limitless is an iconic and thematic example of its use.

Tracking Shot

The tracking shot is a simple camera effect that tends to center around the movement of a character. Imagine a character walking down a hallway and the camera moving in front of them at the same pace. So the actor remains the same size, but the background changes. This is seen in many films, but Quinton Tarantino and Wes Anderson make frequent use of it.

Tilt Shift

Tilt shift is a highly stylistic type of shot that uses a special lens (or sometimes a digital effect) that makes objects look miniature. It makes everything look like a toy or a model, and is achieved by replicating the specific way that blur and depth of field behave when taking a macro shot. In video, it can also be helpful to speed up the shot, so that the objects don’t feel so weighed down by their actual scale.

Locked-On

A lock-on video effect simply locks the movement of the camera around an object. So the background changes but an object stays stationary in the frame as it moves. It’s a wonderful way to highlight something, and it also looks impressive.