2. Following the implementation of Araveb into this scene in After Effects, the project was exported into Premiere Pro. Here I tested the water for the full film as I
implemented the appropriate sound queues to go along with both the primary footage and special effects. A large part of the editing process was removing
background noise which was prominent throughout the footage, this was initially achieved in Audacity using the Nosie Remover tool before a more efficient method
was discovered within Premiere Pro itself – this window can be seen to the right of the above screenshot entitled “Essential Sound”.
3. Continuing the testing of how Araveb would work throughout the production, I next implemented him into a more simplistic scene which involves the character against
a static camera shot. I recreated the same effect achieved once before for continuity. First I masked a vague shape around the subject before using Keylight to remove
him from the greenscreen background, refining the parameters as I did so, this was followed by softening the masks edges by 350% to create an opacity that is
accurate to the nature of an actual hologram. Next, the subject was tinted various shades of blue using that tool respectively, and to accompany the subject a beam of
matching blue light was constructed using the fast blur tool – it’s settings were refined in order to blend naturally with the subject, which was then made a 3D object
and rotated accordingly to match what is on screen at that given moment. To speed up the editing process, this same project file was used as a template for both shots
of Araveb speaking on the console, although each line of dialogue was rendered before moving on to the next and repeating the process – this is due to each line of
dialogue being recorded coming from the synchronised greenscreen footage.
4. In this essential panning shot, which is present both near the film’s beginning and at its end, the character of John Lambert is supposedly erased from time before
finding himself repeating the same process again, hence the title of “The Loop”. For this effect to be achieved, the camera was kept in the exact same position between
shots of the subject being present and not present before reappearing from the other side of the shot. In After Effects, the clips were simultaneously faded in and out
at this point, creating the illusion that the subject is fading away. To further support the idea of time distortions, an effect entitled “Directional Blur” was slowly
implemented as this takes place – with the direction and length of the blur adjusted accordingly throughout this process before disappearing completely. This helped
to also further disguise the transition from one clip to another while creating an engaging sequence that fascinates the viewers.
5. Once again in After Effects, I repeated the creation process of Araveb before moving on to a more difficult task – being the tracking of Araveb to follow the movements
of the watch. This was achieved using the program’s Tracker tool, which analysed the footage before selecting appropriate points and marking them for tracking
reference. After experimenting with the various forms of tracking available, I settled on the “Track Motion” option which allowed me to select the area of the watch
before assigning the tool to attach Araveb to it. Following this, Araveb’s scale and anchor point was adjusted accordingly and the light source object was parented with
Araveb so that it followed his motions perfectly. This particular shot was difficult to track due to the swift motion of the watch as John Lambert is thrown back in shock,
so manual correction was required to maintain stability and motion blur was also applied to further blend the footage together.
6. The main time distortion effect was achieved through applying the fire-like effect over the footage, before gradually distorting the shot as a whole via the ripple tool in
After Effects. Adding to the effect in a later scene, an explosion effect was overlaid into the project, however it was reversed to give the impression that the crash of
the time machine was being undone as referred to in the shooting script. This will get the point over to the audience well, plus all of the effects tie in nicely together
due to their similar appearances and create a believable scenario.
7. Due to scenes with Araveb emerging from the watch varying drastically, a template would be of no use so the effect was replicated once again for the shot that can be
seen above. In this particular screenshot, I have made visible the tracking path that Araveb follows as the clip progresses. Also visible is the ever-present beam of light
that it parented to Araveb on each occasion, as well as the masking around Araveb and the fact that he is a 3D object due to the angle of his selection box. As with
every After Effects project, the portion of the clip that is of use is cut out via the timeline cropping tool and exported for further development in Premiere Pro.
8. Due to the previously shown shot requiring the correct timing of Araveb’s speech and visual movements, the required lines were pieced together in Premiere Pro and
timed at the correct intervals throughout the shot in order for the character to interact authentically with John Lambert. Any gaps in between were filled in with extra
footage of Araveb and blended together, before being exported and subsequently edited in After Effects. A line of dialogue was also shot separately and implemented
into the sequence at this stage due to it’s unintentional absence whilst initially filming the scene, this was also blended in with the movement of Araveb’s mouth in
order to make the addition seamless.
9. Another VFX shot can be seen here in After Effects once again as yet another time distortion is present, this time interacting with the character of John Lambert who is
present on screen simultaneously. The main effect was achieved in the same way as previously, whilst a “Wave Warp” effect now becomes progressively more
apparent near the end of this shot, the creation process behind this can be seen in the left window as I set the Wave type, height, width and direction accordingly
before animating their movements across the footage.
10. For Araveb’s “death scene” where the character runs out of battery and subsequently returns to the watch permanently, further effects were applied to simulate the
event taking place. A battery symbol was placed within the various layers and its opacity was altered over time in synchronisation with that of Araveb. As can be seen
near the bottom of the left window, grain was gradually added to simulate the hologram malfunctioning, with the intensity and size of the effect being increased over
time until the subject was no longer visible. To finish off the effect, an increasingly bright light was overlaid on to the image before shrinking and disappearing back into
the watch.
11. A simple adjustment was carried out in Photoshop and can be seen above; following the demise of Araveb, a shot is present showing the now empty watch ticking, this
discretely references to the theme of time throughout the film. However, due to lighting conditions the watch face was not entirely visible, so I acquired a watch face
from a slightly different angle and implemented it on top of the original image – the two layers containing these elements can be seen to the right.
12. This crucial shot required camera tracking rather than motion tracking, with the increasingly large distortion in time attached as if it was there in the first place. This
process involved various steps to achieve the result that is shown above. To coincide with the distortion growing in size, I gradually increased the amount of blue
colouration in the video via the tint tool once again to replicate the light that such a thing would actually produce. This sequence then follows on to the previously
analysed ending scene, with the added blue hue for accurate continuity.
13. This Premiere Pro project shows the creation of scene 1, all of which is set in the time machine. The visually enhanced clips of Araveb that have been previously
analysed were imported for use here, it can be seen that many tracks are present on the timeline to form the interactions and camera cuts between the two
characters. For each clip used, “Essential Sound” was activated and I manually cleaned up some background noise from the audio, however the low humming of a fan-
heater was left due to it being purposefully placed to simulate the engines of an in-flight time machine. A long-lasting clip highlighted in green can be seen running
along the bottom of the timeline also, this is an artificial humming sound to emphasise the authenticity of the machine and therefore intended to be diegetic. At the
very end of the timeline, a custom made adjustment layer was created and placed over the top of the footage which involved the crashing of the time machine to
accurately imitate a shaking camera. This effect lasts until the scene ends with a visual transition fading the screen into white, it was then left open and therefore ready
for incorporation into the “final” project along with scene 2.
14. Scene 2 was significantly more difficult to compose than scene 1, this is due to it being longer as well as more complex. The end transition from scene 1 was used at
the start of this project so that I can later blend the two together, the same goes for the previously created adjustment layer which was implemented and slowly
reduced in severity across the very beginning of this timeline. Several other transitions and effects were used across this project in order to blend everything together
seamlessly and create an overall realistic atmosphere. By far the most difficult task within this project was the sound, for some reason the footage initially sounded like
it was filmed near an ocean, so I had to go through the hassling process of removing as much background noise as possible without distorting the speech of the
characters. Once this was complete, the sound shifts between clips sounded choppy and unprofessional, so I took a sample of some quiet ambient sound from the
filming location and duplicated it across the duration of the timeline in order to blend everything together smoothly.
15. Upon editing the clips of scene 2 together, it occurred to me that there was not sufficient evidence of a crash upon the opening of scene 2. I once again went into After
Effects and applied a layer of smoke across several of the opening shots, I then replicated this near the end of scene 1 for good measure and even animated the angle
of the smoke as the first scene came to a close. This was subsequently faded out as the scene progresses as smoke would naturally clear and this composition was
exported for use in the previously analysed Premiere Pro project.
16. Finally, the compositions of both scenes 1 and 2 were imported into this larger scale Premiere Pro project, in order for final adjustments to be made such as the
introduction, credits, sound effects, music and applying “The Cinematic Look”. The introduction sequence itself was created in After Effects, with the camera subtly
zooming into the “FSP” logo which was a custom made piece and can be seen above. Beneath, discrete lettering reading “Film Star Productions” is slowly made visible,
this can also be seen in its raw form above. As for music and sound effects, both were acquired and catalogued before being implemented at various points across this
timeline, the volumes and length of each varying depending on the specific requirement of each. The closing reveal of the title and following credits were typed up in
the above stylistically appropriate font, due to the small amount of crew working on the film, I decided that scrolling credits were not necessary so went for the more
basic option of a single screen. I initially intended for the screen ratio to be widescreen, meaning the black bars would be present above and below the footage,
however this would obscure most of shots and look untidy. After all, this was only a short film and not a cinematic blockbuster so the default ratio seems more
appropriate. In order to enhance the visual properties of the film, I increased the level of saturation across the film and induced some darkness concerning scene 1, to
ensure that background objects are not entirely visible, whilst still of course keeping the main characters in clear view.
17. Once the film was complete and overviewed by myself, I decided that the audio across the film was not loud enough in volume compared to similar forms of media
and this would not suit an actual audience at all. For this reason I slightly increased the volume across the entire production, ensuring that no audio was distorted or
sounded obnoxiously loud. After going through this procedure, I deemed this project to be my final rendition of the short film and rendered it, ensuring that the quality
is full 1080p HD as it was filmed in initially in this high quality format. However, it would appear upon uploading to YouTube that there is a minute quality loss due to
the website itself and I can only presume how it compresses its videos upon uploading.
