Flat vs Real Design

One of the things that I struggle with the most when creating any type of media is making a consistent design. I always end up with elements that are visually acceptable but seem segmented. This is something I hope to improve on in this course.

When I began animating in high school I was inspired by this piece of a music video that I found. I tried to imitate the music video with this video. A few years after I made this I realized why it did not look right to me. I realized that it was a mix of textures. I had flat and real elements that did not make sense together. After Effects has the ability to make awesome flat animations but is even more geared towards realistic looking motion graphics or special effects and I mixed them in my video. I would love to try to do one project that is complete flat design. I also hope to realize more design elements that I can improve on as the course continues.

When studying Flat vs Skeuomorphic design in Design of New Media I found this interactive game that exemplifies the tug between realistic and flat animation.

Click Here to Play Game

The Last of Us

The Last of Us is a popular video game released just this passed June. I've yet to play the game myself, but I really hope to soon. I've heard incredible reviews about how successfully the game puts you right into the action. My roommate said he stopped playing the game because it got too terrifying. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic 2033. You must defend yourself against the zombie-like monsters along with savage humans and cannibals. The story line is apparently very intense with complex characters and twists in the evolving plot. Along with that, the game looks beautiful. Here's a in-game screen shot to give you an idea:

With so much thought going into a game, the title sequence could not be given any less. On theartofthetitle.com, I found a video of the title sequence and an in depth interview of how they made it.

First off, the intro:

The director of this title sequence was a dude named Henry Hobson. 

During the interview posted on the website, he was quoted in talking about the making of this video.

Kevin and I spent a day in San Diego, just covered in black ink, pouring it on every surface imaginable, and every shot just ended up looking like paper! We had black ink, some natural sponges, mosses — everything borne of nature — and then we had compressed air, literally computer cleaning compressed air. If you shook the can heavily you could actually freeze the surface of whatever you sprayed it onto, so the back end of the sequence is actually the reversed footage of this freezing and unfreezing of black ink. It creates the look of the black mould, but it wasn’t anywhere near far enough. It worked perfectly for the back end, but the front needed that extra help from real mould.

If you want to read the rest of the interview here's the link:

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-last-of-us/

It's a very interesting read and really got my mind thinking about ways to get creative shots. What's slight ironic (and I didn't realize until later) is that this intro was made with absolutely no CG effects. But we could easily apply this in After Effects and transform this footage into something that looked even more surreal. If you were looking for that effects anyways. 

As it is, I love the footage they got and I think it fits perfectly with the game. 

Let me know what you think!

Machinima

     There is form of film making in which the entire film is made using game engines, and the characters within a game to create movies.  These films are called Machinima, a blend of machine and cinema.  People use all kinds of games to create the movies.  The first was the original Doom game, people would use the multiplayer characters to act within the game and record their stories.  Second Life is one of the most prevelent games engines to be used as a movie platform.  Within the game people create sets, organize actors, make costumes and film stories.  One of the first narrative stories created was Silver Bells and Golden Spurs, a short story based on a poem set in the Wild West.



Another well known Machinima production is the red vs. blue series that uses Halo characters as actors.
This is a unique and growing field, there is even an annual Machinima film festival held in New York.  Perhaps more and more production will be created this way as your crew and talent can be anywhere in the world but still meet on the digital set.