Project 6: Storytelling (a.k.a. Ransom Note)

Part 1 Due:  April 4
Part 2 Due: April 11
Part 2 Due: April 18

Description:

Using your favorite techniques from our class, create a 30 second animation of a ransom note (or any other storyline that intrigues you) to the soundtrack of your choice. The emphasis of this project is on conveying a story rather than abstract animation we've been doing.

Suggested techniques: 

3d layers/camera/lights

AE animated text

Handwriting effect

Part 1:

Create 2 – 4 style frames (submit as 4 jpegs in a folder or a single pdf)

A Style Frame is a visual guide to the way your final animation will look. Unlike a storyboard, which lays out the animation from beginning to end, style frames illustrate the look and feel (colors, lighting, visual elements, etc) without locking in specific shots. This exercise will help you brainstorm the effects you might end up using before you get into After Effects.

Use Photoshop or Illustratror—NOT After Effects.

Below are links to some style frame references:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XQ5BZwVBXeFuruoorxjotvT246ZO0k8u1_V36LxZrcocpFvXSqYpAUqgi0jYXUpg9XN41tHuxWSpcUfIYsqw20DasUcbkXVmJWyPDLZFAlI3_8Gym5WHV0RvlT4haiLSrKCjkFE2vos/s1600/style+frames.jpg
http://www.mydbmedia.com/DB_Obama1_Board.jpg
http://www.mydbmedia.com/DB_Marl2_Board.jpg
http://www.gasket.tv/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/bb_recycle_style_frames.png

Part 2:

Begin animating your piece. Your "rough" animation should be the full length of your piece, but not polished (it's ok if you're missing a few seconds off the end, but try to make it complete)

Part 3:

Final animation

Notes: Week 9 (March 28)

Effects (part 1)

• You can apply effects to a layer by selecting it and:
• choosing Effects > ... from the top menu
• right-clicking on the layer in the timeline and choosing Effects > ...
• right-clicking inside the Effects Controls window and choosing the desired effect
• When trying to apply the same effect to multiple layers, create anAdjustment Layer (Layer > New > Adjustment Layer);  it must be at the top of the layers you want to affect
• Set keyframes to any property of an effect that has the stop-watch symbol
• You can set keyframes in the Effects Controls window or in the Effects properties of the layer on the timeline
• Effects categories covered in class:
• Color Correction
• Blur-Sharpen
• Distort
• Stylize
• Perspective
• Transition

Project 5: Abstract Video

Due: March 28

Description: 
Take a segment of any video and apply effects to it until it becomes completely abstract and unrecognizable (something ambient and fun). Add music if it strikes your fancy!

Project 4: Bring a Photograph to Life

Due: March 21

Description:
Separate a photograph or an image into several layers (foreground, middle, background), bring the layers into After Effects (as Composition *Not layer size) and use a camera to give depth and life to the scene. Don't forget to paint out repeating images from the layers.

Your animation should be at least 10 sec. Sound is optional.

Notes: Week 8 (March 7)

3D LAYERS (part 2)

Lights:

• To create a new light, go to Layer > New > Light
• To adjust light settings, select the light and go to Layer > Light Settings
• Light types:
• Spot (most popular)—has the same controls as 3D cameras
• Parallel—has the Point of Interest control, allowing you to cast it in a certain direction without creating the same light fall-off as with the Spot light
• Point—allows you to change the position of the light source but does not have a particular direction or light fall-off
• Ambient—lights the entire scene evenly, allowing you to create base lighting (so that when you use a Spot light, you never have an entirely black area); Keep this light at very low intensity and always combine with another light-source
• Combine multiple light-sources for a more realistic, dimensional environment

Casting shadows:

• To cast shadows, select the light source(s) you want to cast the shadows and turn on the "CAst Shadows" option (off by default)
• Select the object that you want to cast shadows, go to Material Options and turn "Cast Shadows" on
• Make sure the object that will receive the shadow has "Receive Shadows" turned on in teh Material Options (on by default)

Material Options:

Use Material Options to control the way the object reacts to light sources in the scene (highlights, shadows, surface texture, etc)

Notes: Week 7 (Feb 28)

3D LAYERS (part 1)

• To turn a layer into a 3d layer, turn on the box with the cube symbol (to the right of the layer name)

• 3D layers have an extra dimension added to the transform properties (Z =  depth)

• When changing position: 

• negative numbers move the layer towards the "camera"

• positive numbers move the layer away from the "camera"

When working with 3D layers, use camera options at the bottom of the composition window to view the scene from different angles


Note: Make sure to return the setting to your main camera before rendering


Cameras:

• To create a new camera, go to Layer > New > Camer

• To adjust camera settings (that appear in the intro menu), select the camera and go to Layer > Camera Settings

• Note: Only one camera will be active per scene (if you have more than one camera, the top camera layer will be the active one. You can activate a different camera by choosing it from the camera view options in the composition window or turning it on (eye symbol) while turning off all other cameras.

• Use Point of Interest and Position for most of your camera animations (do not set rotation keys)

• Point of Interest—orients the camera angle (acts like rotation)

• Position—moves the entire camera

• Use "Camera Options" to control Depth of Field and other lens-specific properties

• Note: Never animate Zoom  unless using it to keep the depth of field blurring constant while zooming in.

Inspiration: Week 5 - 6 (Feb 14 - 21)

ANIMATING TYPE

Non-Digital/Natural Materials:

Jesse Zanzinger: Refraction—The Alphabet
http://vimeo.com/17509873

Ed Aclerman and Collin Morton: Primiti Too Taa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcrTzPAUqic&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lobo: Capitu
http://tdc.org/intro_010/video.html#/video-15

Kinetic Typography:

Clim: Make It Better
http://vimeo.com/18678091

Rogers Creations: Stephen Fry—Kinetic Typography
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7E-aoXLZGY

Curious Pictures: The Girl Effect for the Nike Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C44BOxKhwsQ

Complex type animation:

Sebastian Lange: Flickermood 2.0
http://vimeo.com/3302330

Sehsucht: Mercedes-Benz Bas Child
http://vimeo.com/7522026

Type Immersed in a Video Environment:

ISO Design: A History of Scotland
http://www.artofthetitle.com/2010/02/01/a-history-of-scotland/

Prolog Films: OFFF titles
http://vimeo.com/14434908

Clemens Wirth: Marko Kingdom
part 1: http://vimeo.com/19764519
part 2: vimeo.com/ 12849638 
part 3: vimeo.com/ 19764519

Interview with Kyle Cooper:
http://vimeo.com/9020112

Visit these sites for good text animation references:

The Art of the Title Sequence: 
http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Forget the Film, Watch the Titles:
http://www.watchthetitles.com/

IFC: 50 best title sequences of all tiems
http://www.ifc.com/news/2011/02/the-50-greatest-opening-title.php?page=11

Passion Pictures (typography):
http://www.passion-pictures.com/flash.html#page=k11