Hey guys, it’s GabaVR. I’m a 360 content creator and photographer,
publishing 360 travel videos and creative photo and video techniques on my channel.
And this time I show you a funny stop-motion trick.
The base of the effect is quite a classic scene,
but shooting with a 360 camera, we can bring it to the next level.
So let’s jump into it!
I will create a one-take shot, coming out to the street, pushing the remote,
getting into the car and driving away, without any cuts, making a really complex scene,
combining further tricks with a stop motion technique.
The easiest way to create a stop motion trick is shooting with a tripod,
making sure, that our camera doesn’t move between the shots.
But combining this technique with a 360 shot and some reframing techniques
we can achieve really cool things, like a teleportation scene with a moving camera.
After watching this video, check out my previous tutorial about it, if you haven’t seen it yet.
But now, let’s see this funny car-trick.
The most exciting thing about it is that there’s an overlap between the key objects.
So it’s more complicated than masking and putting different elements together in the 360 space.
As you can see, I’m standing between the car and camera,
so we don’t have a clear view to the vehicle as it appears.
And it’s a one take shot without any cuts, so the car must be there for real,
and we can’t edit it there, using another video layer (or something like that)
Even more, I also have to get into the car and drive away without any cuts.
The base of the effect is a stop motion trick.
The car must appear in the scene in the right moment, while I’m standing between the car and the camera.
So it’s obvious, that I can’t walk away, drive the car and get back to my previous position.
Actually I need a little help.
I set up my 360 camera, and ask Edina to drive the car, while I’m walking out to the street and raise my hand.
It’s very important, that I have to be still while the car is moving in the background.
I asked her to brake a little bit heavily, so the car will be slightly moving, making the scene more realistic.
Then I walk to the car, while Edina is moving to the passenger seat.
So when I arrive to the car and open the door, the driver’s seat is empty, and I can drive away.
Now here you can see the whole sequence in different camera angles.
Of course, there are a couple of tiny tricks during shooting this scene.
First, we have to play around with the angles, making sure the camera doesn’t see the driver.
Then, the drivers must grab the steering wheel on the lower half, so their hands won’t be visible on the wheel.
And last but not least, we have to pay attention to our whole body,
while we are waiting for the car to move to the final position.
Besides holding the remote still, we shouldn't move our legs and neither our other hand.
But when everything seems fine, we can go on to post-production to add some camera movements,
and of course, to finish the stop motion trick itself.
Opening my one take shot in Premiere, I create a new sequence.
I cut the shot at the moment, when I raise my hand in the video
and jump to the first frame, when the car is in the final position.
Then I make another cut here, and move these parts right after each other.
If you accidentally move a little bit (just like me, in this case)
you can refine the cut with a little masking trick.
As you can see, my left hand is in a little bit different position, ruining the cut.
So now I move the first part of the clip to a separate track,
expand it a little bit and cut it at the original cutting point.
Then I create a mask around my left hand,
keeping the small movements continuous,
until the point, when it fits my hand position on the bottom clip perfectly.
And now, it’s done. The seamless cut is created.
Such a masking method can help you in many cases to create a seamless transition,
avoiding a very sharp cut between the clips.
Even when they don’t fit perfectly, making such a small delay in cutting can help you to hide the cutting points.
And when the stop motion trick seems to be perfect, we can go on with creating fake camera movements.
So it won’t look like a simple a tripod shot.
As you could have seen in my previous tutorials,
I create an Adjustment layer and drag it over the whole sequence.
This time I will use the old GoPro VR Reframe plugin,
but of course, you can pick up your favorite reframing tool, too.
As I have a perfectly leveled scene, I play around only with two parameters,
setting up the field of view and direction of the camera.
I create keyframes at the starting point and then I follow my talent crossing the scene.
Maybe I apply a little bit wider field of view, when it’s closer to the camera,
and zoom in, when it’s getting further.
And I think it looks nice.
But as I’ve already mentioned in my previous videos, besides visuals, we have to take care of audio too.
So as a finishing step I continue with a short sound design.
As you can hear, the car is arriving with a running engine, so I can’t use the original atmosphere.
I want to create an illusion that I start the car after getting in.
So first I add a remote sound,
and then some further ones, for instance, when I open and close the door, start the engine, and drive away.
On another track I add a street atmosphere, I recorded on the spot.
And here are some footsteps and some noise, when I’m getting into the car.
After that I add music, if needed, and finally, I’m done.
Let’s check it out with the new sound elements.
I hope you like this small trick which is more than a simple camera or editing trick.
It needs a little arrangement during shooting, but I think that’s why it's so interesting.
So if you like it, please thumbs up, and for further 360 contents and tutorials,
please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and see you next time!
What if I sit there quickly? I can do that!
Sure? Then let's do it that way!