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zak-animation · 5 years

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Digital Principles - Final Week Review This week, I placed a major focus on completing my animated sequence for the Guess the Film task. Over the course of the week, I underwent an extensive iteration process, exploring several ideas and developing off each one - spontaneously coming up with new ideas within After Effects to evidence a natural, evolving workflow. With this, I managed to produce a single sequence that I’m happy to submit for deadline next week.

For this brief, I wanted to take my approach beyond the requirements of the project and create an animated sequence that allowed me to explore the ideas of motion design as an industry: taking the time to plan out my sequence, develop appealing vector illustrations for the sequence and consider how I can make the piece visually exciting. This is a key element in motion graphics: fluid, exciting movement but also considered, appealing visuals. It’s this balance between animation and graphic design that compels me to explore motion design more as a career choice, something that I will be developing in my own time.

After watching a series of motion graphic pieces from studios such as Lobster, Motion Design School and others, I wanted to challenge the brief a little bit: presenting the idea of a metamorphosis in a much more cinematic and experimental direction: taking the ideas of camera trickery from Weird and incorporating these movements into my own design. In the process, I have been able to create a series of iterations, and I feel my first completed attempt is able to meet the requirements of the brief.

After discussing my idea with my tutor, I was given the go-ahead to present a more experimental take on this task - exploring ideas of physical metamorphosis but also in regards to more exciting camera movements. I wanted to experiment with the idea of a solid background colour by adding an introduction shot that instantly throws viewers into the world of Arrival through ideas of claustrophobia and slow camera movements. The metamorphosis comes from the breakdown of the Alien Language to smoke, which then erupts into the second prop - the alien ship, called the Shell. The sequence presents the potential for a seamless and endless loop, and I wanted to challenge myself to exercise all of the animation principles within this single piece.

This project, whilst exploring the theme of Guess the Film, ultimately asks us to produce an animated motion design sequence evidencing a clear understanding of the basic principles of animation. This is a ‘lifelong task’ for all animators, and as such, I wanted to briefly explore how I’ve included each in this review.

With the animation of the Alien Language, I wanted to exercise as many of the principles as I could: adding anticipation before each language forms, and follow through as the line over-shoots the swing. Before the ooze-like substance stretches out from the rings, I’ve made sure to add anticipation even in this small motion: to prepare the audience for what is going to happen. The ring itself isn’t static; it keeps squashing and stretching: this was an important idea to present to the audience, that this language isn’t a solid object and instead, a tangible, floating shape.

After showing the piece to my peers, I can see that the sequence has a visual appeal: my concentration on appealing design and aesthetic has resulted in a positive reaction from the audience. They enjoyed the simple, clean style to the illustrations and smooth movement. In particular, the geometric smoke garnered the most praise due to its ‘appealing, impressive fluidity’. There are a few particular frames that I feel are some of my most interesting design work to date, and work to not only represent my chosen film but be pleasing images and compositions of their own.

Interestingly, I was able to include both straight ahead and pose to pose techniques in this sequence: creating key frames for the metamorphosis, but animating the Shell turnaround frame by frame, creating new designs in Illustrator for each one. This has ultimately allowed my work to move in a variety of ways, embracing the fluid organic movement of the smoke, but also the more slow, stilted turnaround of the ship.

The principles of slow in and slow out can be seen throughout the sequence, as I applied the ‘Easy Ease’ function to all of the key frames, but can be seen the easiest once the ship rotates. Instead of simply adding the ease function, I delved into the motion chart workspace of After Effects and adjusted the motion curve myself to achieve a visually pleasing rotating movement with a real application of the slow in and slow out principle. If we compare this to my first attempt, I can see a considerable improvement in the appeal of the movement.

When re-watching the film a few times for this project, I noted down key ideas regarding its cinematography and film language: noting compositions, but also how the camera moves. There’s nothing exaggerated about it, it’s a slow, cinematic experience. With this in mind, I wanted to add this sense of slow build, but also contrast this with the fast-moving speed of a typical motion design sequence. I’ve managed to demonstrate an understanding of solid drawing with the Shell’s turnaround, and used the principle of arcs throughout my piece.

Developing on from this, I wanted to add some more elements to further evoke the feeling of the film. Something introduced in my early tests for this project was the inclusion of the iconic orange ‘Hazmat’ suits that, along with the Shell, occupy most of the film’s promotional material. This, I feel, makes the sequence more visually exciting and ‘adds a bit of contrast’ to my otherwise monochromatic colour palette. The inclusion of the hand also adds to the cinematic feel of my piece: this is one of the key images from the film, and I felt like I had to include it.

There is also secondary action throughout the piece, which adds life to the sequence through the constantly-shifting smoke, floating of the Alien Language and the moving camera which works to stage the sequence with considered compositions.

Something else to note is the inclusion of the Shell’s rotation: this was a movement taken directly from the film, a piece of motion that I noted whilst collecting research and works to further evoke the ideas of Arrival in a more subtle manner, through animation. There’s a pleasing grace to the rotation, which is reflective of the ship’s movements in the actual film. It was also important to add a blurry quality to the actual alien language, as the camera is moving through the ‘Window’ that houses the Aliens themselves and the language. In order to evoke the feeling of ‘looking through glass’, I explored a variety of blurred effects, before settling on the final outcome. Although a little touch, I’m quite pleased with the way this turned out - and it adds to the success of the sequence.

Looking at my peers’ work, I saw a clear focus on the shapes physically morphing over a considered design. However, in an initial lecture with industry professional Kris, he established to us the importance of visually pleasing design alongside animation within motion graphics. Whilst the actual animated elements of my piece are relatively simplistic (animating a line), I feel like the sequence benefits from this minimalism and simplicity.

With this sequence, I’ve practiced extensive iterative development: re-working my initial ideas, developing these into a hand-drawn previs and taking these ideas to explore in After Effects. A strength of my working practice during this project would be my determination to complete the sequence entirely in After Effects: creating the elements and props in the Adobe Package through Illustrator, but ultimately animating the sequence using the set program. After Effects is a standard in motion design, and I wanted to take this project as an opportunity to challenge myself to learn the program in more depth.

Despite this, I’m very interested in developing this piece further, beyond the limitations of the brief. After discussing with my peers and conducting my own research into the industry of motion graphics, one key element is the inclusion of texture: this adds to the visual appeal of each design and works to lend a hand-crafted warmth beyond the minimal, vector aesthetic. For elements such as the Window, and the Shell itself, I would like to explore this idea in more depth. I’ve really enjoyed this project, and as an independent development, I plan to explore the use of an animated grainy texture in my own time - further developing the piece, and embracing the practices of the industry. Without this, I feel the piece loses a sense of personality and the hand-made charm of other motion design works. I’ve presented an intial experiment into this idea, but I didn’t get time to fully explore this concept.

Looking at my piece from a critical perspective, I can’t help but feel like the smoke animation is too long in its duration: if I were to attempt this task again, I would pursue a somewhat faster motion: having the smoke burst out of the small black dot, rather than slowly bubble out of it. As it stands, I feel like whilst the piece is interesting, it lacks a snappy, punchy quality that I can see in some of my peers work. This was something I explored in my initial tests for this task, but decided to abandon after pursuing a more slow, cinematic direction.

A final criticism of the animation would be the orange hazmat characters: this was the final part of my vision, but I want to redesign the character to be more visually pleasing, with a range of shapes. Currently, the characters appear somewhat lifeless and uninteresting, something likely a result of the rushed production time given submission next week.

Finally, with my submission, I have also included a version of the animated sequence using the film’s iconic score. The use of the film’s soundtrack elevates the piece to be an animated ‘love letter’ to Arrival - and although it is not mentioned in the brief, this completes the sequence. Arrival is a film with a strong use of sound to evoke feelings of fear, anxiety and the unknown to powerful effect - and by including it within my piece, I’m able to present an animated sequence that successfully reflects my chosen film to a higher standard.

Over the course of this assignment, I’ve been able to really develop my abilities within the program and through a series of written analysis posts, my understanding of the basic principles of animation. This understanding, I feel, has allowed my final sequence to be a visually appealing representation of my chosen film, Arrival. Whilst I have taken a more experimental, exciting approach to this task making use of virtual cameras and three-dimensional layers to add a sense of depth, I feel as if I have successfully met the requirements of the brief.

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