ANIMATING STILL IMAGES
Video Credit: Arbuckle Industries
Clients often provide us with still images to include in their cuts. Whether they're photographs, archival pictures or computer renderings, we need to find a way to make them visually appealing to integrate them seamlessly into the film. Here's how we treat still images using three different techniques.
DYNAMIC STILL IMAGE ANIMATION
This is a very easily achieved look that adds a lot of dynamic movement to still assets. To do this, we mostly use paid plugins from Pond5. These animated templates allow you to quickly insert your images through After Effects, giving everything a sleek, polished look.
SIMPLE STILL IMAGE ANIMATION
More along the Ken Burns line, this is a quick and easy solution to animating still images. Simple pans and zooms may seem old fashioned, but they can work for certain aesthetic styles and slower tempos.
COMPOSITES - STILL IMAGES AND FOOTAGE
Compositing is a great technique that we often use with our architectural clients. It's where we merge video footage with still images to create a "film feel." This is usually done by employing existing footage, masks and a slight zoom effect to the image. Learn more about compositing on our recent blog post.
