Impressing a Client!

[jgastelb]

Hey guys,
I was hired to do three demos. I'm cutting in Vegas and everything is going great but... In one of the demos I'm going to get a little flashy with the transitions, picture in picture, and some other graphics.
I'm pretty new to AE 6.5 and I really would like to come up with a very stylistic way of showing the director's name prior to showing some of his work. I have seen quite a bit of demos out there that blow me away. A lot of them have been done in AE (I'm sure) but they look like they were done by 3D compositors who know a hell of a lot more than I do in this area. I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a certain effect. I really want to learn more and have been looking at the tutorials. I just don't know where to start. I know there are some mighty gurus in here who probably can come up with a handful at the top of their head. Sorry if this is an open ended question.

I was thinking of having his name shown in different layers with different opacities and moving around maybe in some random preset animation. AHHHH!!!!! So many choices.
Jgastelb

[oneinfiniteloop]

Here's my .02 on the topic:

Think about the design, what you want to convey, how you want to convey it, etc. Don't worry about the technicalities of the software until you have a concept. Sketch it out, doesn't have to be perfect, but drawn/sketched boards will let you see faults before spending the time doing all the work in AE.

Once you have your design idea and animation concept, then you go and figure out how to make it work.

Maybe if you give us a little more feedback on the directors style, the content of the video, etc we can give you some ideas to start with.

[jgastelb]

Understood! I will think more about the design. In the meantime, here's a link to a demo that he really liked. I would like to try something along the lines of the beginning part of it.
Thanks!

Click on the link. Then, on work. It's the General Reel.


http://citizenpictures.com/flash/index.htm

[milksac]

I have to agree with oneinfinite loop. Nail down the design well before you open AE. In editorial "content is King". In animation "design is King".


I was thinking of having his name shown in different layers with different opacities ...
Jgastelb
This could work. There was some of this in the citizen pictures opener.


...moving around maybe in some random preset animation.
Jgastelb
No. The word "random" says no thought was put into the idea. Toss a preset on there and call it a day. Nope. Good execution requires a thought process that never ceases. Should the camera push in or out? How fast is the motion? How much motion blur? etc. etc. There was nothing random about the citizen pictures opener. Everything was well thought out.

IMHO, any title sequence added to a directors reel should be minimalistic. The reel is about the directors work not the titles. Echoing oneinfinateloop, what's the director's style? Is he quirky or serious? Does he drive a Mercedes or a Ford? Does he smoke cigars, a pipe or a joint? That's your starting point.

[Arson]

Less is more. Keep it clean and clear and not distracting.

Remember that lots of colors and cutouts has a flash/video feel to it where as, a simple white font on a black screen has more of a film feel to it.

[jgastelb]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Ok... I agree that less is more. In fact, in my personal films I use little to no flashy text or transitions. I do think it can be overdone. I guess what I'm having problems with is having an edge to the starting demo. Since this is not for me I'm trying to help this director's vision come to a reality. I also think that a simple font with a black background states the film tones.

I know that random can mean whatever. I just rather spend time in the actual editing of the content. But, once I'm done I'm going to try some new ideas. Thanks again!
Jgastelb

[jgastelb]

I was thinking that the Citizen Pictures reel actually wasn't really a director's reel anyway. It was more about visuals as in commercials. Maybe I'm also getting some of the reels from 3D artists and compositors in my head and planting mixed up ideas.
Oh, well.

[kai]

I'd go clean, as mentioned above. If you're just starting out with AE, trying to make yourself pull off some really complex effect on your first go-around will only leave you frustrated, and the project will suffer because you've put all your energy into this one effect that *may* not even make the end product any better.

Less is more. That said, "less" doesn't always have to mean boring. Less content (just a name) but treated very classy and well, like make it a 3d layer, add a point light, and back it off a bit to get that edge falloff on the text that's so popular nowadays. Add a camera with DOF and play with adding a bit of organic lens taste to the piece. Its less, but very clean and simple.

I know i'm all over the place, but my main point is if you're just now learning AE, don't kill yourself trying to pull off stuff that seasoned pros have taken years to develop, right out of the gate.

As always, we're here to help if you need anything