This project was called the Final Major Project, and was the
project at the end of the course to pick any area of design you liked and to
create the best work you have ever created. I picked motion design for idents,
as I had no experience in it and thought it was a good choice for a final
project.
When I began my FMP, I wanted to create a TV ident for a
channel. I wanted to create something like Channel Five’s idents, as I thought
they were interesting and fun to watch. I never realised just how important
idents were, and always took them for granted. In this project I learnt just
how important they are and how much they can impact your channel. In the
beginning I didn’t think I would create my own channel, and was planning on
creating an ident for a channel such as Channel 5 or ComedyCentral. This changed
halfway in, when I realised my work would be of a higher standard if I went out
of my way to create a channel. Other than the channel creation my goal from the
beginning to end has remained the same.
In this FMP, time was the biggest restraint, as there was
too little time for too much work. I needed to create videos using very
complicated software and simply didn’t have enough time to get everything done
at once. This led me to the decision that I would begin creating videos and
animations right from the start, as it would give me time to reflect on my
creations and to improve over time. I chose to create research afterwards,
since my goal and the thing I wanted to create was in sight right from the
start. Research helped me understand idents and helped push my work to a higher
level, which is why I was in another creation stage at the end of the research.
Research is done in almost every project, but learning new programs are not.
This is why I took it upon myself to manage my time efficiently. Cost was
another constraint, as I could have created better animations by purchasing
scripts and effect packs, or make my work look better by buying certain fonts.
Another constraint was buying prints. An A1 print cost £8, so two of them would
be £16. I then had 4 A2 prints, so that would rack up to £32 altogether. Certain
websites also cost money to use, such as website builders and similar sites.
My target audience is mainly Aspirers, as a lot of teenagers
and adults are aspirers, and are interested in the modern style of my work.
Today’s style varies a lot, and contains all kinds of art, be it old or new.
This is why retro art and old things are so popular nowadays, as people like to
be reminded of the past. This ties in
with my glitch art, as some parts of it can be linked to the past. For instance,
films like War Games featured computer animation and I like thinking that my
work was influenced from old movies such as this.
Aspirers are usually into action films, and huge flashy
sequences. They are usually into the main trending movies and TV shows at the
current time, and since the current trend is a very urban lifestyle and is
leaning towards futuristic urban style, my glitch effect fits in very well with
this. Movies such as Chappie or Wall E or films set in the future but where
everything is broken are usually followed by many glitchy animations. This is
why I think my design will fit in well with the current trend. I asked many
people about what their honest opinion of my work was, and many of them agreed
with me that it did look like it was futuristic and looked broken, which is exactly
the effect I was going for. I also incorporated smooth animation as well as the
lagging glitch effect, just in case people wanted to see good examples of
normal smooth TV idents.
The research I did on idents went as far as the early
2000’s, as I researched channels such as the BBC and Channel 4. The older
videos did not really influence my decisions, as they were quite outdated. A
lot of the channels I researched used footage in their idents, and rarely used
motion graphics. I had my goal in sight before the research, so the channels
that I looked at were helpful and provided some insight into idents as a
subject, but did not really help me focus on a particular idea.
For this project I learnt so many skills that it would be
almost impossible to write them all down here. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging,
but I learnt the basics of After Effects within a matter of months. I myself don’t see this as much of an
achievement, but I see the creations I have made over the span of a short time as
achievements. After Effects was a very big part of this project, as it essentially
fuelled the project for me, and would have been impossible without it. For
example, I learnt the very basics of how properties are changed to create movement
or animation, which is simply keyframes. A keyframe would be used when you want
to change something, so I will use an example. If I want to change the position
of something, I would put a keyframe when the shape was in its original place, scrub
down the timeline to when I wanted it at the end point, then move the shape to
where I wanted it. I would then set another keyframe there. If I then watched
the animation, I would see the shape move from one place to another. This is
one of the most basic forms of animation on after effects and I am glad and
proud that I progressed so fast and well through it. I also learnt to use
charts within After Effects, such as the graph editor to make animations less
boring and make them ease into their desired movement or positions. I also
learnt how to manage my time better, as rendering would take a very long time
depending on the animation, so this meant I would have to do any work I
desperately needed to do before rendering so when I began rendering I would not
have anything left to do on the computer, thus making it render as fast as
possible. Overall, I went out of my comfort zone in this project and decided to
learn an entirely new program, which will hopefully lead to many opportunities.
Because I created the majority of my work on a computer and
didn’t have any hands-on work, my only health and safety considerations would
be looking at a screen too long. I had to take long breaks from doing work due
to my eyes being exposed to too much artificial bright lighting, which also
caused me headaches at times. Another health and safety risk is my computer. My
computer can get very hot if on for a long time, so I had to make sure my room
was kept cool and I had to render when I switched on my computer rather than 4
or 5 hours later. Another health and safety risk is chair posture, which also
led me to taking long breaks where I wasn’t sitting down on a chair. Hands can
get tired if kept on a mouse or if you keep typing. This was also one of the
many reasons I had to take breaks from work.
I think my work is of a high standard, and all my final
videos have come out the way I want to. The software I used is also used by
many production companies, as it has so many possibilities. My work is quite
strong in sending a message and explains what it is just in a 4 second video.
Another strength I have is that all the movement in my work is smooth and
nothing is tacky or looks like it was made on lower amateur software. The
actual quality of my work is very high, and was rendered in 60 frames a second,
which means incredibly smooth animation and professional standard work. I think
my work is also fit for its purpose, as the purpose was to create an
eye-catching animation for an ident. One of the weaknesses is that there is no
music in the videos, which make them almost boring without any atmosphere. The
middle animation with the glitch effect has glitch sound effects to aid the
video, but there isn’t any actual music.
As time was a constraint, I was not able to put music into
my work. However if I had the chance to do this project again, I would make the
music my priority, as this is what pulls your eye to the screen if you are not
facing it. I would not change the way it looks and would only change the sound,
as this would be a major improvement. I would even consider creating another
animation, as I would only be gaining something if I created another animation.
I assessed my own progress as I went along with the project and
decided what looked good with what. Of course, assessing your own work isn’t as
good as a second opinion, which is why when the group crit took place I was
given some suggestions for animations, such as a request to make them more
urban. I wouldn’t say I fully completed this request, as I am sure they were
also talking about a lot more footage, but I took what they said and acted upon
it, making the group crit a success. I also received a lot of feedback from my
tutors, and used this as constructive criticism. I also put my work next to
others I had found on the internet, which then gave me more ideas and in turn
led me to new things.
The FMP for me was all about motion design. Everyone in the
class that I talked to had never used After Effects, and had never been taught
it. We weren’t being taught how to use the program in class either, so I took
it completely on myself to learn how to use the program. I also chose the
channels by myself by looking at the channels I see most often, as then I would
have a better chance of talking about more, which would lead to more information.
To be perfectly candid, a lot of this project was more about me experimenting
with what I thought about in After Effects. A lot of it was also very
independent, as I created the animations by myself and created most of the
logos by myself. I asked my tutors for a few things and had a lot of support but
created everything purely by myself, with no inside help. Overall, I think I did
a good job with this project and pushed myself further than any other project.
I liked this project, not because I was able to pick anything
I wanted to, but because I chose something I had no idea how to create. It was
also the end of the course, which meant I wanted to give it my all, to finish
off the course with the best work I had ever produced. The work I created for
this FMP is what I think, my best work.