For Project #3, we had to do a short production logo on After Effects. We have to utilize color schemes and sounds in our production. Some techniques that I used are Stroke, CC Particle World and Snowfall. I also looked for a font which conveys that Christmas-mood and settled down to this “St. Nicholas” font. Pretty much self-explanatory.
For the color scheme, I tried to use happy bright colors for the Christmas lights because I believe this is the atmosphere that Christmas gives. The rest I just tried to keep it simple so as not to add too many colors to the design; I kept “Festive Productions” in white because I think it stands out the most and goes perfectly with the snow.
For the music, I played winter wonderland on garageband and twitched the tempo a bit so that it matches just at 15seconds for the length. Then I added some pen scribbling effects as well as piled two soundtracks of magic wands/sparkling sounds to add that “magical glow” feel at the end.
It was my very first time working on After Effects and I would say it is a much advanced version of Adobe Flash. Sometimes I even feel like wanting to finish the project in Flash. For the honors project that we had to do before we graduate in Hong Kong, people usually either do a 30-min short film, a short animation, or fuse both together (i.e. special effects and animation alongside with narrative). After this project I am quite certain I am the film type, because AE just seems ttoo complicated! I would still look into techniques like motion-tracking which I think would be useful for my career, but primarily I would want to master Final Cut and Photoshop first.
After Effects: Festive Productions from Wong In Chi Gigi on Vimeo.