Ident Animatic

Hey hey,
I've done a mock up of my Channel four "FEAR" ident as a animatic.
Traditionally animatics are still images, but with this idea it was very hard to plan out on paper how i wanted it to look. So, i thought i'll just do it! I've filmed sort of what i will do.

My idea is to make you feel like your TV has gone dodgy and then these unsettling images appear. You can also hear my soundtrack, but that also needs tweaking.

Here we go


I know that youtube isn't the best quality, but i think it gets my idea across. Also the cut footage is just a knife and a sink, i do have other footage in mind to film.
The sound i am really pleased with but i'll explain that in a new blog.

after effects

Never used after effects before this week, i've had a understanding about it, how it works and what it does. And, a couple of times i've even opened it clicked a few buttons and closed it down. After effect is a program i have been wanting to learn and i have relished this oppurtunity to learn.

With the few skills i learn't i my first class i made these channel four "fear" title screens.

This is my first attempt

Basically it is a photoshop file and i have layered the layers on top of each other in the correct order and animated them. This technique can work to good effect, used in the right way. I have also used a spot light, to give it a feathered edge.

SECOND ATTEMPT

This attempt is better. I've used the spot light more effectively, animating it, using it to help create an atmosphere. I have also animated a blur on the text.

THIRD ATTEMPT

On this one i have used a mask on the text so that when the spot light intensity gets higher the mask fades in. I believe this works well.

FOURTH ATTEMPT

This is similar to the third one, but this time i've used a camera. The cameras in after effect are a great tool, thay enable you to create a 3D style look.

After combining all my skills i have created this ident.

I think that this is pretty close to professional. I've used many skills, Cameras, lights, key frame animation, compositions inside compositions, the lot. I'm really pleased with this effort.

THE DARK KNIGHT

WOW, I went to see The Dark Knight twice in it's first weekend. It is really good. The medium is just right, not too dark, but not too commercial. Chris Nolan was the perfect director for this series, he has some how taken the comic book cheese genre and turned it into a serious thriller. Which is F*****G brilliant. The film has been a massive success so far in the USA and its been the first film this year that i've seen fill a cinema, every seat was sold. I even saw one person sat on the steps! Both nights i went to see it...PACKED. I couldn't believe it.

Heath Ledger as Joker was such a good choice. When i first heard he was taking the role i was a bit unsure, but he did it better than i could ever imagine. And, it's a real shame, i knew he was a talented actor, but this performance will go down in history. Even if he hadn't have died it would have still been a historical performance.

There wasn't enough of the Joker, when he was on screen it was really exciting and you didn't know what he'd do next. Ledgers performance brought so much energy to the film.

It seemed like an introduction to his manic personality and the next film would have shown you the real Joker.

There as been talk on the net that the Joker was written to be in the third film, but rumours have it they've scrapped the script. They don't want to re-cast him, but i think they should. Ledger has brought to life a great character and there must be more than one person who can do character acting well.

On the movie forums Johnny Depp's name is being thrown around, and yeah, i think he'd be good. But, there must be more than Depp around. His name is up for every role.

The SFX were outstanding too. I'm not going to in to them too much. But, it's been awhile since i've seen some real nice big explosions. It's all CGI these days, i'm sure there were CGI in there to make it look bigger. But i remember the days when if you have written that a helicopter gets blown up, then you blow up an helicopter. I understand that its quicker and cheaper to do it CGI, but never looks the same.

All in all, it was a fantastic film, the best this year and it'll be very hard to beat it.

Off To See THE DARK KNIGHT to night.

Had my tickets for awhile now, and i'm honestly unbelievably excited, like when it was christmas as a child.
And, what got me more excited was this remarkable website.

I will give my full review on the Dark Knight tomorrow.

The Phantom. The Spirit. The FRANK MILLER.

The Phantom is a new camera, which has become the key gem for Frank Miller's new film THE SPIRIT.

The phantom shoots in super slow motion, it captures 1,000 frames per second rather than the usual 25. This mean you take a tenth of a second and turn it into a minute of footage.
The Digital effects guy for the film Stu Maschwitz says "It's an astonishing effect - not like anything you've ever seen". Which, is unbelievable because this man who also did Davey Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean, Superman Returns baseball pitch scene. Die Hard 4.0 Fighter jet fight with Bruce and the Iron man suit.
He is pretty ground breaking and if he can be shocked at this then it must make the average film geek (like myself) go wild.

Frank Miller isn't as-well-known for his film making, but in the last few years he has brought us Sin City and 300, which were both amazing films. And, both re-invented film making. With them being shot completely on green screen. Again The Spirit is another green screen film and from the trailer it looks a lot like Sin City, but in the recent preview in Total Film magazine Frank Miller re-assures us that it is very different from Sin City. Plus, its in full colour.
It looks like a comic book come to life and i can't wait to see it.It's due out in November. If you can't wait that long then go buy the special two disc version of Sin City and sink your head into the bonus features, they're mind blowing and if your interested in making movies it also gives you some tips.