Introduction, After Effects Tutorials and Initial Test. (COP Practical)

Introduction to COP3:

I'm investigating the use of colour in film, specifically, how it is used to evoke and suggest child-like fantasy.

For the practical aspect of my COP I want to create a 'short' film (a few minutes long), where the tone and suggestion of fantasy is mainly expressed through colour, whether this be created in-shot, post-production or both. With this in mind I've started playing with After Effects again.

Something that has caught my interest is 'Day for Night' shooting and editing, where footage is shot in the day but edited to look like night, so I found this tutorial relevant. 

Day for Night:

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/day_to_night_conversion/

(Tips given for filming: Shoot in shade, don't over expose/bring down exposure) 

Using some old footage I took when walking along the canal, I started to follow the tutorial, but given the nature of my footage (the trees obstructing the sky a lot) I ended up changing the colours, instead giving it a golden /sunset feel, instead of full blue darkness. The sky between trees has ended up being quite fuzzy/pixelated when viewed at a larger scale. For my final practical I want to shoot in the woods, so would have to take into account tree obstruction and how that can be dealt with/ edited without looking too scruffy.

Footage transitions from original to adjusted

 (sky and water coloured, highlight added to hill and overall footage darkened and changed)

There is a preset for Day for Night (http://www.videocopilot.net/preset/day_for_night_starter/) (Possibly for future use)

Below are further tutorials I want to watch and perhaps try out, to help the basis of my understanding of post-production on footage.

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/simple_bleach_bypass/

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/basic_sky_replacement/

http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/advanced_soft_keying/