Making the Elf Vanish

Making the Elf "Vanish"

In our clip, elf.avi, the actor playing the elf is surprised by the sound of approaching humans and so she decides to "vanish." To do so, because she has elfin powers, all she needs to do is snap her fingers and she's gone. The clip, elf.avi, ends when the elf snaps her fingers. To make it appear as if she's suddenly disappeared, all we need to do is keep the background on screen for a few seconds longer, and then fade to black.

Adjust the Background Clip's Ending Point Relative to the Elf Clip

With your mouse, grab the tail end of the elfgarden.bmp clip in the Video 1 track and drag it out a few seconds more, so that it's longer than the elf.avi clip in the Video 2 track.

Important

The elfgarden.bmp clip on the Video 1 track should now be 20 seconds and 20 frames long. As you resize the clip, watch the timecode in the Monitor panel and stop resizing when it reaches 00;00;20;20.

In the Properties panel for the elfgarden.bmp clip in the Video 1 track, click the triangle next to Opacity to reveal the effect's controls.

Click the Fade Out button for Opacity.

Tip

The Fade Out function in Premiere Elements is an easy way to create a professional ending for the clip, by having it slowly fade to black.

Back on the Timeline, grab the tail end of the elf.avi clip and trim it back a second or two. This will create the illusion of the elf vanishing immediately after she snaps her fingers.

Important

The elf.avi clip on the Video 2 track should now be 16 seconds and 10 frames long. As you resize the clip, watch the timecode in the Monitor panel and stop resizing when it reaches 00;00;18;10.