If I’m totally honest, I don’t know where to go with this assignment. So many ideas are going through my head. Should I do another kinetic typography piece, or a hand drawn animation? Or even go down the 3D route. With my interests in mind, such as music and TV, I looked up different motion graphic pieces on YouTube to help with my decision:
After looking at these, I thought I should create a piece with a bit more ‘meaning’, something I believe in. Something like the ‘Stop SOPA’ movement. Here are a couple of videos found on the topic on YouTube:
I then realised that I don’t have much time to cover such a big subject as I have a time limit of 30-60 seconds, as well as the fact that SOPA has long gone (for now).
Research
Back at the drawing board I had a brain wave of combining this assignment with my Lens Based Media assignment, for which we have to create a short film. I have decided to create a trailer for this short film. Seeing as the short film is going to be a supernatural thriller/horror, I researched the codes and conventions for this genre, as well as the trailer genre itself:
Inspiration
Okay, so I may have gone overboard with the videos. But they all feature effects that I would like to include in my trailer. Mainly stuff like the text animation. The music in all of these videos fit well alongside the moving image. They may be separate elements, but they go hand-in-hand together and create an effective, dramatic, tense piece. Which is, of course, what I want my trailer to do.
Change of plan; Because our script is still in the process of being written (we had to rewrite it and change the plot several times) filming is being put back constantly. This means I have to put my trailer on hold as I need the footage that will be filmed for my trailer. To overcome this problem, I am going change my motion graphics idea to a title sequence for the short film instead. .
Title sequence research
I’ve decided to have a look at title sequences for the horror genre, so I can get inspiration on the typography which is used, along with what moving images are typically featured. I also need to focus on the type of sounds that feature throughout these texts.
It appears that grungy fonts are commonly used among these sequences, with dull, dirty colours such as dark red, brown, and black, along with some featuring colours such as green and blue. What’s common in all of these title sequences is the use of eerie, high pitched noises which vary from being quiet and loud throughout the piece. Another sound that features is television and/or radio static along with a voltage sound, thumps and bumps. Typically, there is also an ambiance sort of sound playing in the background. In some instances there are also classical instruments used such as a piano or violin. All of these audio elements together create a better tension than they would simply used on their own, heightening the audience’s emotions and making them feel uneasy.
However, whilst it may work well to create these emotions, audio alone isn’t enough. Synchronising the audio with moving image creates a whole better experience. It’s the little things like making text, or even a straight cut transition, appear on a beat that makes the piece look ‘cleaner’ and more professional. As for the mise en scene, smoke and clouds are common, creating a sense of mystery and, again, eeriness. Moreover, small clips from the movie itself sometimes feature, or footage separately shot specifically for the sequence and relative to the film. Within these shots are things we would consider ‘creepy’ or ‘weird’, such as a person standing there normally, then suddenly screaming into the camera, or an extreme close-up on someone’s eye looking frantically left to right. The lighting assists with setting the correct mood and atmosphere within the shots, such as a green or red tint, along with casting shadows. Not only do shots like these increase tension and fear in the audience, it also raises questions, making them ask themselves ‘why are they screaming?’, ‘where are they?’, and ‘what are they scared of?’
All in all, an opening sequence sets a theme of how the film will react with us, and how the genre is set, which is achieved through using these elements.
Playing around with text animation
I’ve started experimenting with different text animations in Adobe After Effects CS4:
Click here for the origin of the sound effect.
Click here for the heart beat sound effect (2nd audio clip), and click here for the electric voltage sound effect (2nd audio clip).
Click here for the origin of the sound effect and click here for the tutorial of this animation.
Animations like these usually appear at the very beginning of films and their titles sequences to introduce and advertise the main companies that have played a part in the film.
What to feature?
This is the difficult part. Although I know what sort of things to include to create the correct atmosphere, and for the audience to identify the film’s genre, I’m stuck on what text to include.
From previous research, it appears that showing the director, editor, actors etc. is usually what is included in the sequences so I will use my peers that were involved in my Lens Based Media assignment as the cast and crew to be featured. These people are; Rachel Philogene [Director], Rachel Hancock [Actress], Emily Vella [Screen Writer], Jake Elliot [Actor], along with myself who was the editor.
The next stage is to establish what footage I will feature within my sequence. I plan to use stock footage and images from various sites such as xstockvideo, deviantart, and vimeo, and I plan on obtaining the royalty free music from soundcloud and freesound.
I have currently found a few bits and bobs of stock footage and images, along with some music, that I might use and edit in After Effects for my sequence:
Images
Videos
Music & Sound Effects
- Loudcore-1; Metal Industrial
- FreeMind; Music For Soloing On
- Whitar; Mind Assault
- Bubble Pipe Media; Face Your Fears (With A Shotgun)
- Oscillator; Ghost fx
- FreqMan; Thump01
- Yewbic; Ambience02
- Jace; Static
- DJ Chronos; Jacobs Ladder 006, Jacobs Ladder 007
- DJMastah; Whoosh D
Of course, I’m going to narrow these down into a short list.
Styling
I plan to add a ‘tritone’ effect to the images and change its midtones to a dark bluey green and its highlights to a light bluey green. This is so I can give the images and footage an eerie aesthetic. I have searched and found possible type faces using dafont.com and fontsquirrel.com along with experimented with their colouring:
The font I will use is Bank Gothic (the last font on the coloured images) as I think it is simple yet effective, and I love it in the yellowy green colour. For me, it really depicts the horror genre, and is a common colour in other horror sequences that I researched.
On to After Effects!
I played around a bit and have edited the photos and text to suit the colour scheme I want to achieve. The next step is to actually start animating. As posted above, I have already created one text animation to include at the beginning of the sequence. I have also created another one, which says “Digital Designs Presents”, which you will see later on.
I’m going to animate the electric light bulb clip and make it glitch as it goes on and off. I plan to achieve this through the use of wave warp and its features. I also plan to include the text “Written By Emily Vella”. The animation I want on this text is similar to that of the Call of Duty text animation:
[1:28-End]
The sound effect I want to include in this scene is a voltage sound. It will accompany the moving image well and will add that extra bit of realism.
It took me a while, but I got there! Here is all of that put together in my first draft:
The next scene after this will be composed from a series of images. I will alter their opacity at different points on the timeline to give a ghostly, demonic effect. I think this will work as it will give a creepy, eerie feeling to the sequence. For continuity I will apply the same text animation I did as shown above on the text, “Director of Cinematography Rachel Philogene”, in this scene. I don’t think there will be any need for sound effects here. Perhaps a few screams or something. I’ll have to wait and see. To make the images have a bit more of a ‘punch’ to them, I am going to make them appear on the beat of the music. This will, hopefully, make the piece look more professional too.
The second draft:
I’m a little stuck on what to feature in the next scene. I’m aware of what text to put in, “Edited by Alice Cadenhead”, but I’m not sure on the image. I have the idea of moving down a corridor or tunnel, somewhere dark and mysterious as well as scary, but I haven’t been able to find any free stock footage of that (“why not pay” I hear you ask. Well, I’m a student, I have no money) so I am going to use the corridor stock image I posted above and make it look as if we’re going down it. I will attempt this by using a camera. With this sequence, I have in mind the use of the glitch effect again but this time with a static sound. For me, it gives the impression of a camera watching you, always having an eye on you, and what to cameras do? They glitch. Good logic.
Third draft:
I want the final scene to be a moving image. Something demonic again. I’ve been on videocopilot to have a look at some tutorials and get some inspiration and have decided to include their ‘Eye Replacement‘ video once getting a hang of the tutorial. Once again, as done with previous images, I will change the opacity at different times to further this demonic effect. This imagery is perfect for the horror genre as it’s weird and creepy and puts the audience on edge. No sound effects will be added.
(For some reason I didn’t put a video of this 4th draft up on YouTube. My bad.)
The final thing to do now is to add the title animation. I looked through YouTube for inspiration and came across a spinning orb effect. I thought that this would look good as I can change the colours to suit my colour scheme as well as alter its timing to suit my music. This effect will be achieved through the use of CC Fast Blur and its features, along with multiple layers and a camera. I will also add sound effects to it such as a ‘whoosh’ sound and maybe a thump noise too. The text I will include in this final scene will be “Starring Rachel Hancock and Jake Elliot”:
Here is my spinning orb:
The sequence is now finally done and dusted. Here you go:
All-in-all, I really enjoyed this task. I found that it really challenged my creative ideas and allowed my ‘creative juices’ to flow. The most time consuming thing of the project was finding good quality stock footage and images to include in my piece, but I got there in the end. I didn’t majorly struggle with anything. Whatever I got stuck on, I was able to work out the problem.
My favourite part of the composition is the first set of still images. I think it fits the sequence well and the timing of it is (almost) perfect. As well as this, I like the end title animation. Not only is it an awesome animation (well, I think it is), but I find that it gives the composition a professional look. What I like least out of the composition is the 3rd scene with the corridor. The music picks up a bit and the image doesn’t replicate that. It’s a bit of an anti-climax if I’m brutally honest. My timing could also be a little tighter throughout the composition. However, I think I have successfully created a motion graphics piece of a good standard, and I hope you do too.
Critique Presentation
I realise this doesn’t make much sense one its own, so here’s a little explanation;
I will start discussing my initial ideas and why I chose to do what I did. Then I will explain about my planning and experimentation i.e. why I chose the typeface, font colour, etc. After I will talk about the animations within the comp and why I chose to use them in the way that I did, along with the music and sound effects. I will then move on to what I struggled with e.g. finding stock footage, why I didn’t use my own, etc. and then finally I will discuss what I would improve and why.
