Tip #66: Special effects... that aren't too special.

By Dan Parkes (Director)

'Less is more' as they say and this can very true when it comes to visual effects. If you don't notice the effect, then it has served it's purpose. Ambleton Delight surprisingly contains many visual effects, from town name replacements and logo removals, to day-for-night shots, image stabilisation (to correct shaky dolly shots) and adding atmospheric elements such as smoke and rain. But there is only one obvious visual effect which is when a static picture in a newspaper transforms into an actual moving image that itself then transforms from day-to-night.

All the visual effects were completed using basic tools in Adobe After Effects. However, effects is not primarily about the software. The key to an effective effects workflow is to work backwards; firstly establish the desired end product in as much detail as possible (even storyboarding it) and then work out what elements and particular shots (maybe angles or durations) are required to achieve it.

Take a look at three basic effect shots we did and how they were done (click on the images for an enlarged version):

1. Ambleton sign replacement
We shot a master plate ensuring even lighting and no camera movement. The original letters from the Alfriston sign were then recreated to read Ambleton using primarily the clone tool in Photoshop. The new letters were then added to the shot in After Effects by motion tracking the image (as there is very subtle movement). Then the final shot is colour corrected -an important ingredient to 'selling' any shot that has elements from different sources. The village signs were so effective that many did not notice the difference...even the camera operator who shot it!

2. Logo/graffiti removal
There are dozens of shots in the film that had logos removed for one reason or another. In this example, a very obvious 'Christmas '08' is written on the fence behind the action in a scene which is supposed to take place in the late 80s or early 90s. So it clearly had to go! In After Effects it was removed frame-by-frame by masking out areas and replacing the graffiti with a cloned part of the fence.

3. Moving newspaper image
In this effect the lead actor opens a newspaper to an article and we then zoom in on the main picture of the restaurant which transforms into live action footage of a day-to-night time-lapse. This was accomplished by firstly filming a shot of the actor opening a real newspaper, inside of which we placed some green motion tracking markers. In After Effects we then tracked and replaced these with a digital article about the restaurant, complete with a headline, story and photographs. The main photograph is in a fact a freeze frame of time-lapse footage which in itself is a day for night effect shot.

For more information on the day-for-night technique, please refer to this earlier blog.

There are some great places where you can find tutorials on using After Effects. Here are some of my favourites:

http://www.videocopilot.net/
http://ae.tutsplus.com/
http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/

Tip #64: Editing tools and techniques

By Dan Parkes (Editor/director)

In the previous blog we looked at the importance of establishing a workflow. Organisation is certainly one of the most important qualities an editor must have -along with a large dose of patience! Here are some other valuable and practical tools and techniques when editing:

1. Naming system
Especially if you are editing a large project (which may itself become divided into several projects) it is good to establish a logical naming system. Numbers and dates should be used. Ensure files are put in properly named bins and the files themselves named sensibly (no "untitled" files and sequences!). Your editing project should be organised well enough so that if another editor had to take over they would have no issues working out where everything is. This will ensure that if weeks or months down the line you have to return to the project you can quickly pick up from where you left off.

2. Cuts
Inevitably you will have different "cuts" or versions as you alter and improve the edit i.e. first, second and third cuts. Always create a new sequence (or even project) for a new cut. For example, when a new cut is about to be edited I firstly "lock" the old cut to ensure I don't accidentally alter it, then create a new duplicate sequence which I then proceed to edit. This means you can easily go back to older cuts if you are looking for something you have subsequently changed or deleted.

3. Shot order
It is sometimes difficult to know where to start on an edit. The most logical and classic method is to edit in the same way the film was shot -likely laying down the "master" shot first, and then cutting in the "medium" and "close-up" shots.

4. Pacing
The pace of a film is critical. This will likely be dictated by the script or director but also editors must use their own instinct to decide where is a good place to cut and how fast and slow the feel should be. One method to help is to use music, or temp tracks. If you know the music that will be used you can put marks on the beats and then cut to that if appropriate. Or if the director has a certain type of music or score you can "temp" it in the edit to help ensure you get the right feel and pace.

5. Audio
Audio is often the secret to helping make cuts work. Although any extensive audio editing should be left for the actual audio mix, a picture editor can use overlapping audio and wildtracks to help make a cut work. Sometimes a certain cut does not work until ambient audio or sound effects are added to help sell the continuity.

6. Edit tools
It is important for an editor to become familiar with the different tools his NLE offers such as slip or ripple cuts and other ways and means of cutting and moving clips on a timeline. It is also necessary to learn the keyboard shortcuts to those most commonly used to speed up the process.
7. Saving and Back-up
Make sure your NLE either automatically saves or save your project after any substantial changes. An editor must be aware of the need to constantly back-up. If not using a RAID system (which will automatically mirror the drive depending on the configuration) then at least regular duplication of the project and files used should be made on an hourly or at worst daily basis. There is nothing worse than losing a project due to harddrive failure -as it is almost impossible to completely recover or remember all the creative edit decisions that were made.

Tip #63: Establish an editing workflow

By Dan Parkes (Editor/Director)

Good organisation is key to any editing project, especially when you are dealing with a film that will be at least 90 minutes and over 20 hours of HD footage has been shot for it!

So we very early on devised a workflow that would ensure we could achieve this, even though we were editing on essentially a domestic computer using software that is not widely known for feature film work: Adobe Premiere Pro. I have personally used most Adobe products, starting from when I was a graphic designer at a newspaper using Adobe Photoshop and Acrobat. It seemed natural to later progress to Premiere Pro for editing and After Effects for compositing and effects. But many widely regard Premiere Pro as not being up for the task of a feature film, believing Avid or more recently Final Cut are better tools. I had used Premiere Pro for some large projects including a 45 minute feature film, but this was in HD and so was possibly going to be an issue.

Above: Here is one of the 5 'reel' projects
(click to view at 100%)

The answer lay in two simple factors.

1. An intermediate codec
In Final Cut, when editing HD, the Quicktime files are often encoded using ProRes 422, developed by Apple. So I decided to use Cineform as an intermediate codec, converting all the m2t files from the camera harddrive into Cineform HD .avi files. Although much larger file sizes these worked very well in Premiere Pro and meant I could edit in HD without any issues. It also ensured no colour information loss when rendering out, maintaining the quality of the picture.

Above: Here is 'master' project
which combined all 5 'reels'.
(click to view at 100%)

2. Project structure
Although the Cineform intermediate codec made for easy editing I was under no impression that I could have one single project that would end up being 100 minutes long and still be stable. So I divided the film into 5 logical sections, which I called "reels" (inspired by the reels projectionists use) each being about 20 - 25 minutes in length. I worked on each reel independently (sound included) until I was satisfied with the cut. Then the 5 reels were combined into one single master project. This was the only difficult part, as I had to create a guide track and sync points for how these reels were joined for when the sound was mixed later but in the end did not prove to be too difficult.