and a katamari (a magical, highly adhesive ball in the video game
Katamari Damacy)
The first thing I heard when I stepped out of my car were multiple explosions.
When I ran around around the corner I saw the tank engulfed in steam. Then
a final explosion blew the radiator and sent radiator fluid everywhere!
I started making movies three
years ago, when I was about 15 years old. I found out my friend Bobby
had a video camera, so we took advantage of it and started doing some quick
cuts here and there to see how the video camera worked. I didn't even know
how to cut from one shot to another. Later I found out that I had Windows
Movie Maker on my PC. So I said to myself, "Why not make some short
funny vidoes?"
The first video I made was called Pwn vs. Pwn I believe. It
was my and my friend Keith trying to kill each other in all these
funny ways. After that we did a short video called, Gunbound For
Real. It was pretty much the stupidest thing in the world. Eventually
I moved to Atlanta. I've been here for three years. I'm currently 18 years
old. I started up on visual effects when I saw how much you could actually
do with these programs. I really wanted to make action videos. So I got a
copy of After Effects and just watched tutorials. I didn't have any
friends in Atlanta so that's all I did, was watch tutorials. I still do the
same now, but just with a few more friends!
Dude, we should build a lifesize tank!
My friend called me up and said, "Dude, we should build a lifesize
tank!" His name is Tyler, he's pretty much the craziest guy in
the world. So me being the second, I said, "YEA!" We thought about
making it from wood and paper and whatnot. But then we went with cardboard
because it's cheap. The only downside is rain. So we built a tent for it.
It took about a year off and on to build the tank. We pretty much stopped
in the winter though because it was FREEZING! The purpose of the tank was
to use it in short films. But we got the idea to do a war scene with it using
cardboard guns. Another friend, Freddie, helped with some ideas. But
I love doing war films and I just wanted to do something different.
Learning After Effects
To be honest, when it comes to visual effects and whatnot, I learned from
videocopilot.net.
It's the best website for After Effects training. Another great site
is aetutsplus.com,
for which I write some tutorials. One thing that everyone should know though.
When watching tutorials don't just copy the effects exactly, put them in
your film and call them yours. I know, you did the effect, but it really
takes away from your film when someone can actually point out the tutorial
you got it from.
For example, I'm currently attending college for Digital Media Arts. They
showed us what the graduating students have done and what we'll be expected
to do when we are done. It was all videocopilot tutorials and a bunch of
keyframed pictures. It really got me upset. If you guys want to learn, just
keep working in the program. Watch tutorials and absorb the info and use
it for something YOU came up with that is original. It will make it 100x
more awesome! I promise!
Another great way to learn the program is to get a small task that you don't
know how to do, and do it. Say to yourself, "Okay, I have to make a heart
monitor effect. I don't know how to do it, so I'll go out and find out how
to make one." That's another thing that I do. It really helps.
The stupid tank blew up on us
All of the actors in Cardboard Warfare were my
friends, and we actually shot on my friend's property. It was a horse pasture
not too far from where everyone lived. I really wanted to film it in an urban,
rundown location. We couldn't find one though, so we ended up filming at
the pasture.
And yes, tons of things went wrong. Other than summing up the day as hot,
scorching, bugs, weeds, tall grass, pain, suffering, sweat, miserable,
backbreaking, and painful, the stupid tank blew up on us.
Yea, that's what the opening sentences of this article were about. The tank
is mounted on top of a truck, and the truck decided to blow right as it got
on location. We had to take the tank off of the truck and have 12 people
manually carry this HUGE beast of a thing downhill through the forest.
It was the worst experience ever. The first thing that ran though my head
was, "Oh God, please don't make this end the filming day!"
Clint and his HDSLR camera.
Tyler Maran trying out the turret position in the tank.
SOOOO frustrating!!!
Oh yea I had editing problems! I soon found out that Premiere CS4 didn't
really edit HD footage too well. Once I edited the entire thing and started
adding the VFX the program literally started freezing up and crashing about
15 times a day. It was SOOOO frustrating!!! I thought for a couple minutes,
"I don't think I can finish this." But I pushed through and was able
to actually edit the video, color correct and add sound while it froze up
like this. It was worse than losing to a guy who spams low kicks in a fighting
game.
A
lot of the Sound came from the Fallout 3 game pack. Some came from
The Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series. I learned from Freddie that
you have to layer sounds to make them sound great. It worked! And so
far as all effects go, it's all about detail. You really have to pay
attention to it, because that's what seperates the pros and the people who
just do it for fun.
On YouTube the video got lots of traffic and success. It made it to the number
1 video on G4TV's Attack of The Show! I've had lots of
offers and opportunites. It's only been 3 weeks!
And of course my next film has to be better than the one before. My rule
is never release something if it's not as good. It has to match the previous
film or be better. Because why would your fans want to watch something that's
worse than your current film? So stay tuned for Cardboard Warfare
2
- Clint Jones
You can watch Clint explain how the guns were made, demonstrate the After
Effects used to create blood splatters and so on ... here.
I started making movies three
years ago, when I was about 15 years old. I found out my friend Bobby
had a video camera, so we took advantage of it and started doing some quick
cuts here and there to see how the video camera worked. I didn't even know
how to cut from one shot to another. Later I found out that I had Windows
Movie Maker on my PC. So I said to myself, "Why not make some short
funny vidoes?"
Dude, we should build a lifesize tank!
A
lot of the Sound came from the Fallout 3 game pack. Some came from
The Sony Pictures Sound Effects Series. I learned from Freddie that
you have to layer sounds to make them sound great. It worked! And so
far as all effects go, it's all about detail. You really have to pay
attention to it, because that's what seperates the pros and the people who
just do it for fun.
