The Walking Dead: Learning 3D Cameras in AE

When I was first introduced to the camera and 3D components of After Effects this past summer I watched this animation as a great reference for some of the possibilities that the program allows.

The animation was done by Daniel Kanemoto for the television series The Walking Dead. Kanemoto is also the creator of Ex Mortis Films and has done other interesting animations for well-know names such as Animal Planet and Nickelodeon.

Kanemoto's The Walking Dead opening sequence was done using 2D drawn images placed in 3D dimensional space, (X,Y, and Z axis') where the Camera moves around within this space. The animation is cinematic, clever, and captivating, and it can all be done in After Effects!

Watch The Walking Dead animation here: https://vimeo.com/15266890

You can take a look at Kanemoto's other works here.

Coda

Coda [koh-duh]

1.      Music. a more or less independent passage, at the end of a composition, introduced to bring it to a satisfactory close.
2.     a concluding section or part, especially one of a conventional form and serving as a summation of preceding themes, motifs, etc., as in a work of literature or drama.

My senior year of high school I started to really get into animation and motion graphics and my video teacher noticed that. He suggested I take a look at Vimeo's animation category section. I did, and saw some pretty weird (but amazing) works of animation. Here are just a few (though I will try to get to most of these in these blogs):

Parallel Parking

The Walking Dead Fan-Made Intro

Inappropriate Flash Mob

I've been checking Vimeo almost every other day since my teacher suggested I do so and I can't say that I've been as moved as I was when I saw "Coda" almost 2 months ago. I have watched and rewatched this film probably upwards of 15 times by now.

Its animation style is simple, yet effective, and its sounds are clean and immersive. Aside from those, it is the music and, of course, the story that makes me keep coming back for more. Starting from around 5 minutes until the very end, the dialogue becomes one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever heard. I would love to talk about with anybody, though I don't want to spoil anything in this post. I'll let the film do the talking. (I couldn't wait another week to share this film with you guys)

Coda

The Walking Dead - Intro

This week I began looking at different films / programs I could design an alternate intro sequence for.  Being a fan of the walking dead, I noticed when I was watching it this weekend that the effects here are not terribly complicated.  The second video is the intro sequence from the animated Adult Swim show, The Venture Bros.  This intro uses some of the techniques we discussed at the beginning of the semester (using textures, stamps, brushes, still photos, etc). Two very different shows, both with some interesting effects.

The Making of the Walking Dead

This is a really cool video into how they shoot the Walking Dead, do the zombie make up, and blood effects.

The part I found to be pretty funny was how everyone is so surprised in the comments that they fill condoms with blood for the blood splatters. I thought that was pretty common knowledge. And the fact that it took the make up people two hours to dress them as zombies is amazing. The zombie's always look really believable and disgusting. I also liked the directions he was giving the extras for how to be an effective zombie when they get shot so the special FX person had an easier time lining up the blood.

Walking Dead Season 2 Finale

First off, I'd just like to point out how incredible of a show the Walking Dead is... if you haven't started watching it, you're doing yourself a disservice. It is an incredible story of survival from the viewpoints of many diverse characters. Nearly every episode someone is faced with an incredibly difficult situation or mind crippling decision. It causes you to think about life and humanity, and what those high-concepts truly mean. I just finished season 2 and the finale was nothing short of a masterpiece. It begins with everyone's life in jeopardy as a horde of Walkers (the shows pet name for zombies) breaks through the defenses of the farm which the survivors have taken refuge in. From that point; the onslaught begins. The survivors desperately hold down their position, using cars as their cavalry and the farm as their castle. During these gruesome scenes it is easy to see that After Effects was used to simulate the gunshots and the bloody display of projectile brains. Beyond the makeup and acting ability, it seemed relatively simple to replicate using the tools we've learned (i.e. motion tracking, masking, and utilizing layers). The effects were incredibly realistic and made for some really brutal and horrific shots. During the course of the episode, many beloved characters are lost, either to the zombies or separated from the group, and the feeling of desperation skyrockets for the viewer. To add to the drama, some of the characters begin to change their dispositions; from friendly, heroic and righteous to borderline evil. The show definitely makes use of filters through After Effects. In several scenes they use fire to destroy zombies, and in another they sit around a campfire and and discuss their plans. In both scenes you can tell that the actors are not actually in front of fires, but rather they are using filters in After Effects to give the viewer the impression that it is night, and they use special lighting and glow effects to enhance the illusion. In reality, fires would cause too much brightness and would ruin the shot due to the intensity of the light. The closing shot of the episode reveals a fortress in the distance, foreshadowing the plot of the next season. It too appears to have been created using After Effects by superimposing it onto the final frames of the shot; leaving us viewers with a wild cliffhanger. I am incredibly excited to begin the next season, and follow it each week. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the first two seasons are on Netflix and I highly recommend them to anyone who claims to be an avid fan of sci-fi, drama, action, or horror.

JP Heroux

Walking Dead

As we all know, fall break came and went much too quickly. I know many people went home, but if you're like me and live too far away, you just stayed here. And if you stayed here, you know how boring it was. Well, I was bored out of my mind and decided to give the show "The Walking Dead" a try. Many of my friends rant and rave over it and I decided I would see for myself what the fuss was about. I must say, the premise of the show really sucks. I've never been one for zombies and all that jazz. But I do find the story lines and characters to be quite intriguing and enjoyable. But this isn't a critique. This clip is from season one when the main characters arrive at the CDC hoping to find a cure for whatever disease is turning the dead into zombies. The lone scientist at the CDC knows there's no hope and rigs the building to explode. I found the explosion to be pretty cool. You can tell that it is CG, but I like how the building collapses and how there are also subsequent explosions and how you can faintly see a shock wave at the 1:01 mark. This is something I would like to learn how to do in After Effects- explosion, building collapse, shock wave, everything. The clip has been edited by the person who uploaded to video to YouTube, so this isn't the actual scene that was shown on TV. Some stuff has been added. The explosion starts at the 46 second mark in the video. The one thing the uploader did that I agree with is adding a song by Evanescence. They're pretty darn good. Sorry, I digressed again...

Web Advert

During one of my web surf sessions I noticed this ad for the Walking Dead. It caught my attention because I noticed that it definitely utilized the puppet pin tool we learned about in class. In the ad, the screen flashes with images of zombies to scare the viewer and grab their attention. Once the flashing stops, the main character displayed in the image, Rick, fires his weapon. To animate the still image, the ad designers pulled his elbow down and his forearm back, which warped the image ever so slightly, revealing the use of the puppet pin tool. To add to the effect, the end of the gun flashes in sync with the arms reaction. To finish off the feeling that the still image was alive, the makers of the ad put a flock of birds in the background, just as we did in that early project. With all of these different elements in place the still image really came to life, and pulled the viewer in. It felt really good to know that I could recreate all of the elements of such a professional product as this. I wish I could find a working .gif of the ad to post but unfortunately I don't think it would work! I can try again in class next week to find it if people are interested.