After Effects Animations part 2!

Today I also made an animation sequence for the film production company.

I chose the name "3 eyes production" because it had a sense of abnormality and eeriness to it. The logo's design stares directly at the audience which sets up the eerie atmosphere. Along with this, I wanted to incorporate  my drawing skills with the animating skills I have learnt, unlike what I had done with my last one.

Process:

1. I drew the images which were to be used on Adobe Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. I then exported the files in PNG format

the drawing for the first animation sequence

The 2nd sequence: This was done by using colour invert in Photoshop and then by drawing another eye.

2. I added these image into Adobe After Effects.

3. I created new solid layers both black and white and added them into my composition and arranged them accordingly.

4. I added the clip of the glitch animation and masked it onto the eye drawings using the "Alpha Matte" option.

5. With everything all set, I adjusted the clip so the animations were just right.

Here is the finished product (in Gif format). The one in my film will include a glitching sound too.

01/01/2017: Trying After Effects animations

In this lesson I made an animation for the film's studio using the tutorial above. It was quite hard at first, having to adjust so many things and playing around with the invert options but later, I became a little bit more familiarized with the procedure. 

Concepts and origins

I chose the name "Scolopendra" because it was the scientific name of Centipedes. These bugs do not live and hunt in colonies but live alone, reflecting the theme of the film.  After losing his family, the detective succumbs to an isolated and more individualistic lifestyle. 

The Animation of the particles also resembles the movement of bugs such as termites infesting/breaking down something, which is the reason why I selected it. 

For the Logo, I had another idea of the "S" being centipede shaped, which will make it more iconic and recognisable. 

Process

I experienced many difficulties whilst making this animation, but in the end I had done it. First was the use of the invert effects in order to allow for the logo text to mask down . My AE also had a different preset to that of the tutorials's which made it quite hard to find the Trimat option until Mr. Harrison lended in a hand!

In the end I used the Veteran typewriter font   because it's texture had a worn out and  rusty feeling . 

Here is the final Product:

 

The speed will be adjusted in the final outcome since it currently takes up 18 out of 150 seconds and some of the animations are excessively slow. 

Character Design: The Protagonist/Detective

Other detective characters that my protagonist is based on

In the end we went with a combination of the trench coat and suspenders design so that he looked stylish whilst not being too old fashioned. Instead of using a beige colored Trench coat, a Black one was used as it looked more modernistic (to fit the 2000s era Bangkok setting) and the colour in itself provoked meanings of authority and anonymity .The fedora idea was also abandoned since it did not fit with the film's context that well. There are also many iconic detective characters who do not wear fedoras/hats meaning that it isn't always conventional.

Character Design: The False Antagonist

note: They are called the "false antagonist" because their role was initially to be the "Red Herring" to the film which is very conventional in crime thrillers and dramas.

Film opening Credits

These are the credits that I will put into my film opening following the conventional credit structures for an average thriller film. For the Music Designer, I put in the person who had actually composed the soundtrack that I am using.

Production company: 3 Eyes Productions

Studio: Scolopendra Studios

Main Stars

-Sanan Unumaranon
-Puthimart Naothaworn

Co-Stars

-Richy Sirachanikorn
-Jenny Suwiwatchai
-Charlie Suwiwatchai

 Film Title "Alone"

Casting Director: Franklin Johnson

Costume Designer: Takeshi Takumi

Music Designer: Greg Dombrowski

Editor: Jennifer Hawkins

Production Design: Jack Morrison

Director of Photography: Kris Sathreekul

Producer: Somsak Somboon

Writer: Bamm Sathreekul

Director: David Harrison

Soundtracks

Here is some royalty free music I found on youtube  which I could possibly use in my film opening. Their names will be put in to the film credits if used.

4/2/2016 Filming session #2

Today I filmed more footage and re-filmed some. The first draft's offender profile did not turn out accurate as I was a 17 year old actor playing a male character named "Dennis Lee" who was 30. I amended it to look more accurate and believable and re-filmed certain scenes where the paper was used.
After school, me and Jenny went home together and we started filming. Although, Gun was unable to attend due to misunderstandings and he was quite busy that day. Instead I got Jenny to play the detective because I already had footage of his face and the ones that needed re-filming were POV shots or ones that only required his hands.

The edited report.

A comparison of the interrogation scenes between two sessions.
(old-new)

Since another scene involved phones, me and Jenny changed our phone contact names and wallpapers to fit the characters.

During the re-take of the interrogation, I attempted a bird's eye view by putting the tripod on the interrogation table. I thought that it could be dramatic and convey an effect that both the detective and his suspect are being watched by the third party. This will act as an hermeneutic code for the audience too, something that is prominent in crime thrillers and crime dramas. Unfortunately when I checked the footage, I was very careless and let the camera lose it's balance, falling off the table. The metal tip of the lenses broke meaning that it could not be connected to the camera and function. Luckily, the camera itself was alright.  Even though this maybe, the camera was owned by the school and it is quite disrespectful to treat someone else's property badly. This has also shown that there should always be a person present and holding the camera, which I clearly did not follow. The next time I film, I will be less reckless and careless to ensure that this does not happen again.
*it was quite ironic because I did end up writing "camera falling over" in the Risk Assessment sheet*

The footage that will live in infamy

There was only 1 more scene left to be filmed so I borrowed one of my mother's cameras (I put the strap around my neck at all times to avoid repeating what happened earlier!!). This last scene involved the wife tenderizing and preparing a piece of steak for her husband. It required a lot of delegation as all of the lights in the living room had to be turned off simultaneously or else it wouldn't be as dramatic. As I was filming there were 2 other people at the light switches to do this.

On the way back to my room, I saw an area under renovation with (yellow tape) to prevent people from entering so i took some footage incase I could incorporate it into my opening. It was located on the walkway whoch connected the condo buildings tigether. In my first filming, there was a lady who was going to pass as I was filming and Jenny said "there's someone behind you!". I screamed (it was nighttime), leaving the lady very confused as she walked away and we apologized.
Below: The area I filmed
left: The first "there's someone behind you" shot
right: The 2nd shot

It ended with talking a POV shot of Jenny (the wife) handing a rose as a part of a flash back. I filmed her at the balcony next to the swimming pool as the view was nice and romantic. After that, we had dinner and bid our goodbyes.