Draw Something Music Video

Happy summer everyone!  Hope it is going well.  I saw this cool music video and thought I would share.  

It's John Mayer's song "Queen of California" and it used the game Draw Something.  I thought this was a very clever idea to use the game's interface, something most people are familiar with, to create an animation and different pictures to go along with the song.  Enjoy!

Better late than never? Let's Hope so :-)

Soooo leave it to me to forget to blog for the last week of posting. I think I must have gotten so excited about this whole being done with school forever thing that I forgot I actually still have some work to do. To be quite honest I don't really know what to post about. I could find a video on youtube or vimeo and talk about how I think it was done. Or I could find a recent news story related to motion graphics. But to be honest I don't really want to do either of those things :-). Not that I don't love motion graphics, I just think my senior-itus has gotten the best of me over the past few days. So, I figured instead that I might offer some words of advice for any underclass-men who just happen to decide that they'll read the blog this week. Sooo here it goes

1. If you can and haven't already INTERN seriously you wont regret it. Not only is it a great networking opportunity but it is also a really good way to get a feel for what you want to do/don't want to do as your career. The opportunity to work in a professional environment rather than a student run one like ICTV or whatever is seriously great. Yes, it sucks that you have to pay for credit and then work for nothing, sometimes doing "bitch" work but in the end it is totally worth it for your resume and just as general experience. If you choose to do an internship over the summer I recommend trying to get credit from a state school or local community college since it's insanely expensive to do it through Ithaca. You don't have to give up an entire summer though, you can easily find an internship in the Ithaca area during the semester or do a semester in LA/London...which brings me to my next point
2. STUDY ABROAD. Seriously you will not regret it and will have the best experience of your life. Doesn't matter where you go just go somewhere and if you can squeeze it in/ afford it I recommend going twice. Once to a foreign country and once in LA. I had an absolutely amazing experience in France but going to LA was even more valuable. Especially if you're considering moving out to Cali after you graduate. A semester at the Pendelton center is well worth it because you can get a feel for whether or not you'd be happy living in LA before you move out there officially.
3. I think most people already know this but get involved in as many student productions as you can. Now that you know how to use AE I'm sure you can find plenty of student projects in need of a motion graphics artists to do titles or even effects. Even if you're not into the whole After Effects thing just get involved in projects in whatever way you can. I've found that a lot of what I learned before taking Media Thesis came from working on student productions just as much as in the classroom.
4. Realize that your professors are a valuable resource and use them(especially Arturo)! Seriously, I can't even begin to tell you how much help I got from Arturo this semester. From career advice to help on projects that weren't even assigned in class, I have gained so much by just stopping by his office in my free time and bugging him with a million questions. And in all honesty you probably couldn't bug him enough, he really does love to help, and he knows A LOT about many, many things, not just motion graphics. But really be nice to your professors, be an engaged student and not a passive one, it will pay off.
5. Finally, enjoy and cherish your time in Park. Pretty soon you're PPECs card will expire and all the amazing resources you have at this school will be gone. Take advantage of them while they last but don't forget to have fun. College goes by in a heartbeat and you only get one chance to do it right.

Welllll this blog post ended up being a lot longer than I expected. I guess that kind of makes up for the fact that it is 5 days late and has nothing to do with motion graphics really. It's been a good semester and I am more than happy to have taken this class with all of you. Although I do wish you all were a little less quiet and a little more weird like me :-). Have a good summer, never stop animating!!

Cigarette people

Well after not missing a post all year I guess it's fitting I forgot the last one haha.  So I'll just leave you with this sweet music video.

http://youtu.be/voBNpdXkLnU

It's from The Prodigy.  I think the concept for the video is really cool.  The characters are people made from cigarette boxes.  I had assumed the video had to be made using stop motion because the textures looked too real but after finding this "making of"video I found that they actually did live action work with puppetry and green screen.

They also used animation along with the live action.  It still amazes me to see the level of planning and sophistication in order to make one 3 and a half minute video.  Really cool stuff.

Everything Animated

So to end my semester, I decided to dedicate my last blog to a page on Vimeo called "Everything Animated." I thought nothing could be more appropriate then to end with this blog about a channel for the admirers of any kind of animation. On this website there are numerous videos of all varieties of animation. Overall the one video that I really liked was for a new upcoming video game. The trailer is really cool, especially how the visuals in the blood transform and morph into all different objects, such as animals or people. I hope that with more practice and maybe even taking more classes in my future that I could potentially generate something to this standard. I really enjoyed this class and very happy I got to take it. So here is the video...Enjoy!



Also in addition, if you would like to check out any other videos on the page here is the link. There are a crazy amount of videos that are all worth taking a look at!

http://vimeo.com/channels/everythinganimated/page:1

Gundam Fight

Today I came across this really cool stop motion video and I thought I would share it with the rest of the class. In it there are some shooting effects and also explosion effects. These effects are not stop motion like the rest of the film so it gives them a distinct look. The one effect that I thought worked the best was when he knocks down the bad guy and the dusk gets shot up everywhere. It lingers onscreen and gives it a nice fluidity even though the characters and moving choppy from frame to frame. It always amazes me to see the lengths that some people will go to when it comes to making these types of films. It says that the movie is over 3000 frames and done within 30 days. It is consistently lighted the same and the it seems to flow flawlessly. For some reason Blogger won't let me insert the video into the post so you will just have to copy the link.  

http://vitamincr.com/2012/05/3000-photos-30-days-lots-of-love-epic-stop-motion-gundam-battle/

Flipping the Next Page

I found this trailer for a motion graphics piece that will come out in August (2012). I thought it was very beautifully done and also incorporated much of what what we learned this semester into it, from the production logo to the ending titles. Now we are all leaving school, whether for summer or for good and it is time to think of our own projects!




Enjoy, and good luck!

Re-Imagined Title Sequence

I'm a big fan of the British TV show QI and I saw this animation that was tweeted by the host, Stephen Fry. It's a title sequence for the show that was made by a professional studio. They didn't make it for any reason except that they are fans of the show and thought that the existing titles could be improved on.

The titles they made are good, but what interested me most was the idea behind it. First of all, it's cool that professionals still have time to make things just for fun. Also, it's fantastic publicity for the studio. Although there's no chance the show will change their titles, Studio Tinto got their work noticed by lots of people. Stephen Fry has over four million followers on Twitter.

Making fan made stuff for free might be a good starting point for new animators trying to get their work seen. It's also important to remember that social media can be great publicity.

So here's Studio Tinto's version of the titles.


QI Title Sequence (Re-imagined) from Studio Tinto on Vimeo.


And the show's official titles. I actually like this one better, but that might be because I'm so used to it.

Zero

I went onto to vimeo.com and I found this video called Zero. I thought that it was pretty cool and I really like the camera work the DP has very good composition choices. I thought the story was kind of cute. I hope you enjoy.

Canadian FITC intro

This is the opening for the 2012 Canadian FITC festival(Future, Innovation, Technology, Creativity), a gathering of design and technology focused people that covers all creative ventures involving technology. It seems to be pretty simply made, focusing on one specific effect, but I can not figure out what in the world this is, or how it was made. Very cool. I wanted to do something similar for a title sequence in a project I'm working on, where the camera moves up a quickly-growing tree as it spins around it in 3D space, so this caught my eye as inspiration. I'm really curious as to what was done to achieve this sort of "growing rocks" effect for this one, though.

Bringing Color to Life

With the end of the semester, I'm getting super forgetful, so sorry this is late. Also, this post isn't really motion graphics related, but I found it a few weeks ago and immediately knew that I should share it.  A creative studio Dentsu made a short film of paint sculptures using sound vibration (it was actually an advertisement for a Canon printer because Dentsu is mainly an advertising agency). The sculptures, which is basically paint splashing is amazing, and because of the way the paint moves in relation to the sound, every moment is different. But the video of the process is what I was actually fascinated by. So much work went into this film, from the creation of the rotating platform to the tiny speaker they used, to even how the paint was going to move.

Mike Gaines

I really could not think of anything class-specific to write about; so I am going to write about a visual effects artist that I personally know!

Mike Gaines is a "digital artist" -- his works has ranged from graphic design, camera work, visual effects, post production, producing, and teaching!

I attended the Summer Institute for TV, Radio, and Film Production (ITRP) at Boston Univ back in high school, Mikey was the post-production / effects teacher and we have become good friends

His personal production company is "a graphic design company focused on providing quality, budget conscious projects for film and television productions. Since its inception, Gaines Images has expanded to include visual effects, DVD menu design and web design"

although he has little footage / productions on his YouTube, I did find this one After Effects video he made -- unfortunately he doesn't show how he actually stabilized it, but it is just so cool that we have the capabilities/technology of AE to turn a shaky shot, into something so smooth and stabilized

like i've said, he also worked as a special / visual effects artist for various productions (some series of FX, TNT, also Never Back Down feature film and others) -- the most interesting stuff I have seen from him his the screen compositions. it seems kind of complicated, with having to keyframe motions and create the on-screen image ... after talking with him, he says it is relatively easy

http://www.gainesimages.com/vfx/index.html

at 1:25 -- examples of his picture fixes are shown and very briefly the process

at 2:45 of his reel -- he provides demos of the motion graphic / animation work he has done for the various projects

all of which are effects and tasks that I think we could easily do in class, from all the material we have learned

Title Sequence

Okay so my Internet and the blogger didn't seem to working and it has been horrible and I have been trying to post this since this morning, so I am hoping it is working this time. (fingers crossed). So lately I have been paying close attention everytime I watch either a movie or television show at the various title sequences or openings to see if I notice anything really interesting, or anything aspects that seem to possibly have some sort of motion graphics feature to them. However as usual, whenever I want to find a really interesting video of some sort I always resort back to my old reliable Vimeo. This time I was in search of some cool title sequences. I watched over a dozen until I found one I really liked. This title sequence was done for the F5 festival in NYC. I think it is a very unique video and I really liked the use of the bug in the beginning and different animals and how lens flares which were computer generated were used to transition from shot to shot. However my favorite part is when the solid black cube tips over and then sort of explodes into smaller cubes. But I think you should all take a look at it:

Proteigon Short

Since people are posting videos of cool stop motion they saw online I though I'd share this one that I found a while ago. It's am interesting use of stop motion with a guy interacting with pieces of paper that changes as if he was manipulating them with magic.

One of the things that makes it so good is that it has a great soundtrack. His movements go very well with the song and it was obviously chosen carefully. It's a good example of how important music is. Music is one thing that seems simple, but it makes all the difference in a project. The sound effects add a lot to the feeling and believability of it too. It's worth watching if you have a few minutes.

Britanick

I know this has nothing to do with motion graphics, but it's late in the semester and I'm kind of running out of ideas.  So instead, I'm going to show you a video made by BriTANicK (Brian and Nick).  They both went to NYU and made use of their college degrees by making videos for youtube.  It is pretty astonishing how many people break into the industry through webisodes and other online videos.  Although it definitely worked out for them, Brian recently starred alongside Charlize Theron in Young Adult and Nick will be appearing in a show on MTV and in Louie.  The video below is a parody of stereotypical movie trailers, but if you have 15 minutes to spare, you could also check out their thesis film Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses (it's kind of ridiculous, but stick with it).  I recommend watching some of their other videos, they're short, but really funny.

For some people, media sharing websites like YouTube become their job.  If they have enough views, they can get money from advertising on their channel, product placement, promoting their band or comedy, and appearing on panels at conventions.  I guess all we have left to do is become amazing at motion graphics, get YouTube famous, and pay off all our student loans.

Cool Stop Motion

Well Blogger kind of changed up its look.  The other night I stumbled upon a video for a dubstep artist named Benga.  I had one of those classic, its so simple why didn't I think of this, thoughts.


Its a pretty cool use of stop motion. My favorite thing about being in this class is the wide range of ideas we are exposed to and by seeing all of these different things we can take them and remix them into videos and projects. This same sharing of ideas may have happened with this video. A person commenting on this video on Vimeo pointed out another video that uses a very similar technique.  The other video shows a program that can take an audio waveform and cut it into a bunch circles that can be pieced together to make a little art piece.

EuroTrip title sequence

So yesterday me and a couple friends were flipping through the tv stations and we came across EuroTrip, a comedy about teenagers and their adventures to Europe, so we decided to start it over and watch it from the beginning.  Right when the title sequence started, i knew that i was going to be impressed.  The title sequence takes you through the steps of the flight attendants speech when you are traveling by airplane.  It correlates directly to the movie, as they are traveling around a lot.  Check it out.

The Avengers

So the Avengers comes out in a week and I for one am very excited.

In case you haven't seen it here is the trailer.  Lots of explosions, lots of superheroes, what could be better?!  I'm sure the effects are going to be insane.  I personally love Tony Stark's computer interface at his house and in the iron man suit.  I thought those 3-d graphics were awesome in the Iron Man movies and I hope they are prevalent again.  Basically I'm just really excited for this.

Out in the Reel World

As it is the end of the year and several of us are heading out into the world of professionals, I thought it would be cool to look at a few more show-reels.  Some people just have some of the most amazing work. And there's quite a bit of it that is within our grasp!








My Personal favorite:

LASER CATS 7

It is getting close to the end of the semester and I think that this class succeeded in making me more aware of effects and motion graphics in films. For example, I was watching SNL when a skit called "Laser Cats" came on. The link is down below because I couldn't find it on youtube. This skit is suppose to look crappy and amateur but in reality they did quite a lot of postproduction work to pull it off. As I was watching I was trying to figure out in my head how they did all of the effects. They used the green screen 3 different times. The first was when the bad guys threatened to take EAT, then for the giant cat in the hospital, and finally when they were flying through the air on their bikes.

Another effect that they used was drawing in a fake glowing jump-rope for Bill Hader to hold in the beginning. This was done easily by drawing in a purple rope and then applying some sort of glow effect. At the end of the clip when EAT gets taken away it looks as if they created a red shape layer, turned down it's opacity, and moved it across the screen.

These effects, with them being so simplistic, got me thinking about how I would create them using After Effects. It was really cool to look at the SNL skit and be able to say I could do that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/15/spielberg-directs-laser-cats-snl-andy-samberg_n_1426696.html

I found this video on vimeo, it's a stop motion video. I think it is pretty cool because the records build like an audio wave track. I think that the idea was very well thought out and I'm glad that I came across this video.