VFX

So after the edit it came time to look at carrying out the VFX required for this project. There are only two shots that requite VFX work. Both of them are essentially tattoo removal. The plot requires a mark that is created through the story to be faded on at key moments.

The mark in question was drawn on using some makeup and was solid black on the arm. I was tasked with fading it out to transparent and then fading it on when the actor touches his arm. This was actually a pretty challenging task. The actor moves his arm quite a lot and actually morphed the shape of the mark by dragging his skin with his thumb. This made it a pretty technical effect to carry out. 

I managed to accomplish it by using an adjustment layer, masking it off so that it only covered the mark. I then added a curves adjustment that I could keyframe. This softened the mark from black to virtually invisible. I could then animate the values of that effect to reveal more of the original black colour whilst adding more red to make it look more of a fresh scar than just a black mark.

This is the effect with the curves in full effect:

And now with the values changed to reveal more of the original colours:

Along with this I also added the effect turbulent displace. This effect basically displaces the footage you apply it to. You can warble the footage and make it wriggle on the screen. It can be used to create unnerving wriggling or in broader strokes. That is how I ustalised it. I made the size massive and used it to shift the whole mark to move it away from his thumb as he moves it. This made the mark look alive and something super natural. 

After both of these effects were used in conjunction I arrived at the final effect. This took an entire night to work out using different techniques of varying complexity until I came to this end result. I am really happy with how it came out. Here is the effect in full:

This was the first of two wrist effects that needed completing. This one is far more prominent than the other and so required more time and attention.