It's rare these days to see visual work that contain an element of delight and whimsy. I came across an article on "screenwashes" on the excellent Motionographer blog. Screenwashes are basically visuals shown between shows at a theater; they can't be too busy, or they'll look like content; they should, however be interesting enough to keep people in the seats - and support the event's brand. An analogue in my own work is the logo loops that I create for the jumbotron screens at festivals, so my interest was piqued.
This piece was one of several shown onscreen at the Sundance Film Festival this year between shows. One commenter wrote, "[This is a] refreshing [change] from the slice-my-face, ninja-attack-my-mind-with-semiotics of most mograph these days". Funny, and true; while new frontiers are being shattered every day in the mograph world, it's often the simpler things that delight us and make us smile.
- Video
- Detailed Image
- Image tour with notes (very enlightening)
- Commentary here, here, and here
Also of note to guys like me are the facts that while the concept was developed by an illustrator with a singular style, the production, animation, music, audio (play the video--really) were developed by a team, not just one guy. Adobe Flash also had a big role, which I find very interesting. I've used Flash for years, and it was really my first animation tool, but using it for film/broadcast design hasn't really sunk in for me. Other tools give a lot more control, but the way you can nest animations, use symbols (master instances of shapes or animations), and use code to affect visuals can make the whole thing more rich and complex in ways difficult or impossible with pixel-based tools like After Effects.
Posted in Film & Video, Work
