Production
Test production
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To create the base of the 80s background I opened up Cinema 4D to make the neon mountains and floor, and making the mountains look like they're moving up and down and as if the loop is infinite. I started this by adding a plane, then adding a displacer deformer and making it the 'child' of the plane. I then generated a noise map to create the ripples for the mountains, making some adjustments to get the look that I wanted. In order to clear the path down the middle, I dropped the shader into a layer and added a gradient by moving around the black and white points to make a curves, changing the blending mode to 'multiply' to create the path down the centre. Then adding a null and making the plane as the 'child'. Then by creating a camera and positioning it at the centre of the floor the screen will be in the correct place, I then key framed the start and finish position. Finally, I changed the colour of the floor to neon pink and the mountains to blue, after adding some stars in the background.
After rendering out all the work I had done in Cinema 4D I put the sequence together in After Effects. Then I added a new solid layer, using a gradient ramp to create the orange to pink colour. To get the line effects on the sun I used the rectangle tool to create a mask on the layer, making each mask larger and more spaced out; changing the mask to subtract, to subtract them from the layer. As shown, you can see slight movement in the sun, to do this I key framed the scale, moved forward five frames then changed it to 102% (repeating this till the end of the timeline).
Tutorial which I used to create this : https://youtu.be/LLwkChtrH60
The sequence before it's put into After Effects
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To create the base of the 80s background I opened up Cinema 4D to make the neon mountains and floor, and making the mountains look like they're moving up and down and as if the loop is infinite. I started this by adding a plane, then adding a displacer deformer and making it the 'child' of the plane. I then generated a noise map to create the ripples for the mountains, making some adjustments to get the look that I wanted. In order to clear the path down the middle, I dropped the shader into a layer and added a gradient by moving around the black and white points to make a curves, changing the blending mode to 'multiply' to create the path down the centre. Then adding a null and making the plane as the 'child'. Then by creating a camera and positioning it at the centre of the floor the screen will be in the correct place, I then key framed the start and finish position. Finally, I changed the colour of the floor to neon pink and the mountains to blue, after adding some stars in the background.
After rendering out all the work I had done in Cinema 4D I put the sequence together in After Effects. Then I added a new solid layer, using a gradient ramp to create the orange to pink colour. To get the line effects on the sun I used the rectangle tool to create a mask on the layer, making each mask larger and more spaced out; changing the mask to subtract, to subtract them from the layer. As shown, you can see slight movement in the sun, to do this I key framed the scale, moved forward five frames then changed it to 102% (repeating this till the end of the timeline).
Tutorial which I used to create this : https://youtu.be/LLwkChtrH60
The sequence before it's put into After Effects
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Test production 1
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This first test is the first few shots of my opening sequence, including the 'INSERT TAPE' starting screen, the Universal logo and the 80s background which I had previously made with text layers such as 'Sasha Toop presents'.
Universal logo : To create the logo I had used a plug-in called Orb (a plug-in by Video Copilot which allows you to make realistic-looking 3D planets in After Effects). I begun by creating a new composition, adding a new solid layer named 'Earth' and adding the Orb effect to it. Then adding the planet textures underneath, and changing the settings in the effects control panel so that you can see certain textures appear on the earth. I then repeated the process creating the, stars, clouds and haze, I also changed some of the luminance settings to get the look that I wanted. Then I created a camera layer and keyframed the position to get that zooming out and spinning effect (which is a classic Universal logo aspect).
Tutorial I used to create this : https://youtu.be/iT12Q9O-Q30
To create the title I created a new text layer saying 'UNIVERSAL' in the Universal serif font. In order to get the gold effect I downloaded a reflective layer and placed that on top, putting an offset effect on it and key framing the position from the beginning to the end of the timeline. I then added 'CC Glass' to it to give it a shiny gold effect. I added another text layer saying 'MCA COMPANY' in a smaller font so that it wasn't as eye-catching as the Universal text but was still clear and readable. Then after adding some drop shadow to both texts I pre-composed them both together, within this new composition I created a new camera layer. After making both text layers 3D, I used the camera to make it zoom out, whilst adding a blur and fade on; making the transition between shots smoother and more appealing.
I then brought the composition into the main project and added yet another fade and blur to the beginning to make it look more appealing. Furthermore, I wanted to create a transition to the next clip by making it look like the screen was falling into the earth, I done this by making another camera layer on top of the Universal logo layer and yet again key framing the position so that it zooms in. Then adding a white solid layer on top of both the Universal logo layer and the 80s background layer and key framing the opacity to fade it in and out.
VHS effect
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To create the VHS effect I used a plug-in that gives you different kinds of the old VHS looks. After adjusting the settings to get the exact effect I wanted I created a new text layer saying 'PLAY' and placed that on top of all my layers. To create the glitch at the beginning I created a new composition and after making a new solid layer I added 'fractural noise', adding an expression to the evolution (time*10). I then put this on top of the layers where I wanted it to be visible (also increasing the frame jitter in the VHS effects controls).
Final Production
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Tutorial I used to create this : https://youtu.be/iT12Q9O-Q30
(Some examples of what you can create using the plug-in Orb)
To create the title I created a new text layer saying 'UNIVERSAL' in the Universal serif font. In order to get the gold effect I downloaded a reflective layer and placed that on top, putting an offset effect on it and key framing the position from the beginning to the end of the timeline. I then added 'CC Glass' to it to give it a shiny gold effect. I added another text layer saying 'MCA COMPANY' in a smaller font so that it wasn't as eye-catching as the Universal text but was still clear and readable. Then after adding some drop shadow to both texts I pre-composed them both together, within this new composition I created a new camera layer. After making both text layers 3D, I used the camera to make it zoom out, whilst adding a blur and fade on; making the transition between shots smoother and more appealing.
I then brought the composition into the main project and added yet another fade and blur to the beginning to make it look more appealing. Furthermore, I wanted to create a transition to the next clip by making it look like the screen was falling into the earth, I done this by making another camera layer on top of the Universal logo layer and yet again key framing the position so that it zooms in. Then adding a white solid layer on top of both the Universal logo layer and the 80s background layer and key framing the opacity to fade it in and out.
VHS effect
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To create the VHS effect I used a plug-in that gives you different kinds of the old VHS looks. After adjusting the settings to get the exact effect I wanted I created a new text layer saying 'PLAY' and placed that on top of all my layers. To create the glitch at the beginning I created a new composition and after making a new solid layer I added 'fractural noise', adding an expression to the evolution (time*10). I then put this on top of the layers where I wanted it to be visible (also increasing the frame jitter in the VHS effects controls).
Final Production
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It's good to see some practical work from you Sasha! This test is very interesting and shows skilful use of After Effects.
ReplyDeleteYou want to consider how you will use these techniques to explore the conventions you have identified in your research. For example, how are you going to establish characters? Genre? Atmosphere? Although you have looked at title sequences for Sitcoms and James Bond, you may want to look at one from the time period and genre of your chosen idea, then look at they use these conventions.
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DeleteYour tests are well put together, demonstrating a good understanding of the software. Although you appear to be very reliant on YouTube tutorials and I would like to see your project develop further than what they have created. Also be aware of present something that someone else as your own work.
DeleteUse these tutorials as a starting point but through your research and feedback develop your work further to create something new and original.
Also be aware of presenting something that someone else has created as your own work.*
DeleteIt is very good that have shown what you are doing and how you have done it whilst given us a step by step idea and guide of how you made certain things with in your piece whilst showing how the item has come out after being fully edited.It is also good how you are showing a wide range of what you have made and how they are shown but the only other thing i would like to see is you show more screen shots and videos of how certain things are made such as when you are talking about the VHS effect and how it is made you could show screen shots of how it is made and how it looks being incorporated with you other work as well as you could show how your piece has evolved and what changes during your production through the use of screen shots and screen recordings. I also really like your final piece it captures the 80s art style you were going for and it was effective for what you wanted to show.
ReplyDelete