Silent Movie - Test 1

Yarn / wool

From my storyboards, one of my ideas was to envision a piece of string / yarn / wool forming the word, spin'. I initially intended for it to have a depth of field, as if coming from behind the viewer, but this proved difficult when translating into After Effects. Before I knew what the 'Write-on' tool was, I attempted the animation simply by altering the anchor points of an imported illustrator file but this created a staggered, broken aesthetic.

I then used the write-on tool which was far more effective than the first test animation. I used several brush position keyframes to achieve the desired effect. However, as the type was cursive and the brush I used was slightly larger than the type itself, it started to show unwanted areas of the type where the letterforms joined or overlapped. To solve this, I simple removed these outer sections (image 4 - 7).

OUGD202 - AE Workshop Test pieces

OUGD202 - Software Workshop - After Effects [3]

3rd After Effects workshop looking primarily at Keyframe interpolation and importing content from Illustrator to create motion paths within After Effects. We also looked at layer masks which was particularly useful. (read more for content)

Silent Movie - 5 sec timelines

Choosing the 5 important keyframes

Silent Movie - Feedback session

Thursday's feedback workshop was extremely useful, both for getting feedback on my work and whether the word was visually communicated effectively and to troubleshoot the queries I had with a couple of my design ideas in particular.

One thing that was noted by Dom and Lorraine was the lack of colour. Although I found it hard to incorporate a colour which would enhance the concept in some way, it was suggested I could use coloured wool/yarn' in reference to sequence 1 and 2 (below). It was noted that sequence 2 was the most effective as Dom understood the concept and believed it communicated well.

I was unsure how I was ultimately going to translate sequence 2 into After Effects as it was essentially a line which formed a word as opposed to animating a word itself. It also used a depth of field as the sequence begun with with the piece of 'string' (yarn) coming into the frame from behind the viewer (lower left) and exiting in the upper right corner. I asked Lorraine and fortunately, there is a simple (more or less) way of producing this outcome. I will need create the word in Illustrator and place the path of the type into After Effects where I could then alter the anchor points.

Sequence 3 was the most self explanatory as it was an immediate response to how I could animate the word 'spin' - simply by spinning the letters (this was similar to sequence 5). The 4th sequence was also received well though the last section needed more frames to communicate the idea more effectively.

Silent Movie - Keyframe Workshop [3]

These are the storyboards I created in response to Lorraine's workshop. We were required to create 5 storyboards based on one word which used a minimum of 5 key frames. A 5 second motion video does not necessarily have 5 frames each at 1 second intervals therefore we had to devise a way of communicating idea across several. 

With some of my ideas, however, I had to incorporate some tweening frames to show how the type is formed (in sequence 2, for example). We also had to incorporate the 'Title Safe' guides in order to ensure our content fit within the frame.

Outcomes

(1) Thread/string which forms the word, 'spin', slowly unravels and becomes a stretched/tightened piece of string. 

(2) Spinning yarn/wool enters into the frame from behind the viewer (adding an interesting depth of field). This enters at a fast pace and begins to form the word, 'spin'. The speed decreases until the word has formed and then starts to leave the frame in the upper right hand corner.

(3) Letters appearing from 'behind' the viewer, reducing in scale as they spin independently.

(4) Sans serf type forming additional cursive characteristics. This is slow to begin with but suddenly increases in speed towards the last second or so of the sequence. The curls immediately fill up the frame, almost out of of control. 

(5) Lower case sans-serif type is set small, in the centre of the frame. Individual letters begin to rotate and enlarge towards the viewer - these vary across the sequence.

Silent Movie - Timeline Workshop [2]

The timeline workshop required us to place the 25 frames we collated from an existing piece of kinetic type onto a timeline outlining the duration of the video. In the first task we were required to place the frames we collected at regular intervals onto a timeline. The kinetic type example I used was 1:15 / 75 seconds (cropped from 1:17 / 77 seconds due to irrelevant frames towards the end of the piece - it simply consisted of creators name etc). We initially had to split the timeline into 10 regular intervals (of 7.5 sec) and again into 25 intervals - although the initial frame was at 3 sec - at 3 second intervals.

10 intervals:  0:075 - 0:15 - 0:22:50 - 0:30 - 0:37:50 - 0:45 - 0:52:50 - 1:00 - 1:07:50 - 1:15

25 intervals:  0:03 - 0:06 - 0:09 - 0:12 - 0:15 - 0:18 - 0:21 - 0:24 - 0:27 - 0:30 - 0:33 - 0:36 - 0:39 - 0:42 - 0:45 - 0:48 - 0:51 - 0:54 - 0:57 - 1:00 - 1:03 - 1:06 - 1:09 - 1:12 - 1:15

We were also required to collect 25 frames which we believed to be the most important aspects of the kinetic type piece. As these were not necessarily at regular intervals, the timeline differed significantly. This timeline in particular provided a sense of pace and as it used a larger scale, you are able to see the relationship between the frame and timespan more effectively. 

OUGD202 - Software Workshop - After Effects [2]

Summary of last week

3 main panes - Project, Composition & Timeline

• Spatial arrangement: When working in After Effects, you can arrange elements spatially within the frame (composition window)
• Temporal arrangement: The timeline is used to create a temporal arrangement - what happens at a particular moment in time as your animation plays.
• Pixels are used as the dimensions of the frame - this is specified by the chosen preset
• When using the PAL specification, we have 25 frames per second (25 still images for every second of video)
• The duration will be set to 5 seconds as specified in the brief

Silent Movie - Storyboard Task

We were required to devise 5 concepts and create 5 different storyboards / design ideas for each of these. The first was based on an unravelling piece of spinning yarn / wool. The first consists of the word 'Spin' in a subtle, cursive font which slowly unravels until it becomes a straight piece of string. I looked at reversing this aswell as experimenting with orientation, scale and depth of field.

I then looked into 'spinning' cursive characteristics - either the word forms these cursive details or loses them. I experimented with various formations and how detailed these flourishes are.

A literal interpretation to the word 'spin' is for the word to rotate. I experimented with the rotation of the word itself or individual letterforms. I looked primarily at rotation through space in order to make the movement more 'exciting' as opposed to stationery letterforms.

The following was based on a more abstract idea of having a tornado / twister forming or being formed by the word or letterforms. The first consists of the word 'spin', sat a small scale in the centre of the frame. An oncoming tornado causes the letterforms to spin out of control. However, as we are required to solely use type, this would need to be removed for the final outcomes. I also looked at the lines of a tornado forming the letterforms and vice versa.

These are more general ideas I devised. The second is an out of control cursive typeface retracting its cursive characteristics to form a more legible word. The first is a spinning yarn entering the frame from behind the viewer, forming the word 'spin' and leaving the frame.

Silent Movie - Kinetic Type

I found several kinetic type examples as referenced in Thursday's workshop, some of which I have used for the basis of the set task. We were required to find one particular example and take screenshots at 25 fixed intervals to then bring in on Tuesday to experiment with and explore in more depth.

I decided to choose the following to use as a basis of the task due to its dynamic range in type formation and transitions. The designer has used an iconic scene from 'The King's Speech' where the King is attempting to rid of his stutter. I gathered 25 frames at regular intervals of 3 seconds (I cropped the 1:17 video to 1:15 to accommodate this) aswell as another 25 frames consisting of the most significant/prominent sections of the video.

Silent Movie - Storyboard Workshop [1]

In this workshop, we were first required to draw a range of letterforms in reference to our chosen words. Our inspiration is to be drew from our source imagery and research. Although we were allowed to incorporate directional arrows in order to indicate movement, the letterforms had to be self explanatory. For the word, 'float',  I decided to primarily use the letter 'o' due to its associations with bubbles and clouds which 'float'.

The letter 'S' has certain rounded characteristics which the word 'spin' can be applied to. I experimented with cursive additions to give the impression the letterform was 'spinning'. I based one design on a spinning potters wheel and another on a tornado. 'Turn or cause to turn or whirl around quickly' /  'A rapid turning or whirling motion'

Change of form, appearance (the visual quality of the letterform itself). 

Lateral / Vertical, change of position, fixed form.

Lateral / Vertical, depth of field, space, dimension, form