How Do You Promote A Ba

18/03/15



For this project we have been asked to work as a team to produce a piece of promotional material for the Ba Hons Motion Design course. We will identifies the courses key strengths and use this to promote the course in a positive way. we will develop the main story board together and will each be responsible to creating a section of the animation and individual storying boarding our work more intricately. We should however show a full range of techniques mediums and methods that we have learnt of the course, such as stop motion pixilation after effects work, video edits, cinema 4d work and live footage camera work and lighting.


Motivational Teamwork Video:



The main aspects we wanted to show in our work was growth, creative freedom, teamwork with the creativity being emphasised.

We brainstormed our ideas together and drew mock up story boards of the ideas we came up with to explain it to the group.

we then made a full rough version of our story boards placed together so that we all knew how the piece would look and what we all had to do. This also made it easy for us to spot which parts of the story boards we might have to tweak in order for the transitions to work between sections of the animation. 

We did a lot of creative exercises to brainstorm idea and creatided physical story boards to pin our ideas down. I have brainstormed most of our idea development in my sketch book and included evidence of some of the creative exercises we did in it.

Exquisite corpse exercise:

for this exercise we had to draw on sections of the paper and the fold it over and pass it on for the next person to draw on. This meant that the outcome would be random however we would leave marks indicating where the next part of the drawing would go so that the drawing when finished is connected well. We drew the corpse going down as it would be, drawing a head then folding it over then drawing the body and folding it over and then drawing the legs and feet. 

Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original French term cadavre exquis) or rotating corpse, is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g. "The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun", as in "The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge") or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

Exquisite corpse example:

1. Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic. The term was coined in 1967 by Edward de Bono.
   
   
   We decide that for our animation our theme is going to be following the theme of the title we will start with of 'lets get the gal rolling' and the animation will follow the ball rolling through out different environments becoming digital or going into realistic environments this will show our range of techniques and keeping the idea of traveling on a journey of creativity as we display the interesting ways in which we will transition our shots and connect them as well as how we adapt and move the ball through different environments. 
   
   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

                                            
   
   
   What each of us are doing:
   Me- opening title, stop motion showing hands arranging scraps of paper to make the words 'lets get the ball rolling then moving together in a scrunched black gal of paper
   Hannah- Draw ball (black and symbolising scrunched paper) rolls towards drawn character.Screen angle moves on its side and ball rolls down and falls off the bottom of the screen
   Olivier- ball drops down and is then kicked about by a character made in after effects, character then kicks the ball to the right of the screen and goes off screen
   Steph- (using stop motion on white board) ball comes in from left and then interacts with drawn characters and is eaten by one of the characters making screen completely black
   Niaeem- (live footage film noir) black screen then beam of light from spotlight illuminated real life ball on a table and then shows actors interrogating each other then close up of the ball
   Jamie- Close up of ball in cinema 4d then camera follows the ball moving quickly through a pinball machine hurts out of the side of the machine then drops down.
   Danny- ball falls down from sky in after effects
   At the end of these sections we will then have 3d text that we will each make in cinema 4d saying Ba Hons Motion Design one after the other and then will finish with the text Stockport University. 
   So with all of these sections involved this will show a variety of techniques such as stop motion pixilation in real life (my stop motion inclusion of hands makes this pixilation). Physical drawings of frames to create footage (hannahs drawing section) after effects character animation drawings (olivier) (stop motion drawings (stephs) cinema 4d (jamie) Live footage and lighting techniques (nayeem) and after effects techniques with Dannys creation. 
   The message and effect of this when finished is showing the audience the creative and educational journey of the course and representing what we as students have experienced and our journeys in a way. It also shows a variety of techniques and specifications that people could take. It shows a playful and fun environment as the animation we are making is not serious and has funny playful sections especially with some of the drawing sections and shows swell impressive 3d creations such as jamies c4d section where he has digitally built objects that react and move with realistic qualities. 
   My section of the animation will be the opening sequence where we display the words lets get the ball rolling. I am going to be creating this title using stop motion that shows hands arranging paper scarps into the words and then the words morph and scrunch together into a paper ball which then starts rolling and travels into the the next section. 
   My 3D text:
   Getting to grips with cinema 4d:
   I did a workshop where i created a snowman out of shapes on c4d and using the tools. I also created lighting for the piece and created an environment with the floor and added colours and materials that my snowman is made out of.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I used this tutorial to help me create my 3d text as my idea was to add text into real life footage. 

after watching a couple of tutorials online i decided i wanted to create my 3d text onto of a photograph so that it would look like it is a part of the photograph and 'realistic looking'

I chose this image to place my text on as it has an urban feel and i would like to try perhaps blending graffiti onto my text to match its environment. 

The first stage was positioning the text so that it looked like it sat in the environment. This meant getting it at the right angle and scale. 

I added a plane (floor) so that my text would have shadow beneath it but also so that i could animate my text in order to make it fall and look slightly less straight lines organised and neat (as this did not match the nature of the environment)

However the result of this i felt was a little too unorganised and wonky and made the words hard to notice well seeing as this had to be fairly easy to make out what the words say as it will be on at the end of our group animation along the with other text it will only show for a couple of seconds, so i needed to change this. 

I decided to rotate and move each letter individually so i had more control over how each letter would fall in its place. I then did some compositing to make the lighting more realistic.

This is what i came up with at this stage:

I decided to experiment with colour to see what effect it would have on the appearance of my text however for the purpose of the brief decided that white was the best colour as it stands out most as white and is more easy to read seeing as the image will only be visible for a few seconds. 

Adding the appropriate lighting to create realistic shadows and to make it more yellowy to match the environment and adding texture to the text (again to make it look more life like:

Testers:

                                         
After doing these test animations i decided that to simply place all the letters with my hands in an ordinary way was deleting the point of using stop motion and may as well just be filmed so i decided that for each word i would create it in a different way making each one look like it could not happen in real life and so holding more unique quality and interest  also this is a better way of displaying the skills learnt with stop motion and would be more suited for the task i am doing.

Research:

               

This video shows techniques and similar aspects to what i will be creating for my section of the animation such as the paper crumpling into a ball by itself and the involvement of the persons hands in the animation and so would be a good video to refer back to when I'm coming to create my stop motion.

Watching how a paper ball moves for when i come to do my animation:

                                         

Setting up the work space for the stop motion animation i am about to create.

                                          

Time lapse of me creating the first two words for my stop motion animation:

                                          

First Version Of My Piece (unedited):

(original higher quality version in hand in folder) 

This render shows my animation with out the ending transition where i am supposed to finish with the paper ball rolling off the right. This is because i did not have enough time to complete this and will finish that section off next time when i am finalising the animation. 

After making this animation its appearance was avery dull and blueish due to how it was lit so i decided to take it into photoshop and change its appearance slightly by making the animation brighter and slightly warmer.

Final version with sound:

               

This is the finished section of our group animation that i have made myself. This still needs to be pieced together with the rest of the animation as the opening sequence. I have cut out a small section of my animation from how i had originally filmed it (the part where the paper ball folds right out into flat paper) as i felt this was too distracting and made the contrasts etc over exposed compared to the other frames. I felt that i did not need the paper to entirely open, just to demonstrate that the pieces of small paper had joined together. I used realistic sounds mostly in my animation however some of the sounds i used are more comical than realistic such as the ping noises when the hand makes a word appear this is to exaggerate the trick and the unrealistic nature of these parts of the animation. I recorded my own sounds using a variety of papers and appliances (microwaves, bike bells, balloons).

Motivational Teamwork Video

This was a video i found when doing the how to promote a ba project as it was relevant to what we were doing as the project involved us working as a team to create the animation and so communication and working in time with one another is key for the project. This animation displays these elements in a humorous way using digital animation.

Typography

In typography diffrent styles and techniques are put in place to create different visual effects and in many cases to emphasise a displayed message or way of reading for the viewer (e.g. the largest text shows the most important information so the viewer is made to read the correct part of say a poster at first glance).From a descriptive and simplistic point-of-view, typography is the art and technique of arranging type. Most people never think about typography. They don't understand the psychological effect it has in relation to conveying a message. 

The point inside the a at the top of the triangle its cut out space creates is not made of two straight lines that meet each other. Instead there are two slightly bent upward lines, warping the shape of the triangles point. This is done to make the space inside the A look equal to and even in comparison with the white shape of the letter, without this technique the top of the A would look too bulky. This is what typography is all about altering font and letters, sizing spacing etc, to create an illusion of equality between the letters and to create a more pleasing outlook. 

Basic concepts

Here are some of the most important typographic considerations the professional designers needs to take into account. You need to learn the rules of typography before you break them. 

1:

Size

The height of each character is known as its 'x-height' (quite simply because it's based on the letter 'x'). When pairing typefaces - such as when using a different face to denote an area of attention - it's generally wise to use those that share a similar x-height. The width of each character is known as the 'set width' - which spans the body of the letter plus a space that acts as a buffer with other letter.

X-Height:

X height is that height of the main body of each letters. The tail of letters like g and y will go below the x height and the heads of letters like h and d will go above it. This does not Apply to text in all capitals. 

This image shows how different typefaces have different sized x heights. Again this is something that should be thought about when pairing typefaces (how they will look together).

  BaseLine:

These images above show examples of baselines used in typography. Again like in the first image i spoke about of the A and the warped triangle point, a baseline is used to make the text look more aesthetically pleasing and in balance. The baseline is where letters that are curved at the bottom go slightly over the line that the letters would sit on or the line used to line the bottom of the letters up together. The image above shows an example of this in two different font. This technique is used because typographers found that these curved letters looked too small if they made them fit into the x height and the baseline rulers, and too big if they simply sat the O on the baseline like the rest of the letters. And so again a visual illusion is used to make all the letters look even. 

2:

Leading

Leading describes the vertical space between each line of type. It's called this because strips of lead were originally used to separate lines of type in the days of metal typesetting.

For legible body text that's comfortable to read, a general rule is that your leading value should be greater than the font size; anywhere from 1.25 to 1.5 times.

3:

Kerning And Tracking 

Kerning describes the act of adjusting the space between characters to create a harmonious pairing. For example, where an uppercase 'A' meets an uppercase 'V', their diagonal strokes are usually kerned so that the top left of the 'V' sits above the bottom right of the 'A'.

Kerning similar to, but not the same as, 'tracking'; this relates to the spacing of all characters and is applied evenly.

Tracking:

 Kerning:

Typography tips:

Lowercase:
avoid l e t t e r s p a c i n g lowercase type. This stunts the readability of the type and the aesthetics of the type and creates an over all more messing appearance.

Uppercase:

Titles in uppercase will usually benefit from the addition of space between the letters. However once letters have been spaced globally (letterspaced the whole word) don't forget to kern the individual spaces between the letters to ensure each letter appears optically to be in the middle.

Stacking:
Don't vertically stack
l                                                          U
o                                                         P
w                                                        P
e                                                         E
r                                                          R
c                                                          C
a                                                          A
s                                                           S
e letters!                                             E

Stretching:

Most typefaces in their individual letterforms are the result of hours of dedicated crafting. This crafting created the highly considered and harmonious proportions of the letters, so avid squashing or stretching type as it may not look atheistically pleasing or proportions after doing so. Instead select extended or condensed version of the font.

Typographic Heierarchy:

Use position, space, colours, variety of typefaces, size, italic, bold etc to emphasise different levels of information. Be wary of employing too many different ways of emphasising in one design.

Screen Type:

When using small text on computer screen serif type can often appear distorted and inconsistent, dues to the delicate serifs and stresses sometimes being hidden or stretched by the pixel grid of the screen. choose screen friendly serif fonts such as georgia or fonts with heavier serifs and less stress. 

Thinking with type source by ellen lupton:

The ten commandments by paul felton


My Task with Emphasis:

My work:

My Task With Colour:

I was given this arrangement and sizes of fonts and i had to use colour alone to make the texts stand out evenly

What i made:

The White House

Monday 16th March

The White house wis a film editing company based in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Amsterdam.

One of the works they did was for a carlsberg advert :



This creation shows the creative humorous side of the company and gives an idea of the kind of well known clients they make work for. This piece shows various camera shots and angles and gives good example of camera work during live footage. Looking at this piece of work it would probably relate closets to my live footage work i created during the new way of looking task i did.

Information about the advert:

This piece shows an interesting piece with lots of snappy editing techniques used to create a fast passed trendy look to the video. Using flashing words of short snap shots of a sequence create relation between the words and the shots but also overwhelm the audience slightly so that at the end they experience a somewhat 'flashback style memory of a night out' kind of visuals and create intrigue and mystery, making them want to probably find out more and then the company logo 'The cosmopolitan' holds for a period of frames at the end so that they have time to read what the advert was about.

This piece of work created by the White house company shows their skills in digital animation as the short film follows a mechanic humming bird which travels through a mechanical style world. The bird have been digitally created and so has the world it moves through until the advert shows the car at the end. This shows how the company will have has to think about every movement of the bird.

All three of these videos show the range of work the company produces from live footage film to editing techniques to digital animation. And so would defiantly be a company that i could aspire to work towards working for or similar to this anyway as the range and variety is very much suited and similar to the variety and range that i have been working with during my projects.

Target Dreaming Girl Commercial

This is a pixilation animation i found that i liked as it reminded me of the first animation project we did as a group with pixilation animation where we also used a person on the floor and made it look like they were in and moving through an environment that was actually made of random objects to symbolise elements of the animation. Again i like the symbolism used and the playful nature and creativity of the idea and how it has been presented.

Maker Vs Marker

This is a stop motion piece created by Johnny Lawrence based from the street fighter series with elements of Dragon Ball Z style sequences as well as transformers and the matrix with sound track was created by Brian Sadler.
I liked this animation as it shows clever interaction between drawings and real life (the persons hand) using stop motion. It also has a comical value and so is enjoyable to watch. I liked the way the animator used the hand to symbolise different characters such as a person when it had two fingers pointed down (acting as the legs) a serpent when he has the fingers all pinched forward and with the little finger being the eye and when the hand is the gun. Whats good about this is the drawing animations that are happening in the animation are emphasised and reflect the shape of the hand and show us clearly that that is what the hand is meant to be. also the fact that he is using hand gestures to interact with the drawn character is more playful and personal than just drawing the whole thing or using real props its more suggestive and imaginative and again reflecting the nature of doodles.