Image//2D to 3D to 2D//PES & Western Spaghetti.

Ever since studying a project of stop motion and foley art whilst in college, I've been a huge fan of this video, 'Western Spaghetti' by designer and animator 'PES'- and PES' work in general- working on my research for the 2D/3D/2D Rubik's Cube brief reminded me of the chopping up Rubik's Cubes sequence- really crisp and innovative, I want to know how this is done- and then become a master of animation. Just one of many aims on my design to do list.

Design Production for Print//Silent Movie//Desperate Housewives Title Sequence.

Another great example of a contemporary source of animation in a film/televised programme titile sequence- here, the US programme 'Desperate Housewives' (created by Marc Cherry) is introduced in a simple, yet effective animated sequence which could easily have been crafted on the Adobe After Effects software- with iconic images of women in arts, culture and the media used to represent the housewives of the tv show's title.

The overall effect is perhaps a little messy and cluttered for my liking- but a great inspiration to see how something so "busy" can be simply created.

Again, I have gone on to capture the key frame images in an Issuu document (above) through the use of screengrabs in order to gain an understanding of time and motion through the sequence- what would be useful, it the future, would be to also note down the specific times to see how the story board key frames were developed and prioritised.

Design Production for Print//Silent Movie//Charade Film Title Sequence.

An example of a slightly less contemporary source of motion graphic title sequence design- though a design which could still effectively be achieved through the similar style on Adobe After Effects that we look set to achieve through the Design Production for Digital, and, in particular, 'Silent Movie' brief (more information of which can be found on my Design Practice and Personal & Professional Development blog).

Although the design for the classic 1963 film 'Charade' (featured above) still serves a purpose- and serves it well... it is far too cluttered and "mad" for my liking- very psychedelic and fitting for the time, nevertheless... a lot going on in a short space of time for this animation- would be really interesting to evaluate it further to note when the key frames are featured on the entirety of the sequence and the affect this has on speed throughout the duration of the design.

Design Production for Print//Silent Movie//Monsters Inc. Film Title Sequence.

Looking into closer details at some commonly popular stop motion and animation sequences- particularly looking at title sequences and the way in which they are styled to be both unique and visually communicative of the forthcoming film.

One of my favourite title sequences (featured above) is from Pixar's 'Monsters Inc'- this sequence showcasing the great character and playfulness that can be adopted by both letterforms and inanimate objects- great inspiration for my own typographic work in the 'Silent Movie' project (see my Design Practice blog for further information). I love the way that the colours are also used against the stark black for a really high-impact, memorable animation piece.

The key frames of the animation have been highlighted by myself through a series of screengrabs (featured in the Issuu document above)- really interesting to see the frequency of key frames in relation to the overall duration of the motion piece and how this is effected in the overall pace of the motion- a great help to develop my understanding of how time is manipulated within animation- I will keep doing these small tasks to help build my contextual research and awareness.

Design Production for Print//Silent Movie//Anatomy of a Murder Film Title Sequence.

Here, Saul Bass' (legendary minimalist Graphic Designer) design for the film title sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's Thriller classic 'Anatomy of a Murder'- shown in an animated motion graphics style that Hitchcock became well known for.

Although very simple with bold, sans serif type, a minimal monochrome colour palette and simple cut-out-like shapes for the visual imagery, this film sequence is simple and communicates easily to the audience the subject matter of the film without overpowering it, or overshadowing the film itself. 

Again, I have highlighted the key frames throughout this Issuu manual document (feature directly above) which will hopefully be a source of inspiration for my own key frame and storyboard development throughout the 'Silent Movie' motion graphics project (see my Design Practice blog for more information) in which I will emulate this classic minimalistic style to fit in with my own portfolio of work.

Design Production for Print//Silent Movie//Catch Me If You Can Film Title Sequence.

Brilliant motion graphics piece created for the title sequence of Steven Spielberg's film 'Catch me if you can' starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo Di Caprio. 

The colours, simple pictorial style and typography used throughout the animation work wonderfully together- usually I'm not a fan of mid-blues and blacks, (I find that black often dulls blue, as opposed to white) though I think that it works really well in this instance- as can be seen throughout the keyframes I have screengrabbed and put into an Issuu document (above). So far, this is probably my favourite title sequence animation I have seen- stylish, consistent and yet full of varying content- a great example of what I could aspire to achieve throughout this Design Production for Digital module.

Design Production/Digital//Inital Videos.

http://vimeo.com/24302498
http://vimeo.com/26906724 
http://vimeo.com/31939621 

A few videos that have caught my interest- without the brief (until tomorrow!) I don't want to start researching too much so I don't veer off the specific path, but good ideas to get me excited about the outcome possibilities- although, as aforementioned, I don't know much about what it yet to come though I know I would really like to try my hand at pixelation, stop motion and hand-rendered animation- forms of design I'm quite passionate about and feel I'd really like to try and progress with- digital and screen-based outcomes that I could image working with in my own contemporary design practice.