After 8 years with Foxtel Design, I recently accepted the position of Senior Designer at On Demand, here at Foxtel in Sydney. Together with Gareth Chang and Brett Morris, both talented young designers, we get to flex our After Effects and Cinema 4D skills working on a wide range of movie graphic styles across various genres.
Over the coming months I’ll be showcasing graphics created using After Effects, Cinema 4D and a variety of plug-ins, by the team, some original and others influenced by existing spots.
Armored is based on graphics from the trailer. The font is TransRobitica, extruded and textured in Cinema 4D using a Broadcast Extension Kit brushed metal texture. Genarts Sapphire was used for the flare. The background is a stock texture displaced in Cinema 4D.
Sherlock Holmes is based on a look created by Prologue and the Cinema 4D tutorial by Alexander at Amateurmedia.net. Alexander recreated the rotating 3D letters look very effectively in Cinema 4D, and it was perfect as a starting point for this promo. I added a background photo from a terrific series of shots taken by Harry Frank on Alcatraz Island, and added some dust footage to give it more depth. Having the text appear from darkness gives the look more impact.
For Law Abiding Citizen I took the opportunity to get down and dirty with textures in Cinema 4D. The textures were sourced from StockXchang and mapped to the text using Cinema 4D Layer Shaders. Layer Shaders are a great way to combine multiple textures using blend modes, allowing for unique textural looks. The font is XXII DONT MESS WITH THE VIKINGS Hardcore, a cool-looking Machine/Compacta hybrid. Motion Blur was added in After Effects using Sapphire BlurMotion. The smoke and sparks were sourced from Video Copilot’s Action Essentials 2. FXFactory Heat was used for the heat haze and Magic Bullet Mojo for the overall colour grade (use motionworks10 for a 1o% discount on Mojo).
This text for The Wolfman is a combination of After Effects type using the Position and Blur text animation properties. The font is Bell MT. The displacement is a combination of Sapphire DistortBlur, FX Factory Heat and Bloom with Threshold. The timelapse cloud footage was sourced from OpenFootage.net.
The supers for Dorian Gray feature Sapphire BlurMotion, creating a haunted yet elegant effect, perfect for the theme. The font is Mason.
For Ninja Assassins I stuck closely to the existing trailer graphics. The type and shuriken (stars) were animated using Zaxwerks ProAnimator. The strokes were created using Trapcode Particular 2 (use motionworks10 for a 10% discount on Particular 2). The font is Crillee.
This original look for Tooth Fairy was built entirely in After Effects. Since working with Cinema 4D I’ve found my 3D skill in After Effects have benefited, especially when it comes to scene construction and lighting. The font is Compacta BT.
For Princess and the Frog we were provided loads of colourful key art. To portray the magical theme I used the After Effects Puppet Pin tool to animate the bad guy’s fingers, having him appear to sprinkle magic dust ““ created using After Effects Particle World ““ onto the frog. Sapphire RackDefocus was perfect for creating the rack focus effect between the foreground and background.
These simple graphics for Love Happens were taken to the next level using Sapphire. The background (key art image of flowers) and the font (amateurmedia’s brand new Typograph Pro) use Sapphire RackDfComp. The text layer has a duplicate with the effect removed and placed about the blurred layer. The desaturation of the background was created using Sapphire HueSatBright.
13 Responses to this post
August 13, 2010 at 6:12 am |
That’s a really unique background texture in the Armored piece. What is that?
August 14, 2010 at 8:18 am |
Hello John,
I just wanna congratulate you on the new position at Foxtel. Looking forward for your forthcoming tuts.
God bless!
Hussin Khan
AfterEffectsMalaysia
August 16, 2010 at 7:10 am |
Thanks Hussin. Best wishes, John.
August 15, 2010 at 10:17 pm |
it’s very well done !!
Just one thing : How did you create the particles “glittering” (don’t know if it’s the right word…) effect in the Sherlock Holmes Project ??
August 16, 2010 at 7:09 am |
This is a stock clip of dust with a slight curves adjustment to brighten it up and a little Sapphire Glow. Best wishes, John.
August 21, 2010 at 3:31 pm |
I know this question might be out of your hands (as I’m not sure who produced it), but the August 2010 preview of Foxtel Box Office movies, do you know the song that is used?
A few people are very interested, but unfortunately searches lead to know where.
It’s the one that uses the lyrics “You’re a Superstar”.
Thank you!
P.S: Congratulations – have been visiting your site since 2009 and it’s great to hear about your new position; hope to see more of your excellent art, both on TV and on the web!
August 24, 2010 at 10:10 pm |
i would like to know what that song is called and who sings it also. i’ve been looking for it for ages and have had no luck in finding it. would you have an idea what thje name of the song is and who sings it?
September 4, 2010 at 2:00 pm |
The song is ‘Superstar’ and it is by Andrew Bojanic, Elizabeth Hooper, Jim Marr & Wendy Page. It is production music (published by Extreme Production Music USA (ASCAP)) and is not available for purchase to the general public.
http://www.extrememusic.com/#album/1860
Click on “Superstar”
September 7, 2010 at 8:29 am |
Thanks for the clarification Mark. Best, John.
November 25, 2010 at 4:25 am |
Hi John,
Wow this is great news! Congratulations on the promotion. I have not been on in a while so I only saw this now.
I am a little delayed so you must be well settled into your new role.
The title graphics are looking very slick. I really like the track in on “The Princess and the Frog” piece.
So . . . has J.J Abrams called you asking for help on Star Trek 2? Maybe Andrew Kramer can bring You a hamburger
Hope all is well.
Aidan
November 30, 2010 at 8:31 am |
Hi Aidan, thanks, I’ll need a coke with that burger ;o) Best wishes, John.
December 7, 2010 at 9:10 pm |
Wow great worx John Outstanding…
December 13, 2010 at 5:52 pm |
Thanks Bilal. Best wishes, John.
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