Dr. Wholock (To all the sci-fi nerds out there . . . )

I'm a huge fan of Sherlock, and even though I only casually watch Dr. Who I couldn't help appreciating this amazingly seamless crossover video between the two randoms.

When I first saw it, my mouth kind of dropped and I just left it at that. The guy who created this created a link to the VFX breakdown but I didn't bother to watch it because I just figured it would be way over my head. Even after just one day of class in Motion Graphics and Animation, I seem to have a little more of a grip on how something like this would be created.

Here, he breaks where he used Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere to create the short. After watching this, seeing how he added a TARDIS into one of the shots while Sherlock looked out the window seemed so much more basic than some of the more sophisticated VFX he used, like changing the characters' clothing and animating the actors' faces. This explains why the interaction between The Doctor and Sherlock felt so realistic and natural, as if the characters were actually standing in a TARDIS, speaking to one another in real time.

Overall, super impressive. The Sherlock/Dr. Who fandoms thank you, John Smith.

Motion Graphics in Sherlock on BBC

http://www.peterandersonstudio.co.uk/the_html/title-sherlock

So a couple weeks ago I shared the Sherlock opening titles, and I realized that I also wanted to do a post on the motion graphics in the show, because I think that they are some of the smartest I've seen on TV. It's hard to find video of this on youtube, above is a reel from the studio in the UK that makes them, however. What is amazing to me is both their simplicity and their effect. The graphics studio has said that their primary effort and inspiration in their designs is trying to get the viewer into the mind of Sherlock Holmes. Keep in mind that in this rendition of Sherlock, Benedict Cumberbatch plays a neurotic, crazed, aloof genius. So the motion graphics in this show display this kind of "stream of consciousness to them" that is really cool. In one of the first ones (The second video on the website), you can see Sherlock sorting through what this writing on the floor of a woman who died means. He rotates through possible options, choosing one but then disregarding it, which is shown by the dictionary term for "Rache" (the word on the ground) being shattered. He then looks on the ground and cycles through letters, coming to the conclusion that what the victim was trying to say was "Rachel".

The show also really smartly handles texts in the show. For me, it has been a problem of shows in the past few years being able to integrate texting, because the visuality to it is only on the phone itself. Some shows do close ups on the phone to show what is going on, but Sherlock, in my opinion, does it better. The graphics studio has the text floating next to the person writing it, and while it might seem to be distracting or too not real for this type of show, it really works in this case

Overall I highly recommend watching Sherlock's graphics for an example of understated, modern style of motion graphics on TV.


Some more examples from the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOOXlvai0bU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqlh8qlvX4w

Sherlock Title Sequence

This is the titles for series 2 of Sherlock, from the BBC. The thing I want to draw your attention to is the elegance at which the title sequence flows, but the sheer amount of assets used as well. The more complicated the sequence, you would think the more confusing and complicated the video would seem to be. However, I couldn't talk up the slickness of the compositing in this sequence. Each piece of video flows into the next, and so the whole thing flows incredibly well. I want to draw your attention to a couple of incredible edits in this piece. First, there is a transition with a flashlight that really impressed me. The flashlight at :18 flashes in front of the camera, and transitions to a shot of the front of Sherlock's apartment. In the shot of the apartment door there is a light bloom effect to give the transition more effect. There is also some incredible compositing between :5 and :15, each giving depth and a sense of character for Sherlock and Watson. And of course, Arturo has been talking a lot about the importance music in graphics, and this sequence masterfully matches the audio, making for just a superb piece.

Motion Graphics Project

When we got the details for our first project, I immediately started to think about all of the possibilities and options. I thought about my favorite shows that have amazing opening credits and thought of Misfits:



Obviously, Misfits is very very complicated and I wouldn't even know where to begin! I love the show and I love the animation with the combination of real footage and the text in the beginning but it would just be too difficult for a beginner like me. After a lot of thought I settled on the opening sequence for House.



I think it's a lot simpler and doable, but I could be wrong? I plan to change the opening sequence and call it "Watson" and replace the footage they have with footage from BBC's Sherlock. Let me know what you think!