For the major project I created an Info-graphic kinetic typography animation based on the online vigilantism; primarily concentrating on the ramifications of online activist anonymous who use hacking as their weapon of choice. The style was based heavily on the style of motion graphics artist: Patrick Clair seen on abc’s hungry beast program.
Info-graphic animations use graphic visual representations to express ideas intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.
Kinetic typography uses animated moving text to represent information and ideas. Adding animated visuals helps to convey and evoke an idea or emotion.
Using both techniques collaboratively creates a certain technique that looks visually pleasing and informative.
The first step to my project was researching anonymous and its history, later condensing the information to fit in the 1.5-minute criteria. Next step was to write up/narrate the script; this was essential to the whole project as the visuals have total dependency on the audio syncing up with the animations.
3D animation appeared throughout my animation regularly and was definitely one of the main effects used for this piece. I modeled logos, electronics and text to convey many of my messages. I chose to use ambient occlusion when rendering out my scene because the ease of use was on par with its visually appeal, and it meant I didn’t have to spend time on UV mapping and texturing.
As a requirement I had to use real footage filmed via camera. I got around this by filming in front of a green screen and later keying out the green. Although the key was not always very accurate, I later went over the key with the rotobrush to rid of any noise. The aim was to create a vector/ silhouette effect similar to the mad men opening sequence.
Animating text was a tedious task, syncing up with the narration was relatively easy; patience was key. I found it difficult to keep thinking of new ways to animate the text throughout the animation, in order to change it up a little.
Other effects used
- 3d layers
- Colour grading (eg. exposure)
- Distortion plugins (eg. ripple)
- Rotobrush
- Keylight 1.2
- Blur (eg. Gaussian blur)
- Time remap
I didn’t have many problems throughout the process of creating this film. Mostly the problem was time, it took a lot longer than expected and looking back may have chosen a simpler topic. One major problem I found was I couldn’t condense the information down enough to 1.5-minutes so I had to trim the final for submission purposes. The extended version can also be seen here within this blog.
Overall I feel like I did well, I’m much happier with my major assessment end result in comparison to my assignment 1. I kept true to my initial pitch and didn’t change the subject matter to my idea at all.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film)
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivist(2012)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177843/
http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/287381,anonymous-to-hack-sony-on-monday.aspx