Creating the Trailer - Editing Footage

Intro Sequence and Titles

The first step in editing the trailer was to create an opening sequence for the titles, this was done by importing the PSD (Photoshop file) of the logo for the DVD case, when importing a PSD into Adobe Premiere Pro, you are given the option as to which layers you wish to import, therefore on the first import of the PSD file i could choose the original logo layer and the second import would be the layer that holds the title of the film.

I then added the two images to the sequence timeline each on a separate video track, this enable me to move the images around the frame to make both visible at one time. The next step was to use keyframes to make the logo fade in whilst zooming in and fade out.

This effect was achieved by using the opacity field to create the fade in and fade out, the reason for using keyframes was to enable me to customise the length of fade out or to create a fast initial fade out to around 40% opacity and then slower fade for the remaining opacity.

To create the zoom in of the logo i used the scale keyframes, to do this i reduced the size of the image to the point where i wanted the zoom in to start, created the keyframe and then scrolled forward within the timeline to a point where the zoom in would stop and increased the scale of the image, this automatically created the second scale keyframe.

The next step in creating the intro sequence for the titles was to layer the footage obtained from a copyright free channel on youtube: Footage Island (as mentioned in the blogpost - Creating the Trailer - Preparing Footage)

When editing this footage I decided the overall look of the intro sequence would be better if i had the first section of footage as the first layer as the background on the rain and lightning clip was solid black and therefore if i was to try and add this over the title and logo they would become invisible.

Composite Clip 1

The next clip in the trailer was one that i created in an attempt to create the motion comic look and feel.

The first step in creating this clip was editing an image in photoshop of several ruined buildings in what looks like a war zone. 

I edited this photo simply to try and tie in the look of this clip with the DVD case and Inlay, the way in which i did this was to remove the original background from the image and replace it with the clouds image from the background of the DVD case and the DVD inlay, Secondly i decided to add a noise effect over the image to try and match the style of the other images and clips within the trailer.

Below is the finished composite image before it has been imported into the Premiere Pro project.

The next step in creating the composite image was to import the image into the Premiere Pro project. After importing the image, I decided to add the image of "Claudio Kilgannon" used on the front of the DVD case, I did this by importing the DVD case PSD and as before with the logo, selecting the appropriate layer, in this case it was the Claudio layer, I then used keyframes to animate this image into the frame.  The image below shows the keyframes and the image half way into the frame.

The next step in creating the composite clip was to add images of speech bubbles taken from the original comic book series. i used photoshop to cut out the speech bubbles and save them as separate images. I then used keyframes to animate one of the bubbles to come in from the top of the frame down and the other to come from the bottom of the frame upwards towards the centre. This can be seen on the image below.

The next few clips where taken from the animated vignettes that Coheed and Cambria had created for one of their album releases. All clips within the trailer have been put into a vague chronological order which follows the storyline of the comic book series, Therefore the first clip had to be an image of one of the characters within the graphic novel "The Writing Writer" just as he turns evil. 

Composite Clip 2

The second composite clip uses the green screen footage obtained from a copyright free channel on youtube: Footage Island (as mentioned in the blogpost - Creating the Trailer - Preparing Footage). In this clip the green screen footage was layered over an image of "The Keywork" which is the universe on which the comic book is based.

Within the Premiere Pro project I added the image above as the first layer of video and used keyframes to animate a slow zoom on the centre triangle of planets.  As seen in the image below:

The next step was to add the green screen footage over the image and key out the green background, this was done by importing the clip, layering it over the image and using the UltraKey plugin to key out the green background. 

The final step in the creating the clip was to use a fade to black transition on both of the layers.

Title 1

The first title was created using the Title > New Title > Default Still option from within Premiere Pro. 

The next step was to enter the text into the Title window and centralise the text in the frame, the next step was to choose the font, I decided to use the same font as the title on the DVD case, " True Lies" which can be downloaded from DaFont.com.

I then added the title to the sequence by dragging the title file from the titles bin i had created when starting the project.

As before the next three clips where taken from the animated vignettes that Coheed and Cambria had created for one of their album releases, as before they have been edited in a vague chronological order. 

The next clip is another title which was created in the same way as the first one, by using the default still option in the title menu within Premiere Pro, adding text onto the title window, centralising it and applying the same font as the first title "True Lies".

The next series clips where taken from the animated vignettes that Coheed and Cambria had created for one of their album releases, as before they have been edited in a vague chronological order. 

The next clip was an image from the original comic book series, i imported the image into the Premiere Pro project and used keyframes to slightly animate the image, creating a slow zoom onto the planet which can be seen in the background of the image.

 Finally the last clip of the trailer before the end titles is another clip from the animated vignettes, This shows the figure of "The Writing Writer" through a creatures eye. slowing zooming into the centre of the eye, i then applied a fade to black transition to slowing fade out the image.

The final clip of the trailer is the end title which reads "Out Now" along with the logos os "Boom Studios" who produce the graphic novel "The Amory Wars" along with "Evil Ink Comics". 

The process of creating the last title is much the same as the others within the trailer, using the default still option within the title menu, also using the same font as before to create a unified look between all of the products within the digipack (DVD Case, DVD Inlay and Trailer), I then added the logos of both Boom Studios and Evil Ink Comics one in either corner, using a cross dissolve to fade the logos in slightly after the title. I then used a dip to white to end the trailer.