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Abstract Paint

The 3 P's
Page 3

Production - Continued Character Introduction Shots
(Conducted 16/04/24 & 17/04/24)

These shots continued what I was doing with the last, utilising the same techniques. I did find out some new and better ways of doing things, and fixing issues I had, while doing so.

Tifa was the hardest to do, as her shot had a myriad of background detailing, long hair, and she moved about quite a bit.

I needed to tweak quite a lot of frames, with the lamp in the background and other unnecessary background elements being removed. Even then it's not entirely perfect.

I mentioned having an issue, this being that I couldn't rotobrush any of the later frames, past the first one. I found that this was caused by the composition's frame rate being different to the videos; easily solved by re-exporting my video in premiere at 30fps.

Production - Cutscene Director Shot
(Conducted 21/04/24)

The animation director shot. Nothing new done with this shot, all the same techniques used during the gameplay director shot. The elements were placed so that it would comfortably fit the two figures in the space between them.

Production - Animation Director + Reverse Train Shot
(Conducted 21/04/24 & 22/04/24)

The first shot utilises techniques showcased previously, but my reverse train shot uses some interesting new techniques used to pull it off. The train shot mainly serves to transition the sequence from the credits into the outro, letting the music end off before fading out. I feel it is fitting because it starts with a train, and ends with one.

To create the basis of the composition, I began by simply copying over the objects from my previous train composition. I flipped the train element. 

I changed the train's keyframes to make it go in the opposite direction. Motion tile was applied to the ground and wall to make it appear as if it were moving, as well as a light directional blur effect added to help add to the sense of movement.

Production - Track Transition 2 + Aerith Church Shots + Logo Transition
(Conducted 22/04/24 & 23/04/24)

This work compiles the last few bits of the title sequence, taking up roughly the last 30 seconds of the title sequence. I wanted to get al of this done at the same time. I wanted the ending of the sequence to transition into a much more slower paced and calm scene, to showcase the game's more softer side, and also focus on Aerith, one of the most important characters in the game. This slower pace meant there was a lot less going on, and a lot less to do, in these final moments. Most of the work was done when the Aerith shots were clipped in premire.

I used the same train track image I put together for the previous transition of this sort, and played around with the position keyframes in-order for it to flow in and out just right with the music.

Fade to white simply using a white solid that becomes opaque.

Keyframes for how the white solid transitions into the video.

I wanted to create a white vignette, to add to the dreamy effect (as learned during experimentation) already applied. To achieve this I used an adjustment layer and turned the exposure up by a bit, using an inverted ellipse mask to make sure it only applied on the edges of the video.

The folder of imported files from my logo transition experimentation, easily imported using "Collect Files" in the files section of the top bar.

Production - Small Improvements

Logo
(Conducted 23/04/24)

I had a little nit-pick with the logo, and it was that the effect was showing up slightly in one area before it actually started.

I had a look through the compositions, and found that it was because the glow around "Remake" in my "emitter" composition wasn't being hidden like everything else. I solved this by testing different settings on my "Minimax" effect used to hide it.

Directional Blur
(Conducted 23/04/24)

Prior in production I discovered the directional blur effect, which I found to be very effective for replicating a feel of motion, so I applied it to some other elements throughout the project in need of that extra touch of motion.

Train Track Transition
(Conducted 23/04/24)

I tweaked the timing of my first train track transition, to make it better line up with the music.

Vignette
(Conducted 24/04/24)

Vignettes were added to shots I had previously forgot to put them on, for added depth and consistency.

Colour Grading
(24/04/24)

I did a slight tweak on some of the colour grading, through after effects, to make the level of green in each shot more consistent.

Smoke Effect
(24/04/24)

Smoke effect applied to some shots I missed for consistency.

Rotoscoping - Tifa + Aerith
(Conducted 25/04/24)

My original rotoscoping was quite rough, so I went back and refined it almost frame by frame to make sure it was of a more adequate quality. I did the female characters first, as they needed a lot of work done with their hair.

Rotoscoping - Cloud
(Conducted 29/04/24)

The same as before. I left out Barret for now as I have plans to completely re-do his shot, as I'm not too sure about the angle I chose.

Planning - First Draft Audience Feedback
(Conducted 29/04/24)

After finishing my first draft, and adding a few minor touch-ups, I decided to query my audience on what larger improvements I could possibly make. This was only a 1 question survey.

From my feedback, I can now see a few issues that the audience has with the sequence; Out of these issues, the ones that stand out to me the most, and the ones I definitely agree with and should consider fixing myself, are:

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  • The Barret shot I agree does feel quite lacking, and I want to think about changing the footage to a more fitting shot

  • Text box I could easily quickly change a little

  • I feel I should tweak the colours and lighting of the train scene a bit, to make it fit with the rest of the sequence.

Production - Larger Improvements

Train
(Conducted 29/04/24)

I wanted to entirely overhaul the design of my train shot, mainly switching out the background for something more fitting. I also wanted to re-work the colours and lighting slightly, to make it fit better with the rest of my sequence. This was partly inspired by some of my audience feedback, that recommended I touch this up somewhat.

Text Box
(Conducted 30/04/24)

I lightened the effect on the text box a little, in response to my audience feedback, which made me think about improving it by slightly toning it down.

Barret Shot Re-do
(Conducted 01/05/24)

After conducting my audience feedback, and based on my own opinion too, I decided to completely re-do my Barret shot with a different video. I feel as though the original clip was too bland, not showcasing his character at all; I decided to go with a shot of him with his daughter, Marlene, to better represent his role as a strong and caring father in the story. Re-doing this require quite a lot of rotoscoping work, with all the movement and background details, and having two figures to work on.

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