After effects

What is after effects?                                                                                                                                                                         After effects is a programming device created by Adobe which is used in post-production to create film-making and television production. It helps to colour adjust video and photo based work as well as adjustments for the placing on a frame.

The reason that we have started to consider using a device such as after effects is because we now have to consider looking at getting rid of the green screen in the background to start replacing it with different images or to just have a black background; both of which could work. Although, this role is for Louise we did all complete as a group one lesson on after affects which our teacher. The group consisted of just our group.

Why did we use the green screen for this scene? We used the green screen for this scene as a phone is rather small so having any background or setting at the back of the phone would have actually distracted from the phone, which is what we didn't want to happen as, it would mean the title would be rejected by the demographic. The other reason is that a phone in a "spy" film is considered a large iconographical item as it means that it gives the impression if a good job, organisational skills as well as the idea of contacts and secrecy.

The scene in which we was planning to apply the green screen tracking to was the phone scene as, we need to get rid of the background so that it no longer shows the green in the background as, it is devising from the phone. So, below I have described the process at the bottom in which I followed along with my group to get rid of the green screen making it look much more sophisticated:

Stage 1- Getting on the programme on the computer- This is a screen shot of after effects used on the Macintosh computers. To get to this stage, we basically clicked on the icon and then let it load agreeing to programme. We, then was advised by our teacher that we had to get a scene ready to use and we all agreed the first scene to test after effects has to be the phone scene; the first scene of our opening title sequence. On first sight it was slightly daunting the image of the left as there is a lot of skills to know to be able to use the programme successfully.

Stage 2- Importing the file to get it ready to start working on- Our next step was learning to upload the file to the programme to start working on. This was done by a toolbar. Basically, we had to import the files onto the programme via file- then import and then clicking on the correct folder which was just a matter of time by, looking through desktop as well as user name. Once the file loaded we knew it was almost time to work on.

Stage 3- starting to work on the document on after effects- To do this it was just about using a key light editing skill to get rid of the green by selecting the section in which we wanted to remove. We then, had to adjust the toning levels so, that the black was dark and the white was clear. This helped to ensure that there was a clarity to the work as, we needed to do this to make sure that the lines was clear and concise demonstrating that it would look more professional; as doing this avoid those pixels around the edges of the work which may appear if not adjusted correctly. This basically gave that professional look and it was now about getting it ready to put as a video which we uploaded to YouTube.

Below, is a clip labelled AE test this clip shows the first process on after effects there is a phone which is black. The special effects worked rather well showing how the explosion worked and I was rather satisfied with the first draft. I do feel that clip shows the phone in an explosion successfully, but after deliberation we did decide that in a way the black phone does not work that well as for one it doesn't show the clarity of the phone and there is not the decisive background as, they are both black. So we planned to re-film with a white phone repeating the process to improve.



The second filming-This image below shows an image of the repeated process and shows straight away that the clip is so much more better in terms of filming as there is the item in far more focus then the first filming of the phone. The white phone shows a great deal more of clarity as it shows the contrast in the white and black and this means that the lines are very clear and straight; the pixels are perfect no green pixels have been left from the green screen.