Blue Valentine

  I recently watched Blue Valentine for the second time and although the movie had one of the most heartbreaking and intense endings I've ever seen, I enjoyed and thought of motion graphics during the end credits sequence. The shots of the fireworks work great with the emotional stills from the movie and the music syncs up perfectly with the fireworks and shadows created on the still images. Jim Helton and Charles Christopher Rubino were given the ultimatum to use a Grizzly Bear song and received footage from fireworks in Scranton, PA from the director. The end title sequence captures emotion through shadows, light, intense colors, and a powerful song. The movie was extremely powerful and captivating and this end sequence embodies the entirety of the movie. The use of field footage and effects with still images works great and I plan to create something with footage that I've captured outside of the realm of after effects. I think that this title sequence is technically not as advanced as many animated title sequences but appropriate for the movie and very powerful.

Grizzly Bear Music Video

A couple years ago, one of my favorite bands Grizzly Bear came out with a music video to their song Ready, Able. I know I posted a claymation video last week, but this one is really amazing too. The main character in this is a weird creature whose body is always moving. This goes as well for the other animals in the music video. This must have taken so long to make since little corners on them are constantly going up and down. They also show the creatures melting and being created, or getting bigger and smaller. This tedious claymation has an eery effect when they show a row of faces melting in and out as well. The colors of the clay also stand out and blend together really beautifully. I really want to make a music video using claymation, not to this extent but something similar. The claymation in this doesn’t have anything to do with the song, but creates a compelling effect. You almost start to pity this creature, who looks so helpless and lonely.