The Negotiator-After Effects

Looking at some of the film titles in class last week, I had not yet finished part one of the after effects tutorial book. Now that I have gone through part one and part two, I have gained a whole new respect for the work done by the people at Imaginary Forces. Their mastery and creative implementation of the software is remarkable.

I took a closer look at the beginning titles for The Negotiator and noticed several things. Still frames are used throughout the composition and there are only a few seconds of actual footage. It appears as though these images were taken specifically for use in these titles and are not from the actual film. The motion in this composition is created by using pans and animating masks that lighten the masked area. There are a lot of vertical bars of light that stream across the screen. Occasionally the screen will jump to black, leaving only the tiles.

The color in this composition is effective and cooperates with the music. All of the images, with the exception of a few seconds of a multi-colored scene, have a blue hue. This helps to create a dark and suspenseful mood that agrees with the soundtrack. These titles are a great introduction to the storyline and the film.