"Fireflower" by Pierre Michel

Punctuated by a dramatic soundtrack, and beautifully colored 'flames', Pierre Michel's short video "Fireflower" is sure to induce awe in those who watch it.

It's simply animated at first glance, but it's extremely effective at illiciting the emotion it desires to illicit. It's an abstract vision of sensuality, according to the motionographer, and the intense focus on texture and color add to the already mystic views of the film.

The one thing that I really enjoy about this clip is that it appears to have been made entirely in After Effects - And I can pretty much see exactly how, too! Particle generators, 3D lights, and simple expressions are all that anyone needs to create a piece of art like this, and that is certainly a phenomenal thing.

Without a doubt, this is one of the more pleasant After Effects videos that I have had the pleasure of viewing. It's all particle effects and simple colors, with the periodic partial silhouette of a woman, but at the same time, I feel like that's all it needs.

Pierre Michel

While I was online searching for really interesting videos to green screen myself in, I kind of got distracted when I came across a visual effects artist Pierre Michel. One of my roommates told me about him and suggested I look at some of his work. In each of the different videos he uses after effects, photoshop, and other After Effects plug-ins to create this intense short 3D animations.


On his Vimeo and Youtube channels he has numerous videos to watch and check out. My one favorite would definitely by the one labeled "Polar." I was really impressed by the entire three dimensional world that he created and especially the usage of the rain and how it is used to transition to different angles and scenes within the video itself.

 Also another video of his that you may want to look at would be his piano animation:

and last but not least would be his most recent video "Fireflower." Pierre Michel describes this video as "an abstract vision of sensuality with hints of alchemical mysticism." Like many of the other videos that I have watched from Michel this one focuses on intense texture and color. ENJOY!