In filmmaking, preproduction is the stage of planning in which filmmakers decide where and when to insert spark effects. Producers and directors make storyboards like a series of cartoon illustrations that trace the story from start to finish. When George Lucas planned the "Stars Wars" epic battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Lucas imagined future warriors using lasers as knights used swords: to cut. However, you must first imagine how spark effects will enhance the movie.
Shooting footage is a little trickier when you remember that spark effects are added afterward. Actors and directors must pretend that the effects are there during the shooting of film scenes, although the effects are not. Watch "The Sparkle Illusion" to see how pretense paves the way for a sparkle video. Camera operators must carefully allow enough room within the frame of the motion picture to successfully insert a spark effect. Imagine the challenge of shooting Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in battle.
In postproduction, the effect becomes part of the video. It's the creator's choice: sparks, particles or lasers? You can use more than one, of course. Creators use computer software to select effects and create their image in the video, which is visually intense, detailed work. If the spark is out of proportion to the other information in the frame, then its effect is comical. If it's too small, then its effect is understated.
Multiple-sourced video shots, once sewn in editing, present logistic production challenges. If you lay one shot over another, you must ensure the sparks do hit a character who doesn't know the effects are there. Sometimes, the visual resonance of a spark image may affect the integrity of the next frame. In this way, "editing" means more than merely sewing shots together. One rule of thumb has moved from analog to the digital era: don't discard the edit you've just cut until you look at the result -- you might need to put some back.