Backyard FX

Backyard FX is an independent webseries hosted by do-it-yourself film guru Erik Beck.

In each weekly episode, Erik Beck and his team show amateur film makers how to recreate a Hollywood-style special effect for $50 or less. Some special effects are inspired by viewer requests, while others take their leads from the latest big budget blockbusters.

Regular segments on Backyard FX include Hollywood FX, where Erik visits real life special effects studios, and Your FX, which highlights the tips and filmmaking efforts of the program’s loyal home viewers.

Basic controls underneath the player allow browsers to pause and play the clips, adjust their volume, view them in regular or full-screen mode, or share the clips with friends. The videos are shot in high-definition format to maintain quality in full screen mode.

Pausing the clips presents another menu in the player screen. This presents codes for embedding the entire video, or its link, into a personal website. It also features icons which allow fans to easily navigate to other videos in the series.

An episode synopsis is featured underneath the player, while links for sharing the clips with popular social networking sites are to the left. There are also links to download the videos and subscribe to the episode RSS feeds. Viewers are encouraged to share their opinions on each episode by leaving a comment below the clip.

New episodes of Backyard FX are added to the channel every Monday.