Becoming the Next VFX Wizard or How to Make Movies Like FreddieW
Posted on November 11th, 2011 by Guest Author | Filed under Gadgets/Tech, How To, Movies | Comments (3)
Freddie Wong has been a hit on YouTube for a few years now, and people generally love his material. I am one of them, and I know that he often gets asked questions like what software does he use, or techniques that he implements. Now I can’t speak for him, but I can tell you based on some personal experience how you can get started. It’s important to know that the process is not easy. You will have to learn much and learn often, and you should try to apply anything you learn immediately. Your learning will be filled with days when nothing goes right. Things will often crash and burn on you, but if this is something you want to do I can give you a few pointers to get you started in the right direction.
How to Make Movies Like FreddieW
These steps are not in order
Make Sure you can Handle what you are Getting Into
This is a common sense tip. Nothing that Freddie does is simple though his experience makes it look that way. Have the sense to know that Freddie is something of an expert and he does not work alone. You most likely will be, but the Internet contains a wealth of knowledge. So know what you are getting into. Don’t set your expectations too high in the beginning.
Make Sure Your Computer can Handle What you are Getting Into
Having a brand new quad+ core machine, or a Mac is ideal. Having 2-3 TB of HDD space is ideal. Having 6-34 gb of ram is ideal. Most people won’t have any of that. However that is not to say all is lost.
Here are my PC specs:
- HP DX5150 SFF (Small Form Factor)
- 1TB HDD Secondary
- 40GB HDD Primary
- 1-Gb Nvidia Graphics Card
- AMD Athlon 64 Single Core Processor @2.40 Ghz
- 2GB of Ram
- Windows 7 OS (64-bit)
Can I do what Freddie does? Yes! Does it take much longer? YES! Can I still produce the same quality of work? Yes! How much longer does it take? You don’t want to know. You don’t need the fastest computer to do what he does, but you can still do it. Just know that it will take a while when it comes to rendering your work.
Learning the Software
Try to obtain a copy of Adobe After Effects (either as a trial or possibly as a student), or HitFilm (also available as a trial) and learn them. There are plenty of tutorials for both, though I will focus on After Effects, because I am more familiar with it. Understand the different terms. Learn what a comp is, learn how to use expressions, what a pick whip is, and to make it easier, learn the short cuts. These are all important steps. This isn’t something you just jump into. Luckily for you there is plenty of reference material with full explanations and samples that you can read about and apply, which leads me to the next tip.
Watch tutorials
I can’t tell you how many tuts are out there. There are so many websites that have a wealth of great tutorials, as well as the project files that allow you to try what you saw. You can even make edits to these files, essentially making them your own. Some tutorials are thirty minutes long, but they are definitely worth it in the long run. Though I’ll have to admit that sometimes it feels like you are in school. Still, if you want to learn how it is done, watching the tutorials is a great way to go.
Learn Lighting
Whether you use precomposed footage, or go out and record your buddies with lightsabers, understanding lighting is crucial. The human eye is a tricky organ, and how it perceives things is even more tricky. We can kind of detect when something seems off in regards to lighting. When lighting is done well, it completely fools our eyes and tricks our senses. Lighting is an art in itself. Variations in the color of light can completely change a mood. Learn how to light your scenes and how real light affects your shadows. It goes a long way.
Freddie Wong’s Jedi A-holes: Strike Back
Assemble Your Elements
What I mean by elements is the tools that you will use within your projects. Things like muzzle flashes, explosions, smoke, light rays are what I call elements, though they have different names. The most cost effective way to get a bunch of different elements is from Video Copilot. They have a group of different elements for the most commonly found VFX, which are those used in Action Movies. Their Action Essentials 2 (available in 720 HD and 2K) contains most of what you need. However for those of us who just don’t have the money for that right now, there is another method which won’t break your bank. YouTube has plenty of VFX people who aren’t satisfied to use someone elses elements so they make their own. Type in: “free vfx on YouTube”, and you should find plenty to suit your taste.
Note: In the case of Hitfilm, you won’t have to look for as many elements as it comes with a bunch already built in and I believe can create variations within the software.
Understand Sound
Sound can tell a story without a single visual. A combination of eery music, followed by footsteps on creaky wood and a subtle but strong wind immediately paints a picture in your mind. Sound has that affect. Layering tracks is simple, making it work is not as simple, but it isn’t impossible. I’ve found that once you have your sound elements (obtained the same way for free via YouTube) one of the best ways to see if it “works” is to first listen to it with your eyes closed. Try to see if it makes you feel as though you are there. Listen for subtle clues that tell you the location and situation. Sound is often over looked, but there are few things as important as sound in a visual work.
Don’t believe me? Close your eyes and listen to this. This applies to music as well, since music is often used to set the mood of a scene.
Corridor Digital’s Dubstep Guns short utilized great sound and VFX work
Study and Apply
The last bit of advice that I can give you is to study the tuts, and apply them. Learn from your mistakes. Take your time and best of all keep trying. I hope this small guide has put you on the path towards VFX excellence. For some additional links to get you started head on down past the break.
Links
This post was written by Kenan Brack (Screenwriter, Author, Director, Photographer). You can check out some of his other work by following these links: In Case Of Hope’s FB Page, Eiko’s Facebook.
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November 12, 2011 at 8:23 am
You need to add a disclaimer that in order to be like FreddieW, your actual footage itself has to be really damn good (lighting, camera angles, actors intensity etc.)
November 12, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Actually, I believe that those things will come with time. If you look at Freddie’s earlier videos, you’ll notice they don’t have the polish that they do now. Most people when starting out, always have a roughness to them, but once they gain more experience, they tend to have better looking output.
That’s why I said ” Don’t set your expectations too high in the beginning.”
If you shoot outside, you’ve got the best lighting of all. The sun.
Camera angles are a matter of opinion and perspective. One person may have a diffrent view on what works for them, so they will see their own work and decide which angles are best, but that comes from experience.
If you are really into what you are doing, the intensity will come as part of the package. Plus the internet can be a harsh mistress. They will tell you if an actor looks like they are phoning it in.
Still adding a disclaimer isn’t a bad idea. I’ll probably touch on this in a upcoming article.
Thanks Hen Zee
Great job on your channel by the way. Love zombie stuff.
November 14, 2011 at 8:07 am
Thanks, we got more coming up so stay tuned. BTW, you ARE right that you need a monster of a computer to handle the right effects haha.