what did we animate: message received

Message Received from charis poon on Vimeo.
A little girl discovers something magical. (Alternative title: Old School Texting)
Created in Adobe After Effects.

Just completed my Motion Graphics 2 Final. Hurrah! A little sad I won't be taking an animation class next semester — hope I retain my knowledge of After Effects...

what did we animate

For my Motion Graphics 2 class this week we were asked to create an imaginary creature of some sort and practice parenting and expressions in Adobe After Effects while animating our creations. What I came up with was a mystical squid-fish-bird-human hybrid of some sort (tentacles, gills, wings, hands respectively) and the resulting 20 second video above of it flying quietly.

I really enjoyed character creation and would love to dabble into it more. Also, nailing parenting and expressions in AE brought me large amounts of satisfaction. Especially since before figuring it out I spent a good 4 - 5 hours not knowing at all what wasn't working.

(Parenting is the act of linking one elements movements to another - think of it as a child following his / her parent. Expressions is the same thing but with the inclusion of some intuitive "extra" movements AE tacks on to the children elements. That's how those tentacles sway without me going in and animating each individual section.)

Hope you enjoyed the video.

what did we watch: strawberry swing

Strawberry Swing from Matt Clark on Vimeo.

there are so many things i could say about this video. first of all, the claymation and motion graphics, the color and compositions are gorgeous and absolutely excellent in their execution and overall result. the concept of the story is simply unsettling. the segment when the flesh extends makes my skin crawl and makes me want to physically turn away from the video and still keep watching. i think it causes this repulsion because the idea is so...inhuman and surreal.

and the end makes me sad. but i understand that this is the realistic end and that i should appreciate things without....the ultimate satisfaction of neatly tied bows that i so often crave.

thanks to notcot for the link

what did we watch: the beatles

i love this sooo much.
i realize that this was released a month ago but i neither play rockband or frequently youtube. and i don't even listen to that much of the beatles! nick moy - a friend - posted it on his fb and that is how i was made aware of the existence of this rocking (ahahah) trailer for the beatles on rockband.
"i am the walrus"

sweet dreams