David O Reilly – Please say something.

I must be feeling bad about not updating the blog for a while, as I’m knocking out lots of posts in the last day or so, but just remembered that I’ve got to put this video on here. Saw it a week or so ago, I think linked from the Motionographer website. 

Wow. Wow. Wow. It’s not often that something this great comes along. I’m always impressed when people can put such strong characters together with animation. Especially in a pared down simple style like this. There’s no real facial expressions to rely on, but the sense of drama and emotion is very impressive. 

There’s a great sense of minimalism with the dialogue as well. I don’t only mean in the excellent soundwork by David Kamp, but in the scriptwriting, which catches you off guard and intrigues the viewer. 

David also has a great experimental style with heaps of innovation thrown in for good measure, and at the end of the day this is a film which works on all levels, from creativity, innovation and great storytelling which connects with the audience.

Watch it.  Click one of the images below.

Links - 

http://www.davidoreilly.com/     http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/27/bb-video-david-oreil.html    http://motionographer.com/features/david-oreilly-interview-please-say-something/

Computer Arts In-Depth Features

Computer Arts has a large number of in-depth features which are great quick reads on a wide range of subjects. A few that jump out for me are below. Check out their website for more by clicking the pictures below. OK some of them are to do with tax and getting a job, but these are important things to learn. Sorry they’re all quite motion graphics based – I’ll put something up on Art funding as well – but don’t hold your breath as I’m very busy at the moment.

Free After Effects Tutorials online

The web is a great resource for learning software, and I’ve pulled together a few of my favourite Free resources for learning After Effects. Adobe After Effects is post production software for Motion Graphics, Compositing, Visual Effects etc. After Effects is a bit of a beast in comparison to video editing software, and although a bit tricky to get your head round initially, with a little practice you’ll find out why so many people use it.

So I’ve included below some of the best sites for AE tutorials and resources. Of course, you should remember that a tutorial should be a starting place, something where you learn a technique or process, but you should alter and adapt it to suit your needs, rather than slavishly copying it. 

 

Video Copilot

Hosted by the inimitable Andrew Cramer, Videocopilot offers a wealth of easy to understand tutorials covering Motion Graphics and Visual Effects. This is certainly the best place to start off if new to After Effects, as his excellent Basic Training will get you up to speed. http://www.videocopilot.net/basic/

http://maltaannon.com/

Jerzy Drozda Jr presents an interesting selection of tutorials, often more detailed than video copilot, but not quite as accessible. Jerzy also follows them up with an interesting array of plug-ins. check out the 3d shape extruder for example, which fixes the eternal problem with After Effects – making text more solid.

http://visualfxtuts.com/

A new kid on the block, but very good. A well updated resource with loads of new tutorials daily. It looks like their aim is to link to every tutorial of merit on the web. There’s a lot of After Effects on here, but obviously lots of other visual effects software as well.

http://aetuts.com/

Another new one, and also very good. The quality is very good, and they pay people to publish their tutorials so if you have a great idea then you could make a few quid.

http://www.graymachine.com

Harry J Frank is an old hat at this After Effects game. Very good for Trapcode plugins and expressions, he also does a great range of detailed paid for training. Also while I’m at it you should check out the Trapcode site to see how great their plugins for AE are and they also have some good tutorials as well.

http://aescripts.com/

Lots of add-ons for when you get a bit more advanced. Scripts add floating windows for a multitude of uses. Check them out and bolt them on.

 

Sorry – I’ve got a bit bored now, but here are a few more links

http://aenhancers.com

http://www.ayatoweb.com/ae_tips_e.html

http://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeaftereffects

http://www.maxafter.com/tuts.htm

http://vfxschool.blogspot.com/

http://www.aeioweyou.blogspot.com/

http://www.adobeforums.com/

After Effects Tutorials

Just getting round to posting my favourite After Effects Free tutorial sites, but I came across this linked from Videocopilot and thought it was worth putting it up while I get my act together. I’ve only checked a few out, but there seem to be a lot of text and image based tutorials. I don’t know about you, but I need video based tutorials where you can see exactly what’s going on. Anyway, my set of links will be coming soon. Click on the image to get to the site.

Visuals, Club Visuals & Tour Visuals

This is an astoundingly exciting and creative area of moving image production, and something that has been growing smaller and smaller in the category cloud (on the right, just under the strip of videos) on my blog, just because I can’t think where to start writing about it. But I’ve abandoned it for too long, so here’s part one of a (hopefully) long running series of posts…

We now increasingly expect to see interesting visuals when we see a gig or go to a club. As video projectors get cheaper and brighter, more and more clubs can afford to have them installed, and as more and more people enjoy seeing exciting visuals, it becomes the norm. It has also been breaking out of the club and gig environment, with very interesting work now in art installations, public displays, fashion shows and events of every kind. Then when you invest in a number of screens and use the space more fully you can create beautiful compositions that take us away from the single boring rectangular screen we are used to seeing in our homes.

Example – YSL Triptych – Click on the above to see an interesting use of three screens for a fashion show (Credits here) (Article here).  Once we can break away from the convention of a single screen then great possibilities are afforded to us. Multiple screen installations look fantastic, and give us another option to play with, as the image on a screen is affected by what surrounds it.

There are a lot of applications of visual material. One obvious use is in gigs, and a couple of examples are below. First,  Charles Lee and Dstrukt have posted their visuals for the Linkin Park world tour. These are generally themed around a song. In this case “We used Flowers to represent the progressive growth/development of a teenagers personality.”

Second, Etienne De Crecy Live 2007 Transmusicales de Rennes.

Due to the nature of a video projector, we can choose to change the image at a touch of a button. In contrast a film projector would need to be turned off, the film changed and then started again. This opens up great creative possibilities for everyone from musicians, filmmakers and artists. If laptops and cameras are being used to provide the visuals, rather than just playing them off a dvd player, then you can have a level of interactiveness and experimentation that can be really exciting to play with. A wealth of software is on the market for producing live visuals/installation. There is also a thriving scene with fans and forums helping each other. 

Enough for now. I feel happy that I’ve scratched the surface, but there’s so much more to say. Hopefully soon.

Zombies and cold war meet in Metallica’s new music video

Some great imagery in this epic video for Metallica. Lovely animated sequences mimicking Russian propaganda art. Classic zombie stuff with space spores bringing the dead back to life and assisting the Soviets in world domination.

Motion Graphics as a political medium

There is an increasing use of motion graphics as a political and educational medium. Short viral videos are produced and set out into the virtual world in the hope that they will inform and influence people. As we become more visually aware as a society, the video-makers have decided to use motion graphics to keep peoples interest levels up. This style is increasingly used along conventional documentary filmmakers as well who also include elaborate reconstructions of battles and other events in order to stimulate the viewer.

Knowledge – Alex Rudolph.

This aims to explain the middle east crisis in a short form. Based on research for his dissertation, where he has decided to impart a cooler look onto subjects potentially seen as boring by a younger audience. 

Also another few below as well. This is becoming an increasingly prolific format, so the examples are only a drop in the ocean – but good to give you a flavour of what is out there.

The Girl Effect, n. The powerful social and economic change brought about when girls have the opportunity to participate in their society.

 

What Barry Says.

Iran – a nation of bloggers

The Ship – Eglis Mednis

This is something that really shows what Machinima is capable of, and how it can be used as a viable filmmaking medium. I’ve not been overly keen on most that I have seen, but this really has a high level of emotional impact and it’s moody, minimal nature is great. It features a couple of characters in a bleak snowy landscape, but it is really the sound where this comes alive. A great deal of work has been put into the soundscape, and watchers of it should really think about this, and apply a higher level of sound design to their own work. In reality, very little happens, but by employing a few simple cinematic principles (albeit to a high level) this piece draws you in and takes you somewhere else. 

This has won the Best of the Fest Award at the Machinima FilmFest 2008, and as well as watching the film, you can also read an interview with the filmmaker by clicking on the picture above.

Thanks to SubmarineChannel for this, and remember to visit their site for lots of interesting creative video work.

Read my post on Machinima for a bit more info on what it is

Hallowindow Mark Gervais – Halloween Video Installation

Spooky fun from Mark Gervais, who kindly puts a video installation up for all to see each Halloween.

Pop to his site to see them.

Don’t Forget about me – posts from the past

Ink Tank Experiments

Here are a couple of companies who have been doing really interesting things with the classic film technique of filming ink and other substances. By experimenting with this technique and then treating it in after effects or other post-production software you…

Pixilation 

Pixilation is a great technique for producing quick and fantastic looking animation. Based on stop motion, where the animator places clay figures or other 3d objects in front of the camera, takes a frame then moves the objects and repeats. The difference…

 The Action Cats

a group of designers, animators and filmmakers who use interesting experimental and traditional techniques to produce an innovative and dark look for their piece “The Experiment”. “The Experiment” was produced for Adobe’s “See what’s possible”…

David Anderson – Door

There is a great power in inanimate objects and architectural features, and exploited here is the door. A closed door is a very powerful image. Just seeing it places questions into the audiences mind, raising their emotional expectation. A closed…

Dangerous Parking

This shows some really interesting text, being deformed in a wispy, smoky way…

Rojo TV

Full of really interesting creative video work, this site really spans a wide range of artistic video and motion graphics work. This should prove to be a great source…

Richard Fenwick

Richard Fenwickis a designer/filmmaker/animator who works across a wide range of formats. He goes where the idea takes him, flitting between animation/design…

 

Mark Lewis

I saw his work at the BFI Southbank gallery in October 07. He often uses strong effects, like the ‘vertigo shot’ / dolly zoom (or whatever you want to call it)…

 

Rosie Pedlow / Joe King – Sea Change

A beautifully simple idea executed very well, Rosie and Joe’s film takes a seaside caravan park as its subject, and reveals through a series of smooth tracking shots…

 

Idents

Is there anything worth watching on TV anymore? Not a great deal, but there’s usually a lot of nice idents about. For a while BBC2 and Channel4 have been… 

 

 Jan Svankmajer

Jan Svankmajer is a real influence for me. Often miscribed as an animator, he should really be classed as a surrealist filmmaker as his work moves effortlessly between…