My Dream Effects Video Created Via Adobe Effects
For my assignment, I had to create a 30 second video based around dreams and dreaming by using Adobe After Effects. I was given a select number of videos to feature in my dream sequence. I had to choose which video I wanted to feature in my dream sequence. When I first started preparing for my dream sequence video, I have to admit I was completely lost and didn’t understand what was needed of me in this video. I started off by creating a composition. Then I selected the videos that I felt was acceptable to using in a dream sequence. I had to remember in mind that it was a dream sequence; which made it harder for me when choosing the videos. The first video that I picked was the EW Senses Loop. I decided to use this video because I felt that out of all the videos that I was given; this video seemed the most acceptable to use in a dream. Even though the EW Senses Loop video was good, I felt that it was missing something so I decided to add the AB White Puffy video.
I want both of the videos to play together and sync so that when you played it back you could see the clouds go by the eye when you play the video however, when I first added the video I couldn’t see the AB White Puffy video playing at the same time when the EW Senses Loop video was playing. In order to make it so that you could see both of the videos co-sign with each other I had to darken the EW Senses Loop and keep the AB White Puffy video normal. What I managed to do was make the video of the eye darker so that the light from the clouds could come through so that when you played it, they both played together. I then decided to add in some text to this scene. I googled ’50 dream quotes’ and found this page which had some of the best quotes. I chose the quote “A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read” which was quoted by The Talmud. I added the text over the EW Senses Loop so that when you played it the text appeared just as the eye blinked open. The next videos that I used in my dream sequence where AB Estaburban, AB Water Effects and AB Time Money. The outcome of the video came out completely different to how I wanted it to be.
For the next part of the dream sequence I wanted to change the atmosphere of the dream from what I had so far. I chose the videos AB Mayhem and AB Clouds Fog. I felt that both of these videos would fit in when together when you merge them. The first video I imported was AB Mayhem and then I imported AB Clouds Fog. When I put both of the videos in, I could only see one video which was the AB Mayhem video. I struggled for a little bit trying to find a solution so that I could see both of the videos play at the same time. I then decided to change the mode of the video. I changed AB Mayhem’s mode to multiply and changed AB Clouds Fog’s mode to lighten. By doing this I allowed the cloud’s fog video to feature behind the trees in the AB Mayhem video. I had to shorten the length of the video because I felt that it was to long for my dream sequence. The next videos that I chose to feature in my dream sequence was EW Rush Hour and 5 AB Film Clutter clips. My decision to change the dynamic of the sequence was simply down me believing that a dream sequence doesn’t always have to look the same. The reason why I chose to add 5 AB Film Clutter clips was because I knew that they would add a different effect to the rush hour clip. I had to shorten all of the clips in this scene to equal the video to the right amount of time. I also had to change the mode of the EW Rush Hour video as well. I changed the mode to multi so that you could see the effect of the 5 AB Film Clutter Clips. I felt that both the video fitted in well with each other becuase when you watch rush hour video by itself you can see the different lights during the video. The film clutter clips just added more effect to the lights. In a way you could say that it enhanced the light in the video.
At this point I am roughly 19 to 20 seconds into my dream sequence. When I reached this point of the video, I was stuck and didn’t know what direction I wanted my video to go in. I knew that I wanted my sequence to feature music but at first I wasn’t sure what kind of music I wanted to feature. I started searching on YouTube but my search was unsuccessful. At that point, I started thinking about music that I know and have heard that sounds some what dream. I decided to use a song which was heavily featured in the 2008 movie Twilight which was directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The song I chose was ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ which was composed by Carter Burwell. I chose this song because firstly it was an instrumental and two it was peaceful and calming. The key instrument used in the song is a piano. The song generally sounds like it could be for a dream. I felt that it fitted in well. After deciding the song choice I was still stuck on what video to feature next in the sequence. So I went back to looking at the videos and started looking for more videos to add into my sequence. I came across the video HD Piano Slow. When I saw this video I instantly wanted to feature it in my dream sequence because I knew that it would match the song which I had added to the sequence.
I imported the video into my timeline and I also imported the AB Water Textures video as well. I felt that both of the videos had a dreamy airy atmosphere to them. My idea to make both of them play together meant that I had to change the mode like I did for the other videos. I changed HD Piano Slow’s mode to darken but I kept AB Water Textures’ mode normal. Both videos time span frames for round about 6 seconds.
After this, I had now realized that I was reaching towards the end of the video. I wanted to finish my video with some text so I went back to the ’50 dream quotes’ page and looked for another quote. I found the quote ‘dreams are real while they last – can we see more than life?’ by Havelock Ellis.
I looked for two more video which I wanted to feature at the end of my sequence. Out of all the clips that was left over I chose EW Texture FX and EW Fabric FX. Once again I wanted the videos to sync together so when I placed them on top of each other I had to change the mode of the videos. I changed EW Texture’s mode to multiply and EW Fabric’s mode to darken. This allowed me to see both of the videos at the same time. I added the text video above both EW Texture FX and EW Fabric FX which meant that the text would appear at the same time as the two videos. Just when I thought I was finished, I realized that the song which I added to my video had to be shortened down so I went into my timeline and dragged the clip so that it was shorter. I played my dream sequence back and was 100% happy with what I had made. The final part of making the sequence was rendering it and turning it into a movie so that it was accessible to watch outside of After Effects.
Considering the process of how I made my video, overall I am happy and pleased. When I was first handed the assignment, I had so many ideas that I wasn’t focused and didn’t know what was need for this task. In the beginning I had nothing to show but I put my mind into the work and produced an amazing dream sequence.
shayjohnson 