2H :: KINETIC TYPE :: animation/production

in class: review near-final ideas in small groups. work day. 

crit next class session. see post below for details.

2G :: KINETIC TYPE :: FINAL CRIT REQUIREMENTS

 

again this project is due wednesday october 14.

deliverables:

• one digital file of your animation, 720 x 480, quicktime format.
• filename: lastname_kinetictype.mov
• upload a final of your movie to your blog through vimeo or direct upload.
• place your file in my CAS dropbox: CAS > faculty > tgalloway > public > dropbox

you will have two minutes to present your work and show your movie, and four minutes for comments (about 6 minutes total). your presentation should specifically and directly address what you learned, relative to the project objectives. you will also be responsible for generating discussion on your work, so prepare a few starter questions for your peers. what do you want feedback on?

when discussing what you learned, consider the following examples

average: “i learned that analog motion looks different than digitally-produced motion”
better: “the fluidity of keyframe animation with easing-in gave me the mechanical sense of acceleration that i could not achieve using a hand-generated process”

average: “storyboarding helped me plan out my animation”
better: “my first attempt at production went way longer than planned in my storyboard, so i had to edit my footage down more to fit my original design.”

hopefully you can see much clearer evidence of learning and understanding of the concepts in the “better” examples.

for blogs
make sure you have all the cumulative required data:

• initial word lists and final decision of noun + three verbs
• 30 sketches for selected words, in three separate images -- one verb per image. piece together in photoshop if necessary
• 3 pics of your storyboard sketches
• good photo or screengrab of final storyboard
• semi-final animation test(s)
• final animation

2F :: KINETIC TYPE :: ANIMATION/PRODUCTION

you should be making decent progress on the production of your animation by now. in class we will do some finding and sharing, then have a flash demo on tweening, easing, masking, transparency, etc. (see video below).

afterwards, conduct small group discussions/critiques/help sessions so you can have the benefit of multi-student software/production wisdom. help each other out both conceptually and technically. the remainder of class will be work time.

post to your blogs by next class:
semi-final version of your animation using the little "add video" button on the top of your post input box in blogger. 100 mb max and an example of what it looks like is below. if it's too big, try changing the compression quality in the quicktime settings . try h.264 and set it to "medium quality". your animation needn't be finished -- just post up what you have so far.

this project is due on wednesday october 14. final crit requirements to come.

2E :: KINETIC TYPE :: form making/testing

you should now have the following:

• a final planning document (storyboard) for how you want your animation to flow. 
• a general sense for how long the piece should be. 
• a plan A and plan B for how to execute your kinetic type. 

today we will look at basics of imovie and aftereffects as production tools.

considerations for analog typography 

• how will you generate your typography physically? what materials, spaces, objects?
• how will you capture that in a movie? still camera? video camera? scanner? copier? other? 
• how will it be lit? 
• how will you move it around (camera move, object move, both move)?
• what will you use to move things around? 
• how can you control things so viewers focus on the typo-concept and not how you did it or what you used to do it?
• what is the difference between real-world motion and computer motion? which is most appropriate for your words?

due next class

• review “newton’s laws of motion” lecture over in the sidebar to the right. 
• production work; preparing objects, models, words, and so on. making test movies. you have three more class sessions, then crit. 

in class friday

flash demo: import to library, motion and shape tweens, motion paths, masks, transparency

2D :: KINETIC TYPE :: storyboards

in class we will work in pairs to determine the strongest direction for each of your three actions. when making final decisions, keep in mind how everything goes together both formally and conceptually.


due next class
one 30-frame storyboard that covers your entire animation. using a timer while looking at your rough storyboard, determine how long you want your animation to be. you will start a timer and imagine the animation progressing. do this a few times, writing down the duration each time. you will be making a 30-frame storyboard, so divide your average time by 30. that will tell you the duration of each frame in your storyboard.
examples:
a 1-minute animation, divided by 30 frames = 2 seconds per frame.
a 10-second animation, divided by 30 frames = a frame every .33 seconds (or 3 frames per second).
a 15-second animation, divided by 30 frames = a frame every .5 seconds (or 2 frames per second).

mounting specs for storyboards are here.
import this pdf into an indesign file. position the margins correctly and crop out the titles and measurements. add in your own text. drop in scans on a layer underneath the template or carefully draw in images after printing out. this is an 11 x 17 print. do not mount but make sure it is of good quality.

have a solid plan for how to produce your kinetic type: materials, processes, etc. a “plan B” is always a smart idea, so have that also.

post to your blogs by next class session
- 3 pics of your rough storyboards from friday's class
- good image of your final storyboard

2c :: KINETIC TYPE :: transitions

take a macro view of your mass of sketches and look for treatments of words that might be linked together nicely with your existing animation. this linking could be done conceptually, formally, or both. identify three actions that you can link, and begin working out transitions between word and image or word and word.

considerations

• which actions are extending the meaning of the narrative rather than re-stating what is already told in the image sequence? 
• what are the possible categories of juxtaposing of type and image over time? examples: simultaneous text/image, sequential text/image. are there others? 
• what sequence of text and images might narrate a new story in an interesting way? 
• how might the nature of the transition itself be meaningful? 

at some point during class, let’s regroup and take 15 minutes to share initial brainstorms about how our transitions are working.

at this point you should be refining your initial ideas both formally and conceptually. typeface choice/lettering style, quality of motion, composition, color, etc should be taking shape now. these ideas can be produced in flash, but i would recommend attempting to produce them in some analog fashion. be creative here -- that’s your job as a designer, to create amazing and original ideas. work within the 3:2 aspect ratio, or 720 px x 480 px (6” x 4” in print).

homework for next class 

read “moving type” pp 46-63, available as an e-reserve from the library.
- go to the kcai library website
- at the bottom of the page, click “retrieve by instructor name” under “course reserves”
- type in “galloway”
- select the narrative class
- type in your name and info. our course password is “narrative”.
- click on “view image of: moving type” it’s a pdf file.

produce three different ROUGH directions for how your text might combine with your current “image duration” animation. use whatever method is fastest for rendering your previous images -- drop existing scans into a storyboard template, trace them in pencil/pen, or whatever. then show how the type could behave in relation to the imagery.

post to your blogs by next class 

• initial word lists and final decision of noun + three verbs 
• 30 sketches for selected verbs, in three separate images -- one verb per image. piece together in photoshop if necessary

IF YOU DON'T WATCH THIS VIDEO YOU ARE A LOSER

Typophile Film Festival 5 Opening Titles from Brent Barson on Vimeo.

2B :: KINETIC TYPE :: brainstorming

once you have a single direction decided upon, work on expanding your motion ideas in both breadth and depth. try to come up with more ideas as well as roughly storyboarding those ideas out over five frames to show the idea’s progression. these can be digital or analog, but analog is probably less restrictive -- use your discretion and don’t restrict yourself by using only digital tools.

considerations

is this exposition, narration, or description (argument and drama are probably not appropriate here)? how does that shape typeface/lettering choice, color choice, motion quality, character, etc?

what is the duration of your action in the real world? how does that affect its representation in your work? will you remain consistent with actual elapsed time, or change for clarity or dramatic effect?

what is the quality of the motion you are depicting? how is that conveyed through the elements of design and not just the motion itself?

for next class
add five new ideas to each of your verb ideas, for a total of 30 sketches -- 10 sketches per verb. each sketch should consist of a five frame storyboard.

2A :: KINETIC TYPE :: action/object concepting

while the first project looked at image, duration, and editing to create a narrative, project two will focus on the text communication channel and the temporal elements of motion and transition. you will name objects from your activity and use that typographic name to communicate an action through motion over time on the screen. that typography in motion will be edited together with project one to develop a more complex narrative. 

project objectives

• interpret principles of 2-d design within temporal media 
• learn the basics of story boarding to convey movement, direction, the passage of time and mood 
• explain how messages are constructed over time 
• develop a range of form generation methods from analog to digital 
• explain the differences and qualities of digital and analog motion 
• apply the communicative potential of the various temporal elements (duration, motion, and transition) and communication channels (image, text, voice, music, sound effects) to classroom projects 
• apply knowledge of proper planning and creative processes (ideation, story boarding, writing, file management, editing, and presenting) to classroom projects 

as the foundation of your typographic narrative, you will identify by name a couple of objects (nouns) that can engage in three actions (verbs) that are related to your activity in some way. 

examples for my activity “playing guitar” 

object (noun) = “strings”; actions (verbs) = “bend”, “vibrate” and “break” 

object = “guitar pick”; actions = “flex”, “slap” and “scrape” 

carefully consider the relationship of your nouns to your existing “motion capture” project. should the relationship be explicit or implicit? should your words seek to specify or expand meanings? 

color and typeface/lettering choice is open on this project. while choosing typefaces or lettering style, look closely at the form and detail of the letters and think about their formal relationship to your words before choosing. attempt to visualize a formal connection between the chosen type and the object words which function conceptually as a unit. read and think about what your three event/movement words mean. begin sketching ways to animate the letters of your object word to reflect the event/movement ideas. DO NOT consider how this might be done within the software. that is a dangerous limiter of creativity. 

homework: 

1. noun + 3 verbs 
2. noun + 3 verbs 
3. a range of appropriate typefaces or lettering styles for each noun 
4. five thumbnails (min) for each verb, visualizing a frame or two of how the animation might develop; 30 sketches (min) total. sketches do not have to be done within frames of a storyboard, they should be much looser than storyboards and explore as many visual ideas as possible. 

during next class session, you will be choosing one of those object words to create your narrative, consisting of three actions.