FMP - Post Production

Post production was across a few different programs; Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Prelude. I avoided using Adobe Speed grade for colour grading because of the unnecessary lengths of time it takes to use the software for a very similar final result. Adobe Premier Pro was used to base edit all the footage, all of the other softwares were 'extras' to this. 

I prefer to use Adobe Premier Pro (PP) because of its interactivity with a lot of the other Adobe software. For example you can render compositions straight from After Effects (AE) into PP's timeline instead of having to render a separate file and import like you would if you were using another 3rd party software. This saves a lot of time in longer projects. The layout may not as user friendly as Avid or Final Cut but compared to final cut it allows you to do so much more, it is a more industry standard piece of software in comparison. When working premier pro I used 4 video and audio channels which I layered different clips upon each other. The audio channels made use of the layering more effectively as I can manipulate the sound to blend in more effectively this way. (above)

I used Photoshop to produce all the titles which were then animated in premier pro. Photoshop wasn't used a great deal as titles can easily can created in after effects itself however there are a much wider range of options for things to do in photoshop visually for still images. However I wanted to keep the graphics very simple and bold to make it easy for the audience to read as they wont be on screen to long. It would be pointless if I spent a lot time making the graphics look nice but at the detriment of it taking that extra second to read. 

After effects was then used to animate these or any other special effects. For all of the titles I wanted some movement to make it look natural to the trailer but not enough to make it distracting from the actual text so all the graphics were animated to scale up slowly and enter with flare. 

I then also animated some different effects for the opening titles, such as the mountain drawing itself out or the magnified glass focussing in and out. Al these small features are barely noticeable in the actual cut but without them it can make a big difference. Its these small features that people don't consciously pick upon that make the difference between amateur and professional. 

I finally used after effects for a few other small things such as further stabilising any shaky footage to be dead still when I didn't use a tripod or steadi-cam. I can track small features each frame and rotate/position the rest of the footage around that point in the composition so it appears stationary. (above)

Prelude was used to transcode the footage. Using a C100 it films in AVCHD which means that the audio and sound gets produced separately and transcoded together. I colour graded all the footage in Premier pro as well. Colour grading can make a huge difference for something that doesnt take a long period of time. The great thing about premier pro is it gives you access to alot of different options. I mainly use a three way colour corrector, this allows me to change the colours in different layers of the picture. The shadows, mid tones, highlights can all be extended or compressed or tinted etc. This allows me to whiten lights and correct complexions. I then can also alter the levels to brighten or darken areas of the photo. There are a few other effects I can take advantage of, but below is just an example of the power of colour grading. 

Ungraded

Graded