For my second project I have mentioned that I am looking into working on a motion infographic. The creation of the elements many be time consuming but I think it will be very worth it. I am currently working with a local design firm that is promoting a new cause called Pledge 4 Ithaca, which is about providing children in secondary schools a safe place or person to talk to if they are being sexual assaulted and then allows them to receive proper attention. I thought the launch of this program would be a perfect match for an infographic video.
I have begun to story board and think of effects and transitions, but am having trouble putting them into action. This is a tutorial that really helped me with navigating my way through After Effects.
 

The lies of the media

Social media is a lie. Media is a lie. As students going into media, we need to be aware of this. We can sit here and say that we can make media better but we all know that's not true. But one famous Instagramer is trying to make a difference. Some of you may be aware that Australian Instagramer, Essena O'Neill recently quit all social media because it's not real life. She changed her account name to "Social Media Is Not Real Life" and changed several of the captions to what really happened when she was taking the photos. Some examples of them are below:

As you can see, she's just 16 and was trying to be something that she wasn't just to get attention and love. Nothing about the photos she post was real. Social media is not always real. We need to stop being so ignorant and start educating ourselves on what we read and see. It's not just with self esteem through images but with everything else as well. We just think if we saw it on the Internet it must be true. No, research it before you talk about it. Form your own opinions on the subject matter. If we are the future of the media. Though like I said earlier we probably won't do anything about it or change it, there's still that possibility. If people just stopped being someone else through the computer screen, maybe we can start to spark a change.

Social Change Through Animation

I find that some of the most effective ways to trap people's attention about something important is with well designed motion graphics. Below are some social messages I found on Vimeo promoting social issues, and what we can do about them:


The Innovation of Loneliness from Shimi Cohen on Vimeo.



Water Changes Everything. from charity: water on Vimeo.





TakePart: Participant Media - Waiting For 'Superman' - Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.



Beyond Bytes from Florian Köhne on Vimeo.



The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.



History of the Internet from Melih Bilgil on Vimeo.



Master Plan - About the power of Google from Jonas A on Vimeo.

More Animation Techniques

A couple of weeks ago, I did a blog post about different animation techniques. This week, I want to talk about some uses of animation that we do not necessarily recognize on first sight as well as talk about some other animation techniques.

The first animation technique I want to talk about is 'stick animation'. Stick figures are used often in storyboarding but as far as I remember, they have also been used in animation. The following is a very powerful video conveying a social message through the use of advanced stick animation.

Stick animations are often made with Adobe Flash. They are easier to draw and animate. There are also many online sites that allow you to animate stick figures frame by frame and export them in different formats. An example of this site that I tried using is:

http://www.stickpage.com/stickanimatorgameplay.shtml

I used this site to create a small 14 frame animation. I would have uploaded it here but I could not get the Adobe Flash to download in time.

Another animation technique that I found to be very interesting was paint-on-glass animation. In this style of animation, slow drying paint oils are manipulated on sheets of glass to create animation.

This is a popular animation technique however, it is considered very hard to master. The most well-known paint-on-glass animator is Russian animator Alexandr Petrov. He has used this style in numerous award winning short films.

This is a short film using paint-on-glass animation created by a college student.

I think these are two very awesome animation styles. Paint-on-glass is something that I would definitely want to give a shot.

Composited Typography

One of my favorite kinds of motion graphics is the use of text. Previously, I had written about some awesome Kinetic Typography, but I left out the whole idea of Compositing Typography! This idea of Tracking the Cameras Movement and adding in poignant text that relates to the Message.
I find the message is much stronger when the main ideas are highlighted with motion graphics. I know I've seen this in many different places but most recently, I've run into videos by Prince Ea:

Perhaps you've seen one or two of his videos. His videos perfectly demonstrate what I was talking about. I think the paring of Text, Slam Poetry, Cinematography, and Music combine to give messages a whole new dimension.

Many of Prince Ea's major projects have been in collaboration with Motion Graphic Artist Hodja Berlev and as it turns out most of his work is in After Effects. I find what he does really fascinating, and I think getting the chance to watch over his shoulder may be one of the coolest experiences.

I think this team in general, is doing a lot of good in the world of social media, and I think that if I could just be a part of what they're doing, the experience would be awesome. I would love to help them spread the words they're saying, and maybe even help in a larger more physical way.

This is the kind of thing I would love to do.