After FX
Ive referenced Onlines here because he talks about After FX so fondly.
I last used After FX a while back in second year at QCA. While i liked it, i just never had the will to use it, because i never had the know how. Now after seeing it in action with Leo Berkeley showing us the ropes, it becomes obvious that my films could definatley have used a bit of help from After FX.
i think i benefited from watching Leo do his thang and shooting my film before learning After FX, because now i can see where i can employ it in my film. There are a few things i have to learn. Such as, the reflection of the TV on the main characters face, there is alot more that i can do, but i will leave that for another blog.
I dont like to use to many effects though, after a while i think even the mighty Adobe packages can start to look repeated, familiar and ultimatley tacky, so if i were to use After FX, it will be very subtle, i happen to like straight forward editing, unless the movie is Easy Rider.
Please feel free to add this to your blog.
I agree with you that AE is a good program to know before you start planning a film shoot or even writing a script. To make an effect look good, it has to be planned well and shot in the right way.
When you know what AE can do it is easier to plan it right and easier to apply the effect in post. AE is a complex and sometimes very time consuming program to use, therefore you do want to use it effectivly and not always to cover up mistakes, which sometimes takes ages, or apply cheesy effects to imporove the quality of your footage.
It is easy to misuse AE as an excuse to be lazy with the camerawork, colours, whitebalance etc etc, however AE can’t always fix it all. A solid script, good actors and good DOP is essential for all films, and AE can be the extra spice that makes it a little bit better..
Comment by the Oven — November 3, 2005 @ 1:45 am