WEEK 3

Experimenting visual effects

Step 1

Among the 3 footage we had to choose, I picked one of the women jogging on the street. No specific reason. I just thought that could be easy to work on because there is movement in it.

Step 2

I also had to pick an effect, and as the girl is on the street, maybe raining could be nice. People do not usually run in the rain, but this is supposed to be only an experiment. Also, I tried the snow effect, which did not work well because of the girl's outfit.

So under the effects tab in Simulation, there is CC Rainfall. I did not change many things, only a bit of the direction and the number of raindrops.

Step 3

As the footage was too bright, just as if it was a Sunny day, I applied an adjustment layer to it, so I left it white and dropped the opacity of it.

You can now compare that image with the one in step two. It feels like a cloudy day. At this point, I already had an idea of what I wanted to do with that footage.

Step 4

I decided to keep it simple but meaningful and funny. So I added a message to combine with the video effects, trying to make it funny using the jogging footage and the rain effect. I typed: ''Left your clothes drying outside? Run back your way. It is a rainy day''

I just used normal typography and kept it white to match the tone of colours of the video and to keep the cloudy moody.

Here is a closer look how the layers and effects were disposed and their order. That was a great activity to see that simple actions can be meaningful. Just like the Creative Boom logo from last week.

Analyse the brand, considering the application of visual effects

Those are the elements I have for my brand. They composed the poster for the event and have been present in every representation of the brand.

The zombie hands of Romeo and Juliet are a very strong element of my design, they represent the couple, and it is the most significant illustration of the whole composition. With it, I designed posters, flyers, tickets, phone wallpaper, tote bags and T-shirts.

I can say that hands are more present in the design than the logo, so I believe it could also be present in the animations.

They can be used as:

- Call to action as the fingers are pointing in a direction.

- They could move in a way to interact with who is seeing it, like calling to something.

- They can also drop something on the screen, just as if they slide in and leave something.

- They can reveal or hide something just by moving the hand in front of some element.

- I have an idea to use the smoke in the purple background and create a more realistic on in After Effects with a purple background.

What if my logo is not the central component?

As stated before, the illustrated hands representing Romeo and Juliet play an important role in the design composition. I believe it is a strong element that could represent the brand without showing my logo.

I believe it happens because those elements are just as important as my logo. It represents the couple and the theme of the brand.

I created posters where the logo is in minimal presence, while the hands stand almost alone in the design.

The following poster is an example of it, and still, the message is being conveyed.

Illustration designed for merchandise, t-shirts and tote bag.

Illustration designed in a format for a computer monitor background

Illustration designed to serve as a secondary poster

Brainstorming ideas on how to promote my brand:

- Starting from divulgation, I believe going online is the strongest factor. I have settled on an Instagram account only for boosting the brand. There I can play with my theme and get closer contact with my target audience which significantly uses the platform to get informed.

- Deliver flyers on the streets with promotional codes for tickets or to spend on the brand website.

- Sticky posters on the wall, in busy areas and where the target audience frequents.

- Selling merchandise, such as T-shirts, tote bags and graphic posters.

- Create a designed illustration with the brand elements to be used as background wallpaper for phones or computers.

Check a few of my examples of brand advertisements.

Secondary poster mock-up

Flyers Front and Back

Background for mobiles

Promotion in public areas

Merchandise

Online presence

Transforming footage using elements of Adobe AE

The idea is to transform the footage above into a creepy one, following the brand theme of zombies. I think anything with an obscure look would suit that idea for this task.

I started adding the dust scratches effect. By reducing the Radius of it, the man in black will get the shape of someone who looks like to be wearing a black cloak.

Then I added the Rainfall effect, which is typical when creating a scary scene. After that, I only changed the direction of the rain as if it was going from left to right, following the man's positioning to look more natural.

At this stage, I added to effects of the Light Rays to bring something that looks like a shining moon and the Fractal Noise to bring the foggy sensation.

I also added a rectangle shape over the footage and filled it with a grey colour, then I reduced the opacity just to endarken the scene a bit.

Hoover the mouse over the video to see the result.

Week Reflection

This week I experimented a lot with Adobe After Effects. I find great effects to use that can help when creating footage to convey a message or highlight it. I definitely enjoyed exploring that this week, even though the program is quite complex to understand, as you have so many options for anything you add there.

For that, I am quite happy with the results reached; the more I explore, the better I will become. I also used some videos on YouTube to learn some new tricks.