Motion Graphic and Composition: Final Project

11.07.2024 - 28.07.2024 / Week 12 - Week 14
Sylvia Lau / 0356130
Bachelor of Design (HON) in Creative Media
Motion Graphic and Compositing / Final Project


INSTRUCTION



Final Project: Abstract Motion

In this project, we were to create a theme-based abstract motion graphic video that consists of a good audio visual say it in 3D/2D, mix media, or any experimental visual output that has a strong theme.

We were required to prepare a mood board that reflected our concept or ideas, storyboard, animatics and explore appropriate audio to uplift the motion tempo.

Moodboard:

Our lecturer showed us some examples that were done by other seniors, and one of them did a motion animation about traveling. So, I basically got some inspiration from their works and I decided to work on an animation about traveling too. My last trip was going to Tokyo with friends during Intercultural design, so I want to create an animation about traveling in Japan.

Below were some travel-related animations I found on Pinterest for inspiration:


This animation was about the experience of Tokyo in a week. From the animation, it showed what he ate, what he did, and what he saw on that trip.


This animation was also about travel and it was a channel ident. It consisted of traveling to many different countries, by plane, car, and train.


For this animation, it was about their favorite things about London, for example, the culture, the music, the food, the view, and more. 

From the references I found above, I chose the third one as my concept. Despite the favorite things about London, I could change the content to what I had experienced in Japan like going to the temples, eating food, shopping, seeing views, and many other things. The illustrations would be the places I went during my intercultural trip last year.

Style Guide:

Figure 1.1

I plan to present my animation using 2D illustrations. Above were the images that I wanted my animation style to be.

Storyboard:

Figure 1.2

It began with the contents of an envelope being taken out and displayed. The first item from the envelope would be enlarged, showing text like "Trip to Japan". The following five scenes would be illustrations about the culture, scenery, games, shopping, and food. The story would end with all these pictures forming a single photo that got pinned to a board.

Progress:

Before starting, I first searched for suitable background music. Since the animation is about Japan, I thought of using music with a Japanese style. However, most of the options did not fit the theme. Some background music featured traditional Japanese instruments, but they created a relaxed and slow-paced feeling. Since my topic is "exciting things about Japan," the music needed to have a more cheerful and lively vibe.

Figure 2.1

After going through various options, I finally decided on this piece. The style of the music matches well with my illustrations and the feelings I wanted to convey through this animation, also my animation does not need to follow the beat of the music strictly.

Figure 2.2

Above were the illustrations that I had done in my drawing app, then I exported them to a Photoshop file.

Coming to the animation part, the animation idea was actually from the third reference above, and I never tried clipping mask and wipe transition on animation before, so I needed to find tutorial videos to help me with it. Referring back to my storyboard, there were 5 scenes about illustrations, but I decided to take one out because of time constrain and the part was not very important for the topic too.

The following four scenes will each be 7 seconds long, with 2 seconds for a wipe transition to move the images into specific positions, 3 seconds to display small animations for each illustration, and the final 2 seconds using a wipe transition to move the images off the screen.

Culture:

In this scene, it was about Japanese culture, and I included the things I saw during my previous trip like Geisha, shrines, daruma, maneki neko, and carp flags. 

Figure 2.3

I used the puppet tool to create small movements for the character, like a slight nod. The background features umbrellas, which I used scaling to accentuate the overall scene.

Figure 2.4

I animated the clouds drifting by using the position property.

Figure 2.5

I duplicated the illustration and made them move from left to right, creating a sense of an infinite loop.

Figure 2.6

I used the puppet tool to compress the daruma, giving it some elasticity when it falls. 

Figure 2.7

When drawing, I separated the hand and body into different layers, so I could use rotation to make it wave. The background features falling coins, as this cat symbolizes wealth.

City:

Next is a scene about a Japanese city. In this scene, I have included a famous landmark, Tokyo Tower, a city view while the train passing by, a person taking a photo, and a traffic light.

Figure 3.1

I only animated the clouds in the background drifting by.

Figure 3.2

This part consists of two layers: a train and the city. I only needed to animate the city layer moving from left to right.

Figure 3.3

Since I previously separated the hand and body into different layers, I just needed to move the hand's position upwards. When she takes a photo, I added a circle to represent the flash.

Figure 3.4

The colors of the traffic light are on separate layers, making it easy to animate each color appearing one by one.

Game:

Then there's the game section, which includes elements from games and anime I've experienced and watched before, such as Gundam, Arcade Station, Claw Machine, gashapon, and Pokémon.

Figure 4.1

 I wasn't sure what to animate for this part, so I added the text "Start Game" blinking on the arcade screen.

Figure 4.2

Since I couldn't use the puppet tool to animate some movements without the illustration looking distorted, I had to use the position property to move its actions.

Figure 4.3

For this part, I animated the claw and the plushie. When the claw reaches a certain position, the plushie drops down.

Figure 4.4

I mainly animated the hand and the coin. I originally wanted to make the coin go into the slot, but I wasn't sure how to arrange the layers, so I used a wipe transition instead.

Figure 4.5

When the Poké Ball opens, a character from Pokémon appears in the middle.

Food:

Finally, there is the food section, featuring takoyaki, sushi, ramen, onigiri, and lanterns. The lanterns have Japanese characters written on them, representing different Japanese foods.

Figure 5.1

his scene is reminiscent of an omakase setting, with someone placing freshly made sushi on a plate in front of the viewer.

Figure 5.2

The three rice balls are animated to jump and spin in sequence. As for the ramen part, I initially planned to add a smoke animation, but I didn't have enough time to find a tutorial online, so I just used the position property to create some movement.

Figure 5.3

For this part, I simply made the lanterns sway left and right, as if being blown by the wind.

Figure 5.4

 I mainly animated the sprinkling of seaweed. I duplicated the seaweed layer four times and adjusted them to different timings.

Font Animation:

Next is the animation of the text. During the last consultation, sir mentioned that he liked the font in the storyboard, so I looked for related references on YouTube to animate it. In the previous storyboard, I only had one scene with text, but I thought it would be nice to introduce the following four scenes as well.

This tutorial also taught me some new skills because previously, I only knew how to animate using position, scale, or rotation.


Figure 6.1

Figure 6.2

Figure 6.3

Figure 6.4

Figure 6.5

Opening and Ending Part:

For the first scene, I wanted to convey the idea of finding old photos in an envelope, and these photos represent the wonderful sights and memories from my past travels in Japan. The inspiration for the animation came from the motion graphics at the beginning of a Korean entertainment show.

Figure 7.1

Figure 7.2

Figure 7.3

The entire illustration consists of three layers: the deepest paper layer is at the back, the second layer is lighter in color, and the first layer is the envelope. To highlight its importance, the first layer's color is changed to yellow for contrast. The animation timing for the first and second layers is the same, while the timing for the first layer is connected to them, with no gaps in between. Most of the yellow envelopes move from the top to the center, but one envelope moves from the bottom to the center, as if someone threw it on the table. So, when it first appears on the screen, it scales down to normal size as it reaches the center. After the envelope is thrown on the table, the paper inside slides out. Then, the first photo zooms in as a transition, and the next scene is the font animation.

Figure 7.4

The final scene shows all my photos pinned on a board. The transition to the final scene is from the fourth illustration, which I had animated before, and the scene is blank white. To connect them, I slowly scale down from the same color space to the corresponding position.

Final Submission:




REFLECTION

Time has quickly flown by, and the end of the semester is here. Completing this final project took a considerable amount of time. To achieve the results I wanted, the skills I had previously learned, along with YouTube tutorials, provided a lot of help for my project. I also learned some new techniques, such as font animation, clipping mask, and the puppet tool.

I am very satisfied with the results I produced, although I felt a bit confused at the beginning because I couldn't decide on a theme. After deciding on a theme, I had to figure out how to present it. Fearing that the art styles wouldn't be consistent, I spent a lot of time searching for reference images and animation tutorials. Although the process was a bit tough, I really enjoyed the process of learning and creating.

I am very grateful to sir for allowing us to freely choose our creative content without restricting our ideas, and for providing feedback that has been helpful to us. I am looking forward to applying these skills and experiences to future projects.




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