Thanks for the reply, Friar.

I probably didn't explain myself very well:

I think I understand the wiping method they used, but what I'm not sure about is how they got the "graphic art" effect from the still frame.

That is, how could I create the lower picture from the upper one in the still image I linked in the first post?

I've seen this used a lot in recent shorts and trailers and would like to give it try for some stuff I'm working on.

oh.

use CC/contrast, if necessary, to make things have a stark bright/dark tone. Then use the mask plugin to make it solid black/white. You may need to invert it (white = transparent). Now place your background on a track below.

done!

I can almost guarantee you the art effect for Shoot 'Em Up was done by hand. The artist probably traced the still image in Illustrator and then created the composition in photoshop. This allowed them to get the exact amount of stylization desired.

If you don't have that amount of skill here's how I would do it with just Photoshop. Open your still in Pshop and apply the Posterize filter - it will a let you select a set numbers of colors to convert the image to, and allow you to set for the amount of detail you are looking to capture. From there it's a matter of cleaning up the rest of the image, deleting what you don't need / want and sylizing your background. If you play with it, you can likely get something similar in feel to the Shoot 'Em Up effect.

Good luck!

if it was done in photoshop it was done as a video file/animation. if you go frame by frame you'll see the effect is animated just as the footage is.

I got pretty close with Vegas effects operating on the image in your original post. Here's a frame capture:

http://www.sparkdigitalmedia.com/ShootEmUp.jpg

Basically, I used this chain of effects:

Threshold 0.36 (not critical, adjust to taste)
HSL Adjust Hue=0, Sat=0, Luminance=2.0
Levels Channel Red, Input - 0/1 Output=.7/1 Gamma=1

Do you have Vegas 8? Download this:

http://www.sparkdigitalmedia.com/ShootEmUp.veg

It expects to find the still in your original post somewhere as "Slide1.jpg"

to create the basic effect to one captured frame using Photo Shop:

Open the image in PS
From the menu
Image|Adjustments|Desaturate
Image|Adjustments|Threshold...
drag the slider right and left to get the "detail" you want. For the sample image from previous post a setting of 85 or so looked close. Click OK

You should now have a pure Black and White (no Gray) image of the frame

Use the magic wand to select the Black portion of the image, set your foreground color to the base color and use the paint bucket to change the black portion of the image.

The rest of the image can be selected by inverting the selection, then deleting for a transparent background.

The rest of the posted image looks like some kind of "grunge" watercolor brushed over the entire image.

Hope this helps.