Fox Classics is always a great client to work for simply because I get to work with some great movie footage. This project completed by myself and Dan Creighton was created completely in After Effects and took us about 8 days. As usual when I’m approached to undertake this type of project which – required a deal of rotoscoping, I request an edited base from the promo producer. Getting the right shots cut properly to the music is vital to creating an emotive piece (as was the case with Fox Classics Image Spot and Bond Classic Bond). And it’s no good importing a bunch of shots into After Effects and trying to cut them together there, that’s not what After Effects is designed for. Better to use a non-linear editor such as Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro (this was cut on Avid).
Watching the spot you’ll notice that some shots have been rotoscoped and some haven’t. We decided to roto key shots and leave the more complicated shots in the background, and did so for two reasons: it saved a lot of time and cutting all the shots out would have removed much of the character and charm, leaving the whole thing kind of sterile. Notice how the rotoscoped shots have been used either side of the other shots to hide their edges. I always feel with this type of animation that you are taking the viewer on a journey, which must appear seamless, otherwise it upsets the flow.
As usual for Fox Classics the color palette had to be orange, black and white. I used a range of effects to get the poster-style look and adjusted each shot individually to get a uniform look and feel across the entire spot. Watch movie
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9 Responses to this post
November 21, 2008 at 10:48 am |
Nice one again, John. Great ending with Norman over black background (though, respectfully, I was expecting the famous flash of his mommy’s skull!
). Also, Cooper striding through the middle was a strong moment!
November 21, 2008 at 3:54 pm |
We had the entire shot of Norman Bates and I wanted to use the skull shot (still really spooky) but it worked better to use the section where Norman looks up, which didn’t leave enough time to have the skull overlay.
November 21, 2008 at 5:34 pm |
Everything looks great John! The site is beautiful and welcoming and the spot is nice, clean and classy! Top notch as always bro! Take care, – Andrew
November 23, 2008 at 10:31 pm |
This is one of the best examples of video collage i have ever seen, everything is beautifully seamless and well thought out, congrats again guys!
December 6, 2008 at 12:20 pm |
Fantastic piece. I am perusing your techniques as well as going through MILG 4 quite extensively as I am working on a piece for a friend. If it came out even 1/100th as good as this piece here, I could die happy.
January 30, 2009 at 1:38 am |
I absolutely love all the Fox Classics pieces you’ve done. Thanks for the inspiring work!
January 30, 2009 at 2:22 am |
Wow this is one of my favorite Fox Classic pieces you’ve done! Really nice job!
August 9, 2009 at 4:23 am |
This piece really is good ! I love that music as the army truck tips, what is it ?
August 9, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
Hi Josh, the music was done outside our department but it’s probably a piece of production music.
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