Recently we added a zombiefied, disembodied hand as a creepy addition to our homepage (we were getting into the Halloween spirit). We did this in the studio, with zero budget, with some very basic equipment and a bit of a Blue Peter approach.

Here’s a little bit of an insight into how you can achieve some pretty cool special effects with some nice software, and a trip to your local Focus DIY.

The key to most digital special effects is taking your subject, and seamlessly combining it with other filmed elements to make one scene. Imagine you want to have a scene of an actor running away from a giant marauding robot. Rather than spend the next 10 years building said giant robot that can physically chase down a person through the streets of Manchester (though that may be fun) – you could film a miniature robot, or create a robot digitally. You could then film the actor running away, and reacting to the robot. These two pieces of footage are then combined, or “composited” together digitally to create a finished scene.

Hollywood uses lots of complex techniques in order to achieve these effects that can be seen in many modern blockbusters – where actors are shot against blue or green backgrounds.  These green screens allow for seamless compositing to happen, as the green / blue background can be removed, or “keyed out” later in post production, allowing the cast to be transported to other worlds or put in mortal danger.

For the kind of composite effects we wanted to achieve at Fluid, we needed a green screen. This was created by our team from several sheets of scrap wood paneling and an outing to the local Focus DIY for the correct coloured paint (a bright, lime green colour was the nearest fit. Think the colour of cheap mushy peas and you can’t go far wrong). We then shot our willing hand model, Scott, against this makeshift green screen.

We even shot our footage on an iPhone4 camera as an exercise in low budget production (and also because our HD camera was in use).

With a bit of tinkering in After Effects (you can find a load of powerful plug-ins designed to make this keying process pretty simple) we composited the footage into our digitally created scene, removing the green background on the footage so it could be seamlessly pasted into the environment.

Here are some examples where we have used this technique on our in house acting department!

As you can see, whilst this is a pretty low-fi approach, you can achieve some pretty cool little effects with a limited amount of equipment. Have a go and experiment with this approach next time you are trawling through boring stock footage, you may be surprised with the results.

If you want to find out a bit more some of the techniques we used, give us a shout on twitter @fluidcreativity

Baines & Ernst are one of the country’s leading financial solution companies, delivering a full set of debt solutions to suit every situation. The company are proud to have helped over 140,000 people get their lives back on track and in the process have distributed over half a billion pounds back to creditors in the last five years. They are holders of the prestigious Debt Counseller of the Year award 2010 and were finalists in the Insolvency and Rescue awards 2009 for Debt Management Provider of the year.

Being selected by this leading company is recognition of the skill of our team and we are looking forward to supporting their business into the future.

Fluid Creativity’s MD, Lee Turner said: We have one of the best technical and development teams around and we are extremely pleased to be working with an industry leader. This great account win comes at an exciting time for Fluid Creativity as we are currently recruiting for sales, SEO and development staff to further our growth. This recruitment drive will help in doubling our size and cementing our position as a leading digital marketing solutions provider.

Kate O’Brien, Marketing Director and Paul Clayton, IT Director of Baines & Ernst added: “We required a web provider who could accommodate our rigorous exacting requirements and could provide a one stop shop. We have found fluid to be a responsive professional organisation where nothing was too much trouble and they delivered an issue free, well tested migration. They simply know what they are doing and get the job done. We would definitely recommend their services!”

The De-Luxe team wanted something a bit different for their web presence which was to function as an online business card of sorts, with some very minimal content.

The result the team at Fluid produced is a virtual window display, that quickly shows visitors the attitude of the business and allows De-Luxe to add in new graphical elements at key points through the retail year to capture their clients imagination.

Our brand new Fluid Search site focuses on a range of services, covering Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing and Digital Marketing Training.

Visually we wanted a different direction for the search site – one that contrasted our central website but was still part of the same brand. We combined our existing brand elements with some lovely old fashioned hand drawn pencil work to illustrate each service area. Of course all of the work from the illustration, design, build, copywriting and development was done by the in house team.

Hopefully the care we took over the illustrations will indicate to our clients the approach our search team takes to their online marketing briefs!

These are exciting times at Fluid Creativity. The introduction of the Fluid Search brand hopefully marks our first step on the way to becoming a leading provider of integrated digital marketing services. Have a look for yourselves and let us know what you think at www.fluidsearch.co.uk

“Fluid never want to rest on our laurels and accept that a project is ever “finished” – When both teams got our heads together it was decided that the whilst the site was good there were key things that could be improved, and it needed to be brought up to date with a graphical kick up the backside.”

The existing site skin was filleted away and a freshly caught new design was implemented, that was a lot more “artisan farm shop” than “fishmonger”.

Several tweaks were made to the existing functionality, to make the shopping experience more pleasant and easy for their customers, including improved product categorisation and a handy way for visitors to see at a glance the different health benefits afforded by eating our fishy friends.

Kind words from a happy client are as follows; “The great thing with Fluid Creativity is they don’t just look at your website, they seek to understand your whole business when conceiving a new design. This means that we now have a new website which not only looks great but will help us to reach more customers and provide them with a better service.” Andrew Franks, managing director of Fish Fanatics.

Check out the new website over at www.fishfanatics.co.uk

Western Digital came to us with a relatively relaxed brief, that they wanted “something fun” that would make their customers smile whilst promoting the benefits of their product. With trade shows stamped in their calendar and just on the horizon, the team at Fluid would have to come up with something neat that could be demonstrated in a short timeframe, that would engage with their target market of hardcore gamers.

After much scribbling, discussion and copious cups of sugary tea we decided that it was not sensible to try and create a challenger to Modern Warfare 2 in our alloted time scale, so we spent some time reminiscing about great games from the Glory Days – the 8 and 16 bit era. Games that we grew up playing on the Master System, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive and Game Gear (remember that?).

We went back to basics using classic gameplay mechanics, and created custom character designs for our velociraptor hero, his environments, obstacles and enemies.

A fair difficulty curve was implemented across 5 levels with some difficulty spikes thrown in in the form of traps to snare your main character. This was coupled with a high score system which allows users to post their score to facebook, creating an addictive little game with real character.

Creative Credits is the world’s first programme that helps small businesses to develop their ideas by teaming up with creative firms:

“We’re inviting Manchester-based SMEs from all sectors to apply for ‘Creative Credits’ worth £4,000. These can be used to purchase services from a local creative firm. All we ask is an investment of at least £1,000 and we’ll top it up with £4,000.”

Here at Fluid we think that it’s a great because businesses can search creative credits’ online gallery of some of Manchester’s brightest and most creative companies before deciding who they want to work with.

Creative credits have already been through the first wave of entries and the entries for the second wave need to in by 1st March 2010 so you need to get in there quick. Businesses have to meet a criteria to be eligible for creative credits

It’s a fantastic project to promote innovation and collaboration with businesses and creative agencies in the North West. Fancy working with Fluid Creativity?  Check us out in the gallery.

Myself and Mike, one of our senior developers, showed the lucky people all round Fluid Towers, demonstrating some of the projects we’ve been working on and the kinds of technology we use to get the job done. We were lucky enough to have John Pywell give his thoughts on the visit to Fluid HQ.

“We wanted to gain insights into the latest technologies and techniques used in web design and development.  This is something that academic institutions like ourselves really need to keep abreast of if we are to give our students the best possible start on their careers in this industry.  It is too easy to get into a rut of teaching out-of-date practices and using software that is not current.

We feel privileged to have the multiple award-winning team at FluidCreativity take the time to explain to our students all aspects of their work.  We were impressed with the efficiency of their set-up and how they make the most of the specialisms and skills of each of their staff, from designers and code developers to search engine specialists and animators.  The fact that each of their staff need to continually update their skills and master cutting-edge technology to produce the best possible product for their clients is a sober lesson for our students who may fall into the trap of relying purely on their qualification to succeed in the industry.

We saw much evidence of the use of such technology during our visit, with examples of advanced Content Management Systems, bespoke online product creation and purchasing using customer-interactive animations, and multiple-platform solutions for all sizes of business.

All-in-all our visit was very inspiring and motivational to both staff and students alike!

What would a visit be without a nice photograph to remember the occasion? Thanks to everyone who attended, we look forward to a new visit in the new decade.

More information about the College’s Higher Education courses can be found here.

The quality and the reach of your initial marketing campaigns can often mean the difference between a comfortable first year and a difficult twelve months. Businesses which invest too little in marketing or fail to target the correct market can face an uphill struggle trying to attract the right interest in their product and persuade potential customers that they are a reputable, new company that will be serve their needs best.

On the other hand, businesses that set aside an appropriate marketing budget early on are much more likely to build a customer base quickly and develop a trustworthy brand which can help them to retain customers long after their first, tentative, purchase.

Becoming perceived as a trustworthy and reliable business is now more important then ever due to today’s entrepreneurial environment in which several similar businesses can launch at the same time in the same geographical area; Building a quality brand for your business is a good way of doing this in the early stages of your burgeoning business.

Twenty years ago it was only the international companies such as Nike, Coca Cola and McDonalds that could afford (and had the foresight) to develop their brand alongside their business. Nowadays brand building is a fairly inexpensive and invaluable addition to the marketing campaigns of most small businesses; afterall, what SME doesn’t want the recognition that the ‘Swoosh’ or ‘Golden Arches’ conjures up?

Fluid Creativity offers small businesses a brand identity design service alongside its award winning web design and development services, such as our work for design clothing specialists Brand Neusense;

Through a series of consultations, Fluid Creativity will attempt to understand your business and the mindset of your target audience. We will then create corporate identity for your business that can be applied to any marketing literature that you produce. Products such as business cards, letterheads, flyers and more can all be branded with your unique and instantly recognizable corporate identity.

Contact us online or give us a call on 0161 368 9814 to discuss developing a brand identity for your mall business.

Nails were bitten and the tension was high as we awaited our judgement in the “Best Use of Animation” category for our self initiated video project. Unfortunately – this year we didn’t walk away with any shiny new perspex to add to the trophy shelf, but we feel it is a great achievement just to be shortlisted alongside such talent as The Neighborhood and Ian Hogg (who was a well deserved winner for his stunning viral for AHD Imaging – and was the stand out piece of work on the night).

Other entries we loved included the great work produced by Love Creative on the Dr Martens campaign, and the fresh and tasty website produced for Original Source that features some cracking flash work.

As we nurse our hangovers we are already looking forward to next year, and hopefully getting some of our spanking new projects shortlisted.