Sam Hagedom's VisLit Blog

After Effects: A Journey for Clean Energy December 7, 2009

Back-up Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ReiJ5OSmlQ

The Cause: In the Fall of 2009, a group of students, faculty, administrators and alumni came together to establish an endowment for clean energy at American University.  The fund was named the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF).  The goal was to build some solar panels and encourage the school to use the energy savings to purchase more clean technology.  Currently, student leaders are trying to recruit more students to join CERF’s Facebook group and have more information about ways to help bring clean energy to American University.

The Project:  A thirty-second spot that can be played at group meetings, on ATV (student-run television station) and as a Youtube video to be placed on the Facebook group’s page.  The video discusses the merits of CERF, ways for students to be involved and create a logo and tagline for the campaign.

After Effects:  My personal goal was to practice After Effects.   After conducting a little research on the motion graphics software, I discovered that Adobe After Effects is very powerful software that has real-world applications and job-prospects.  I learned some basics of After Effects watching tutorial videos on Lynda.com.  I accessed the program in the New Media Center and the Anderson Computer Lab.  After Effects is meant to combine multiple forms of media into a coherent video package– and this project embodied that goal.  During this project I used Photoshop, Garage Band, iMovie and Picasa.

Pre-Production:
The Script:  I started by working on a script for the ad.  I wanted to cram as much information as I could, while still fitting inside the 30-second limit.  I used some of my experience with radio to help get the time right.
I wrote out a paragraph of text, that covered the main points I wanted to cover.  Because I had to include three different ideas– what CERF is, why its a good idea, and how students can get involved– I basically had to devote one sentence to each idea.  I shortened sentences like “buying energy from carbon-intensive power companies” to “buying carbon-intensive power”.  After repeated revisions to cut down on the number of words, I put together a usable script.  I then recorded the audio for the track using garage band.

The Visual Design:  I then brainstormed the visuals.  The logo unified the concept of an endowment growing over time with environmental causes.  Thus it captured both aspiration and structure of the campaign.  I think it’s a great example of a well-planned boilerplate.  I then thought about using photoshop to show examples of what CERF could do– by combing pictures of solar panels with recognizable buildings on campus.  I wanted viewers to be able to see in their minds what the project could do.  To combine the elements, I settled on a chalkboard, because every student has experience with a chalkboard.  I believe this was the weakest part of my visual design as it did not have a strong relationship with CERF or the environment.  Time constraints definitely influenced that decision.

Production:
The Visual Execution:  Let’s start with the logo.  I drew the leaves on photoshop, and I think they look alright.  In hindsight, I should have textured the body of the leaf more, as it the final leaf looks too much like a solid color.  In my opinion, the animation in the logo came out especially well. The way the leaves enlarge, curl up and move come around makes them seem like they are growing.  Subtle changes in the colors on the tagline and CERF add dynamics.  I’m very happy with how it came out.
The chalkboard was more difficult.  I initially was planning to animate the board using After Effects (there’s an effect called fractal noise that is very useful), but it didn’t look very good.  I learned that it’s much easier to take a picture and import textures than to try to animate them.  So I shot the chalkboard in video.  I carefully wrote the text on a whiteboard.  Then I filmed the entire chalkboard, using a dolly (converted from a projector cart).  My biggest complaint is that its not very exciting, and the video sells After Effects short.
The pictures of the solar panels and the tuition are okay.  The edits are a little heavy-handed, and could use some more blending.  If you look really closely, the lighting on the pictures is different (I limited myself to royalty-free stock photos, which narrowed my selection, but means I won’t have a lawsuit if CERF actually uses this project).  I think the elements could benefit from more blending, but I kept overdoing it and losing clarity.  I would have also liked to have seamlessly blended the photoshops into the chalkboard footage.  The idea was to draw “masking tape” to stick the pictures on the chalkboard.  The tape is not really successful, but I’m not sure it needed to be.

Post-Production:
After Effects went well:  Looking at the finished project, I think there’s a lot that went right.  I barely scratched the surface of what After Effects can do, but I loved how easy it was to import new compositions into a larger project.  But beware!  It does require some planning ahead of time– I had to redo my work after I picked too large of a framesize.  I wish the software cost less than $1,000, because I would like to experiment with it over break.  To use After Effects well, I need to have more experience with the various techniques, because the controls on each animation use slightly different terms, so getting an animation to work is not intuitive.  I had a good experience using After Effects and know that as I use it more, it will become even more powerful.
The video did not meet my aspirations:  I had hoped the video would come out looking a little more professional.  I hadn’t realized how tough creating-content was, because each photoshop took a lot longer than I had planned. Originally I intended to animate the chalkboard, but abandoned the notion after several attempts.  It’s much easier to manipulate images from cameras– in the future I’ll try to use software to manipulate images, not create them from scratch.
I’d like to use someone with a more interesting voice.  The audio could be enhanced with more expressive phrases and a deeper voice.
The video feels rushed– like its trying do too much in a single 30 second announcement.  I had set out three ideas I wanted to convey– what CERF is, the benefits for AU, and how to get involved– and that may have been to ambitious.  However, I especially like the animated logo at the end; the video has a smashing finish.