Construction: 2nd & 3rd Days Of Editing

Today (Friday 2nd December, and Tuesday 6th) during my media lesson, I continued in the editing process. Today I began working on the green screen clips that the rest of the group where filming earlier in the week. First I had to make sure that it was a .mpeg file so that After Effects (the adobe special effects software) is able to recognise it when it is imported. This is due to the camera writing the file as a .mov rather than a .mpeg. There is nothing wrong with this, but its a tedious task to stay changing the files, especially when there are more than 20 files to convert. 


Once the files where converted, I opened up the software and then imported the files into After Effects. To be able to change the file and experiment, the file that I wanted had to be dragged down into the timeline. This will show you a frame by frame motion of the file, so that I can precisely change the file at certain frames. But where the camera was left running, there are still out takes on the same file, therefore I had to search through the file looking for the specific point in the clip where Sid began lip-syncing. Once I was able to identify where the lip-syncing began, I went to Youtube, and looked for a rain back drop to put into the background of the clip. This will fit in with the song where he sings "whether it rains or snows", therefore by adding a rain back drop it will make the over all clip fit in with the song.  Once I found an appropriate file from Youtube, I downloaded it, and then imported it to After Effects. 


The next step was to start working on the original file, and begin on getting rid of the green background. To do this, I had to go to the preset options, then go to "Keying" and then "Colour Key". To apply this to the file, drag it and then drop it onto the center  (where the image is actually previewed). Then once it has been applied a side panel opens up on the left hand side of the screen, by going there i was able to change the settings. But first I had to select the preppet and then click on the back ground green. This will then tell the software that this is the colour I wish to get rid of. By experimenting with the setting I was able to get most of the green background out of the file, leaving Sid in the middle. However, I also found out that by feathering the green will help to not pixelate Sid. However after experimenting with the settings there where still green pixels left. So by applying the "Colour Key" again, it will open up on the side tab as "Colour Key 2", again, selecting the preppet and selecting the green left over, I was able to get rid of most of the green. I kept repeating this process until all of the green was gone and none was left over. 


Once all that was left was Sid in the middle of the screen, and the background was clear, I then dragged the "Rain" file into the timeline, stretched it out to fit the screen, and then  selected where on the timeline it was to start and finish. After all was completed, the only thing left was to export the file, save it under an appropriate name and then import it onto Premiere, and place the file in its correct space upon the timeline. 


Written By Tyrone.