Comets, fireflies and The Good Dinosaur

I've been doing research into how to make a good comet effect for my title sequence, and I wanted to share some of the videos and Links I've come across in my research.




Video Copilot Blog about Comets There isn't too much there, but it does reference some video examples and make a few suggestions I'd like to try.


I've thought about the option to instead of using particles, maybe it would make more sense to use some kind of shatter, especially if I want the comet trail to morph into the fireflies that are scene in the trailer.

The Shatterize Effect
The Disintegration Effect

In my experience, none of the Native Particle Simulators in After Effects allow me to use custom particles, but I believe I can shatter something in a custom way.

Ultimately, If I can't find a way to create the fire fly shape from the comet, I will end up just doing shaded spheres. I wonder if I can find a way to have them follow some Path.
Maybe, I can find a way to make the particle emitter make only one particle and move that layer around.

Either way my idea needs some more work.

Magic Trip Title Sequence

             So earlier in the semester I posted about the documentary Magic Trip in my fiction field class with Arturo. Recently while I was checking out the link to the forget the film website I stumbled upon the opening title sequence to this documentary. As it is one of my favorite documentary films of all time I thought it would only be right to do a breakdown of this sequence. The title sequence was created by Karin Fong, a creative director and designer based in New York City. Alex Gibney an academy-award nominated director/ filmmaker asked Fong in 2009 to design the main and special title sequences for the  epic American road trip which ultimately inspired the peace and social movements of the 1960's.

                      

Fong stated that the paint on film aesthetics were inspired from experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Len Lye. This is an example of frames from a Stan Brakhage film with the paint on film technique.

The author of the article asked Fong if she had ever tried LSD, she described herself as being a "straight arrow." Although not having a personal experience with the powerful psychedelic substance Fong was able to visualize and understand more of its effects by researching Ken Kesey. Ken Kesey is an American author known for authorship of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as well as his major role in the road trip and the acid trials done by the U.S Governement in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Here is a video of the recording and movie insights involved with Ken Kesey and his experiences with the LSD trials. Fong studied this and many other examples of the effects and insights about LSD in order to create an accurate feel of the drug for her title sequences. 

                   

Here is a little more about Karin Fong (creative director on Magic Trip)...

                   

Blog 1: Motion Graphics Introduction

Last semester I took a mini-course in After Effects and it really opened my eyes to the limitless possibilities of animation and graphic movement.  I know the very basics of After Effects but I can't wait to make a title sequence with this program.  I have always been in love with the Mad Men opening and would love to create something like that for my new television show on ICTV this semester.  The title sequence always sets the tone for a television show.  It can make or break the number of eyes on your content.  If you can't captivate an audience in the first 30-45 seconds, you're essentially done.  I am looking to hone my skills in After Effects but most importantly I am looking to use these skills to entertain.  You can "know" an editing program, but still lack creativity and captivation.  Below I have attached a link to the Mad Men opening.  In my opinion, it entices the viewer and creates the perfect amount of suspense to see what the show has in store for them.

http://vimeo.com/4877093

Great Website to Look at Openings and Kyle Cooper

"Forget the Film, Watch the Titles!" is a wonderful website to view a multitude of great title sequences and ending credits. The site is a great reference to each movies opening sequence providing the opening for viewing and also stills of the title sequence. Many of the films have very detailed storytelling of how something was conceptualized and interesting facts about the production process. This makes for an easy read and the ability to learn more knowledge about your film's title sequence. For example Rango's section provides some of the original sketches of characters and also information from an interview with the films prologue's creative director, Henry Hobson. An interesting bit of information I found was that Rango's end credit sequence and title sequence were created in just a few weeks. If I were to guess a length of time for a blockbusters opening and credits I would have thought it maybe would have taken months.

The website also had a link to an interview with Kyle Cooper which I embedded below. If you need inspiration for idea if you are creating your own title sequence I believe it is worth watching this interview. Kyle's idea to look at objects on a microscopic level and his drive to study things such as bones, skin, and various other objects allows him unlimited content to continually produce original looking title sequences. He proves that you can take any interest and use it to provide some kind of source material. His drive to find hand made objects to create more complex effects has challenged me to do the same. Over fall break I look forward to capturing different source material using smoke, that I may be able to use in future projects.

Kyle Cooper interview (1/2) - Watch the Titles from SubmarineChannel on Vimeo.