Animations and Motion Graphics

The term Motion Graphics designates the art of animating graphic elements and applying visual effects to create dynamic and engaging content. Characterized by an essential and direct style, this technique is used for animated introductions, music videos, moving text, banner ads, and other visual projects that combine animation and design to achieve a powerful communicative impact.
There are a variety of techniques for making animations, and often the combination of simplicity and creativity results in stunning, high-impact effects, even without using advanced software dedicated to animation.

The crow and the fox

In the process of completing my Bachelor's degree in Visual Communication, at DACD SUPSI and given my passion for artistic activities, I had chosen to illustrate Aesop's tale, "The Raven and the Fox," to accompany my thesis.

I did not want to perform a paper illustration, but to carry out a course that would make use of today's virtual techniques, analyzed on the Internet and taken from the world of Apps, dealing with the related difficulties and then availing myself of the advantages and being able to overcome the disadvantages of this screen-based world.

After various researches, I have deduced that these digital products are largely aimed at entertainment; only a small number, in fact, serve an educational function, stimulating learning.

In general, people read less and less and, in order to satisfy the need for the imaginative, inherent in the human mind, they spontaneously enter the world of video games and entertainment actions, which are much more appealing and easy to approach. However, one should not exaggerate in demonizing them: they are still the new means, made available by technological progress and, the real question is, “How to use them intelligently?”
If we are talking about balanced adults, who use them without becoming slaves to them, the question does not exist, but, if we dissect the issues related to childhood, adolescence and adults who do not know how to set limits for themselves, then the questions expand exponentially.

I will examine here, the children's approach.

I clarify, however, that my goal was not to produce an entertainment video game, but rather to offer a fable, which would stimulate and satisfy children's curiosity in an entertaining and cultural technological journey, aimed primarily at encouraging reading and learning. There is, therefore, and even the addition of more complex words, precisely to arouse curiosity and feel the need to understand and memorize new concepts, which help progress.

The creative path, in the production of sounds and images aimed at children's audiences, is much more complex, compared to products intended for adult audiences, precisely because of the delicacy of the content and approaches due, which impose serious reflections on the affective involvement of the little ones and the most appropriate language to use. In children's eyes, the world is magical, and this valence will be reflected in their lives. It is a must, therefore, to try to enrich their vocabulary, aesthetic taste and arouse positive and unforgettable emotions, full of affectivity.

I also wished to transpose into the virtual world, and to the extent possible, the emotions felt in leafing through, in tangible reality, a volume we particularly like.
Who does not remember with nostalgia the fantastic dives into one's favorite storybook before falling asleep? There was a feeling of security and joy, strengthening one's confidence in the present and in tomorrow.
Is it possible, I wondered, that this virtually illustrated fairy tale imprints similar memories and feelings in the minds of little ones?
Taking one's favorite book from a shelf, leafing through it, contemplating its illustrations, and reading it mentally or aloud are actions performed in three-dimensionality, involving all the senses. Could I translate, at least in part, this pleasure onto two-dimensional digital screens? Not an easy operation, but it was worth a try.
This fairy tale would be read and viewed by clicking on certain areas, so as to generate actions, instead of virtually flipping through its pages, an action perhaps more tedious and repetitive. By pressing their fingers on specific places, the greater would have been their engagement and also their involvement. This would have induced children to make better use of technology.
If you open a book, a whole world opens up… if you make a click, what worlds and what possibilities would have opened up?

As I proceeded in the realization of this project, I realized the strong difference of printed illustrative paths, compared to digital ones. In print illustration, scenes are drawn and painted one after another, in a static way, whereas, in digital storytelling, the space is traversed by camera movements, which change and expand the reading and even the rhythm. One does not just read the story, but travels through it, reaching certain points where places and characters are encountered. Almost a flight over all the images, flight that can be easily traveled in all directions. Perhaps this virtual "flight" corresponds to the speed of the mind to produce connections, reach insights and produce images of its own, in a unique and original interpretation of the fables offered?
I think the human mind is superior in creating further visions, stimulated first with whatever support. Is it perhaps from there that future memories of sensations we perceive as extraordinary will arise? Not an easy field, but a compelling one.
And is it better for the child's imagination to be shown the pictures of the stories created by the illustrators, or to hear only the words, so that they can work out their own images, then expressed then only in part in the children's drawings, leaving them, only them with that baggage of hidden dreams? I remember with joy the readings of children's books, accompanied by a few lightly colored illustrations, prompting me to “fabricate” other scenes that I jealously guarded in my heart.
What would I have achieved with this virtual fairy tale?
I wanted, as well, to enrich children's language by tying it to specific images.

A fairy tale can be read in a book or heard narrated by a voice or, again, be viewed through an animation, accompanied by ambient sounds or music that emphasize the salient moments.
Aesthetic and technical aspects can contribute to arousing curiosity, exploiting attractive effects to stimulate amazement and learning to read.
I believe that when one starts reading, it is important to be relaxed and intrigued: a product with an intriguing story with an interesting stylistic choice can make one forget the difficult approach to reading.

The ending of this virtual fable leaves choices open: either Aesop's solution or the overpowering of one character over the other.
In addition, the user is left with the option of choosing the point of view of a specific character and viewing the evolution of the plot from his or her subjective perspective, thus expanding the educational offerings of this fable.
One can identify with either the raven or the fox.
For the raven, these are broad panoramic views seen from the sky and, for the fox, fleeting movements, watched with cunning eyes in the bushes to seize the best moment to be able to steal the piece of cheese.
Good and evil thus become relative because, in the struggle for survival among animals, one cannot judge by human parameters, even though Aesop's tale has anthropomorphic values.
It changes, therefore, the moral of the fable.

It would be interesting to produce a series of similar stories using 3D animation softwares, such as Maya or Cinema 4D. I preferred to use After Effect, because it allows faster results.
To enrich, complement and study this product further, it would be interesting to be able to view it in other media: paper, digital screens, virtual text or paper without images and even sound… These would be innovative ways of conceiving and disseminating fairy tales.

Typography in motion

This motion graphics, represents one minute of a song “La Guitarra” by “los Autenticos Decadentes” and the lyrics were animated with After Effect according to the rhythmic beat of the song. Before starting to animate the typography, I looked for a graphic style that would represent well the character and spirit of the song. As a background, I included a texture of a wall because digital projects often lack a sense of material and can have like a feeling of emptiness and unfinished. When carrying out a graphic design for print, we have papers and different printing techniques that allow us to further strengthen the quality and sensory experience of communicative artifacts. Just think of how a slightly yellowed paper can make reading smoother because unlike a white paper it allows the eye to be slightly more relaxed. Or how sometimes the slightly embossed name of a wine can make the product more valuable and prestigious.

In digital graphicsthese aspects are lost and it is easy to perceive this feeling of emptiness and unfinishedness, and to remedy these problems often requires helping with textures or trying to make the design more textural and engaging.

For the animated texts, I chose two types of fonts: a Helvetica and a Rockwell with some of their variants of “Light” and “Bold.” I had felt that using only one typeface lacked contrasts and the result would be more monotonous.

This animation was made with fairly simple techniques; it involves zooming, rotating and moving from right to left and from top to bottom. In some instances I made use of the 3D layer to avoid falling into monotony, but other than that there are no overly high technical difficulties. I believe that for an animation to be effective it does not have to be too complex, even with simplicity you can get very effective results, the important thing is to have very precise and well-structured ideas.