Why the Oscars are a con
John Pilger
This year's Oscar nominations are a parade of propaganda and stereotypes.
Why are so many films so bad? This year's Oscar nominations are a parade of propaganda, stereotypes and downright dishonesty. The dominant theme is as old as Hollywood: America's divine right to invade other societies, steal their history and occupy our memory. When will directors and writers behave like artists and not pimps for a world-view devoted to control and destruction?
I grew up on the movie myth of the Wild West, which was harmless enough unless you happened to be a Native American. The formula is unchanged. Self-regarding distortions present the nobility of the American colonial aggressor as a cover for massacre, from the Philippines to Iraq. I only fully understood the power of the con when I was sent to Vietnam as a war reporter. The Vietnamese were "gooks" and "Indians", whose industrial murder was preordained in John Wayne movies and left to Hollywood to glamourise or redeem.
I use the word murder advisedly, because what Hollywood does brilliantly is suppress the truth about America's assaults. These are not wars, but the export of a gun-addicted, homicidal "culture". And when the notion of psychopaths as heroes wears thin, the bloodbath becomes an "American tragedy" with a soundtrack of pure angst.
American airbrush
Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is in this tradition. A favourite for multiple Oscars, her film is "better than any documentary I've seen on the Iraq war. It's so real it's scary" (Paul Chambers, CNN). Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian reckons it has "unpretentious clarity" and is "about the long and painful endgame in Iraq", and that it "says more about the agony and wrong and tragedy of war than all those earnest well-meaning movies".
What nonsense. This film offers a vicarious thrill through yet another standard-issue psychopath, high on violence in somebody else's country where the deaths of a million people are consigned to cinematic oblivion. The hype around Bigelow is that she may be the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director. How insulting that a woman is celebrated for a typically violent all-male war movie.
The accolades echo those for The Deer Hunter (1978), which critics acclaimed as "the film that could purge a nation's guilt"! The Deer Hunter lauded those who had caused the deaths of more than three million Vietnamese, while reducing those who resisted to barbaric commie stick figures. In 2001, Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down provided a similar, if less subtle, catharsis for another "noble failure" by the US, this time in Somalia, airbrushing the heroes' massacre of up to 10,000 Somalis.
By contrast, the fate of an admirable American war film, Redacted, is instructive. Made in 2007 by Brian De Palma, the film is based on the true story of the gang rape of an Iraqi teenager and the murder of her family by US soldiers. There is no heroism, no purgative. The murderers are murderers, and De Palma ingeniously describes the complicity of Hollywood and the media in the epic crime of Iraq. The film ends with a series of photographs of Iraqi civilians who were killed. When it was ordered that their faces be blacked out "for legal reasons", De Palma said: "I think that's terrible because now we have not even given the dignity of faces to this suffering people. The great irony about Redacted is that it was redacted." After a limited release in the US, the film all but vanished.
Non-American (or non-western) humanity is not deemed to have box-office appeal, dead or alive. They are the "other" who are allowed, at best, to be saved by "us". In Avatar, James Cameron's vast and violent money-printer, 3-D noble savages known as the Na'vi need a good-guy American soldier, Sergeant Jake Sully, to save them. This confirms they are "good". Natch.
My Oscar for the worst of this year's nominees goes to Invictus, Clint Eastwood's unctuous insult to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Based on a hagiography of Mandela by a British journalist, John Carlin, the film might have been a product of apartheid propaganda. In promoting the racist, thuggish rugby culture as a panacea of the "rainbow nation", Eastwood gives barely a hint that many black South Africans were deeply embarrassed and hurt by Mandela's embrace of the hated springbok symbol of their suffering. He airbrushes white violence - but not black violence, which is ever present as a threat. As for the Boer racists, they have hearts of gold, because they "didn't really know". The subliminal theme is all too familiar: colonialism deserves forgiveness and accommodation, never justice.
Sheer realism
At first I thought Invictus could not be taken seriously, but then I looked around the cinema at young people and others for whom the horrors of apartheid have no reference, and I understood the damage such a slick travesty does to our memory and its moral lessons. Imagine Eastwood making a happy-Sambo equivalent in America's Deep South. He would not dare.
The film most nominated for an Oscar and promoted by the critics is Up in the Air, which stars George Clooney as a man who travels the US sacking people and collecting frequent-flyer points. Before the triteness dissolves into sentimentality, every stereotype is summoned, especially of women. There is a bitch, a saint and a cheat. However, this is "a movie for our times", says the director, Jason Reitman, who boasts about having cast real sacked people.
“We interviewed them about what it was like to lose their job in this economy," said he, "then we'd fire them on camera and ask them to respond the way they did when they lost their job . . . It was an incredible experience to watch these non-actors with 100 per cent realism." Wow, what a winner.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
MY Name Is Khan
MY NAME IS KHAN makes two strong statements...
Shibani Bathija's screenplay is truly arresting. Shibani and Niranjan Iyengar's dialogues are noteworthy and at times, applaud-worthy. Ravi K. Chandran's cinematography is awe-inspiring. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music gels well with the nature of the film.
- The first: B.C. [before Christ] and A.D. [after death] are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. There's a third designation now - 9/11. Post September 11, the world stands divided. Terrorist outfits continue to strike in the name of religion and the common man, not even remotely associated with these groups, is bearing the brunt. The world is not a safe place anymore.
- The second statement: There're two sets of people in this world - the good and the bad. No matter how strong the evil forces are, good always triumphs.
Karan Johar's cinema got more real from KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA onwards. In MY NAME IS KHAN, the storyteller attempts to make a social statement and succeeds completely. At the same time, it takes no sides. If the protagonist says 'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist', it also exposes those who misadvise the youth with inflammatory and rabble-rousing speeches.
Rizvan Khan [Shah Rukh Khan moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother [Jimmy Shergill] and sister-in-law [Sonya Jehan]. Rizvan, who has Asperger's syndrome, falls in love with Mandira [Kajol]. Despite protests from his brother, they get married and start a small business together. They are happy until September 11, when attitudes towards Muslims undergo a sea-change.
When tragedy strikes, Mandira is devastated and they split. Rizvan is confused and upset that the love of his life has left him. To win her back, he embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America.
Let me alert you. The story unfolds feverishly from the very start itself. So if you miss a scene or two, chances are you would've missed some vital links in the story. The fact is, there's too much happening in the first half. Although the narrative tends to get leisurely-paced at times, the wheels continue to move from one episode to another.
MY NAME IS KHAN's strength lies in the fact that you root for Khan all through. At the same time, you are weighed down when he's in a vulnerable situation, especially when he's labelled a terrorist and thrown behind bars. You don't realize it, but the fact is that you, as a spectator, have already got entwined in Rizvan and Mandira's lives.
There's a slight hitch in the second hour, when SRK returns to Georgia to save a hurricane-ravaged hamlet. Also, the media exercise tends to add to the length of the film. Nonetheless, it's a minor hiccup that doesn't rob the film of its punch.
There's just one word to illustrate Karan's direction - exemplary. One of the finest storytellers of our generation, he deserves brownie points for deviating from 'Karan Johar brand of cinema' and attempting a film that knocks on your heart and stimulates your mind. With MY NAME IS KHAN, Karan takes rapid strides as a storyteller.
Shibani Bathija's screenplay is truly arresting. Shibani and Niranjan Iyengar's dialogues are noteworthy and at times, applaud-worthy. Ravi K. Chandran's cinematography is awe-inspiring. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music gels well with the nature of the film. When a film stars two of the finest talents of the country, you expect nothing but the best. SRK, well, how does one describe his performance? To state that this is his best work so far would be cutting short the praise he truly deserves. In fact, no amount of praise can do sufficient justice to his portrayal of Rizvan Khan, who has Asperger's syndrome. His latest work is several notches above anything he has done before. The only compliment that I can think of is, SRK has a new screen-name now. Raj is passé, Rizvan it is.
Kajol is pure dynamite and casting her for this character was the most appropriate decision. No other actress could've matched SRK in histrionics the way Kajol has. In fact, SRK and Kajol compliment each other wonderfully well and this film only proves it yet again. It's a powerhouse performance from this supremely talented actress.
The film boasts of a number of capable actors, but the ones who leave a rock-solid impact are - in this order - Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Jimmy Shergill, Arjun Mathur, Parvin Dabas and Arif Zakaria. Sugandha Garg is confident. Navneet Nishan supports well. Vinay Pathak leaves a mark in a brief role. Tanay Chheda [young SRK] and Yuvaan Makaar [SRK and Kajol's son Sameer] are excellent. The American actors, especially the kid who plays Sameer's friend, deserves mention.
On the whole, MY NAME IS KHAN is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop. It not only entertains, but also mesmerises, enthrals and captivates the viewer in those 2.40 hours. At the same time, a film like MY NAME IS KHAN is sure to have a far-reaching influence due to its noble theme. I strongly advocate, don't miss this one!
The film boasts of a number of capable actors, but the ones who leave a rock-solid impact are - in this order - Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Jimmy Shergill, Arjun Mathur, Parvin Dabas and Arif Zakaria. Sugandha Garg is confident. Navneet Nishan supports well. Vinay Pathak leaves a mark in a brief role. Tanay Chheda [young SRK] and Yuvaan Makaar [SRK and Kajol's son Sameer] are excellent. The American actors, especially the kid who plays Sameer's friend, deserves mention.On the whole, MY NAME IS KHAN is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop. It not only entertains, but also mesmerises, enthrals and captivates the viewer in those 2.40 hours. At the same time, a film like MY NAME IS KHAN is sure to have a far-reaching influence due to its noble theme. I strongly advocate, don't miss this one!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Matchbox
Four years ago i visited this place.....tab se dil mein ajeeb sa kuch mehsoos hone laga....kal aan aur kal.....shayadh yehi soch mere dil mein goonj rehi hain.....aur jab maine us goonj ko kaagaz pe uthari tho bani ek kahani...ek aisi kahani..jiska kisi aur ke zindagi ki koi amanath nahi...par meri zindagi mein worh ek aisa rasta tha jahan se main aaj jahan hoon main wahan pahuncha hoo......ek aisi tasveer...jo dikhta zaroor hain par har ek ke liye alag alg.....har aadmi ke zindagi mein kuch yadein aisi bhi hoti hain....aur yeh kahani bhi bhi ek yaad hain......aur jab maine shayadh kahin suna ki...theeliyan.....maachis ki theeliyan...Jo chirag bhi jalati hain aur chitayen bhi...tab is kahani ka anth mujhe mila......
'
thus the story became
THE MATCHBOX
Friday, February 6, 2009
Old Doordarshan Songs:Tab main School mein tha
1. Baje Sargam Har Taraf Se
http://rapidshare.com/files/93998081/Baje_Sargam_Har_Taraf_Se.mp3
2. Bharat Ek Khoj - Srishti se pehle satya nahi thaa
http://rapidshare.com/files/93998323/Bharat_Ek_Khoj__Shristi_Se_Pehle_Satya_Nahi_Tha.mp3
3. Chanakya - Hum Kare Rashshtra Aradhan
http://rapidshare.com/files/93998629/Chanakya__Hum_Kare_Rashtra_Aradhan.mp3
4. Ek chidiya Anek chidiya
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999153/Ek_Chidiya_Anek_Chidiya.mp3
5. Jungle Book - Jungle Jungle Baat chali hai
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999202/Jungle_Book__Jungle_Jungle_Baat_Chali_Hai.mp3
6. Mahabharat - Ath shri Mahabharat Katha
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999407/Mahabharat__Ath_Shri_Mahabharat_Katha.mp3
7. Mahabharat - Karmanye va dhikarste
&
8. Mahabharat - Yada yada hi dharmasya
http://rapidshare.com/files/94000004/Mahabharat_1.rar
9. Malgudi Days - Tanana tana nana naaa
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999494/Malgudi_Days__Tanana_Tana_Na_Na_Na.mp3
10. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999909/Mile_Sur_Mera_Tumhara.mp3
11. Mahabharat - Ath shri Mahabharat Katha
http://rapidshare.com/files/93999310/Mahabharat_-_Ath_Shri_Mahabharat_Katha2.mp3
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Delhi 6 Music review
Music Review of Delhi-6 Songs
Masakali : Masakali is a musical wonder in relation to its melodic and rhythmic treatment. This is the song that will be shown on national TV in the Special Offers for Delhi-6. Rahman is a global actor. It is this seamless, liquid sound, Rahman provides an advantage that few, if any, are able to compete.
Aarti (Tumre Bhavan Mein) : Soundtrack begin serious note of this title track decades. The decade was a song that I was particularly looking forward to because of Rekha Bharadwaj's vocal presence in it. A decent start to the expected music soundtrack for 2009. The melody in the background is so smooth.
Bhor Bhaye : Bhor Bhaye classic Bliss is the purest forms. Here is AR Rahman's attempt to create a classic. The topic is filtered through a classical lens laced formidably as Tableaux and Harmonium.
Arziyan : Javed Ali and Kailash Kher team up to this next song Arziyan. Arziyan is a humbling close to an extraordinary soundtrack of India's greatest composer through the ages. The shooter Tablå remaining. Rahman's melody is easy biggest asset in this song. Prasoon Joshi's Ode to God is a kind of spiritual awakening.
Delhi 6 : The title song, Delhi 6, is another song full of attitude, elegance and style. Here comes the title track for the film are sung by Blaaze, Benny Dayal, Tanvi, Claire and Vivienne Pocha. Song lyrics are too broad and singers perform miserably. Structured like a techno / hip-hop synth composition Delhi 6 is very entertaining.
Genda Phool : Talk about getting better and Gender Phoola May Rahman finest compositions across Delhi 6 soundtrack. GENDER Phoola is a cool part of the track that features some wicked beats of events! Rekha Bharadwaj with Shraddha Pandit and Sujata Majumdar sings beautifully about this interesting song.
Dil Gira Dafatan : DIL Gira Dafatan been sung by Ash King with backing vocals by Chinmayee. DIL gira Dafatan is a soul-stirring musical masterpiece! It is a soft romantic track with trademark Rahman touch. Soundtrack will be better.
Noor : Noor is a beautiful spiritual dikt written by Prasoon Joshi, cited strong with Amitabh Bachchan. So far, the soundtrack is a mix and match of everything. Ups and downs.
Hey Kaala Bandar : Hey Kaala Bandar download how much of Ghajini's OST lax. Prasoon broke this record. Lyrics make or break a song. Heavy on the techno beats and strong bass lines, this song leans heavily on the attitude and style. Flooded with rap interlude, it provides little satisfaction for lovers of very melodic music.
Rehna Tu : The last song on the soundtrack. Rehn Tu is euphoric lounge track as triumphs for a number of reasons. Melodien tenderly crawling over you, while the mood of the song captures all the nuances of your attention. Is it true it could have been better, much better.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
50 motion graphics tips
01. Eliminate the negativesDon’t be scared to ask the client what they don’t want – the solution to the project could be in that one answer.
02. Ctrl/Cmnd+U short cutIf you only learn one short cut ever, it should be Ctrl/Cmnd+U! Simply select any number of layers you like, hit Ctrl/Cmnd+U, and it shows all the keyframes you’ve made on the layer (s). Pretty handy if you’re getting bogged down with massive amounts of layers!
03. Be preparedKnow the problems before you begin work.
04. Correct colour firstWhen using video footage, you’re probably going to give the images a strong look, but always do basic colour correction first: make the blacks black, the whites white and the greys grey. Make the colours match from cut to cut. Only then should you do the creative work.
05. Render separate passesMost 3D packages now allow you to render separate frames for things like colour, shadow, highlights and even more exotic attributes like speed of movement. Rendering separate passes and then rebuilding your shot in a compositor might seem like a waste of time, but it allows you to adjust the shot far more finely and will often save you from having to re-render.
06. Be flexibleDon’t be afraid to kill off an idea, no matter how great it looks or sounds. If it’s not fitting the brief, start again. Be proud but not arrogant.
07. Save often, auto save functionEvery so often After Effects will remind you to save your work by crashing. Get into the habit of regularly pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+S, and soon it will become second nature. Alternatively you can tell After Effects to Auto Save (Preferences>Auto Save) – every 30 minutes is a good timescale.
08. Clear imagesWhen it comes to video footage, the best effects are usually those that nobody notices as effects. Subtly shifting colours, darkening the blacks, or adding a slight wobble to the footage is far better than adding a lot of obvious filters and effects.
09. Try something newMove away from the subject matter: if your project is about football, go fishing.
10. Z-depth focusA z-depth render pass is a greyscale image showing which parts of your 3D scene are closest to the camera. Combine this with a focus effect like After Effects’ lens blur and you can produce a depth of field effect. Try doing this in your 3D package and you can look forward to quadrupling your render times.
11. ExperimentLearn about new techniques rather than trends.
12. Colour coding layersI find it extremely handy to colour-code layers. To do this click on your layer(s), and then click on the small coloured square next to the layer number. A menu with lots of colour options should appear, so just select your favourite colour. You can also select groups of layers with the same colour group – nifty!
13. Plan the editWhen working with an animation, don’t underestimate the edit. Map the path of the story from start to finish.
14. SmokeAnother thing that wrecks render times in 3D is smoke and fire. Having lots of transparent particles calculated in 3D takes hours. However, a compositor can do a convincing 2D version virtually in real time. Just create a low opacity smudge in Photoshop, then use that as a particle in your compositor’s particle system. Create lots of almost completely transparent particles and allow them to spin and grow and you’ll end up with a convincing smoke effect.
15. Subtle effectsIt’s better to use a few subtle techniques to create an effect, rather than one basic filter. Rather than just applying a Glow filter, you could use two layers of identical footage, make the top layer blur, and reduce its opacity. This is more unique than an out-of-the-box Glow filter.
16. Soften upIf in comp you find the 3D renders to be a bit harsh or crisp, half-mix it with a softened version.
17. Naming structures are importantName things logically, otherwise it’s like finding a needle in a haystack as the project gets bigger! This applies to both folder structures, and within your After Effects projects. I normally set things up by having folders for Comp, Footage, Audio, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Output / Renders.
18. Try vignettesVignetting each scene with blurs, plus slightly darkening the affected areas, creates a smoothness that’s easy on the eye, and helps integrate the various shots into the sequence.
19. Make it flowWhether it’s a basic title sequence or a more complex project, there should always be a sense of flow. Don’t just put in a shot or effect for the sake of it; guide the viewer’s attention to the next piece of information.
20. Glows3D renders tend to come out very sharp-edged and clean-looking. Adding a bit of grain is obvious, but why not try a subtle glow effect on the brightest parts of the shot. It gives a slight glare to the scene and slightly softens edges.
21. Balancing actOur look is a result of careful balancing between the light and ambient occlusion passes as each scene progresses, making sure the whites don’t go over in order to preserve hints of texture that bring life to the sequence.
22. Adding notes to layersClick on a layer and press the * button on the number pad to add little annotations to layers. Once you’ve pressed the * button, double-click on the arrow and a menu window will appear. Type your description in the comments box and it will appear on the layer. You can also add chapters, URLs and frame targets.
23. Visual interestDon’t leave the viewer with a blank screen. Always have something there, even if it’s completely blurred out, or difficult to see. A blank screen invites the viewer to shift attention away from the screen, and the trance you’re trying to create is broken.
24. Add atmosphereBe generous with fog and atmosphere passes – these blend all the layers together nicely.
25. 3D puppets3D characters are ideal candidates for After Effects’ Puppet tool. Animate the small movements like facial expressions and hand gestures in 3D, then render out as a series of tiffs with a transparent background. You can then very quickly add big movements using the Puppet tool and even tie them to mouse movement for very natural motion.
26. Use your powerWhen rendering large scenes on a PC, make sure the 3GB switch has been activated.
27. StoryboardingI’m sure I’m preaching to the converted and you don’t need me telling you the importance of storyboarding your project. It’s good because it allows you to see the project as a whole and how it all comes together. You can also scan in the images and make an animatic to work out timings for shots.
28. Don’t bombardWhen motion graphics packages first made it easy for us to do speed ramps, flash frames and multiple layer, most projects used all these effects. Things have calmed down now. Decide on an overall style that reflects the meaning of your project, and use the software to create it.
29. Work to scaleWhen planning an animation, make sure it is modelled with the animation in mind. If you have 20,000 bricks to scale up, you want to set the pivot point on brick one before you copy it 19,000 times.
30. Save processing power3D and compositing both take a lot of time and processing power in rendering, but each is better at some things than others. Before you hit the render button, devote a little time to deciding what will render more efficiently in your compositor, and use render passes to give yourself all the options you can.
31. Previz your scene carefullyThere is always a desire to get into the detail early – don’t! Get the broad picture sorted and signed off first.
32. ParentingIf you are planning on animating characters, parenting becomes pretty essential. To parent one layer to another, click the drop-box menu in the layer’s ‘Parent’ column, or use the Pick Whip to select the layer you want to parent it to. The layer will now follow the Parent layer’s movements, but also allow you to move it independently too.
33. If in doubt, blur it outBlurring might not seem like the most exciting thing to do to images and text, but it can have a strong effect. Switch blurring on and off at great speed, or add motion blur to animated text. This is possibly the best way to add an instant feeling of quality.
34. Vanishing point 3D setsPhotoshop’s Vanishing Point tool allows you to create very simple 3D sets from photos. These can be imported straight into After Effects where you can add new elements. Vanishing point sets sometimes require a bit of adjustment in terms of camera position, but even with a few minutes’ work, the results can be more realistic than a full 3D scene.
35. Keep consistencyAgree a naming system for scene files and renders with everyone you work with – both staff and freelancers.
36. Mask your blurBlurring is never more powerful than when it’s combined with an animated mask. When you’re working on video footage, you can use a mask to blur out a background, to intensify the focus on the foreground. Or you can animate a mask over text, so that a sweep of blurring passes over the words.
37. Use layersBe prepared to break your scene up into layers to stop the model becoming too large. Put things in distance-from-camera order so they will composite without complex matte runs. There is a temptation to keep it all in one big file but loading times can reach 30 minutes, which is a big drag on productivity. The previz should allow for easy planning.
38. Puppet toolThe Puppet tool is a relatively new addition to After Effects' arsenal. Previously making character animation seem more natural and smooth was quite hard, involving lots of trickery with distortion filters. With the addition of the Puppet tool you can now add some bendy-ness, so the movement isn’t so rigid!
39. Use presetsMaya provides a preset layer function for doing ambient occlusion: Ctrl/right-click on the layer and select Presets>Occlusion. The luminance depth is also useful for putting atmospheric perspective into the scene.
40. Video from a stillTurn a still into a moving image by cutting out the objects that are closest to the camera, and placing them on new layers within Photoshop. Use the Clone tool to fill in the background behind the objects and then import the .psd file into your compositor. You can now arrange the layers in 3D and create a realistic pan or zoom effect. Keep it slow and gentle, and add some blur to the background to produce a more realistic shot.
41. Keep it clearWhether you want people to read text, or see a story being told with images, maintaining the clarity is more important than using flashy techniques. So never use an effect or movement for its own sake. Whatever else you do, make sure the viewer can read the text or follow the story.
42. Go for softnessSub-surface scattering shaders – which are generally used for skin – can help to produce a soft look, such as on the roses at the start of our ‘ITV England’ football sequence.
43. Use polygonsTo render paint effects in ambient occlusion, first convert to polygons. Keep the history so the poly version still moves in the wind.
44. Precomping character movesPrecomping (also known as "nesting") is when you have a composition within a composition. It comes into play with character animation as you can keep everything simple and separate. You could have a composition for a walk cycle, wave, trip – anything really. In our main composition you can simply cut between the precomps to make up the sequence.
45. Mix paint effectsMix as many different types of paint effects that you can find for a realistic look. Grass, in particular, will look much better if you have some wind blowing, and combine some field grass and jungle grass.
46. Parallax scrollIf you have a wide panoramic shot, try adding a slant filter centred on the horizon, then animate the strength of the sheer. The bottom of the shot will then pan faster than the horizon, creating the impression of a tracking shot over a real landscape.
47. Coffee break testWhen all your work is done, take a break of at least 10 minutes – but preferably an hour – and then watch it afresh. You may notice mistakes, or find there are dull moments. When you’ve been working on something for hours, or days, always run this check before signing off on a job.
48. The finished lookSome useful trade secretes here: once you’ve finished all the legwork of animating your project, there are a few small things you can do to help seal the deal. Try adding some Adjustment Layers for a bit of Noise (Filter>Noise & Grain), a Vignette and, if adventurous, a bit of colour correction.
49. Building workIf you need lots of buildings in the background to have the same look, render one building front-on with ambient occlusion, and then use it as a texture map on simple rectangles.
50. Use hdriRender your 3D in high bit depth if you can. Creating images with a higher dynamic range means you can brighten or darken them or alter their colours to a much greater extent in your compositor. The files might be bigger, but disk space is cheap and you’ll end up deleting them anyway once you’ve got your final shot.
02. Ctrl/Cmnd+U short cutIf you only learn one short cut ever, it should be Ctrl/Cmnd+U! Simply select any number of layers you like, hit Ctrl/Cmnd+U, and it shows all the keyframes you’ve made on the layer (s). Pretty handy if you’re getting bogged down with massive amounts of layers!
03. Be preparedKnow the problems before you begin work.
04. Correct colour firstWhen using video footage, you’re probably going to give the images a strong look, but always do basic colour correction first: make the blacks black, the whites white and the greys grey. Make the colours match from cut to cut. Only then should you do the creative work.
05. Render separate passesMost 3D packages now allow you to render separate frames for things like colour, shadow, highlights and even more exotic attributes like speed of movement. Rendering separate passes and then rebuilding your shot in a compositor might seem like a waste of time, but it allows you to adjust the shot far more finely and will often save you from having to re-render.
06. Be flexibleDon’t be afraid to kill off an idea, no matter how great it looks or sounds. If it’s not fitting the brief, start again. Be proud but not arrogant.
07. Save often, auto save functionEvery so often After Effects will remind you to save your work by crashing. Get into the habit of regularly pressing Ctrl/Cmnd+S, and soon it will become second nature. Alternatively you can tell After Effects to Auto Save (Preferences>Auto Save) – every 30 minutes is a good timescale.
08. Clear imagesWhen it comes to video footage, the best effects are usually those that nobody notices as effects. Subtly shifting colours, darkening the blacks, or adding a slight wobble to the footage is far better than adding a lot of obvious filters and effects.
09. Try something newMove away from the subject matter: if your project is about football, go fishing.
10. Z-depth focusA z-depth render pass is a greyscale image showing which parts of your 3D scene are closest to the camera. Combine this with a focus effect like After Effects’ lens blur and you can produce a depth of field effect. Try doing this in your 3D package and you can look forward to quadrupling your render times.
11. ExperimentLearn about new techniques rather than trends.
12. Colour coding layersI find it extremely handy to colour-code layers. To do this click on your layer(s), and then click on the small coloured square next to the layer number. A menu with lots of colour options should appear, so just select your favourite colour. You can also select groups of layers with the same colour group – nifty!
13. Plan the editWhen working with an animation, don’t underestimate the edit. Map the path of the story from start to finish.
14. SmokeAnother thing that wrecks render times in 3D is smoke and fire. Having lots of transparent particles calculated in 3D takes hours. However, a compositor can do a convincing 2D version virtually in real time. Just create a low opacity smudge in Photoshop, then use that as a particle in your compositor’s particle system. Create lots of almost completely transparent particles and allow them to spin and grow and you’ll end up with a convincing smoke effect.
15. Subtle effectsIt’s better to use a few subtle techniques to create an effect, rather than one basic filter. Rather than just applying a Glow filter, you could use two layers of identical footage, make the top layer blur, and reduce its opacity. This is more unique than an out-of-the-box Glow filter.
16. Soften upIf in comp you find the 3D renders to be a bit harsh or crisp, half-mix it with a softened version.
17. Naming structures are importantName things logically, otherwise it’s like finding a needle in a haystack as the project gets bigger! This applies to both folder structures, and within your After Effects projects. I normally set things up by having folders for Comp, Footage, Audio, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Output / Renders.
18. Try vignettesVignetting each scene with blurs, plus slightly darkening the affected areas, creates a smoothness that’s easy on the eye, and helps integrate the various shots into the sequence.
19. Make it flowWhether it’s a basic title sequence or a more complex project, there should always be a sense of flow. Don’t just put in a shot or effect for the sake of it; guide the viewer’s attention to the next piece of information.
20. Glows3D renders tend to come out very sharp-edged and clean-looking. Adding a bit of grain is obvious, but why not try a subtle glow effect on the brightest parts of the shot. It gives a slight glare to the scene and slightly softens edges.
21. Balancing actOur look is a result of careful balancing between the light and ambient occlusion passes as each scene progresses, making sure the whites don’t go over in order to preserve hints of texture that bring life to the sequence.
22. Adding notes to layersClick on a layer and press the * button on the number pad to add little annotations to layers. Once you’ve pressed the * button, double-click on the arrow and a menu window will appear. Type your description in the comments box and it will appear on the layer. You can also add chapters, URLs and frame targets.
23. Visual interestDon’t leave the viewer with a blank screen. Always have something there, even if it’s completely blurred out, or difficult to see. A blank screen invites the viewer to shift attention away from the screen, and the trance you’re trying to create is broken.
24. Add atmosphereBe generous with fog and atmosphere passes – these blend all the layers together nicely.
25. 3D puppets3D characters are ideal candidates for After Effects’ Puppet tool. Animate the small movements like facial expressions and hand gestures in 3D, then render out as a series of tiffs with a transparent background. You can then very quickly add big movements using the Puppet tool and even tie them to mouse movement for very natural motion.
26. Use your powerWhen rendering large scenes on a PC, make sure the 3GB switch has been activated.
27. StoryboardingI’m sure I’m preaching to the converted and you don’t need me telling you the importance of storyboarding your project. It’s good because it allows you to see the project as a whole and how it all comes together. You can also scan in the images and make an animatic to work out timings for shots.
28. Don’t bombardWhen motion graphics packages first made it easy for us to do speed ramps, flash frames and multiple layer, most projects used all these effects. Things have calmed down now. Decide on an overall style that reflects the meaning of your project, and use the software to create it.
29. Work to scaleWhen planning an animation, make sure it is modelled with the animation in mind. If you have 20,000 bricks to scale up, you want to set the pivot point on brick one before you copy it 19,000 times.
30. Save processing power3D and compositing both take a lot of time and processing power in rendering, but each is better at some things than others. Before you hit the render button, devote a little time to deciding what will render more efficiently in your compositor, and use render passes to give yourself all the options you can.
31. Previz your scene carefullyThere is always a desire to get into the detail early – don’t! Get the broad picture sorted and signed off first.
32. ParentingIf you are planning on animating characters, parenting becomes pretty essential. To parent one layer to another, click the drop-box menu in the layer’s ‘Parent’ column, or use the Pick Whip to select the layer you want to parent it to. The layer will now follow the Parent layer’s movements, but also allow you to move it independently too.
33. If in doubt, blur it outBlurring might not seem like the most exciting thing to do to images and text, but it can have a strong effect. Switch blurring on and off at great speed, or add motion blur to animated text. This is possibly the best way to add an instant feeling of quality.
34. Vanishing point 3D setsPhotoshop’s Vanishing Point tool allows you to create very simple 3D sets from photos. These can be imported straight into After Effects where you can add new elements. Vanishing point sets sometimes require a bit of adjustment in terms of camera position, but even with a few minutes’ work, the results can be more realistic than a full 3D scene.
35. Keep consistencyAgree a naming system for scene files and renders with everyone you work with – both staff and freelancers.
36. Mask your blurBlurring is never more powerful than when it’s combined with an animated mask. When you’re working on video footage, you can use a mask to blur out a background, to intensify the focus on the foreground. Or you can animate a mask over text, so that a sweep of blurring passes over the words.
37. Use layersBe prepared to break your scene up into layers to stop the model becoming too large. Put things in distance-from-camera order so they will composite without complex matte runs. There is a temptation to keep it all in one big file but loading times can reach 30 minutes, which is a big drag on productivity. The previz should allow for easy planning.
38. Puppet toolThe Puppet tool is a relatively new addition to After Effects' arsenal. Previously making character animation seem more natural and smooth was quite hard, involving lots of trickery with distortion filters. With the addition of the Puppet tool you can now add some bendy-ness, so the movement isn’t so rigid!
39. Use presetsMaya provides a preset layer function for doing ambient occlusion: Ctrl/right-click on the layer and select Presets>Occlusion. The luminance depth is also useful for putting atmospheric perspective into the scene.
40. Video from a stillTurn a still into a moving image by cutting out the objects that are closest to the camera, and placing them on new layers within Photoshop. Use the Clone tool to fill in the background behind the objects and then import the .psd file into your compositor. You can now arrange the layers in 3D and create a realistic pan or zoom effect. Keep it slow and gentle, and add some blur to the background to produce a more realistic shot.
41. Keep it clearWhether you want people to read text, or see a story being told with images, maintaining the clarity is more important than using flashy techniques. So never use an effect or movement for its own sake. Whatever else you do, make sure the viewer can read the text or follow the story.
42. Go for softnessSub-surface scattering shaders – which are generally used for skin – can help to produce a soft look, such as on the roses at the start of our ‘ITV England’ football sequence.
43. Use polygonsTo render paint effects in ambient occlusion, first convert to polygons. Keep the history so the poly version still moves in the wind.
44. Precomping character movesPrecomping (also known as "nesting") is when you have a composition within a composition. It comes into play with character animation as you can keep everything simple and separate. You could have a composition for a walk cycle, wave, trip – anything really. In our main composition you can simply cut between the precomps to make up the sequence.
45. Mix paint effectsMix as many different types of paint effects that you can find for a realistic look. Grass, in particular, will look much better if you have some wind blowing, and combine some field grass and jungle grass.
46. Parallax scrollIf you have a wide panoramic shot, try adding a slant filter centred on the horizon, then animate the strength of the sheer. The bottom of the shot will then pan faster than the horizon, creating the impression of a tracking shot over a real landscape.
47. Coffee break testWhen all your work is done, take a break of at least 10 minutes – but preferably an hour – and then watch it afresh. You may notice mistakes, or find there are dull moments. When you’ve been working on something for hours, or days, always run this check before signing off on a job.
48. The finished lookSome useful trade secretes here: once you’ve finished all the legwork of animating your project, there are a few small things you can do to help seal the deal. Try adding some Adjustment Layers for a bit of Noise (Filter>Noise & Grain), a Vignette and, if adventurous, a bit of colour correction.
49. Building workIf you need lots of buildings in the background to have the same look, render one building front-on with ambient occlusion, and then use it as a texture map on simple rectangles.
50. Use hdriRender your 3D in high bit depth if you can. Creating images with a higher dynamic range means you can brighten or darken them or alter their colours to a much greater extent in your compositor. The files might be bigger, but disk space is cheap and you’ll end up deleting them anyway once you’ve got your final shot.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
boot your XP faster
your XP start faster than before.........
Just do it as given below.........
Go to....Start->run and type regedit...Press enter..
Now navigate to........
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\currentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
Now click on PrefetchParameters and see a list has been displayed on the right side.....
Setect EnablePrefetcher and right click on it........and select modify.
See default value is 3..........Change it to 5 and click ok....U have done your job........
Just Enjoy..........Faster Boot......
Just do it as given below.........
Go to....Start->run and type regedit...Press enter..
Now navigate to........
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\currentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
Now click on PrefetchParameters and see a list has been displayed on the right side.....
Setect EnablePrefetcher and right click on it........and select modify.
See default value is 3..........Change it to 5 and click ok....U have done your job........
Just Enjoy..........Faster Boot......
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