[Patrick Algermissen]

I agree with Mark that it is possible to elicit a yowl from a cat without causing it pain. It depends on the cat, I have one cat that if I pet him for a while and then stop he’ll look up at me and let out a little yowl. You can always replace the audio with an obtained sound clip of a more horrible yowl.

That said, I think Andrew Kramer’s Demon Face Warp tutorial will serve you nicely if you want to be able to do something in After Effects:

https://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/demon_face_warp/

Andrew presents some really useful, versatile techniques there. If you own AE and don’t have a clue on how to use it, his site is a great place to spend some time (as is the COW’s own After Effects tutorials section).

Patrick Algermissen
Poem Pictures, Inc.
http://www.PoemFilms.com

[Patrick Algermissen]

I don’t have AE on the computer I’m using right now, so I can’t check this. However, here’s what I would try (similar to what John said):

For your stars, apply fractal noise to a solid.
Adjust the brightness & contrast settings in the fractal noise effect (and whatever other settings are necessary) until you get little white points over black.
Then, you can animate the evolution with an expression (time * someValue) to get the twinkle.
Apply glow to this for a starry look.

Hope this helps!

Patrick Algermissen
Poem Pictures, Inc.
http://www.PoemFilms.com