After Effects

After Effects

Initially, we had wanted to do a split screen sort of edit, where footage relating to one character would be shot on one side and the footage of the other character on the other side, alternating. We were then going to have the titles on the black side of the screen. 

When we started editing, we decided that we didn't really want to go ahead with this idea, because it didn't look quite right. 

We decided to have blacks screens every couple of shots which would then be used to display the titles on. 

When got round to after effects, we weren't exactly sure on how we wanted the titles to look or appear  on the screen. We knew what sort of font we wanted roughly, but that was about it. 

We spent a couple hours just playing around with some blank footage whilst Lucy was finishing the final edit, just so we could go straight into designing the titles when we could import the real footage.

I had only used After Effects once before, in a tutorial with Luke, but it was the same tutorial that we'd had in class, as only of us showed up to the first one. Because of my extra hour of experience, I took over the technical side of after effects and Lucy and Jemma told me what they liked and what they wanted different. By the end of the day we still didn't really know what it was we wanted, but it helps us get to grips with how After Effects works and some of its features. 

The next day of After Effects editing was a lot more productive. After some time playing about, we all agreed on how the first two sets of titles were going to be displayed. We didn't want anything too complicated because our edit is so fast paced, it may have become over whelming for the viewer.

The third day of After Effects was much easier. We'd gotten to grips with the programme a lot better and found it easier to navigate it. As we had a clearer idea of what it was we wanted to do, it was just a case of doing it.  

Screen grabs of our first inserted title.

Screen grabs from our second inserted title.

We decided to have the lines red and blue to represent police sirens. Originally we had the idea of having both a red and blue line under the title, flashing alternately like a siren, but we were having difficulty getting it too look right and also agreed that it may look too tacky. 

The rest of the titles we were struggling to settle on an idea with. We didn't want them the same as the first two because we thought it would be too boring. We came up with several different ideas, a different one for each title and then we rendered it and played it through to see which one we all liked the best.
We had three different title ideas, but all based around the same idea. We wanted a type of search light to locate the titles, representing the type of search light you may find on a prison.

The ideas/options were as follows:

1.

This one we were very conflicted about. We liked the approach of it, but all agreed that it didn't look professional enough. If we had more time, we probably would have spent more time making it look more 3D and realistic, but didn't have enough time to do so. 

It was done by using white text, a mask and a roaming light?

2.

This one we liked the simplicity of, but it was almost too simple. It wasn't very visually exciting, as there's not much to look at. 

It was done by using a white text and CC Spotlight effect.

3.

This one was the group favourite. It wasn't too simple or too complex, which we liked. It also fulfilled our desire to have a searchlight type of feel to it. 

Given more time, we probably would have spent more time making it 3D, using shadows and lighting to make it look more professional and visually appealing.

This was done by using white text, a paint bucket for the blue and a spotlight?