Initial brainstorming
Going into this projects a few clear ideas come to mind, as do some limitations that I will have to keep in mind, clearest among them in the 20 frame/15-30 second animation limit, this significantly limits what I can fit into that space, I have decided to try to identify particular sequences at around that time scale primarily;
TV
Blackadder the Third
Mad Men
X-Files
1950s Bank of America Ad
Bert the Turtle "Duck and Cover"
Monty Python Venus Animation by Terry Gilliam
I decided to primarily focus my initial research on TV because they lean towards the shorter and slightly less extravagant, even if they don't directly influence my final sequence they are still great use for gauging pacing and its been interesting to look into some of the techniques used to make them.
Film
Doctor Strangelove
The Adventures of Tin Tin
For cinematic reference I narrowed my search down to rather minimalistic titles and trailers. From these I was able to concentrate on the use of composition and colour.
I also looked at the James Bond opening credits, it was interesting to see say with the recent Daniel Craig films how much they fluctuate in theme;
I also looked at the James Bond opening credits, it was interesting to see say with the recent Daniel Craig films how much they fluctuate in theme;
Casino Royal has a strong compact set of motifs that fit with the theme of the film of high stakes and the opulent glamour of the casino. The minimalistic figures are a throw back to Saul Bass' work on the groundbreaking opening sequence to Anatomy of a Murder; the first title sequence as we know it today. Meanwhile they show excellent use of contrast with the ornate patterned backgrounds and hints of photographic images of faces hinted behind the roving targets, The iconic gun barrel lead in is a much needed familiarity to fans adjusting to this new gritty bond but beyond that other most recognisable motif is missing from these scenes; the implied female nudes are gone, perhaps in keeping with the new modern bond and I think it is stronger for it, the sequel quantum of Solice seems to have backtracked on this and reduced the sequence to sand and the female figure and seems dated in comparison.
Skyfall attempts something more ambitious in it's credits, without such a clear and iconic motif as casinos, its name instead taking its name from the Bond family estate; a fact only revealed in the second half of the film the sequence instead capitalises on the pre-credits cliffhanger where Bond is shot and sent tumbling, possibly to his death. Instead of the iconic gun barrel, we see Bond's limp form hitting the water and then dragged under by a a giant female hand. Much like in QoS the female form is still present here, perhaps unnecessarily but arguably not, either way particularly towards the end the of the sequence the motif is relied on far to much and as such the narrative suffers,
The credits approach Skyfall for what it is, a character piece. Bond is world weary and stretched thin, he remains steadfast in his service to queen and country despite the challenges he faced in previous films. When Bond hits the water death seems like a final release and the hand pulls him deeper into water where we are greeted by bond shaped targets bleeding and gothic graveyards.
The credits are a metaphorical journey through the underworld interspersed with hits of the past (or perhaps future?) and scenes of bond battling shadows in darkened catacombs - actually an abstraction of a chase in the London underground later in the film. Perhaps showing Bond finally defeating his demons; again is this a hint of the future or perhaps it is referencing death and rebirth rituals that have existed in many belief systems for thousands of years, from Christianity to Buddhism, Ancient Egypt and the freemasons. The imagery may well be from bond's own psyche (hence the women and his family estate).
Finally this theory may also reveal the true motif of the film. Death, Rebirth and the ascent. As a enduring icon Bond is more than a man but the past two films spent a lot of time stripping back to show him as more human and taking him out of his element; elements Skyfall brings back to the franchise and leave us with Craig's bond becoming the bond we have recognised for all these decades. The hand we see at the beginning is probably in fact the hand of his fellow agent *spoiler removed* dragging him from the water, not into death but back into the violent hell his life was becoming. Bond "dies" but is brought back anew and becomes more than the man he was, there are obvious religious parallels here but I think they are obvious, Unfortunately as I said towards the end this thread seems to be lost among kaleidoscopic women and the sky raining fire on skyfall, an apt omen perhaps but somewhat detached from what seems like an ambitious narrative and metaphor.
Google Science Fair 2012
Take Google Maps indoors
Ten Days of Style on Newgrounds,
I really wanted to add something from Newgrounds as it has been incredibly influential on short animation.
Short animation by Vince Kenneth
The Google videos have an advantage in how it conveys it's information as that is their primary purpose where as title sequences must fit into the context of the larger film and has a very simple set of information to provide, while they offer excellent artistic reference on a practical level they have little in common.
http://www.speechinminutes.com/ states a one minute speech allows for on average 130 words. Halving this to 30 seconds (the maximum time limit) gives us 75 words. Pacing may force that to be further limited. Edge Studio's Script Timer lists an average reading speed at 90 words in thirty seconds, this is also likely to be reduced due to transitions and pacing, probably down to par with speech.
This seems like a good point to look into kinetic typography and how this can be used. As pointed out in class there's a lot of it out there that is fun and imaginative but doesn't really dig deep into the subject. Here is one piece I found that does scratch the surface:
Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Most Astounding Fact from David Pickering on Vimeo.
This short successfully uses the typography with fitting imagery for the spoke words, its more than just syncing and composition as pretty as that may be. Still, I think there could have been better integration of the text INTO the image itself, at this point you could splice them onto two separate screens and loose very little, which is clearly not the intention as much or the typography make great and sometimes painful effort to mix things up and balance with the images yet still feels like it is just sitting on top. I also think there could have been more build up to the closing comments but thats as much the animation as the typography itself..
who are we humans from thiago on Vimeo.
And here we have a very similar motion graphic with a very similar theme and yet, this is so much better, The graphics are far more minimal but you can see that the typography has been considered every step of the way, it is fully integrated in the image and as a result immensely more engaging. Zooming through space depicting the life cycle of solar systems is fancy for sure but here the thought out use of typography gives the whole graphic a much more thoughtful feel to it. Its rather wonderful and damnit if its making me reconsider what I want to do.
Ten Days of Style on Newgrounds,
I really wanted to add something from Newgrounds as it has been incredibly influential on short animation.
Short animation by Vince Kenneth
The shortest of these are a little over 40 seconds, still above the designated length of the animation I must produce, many of these shorter are also quite minimal. How much information can I put in without over saturating the media?
The Google videos have an advantage in how it conveys it's information as that is their primary purpose where as title sequences must fit into the context of the larger film and has a very simple set of information to provide, while they offer excellent artistic reference on a practical level they have little in common.
http://www.speechinminutes.com/ states a one minute speech allows for on average 130 words. Halving this to 30 seconds (the maximum time limit) gives us 75 words. Pacing may force that to be further limited. Edge Studio's Script Timer lists an average reading speed at 90 words in thirty seconds, this is also likely to be reduced due to transitions and pacing, probably down to par with speech.
This seems like a good point to look into kinetic typography and how this can be used. As pointed out in class there's a lot of it out there that is fun and imaginative but doesn't really dig deep into the subject. Here is one piece I found that does scratch the surface:
This short successfully uses the typography with fitting imagery for the spoke words, its more than just syncing and composition as pretty as that may be. Still, I think there could have been better integration of the text INTO the image itself, at this point you could splice them onto two separate screens and loose very little, which is clearly not the intention as much or the typography make great and sometimes painful effort to mix things up and balance with the images yet still feels like it is just sitting on top. I also think there could have been more build up to the closing comments but thats as much the animation as the typography itself..
And here we have a very similar motion graphic with a very similar theme and yet, this is so much better, The graphics are far more minimal but you can see that the typography has been considered every step of the way, it is fully integrated in the image and as a result immensely more engaging. Zooming through space depicting the life cycle of solar systems is fancy for sure but here the thought out use of typography gives the whole graphic a much more thoughtful feel to it. Its rather wonderful and damnit if its making me reconsider what I want to do.
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