One more motion graphics.

Dan Meyer's 2009 Annual Report from Dan Meyer on Vimeo.


Just discovered this little beaut online while panning across my usual sites. Great motion graphics but with just simple motions and strong colour use.

Distortion effects

http://ae.tutsplus.com/tutorials/vfx/create-an-old-tv-footage-effect/

One of the tutorials found on the internet to add effects to footage on after effects, to recreate the effect of old footage on a computer such as noise, flickers and distortion. I want to recreate graphics of the era in AE but they would look to crisp on their own. This has been useful.

Killer Soundtracks

One of the reasons I love Tarantino films so much is the excellent choice of songs for the soundtracks in his films, written and directed by the same man shows the dedication and ownership of the film, getting the whole experience. Soundtracks for the idents will be key to getting the right feel. A couple sample songs for possible use.

Jackie Brown

Title: Jackie Brown

Date: 1997

Genre: Crime, Heist.

Plot Summary: A female flight attendant becomes a key figure in a plot between the police and an arms dealer. ‘Six players on the trail of a half a million in Cash. There's only one question... Who's playing who?’

Feel: Smooth, slick, clever.

Key Characters: Jackie Brown, Ordell Robbie, Max Cherry, Ray, Melanie. 

Key Scenes + Quotes:

Louis: Who's that?

Ordell Robbie: That's Beaumont.

Louis: Who's Beaumont?

Ordell Robbie: An employee I had to let go.

Louis: What'd he do?

Ordell Robbie: He put himself in a position where he was going to have to do ten years in prison, that's what he did. And if you know Beaumont, you know ain't no god damn way he can do ten years. And if you know that, then you know Beaumont's gonna do anything Beaumont can to keep from doing them ten years, including telling the federal government any and every motherfucking thing about my black ass. Now that my friend is a clear cut case of him or me. And you best believe it ain't gonna be me.

Ordell Robbie: [Ordell has bailed Beaumont out of jail] Look at you and your free ass. Come here, boy, gimme a motherfuckin' hug.

Beaumont: Good lookin' out, man. I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you...

Ordell Robbie: Uh-huh. Who was there for your ass?

Beaumont: You were there for my ass.

Ordell Robbie: Who?

Beaumont: You.

Ordell Robbie: Who?

Beaumont: You!

Ordell Robbie: Whooo?

Beaumont: You nigga, damn!

Ordell Robbie: You goddamn right. That's how that shit works: you get your ass in trouble, I get your ass out. That's my motherfuckin' job. And I don't mind telling you, nigga, it's steady work.

Tarantino Interview:

Inspirations:

Rum Punch

Opening Sequence:

Seventies identity.

To have a better understanding of seventies graphics, I found a selection of logos on flickr compiled from what looked like a book of different examples over the alphabet, really comprehensive. They can be found here.

A few favourites, love the direct simplicity of the vector graphics, but they feel much more original without the soulless examples of vector logos today.

Exploitation Film

Taken from wikipedia, but checked with a dictionary-

Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex, violence, romance, etc. An exploitation film, however, relies heavily on sensationalist advertising and broad and lurid overstatement of the issues depicted, regardless of the intrinsic quality of the film. Very often, exploitation films are of low quality in every sense.^[1] However, this has not always been the case. Exploitation films sometimes attract critical attention and cult followings.

Films advertised in a exploitation style glorifies the film in different ways, here are some great examples of posters.

Loud, bright, loud tech art house style graphics.

Could be seen as hilarious, but has the desired effect.

The poster for the 'Grindhouse' campaign. Same style, and works really well. the low quality style works well with the ready distorted poster and variations in typefaces that somehow work well together. The exploitation style will only really work for the film originally intended, which is Death Proof.. so this will be taken into consideration.

Seventies Media

The VHS tape was created in seventies, and the format of the time, wouldn't it be good to continue the entire 70's theme though to DVD menu and packaging? A few examples of the media of the time to be interpreted into the design, possibly a film reel dvd menu? old styled button pressing and sound effects.

Digital readouts?

Buttons to light up on overlay in the menus?

TV idents

Test Cards

Reservoir Dogs

Title: Reservoir Dogs

Date: 1992

Genre: Heist, Gang, Thriller

Plot Summary: After a simple jewelery heist goes terribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.

Feel: Black Comedy, Tense, Violence, Brutal

Key Characters: Mr White, Mr Orange, Mr Blonde, Nice Guy Eddie, Mr Pink, Mr Brown, Joe

Key Scenes + Quotes:

Mr. Orange: What happens if the manager won't give you the diamonds?

Mr. White: When you're dealing with a store like this, they're insured up the ass. They're not supposed to give you any resistance whatsoever. If you get a customer, or an employee, who thinks he's Charles Bronson, take the butt of your gun and smash their nose in. Everybody jumps. He falls down screaming, blood squirts out of his nose, nobody says fucking shit after that. You might get some bitch talk shit to you, but give her a look like you're gonna smash her in the face next, watch her shut the fuck up. Now if it's a manager, that's a different story. Managers know better than to fuck around, so if you get one that's giving you static, he probably thinks he's a real cowboy, so you gotta break that son of a bitch in two. If you wanna know something and he won't tell you, cut off one of his fingers. The little one. Then tell him his thumb's next. After that he'll tell you if he wears ladies underwear. I'm hungry. Let's get a taco.

Joe: He was the only one I wasn't 100% on. I should have my fuckin' head examined, going on a plan like this when I wasn't 100%.

Mr. White: [shouting] That's your proof?

Joe: You don't need proof when you have instinct.

Tarantino Interview:

http://www.beckerfilms.com/reserve.html

Inspirations:

Get Carter, City On fire

Kill Bill

Title: Kill Bill

Date: 2003

Genre: Martial Arts, Revenge

Plot Summary: The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her - a team she was once part of.

Feel: Raw, Bloody violence, crisp, tense, powerful,

Key Characters: The Bride, Bill, O-Ren Ishii, Elle Driver, Budd, Vernita Green.

Key Scenes + Quotes:

Bill: Do you find me sadistic? You know, I bet I could fry an egg on your head right now, if I wanted to. You know, Kiddo, I'd like to believe that you're aware enough even now to know that there's nothing sadistic in my actions. Well, maybe towards those other... jokers, but not you. No Kiddo, at this moment, this is me at my most...

[cocks pistol]

Bill: masochistic.

The Bride: Bill... it's your baby...

[BLAM!]

Tarantino Interview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auIn_TTuJhQ&feature=related

Inspirations:

Lady SnowBlood, Master Killer, Fist of Fury

See the comparisons in Movie poster, influence is taken right down to the Graphic Design Produced.

Death Proof

Title: Death Proof

Date: 2007

Genre: Exploitation/Car chase

Plot Summary: Two separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans.

Feel: Dark, Black humour, gore/horror. Carchase, exploitation. 70's Feel. The Introduction to death proof, which actually starts around 20 seconds in. Displaying the use of 70s vintage logos, typefaces and film distortion, Something that could continue well across

Key Characters: Stuntman Mike, Zoe, Jungle Julia, Arlene

Key Scenes + Quotes:

Stuntman Mike: Well, Pam... Which way you going, left or right?

Pam: Right!

Stuntman Mike: Oh, that's too bad...

Pam: Why?

Stuntman Mike: Because it was a fifty fifty shot on wheter you'd be going left or right. You see we're both going left. You could have just as easily been going left, too. And if that was the case... It would have been a while before you started getting scared. But since you're going the other way, I'm afraid you're gonna have to start getting scared... immediately!

Stuntman Mike: [as he drives] Hey, Pam, remember when I said this car was death proof? Well, that wasn't a lie. This car is 100% death proof. Only to get the benefit of it, honey, you REALLY need to be sitting in my seat.

[slams his boot to the brake and sends Pam flying face-first into the dashboard]

Stuntman Mike: [handing Arlene and Jungle Julia beers] Cheers, Butterfly. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. And I have promises to keep. Miles to go before I sleep. Did you hear me, Butterfly? Miles to go, before you sleep.

Jungle Julia: Sorry, Stuntman Burt...

Stuntman Mike: [angrily interrupting her] Mike.

Jungle Julia: Mike. She already broke off that dance.

Stuntman Mike: Is that true? Did I... miss my chance?

[Arlene doesn't respond]

Stuntman Mike: Do I frighten you?

[Arlene silently nods]

Stuntman Mike: Is it my scar?

Arlene: It's your car.

Tarantino Interview:

Death Proof interview

'But then the thing I like so much about slasher films are the things that make them limiting. They’re all the same, and that’s actually part of their charm. It’s a perfect genre for subtext. That’s why you can do so much subtextual film criticism on them, because they follow the same pattern. And to f*** with the pattern too much is to f*** with the genre too much. I was like: “OK, that would then make this too self-reflexive.” It would be too much of a reflex exercise to do that. So I thought: “How can I do it my way and get what I want out of it?”

Also, breaking off from the whole slasher film, I realised I’d never really done an exploitation movie before. Even though we spent a lot of time shooting it, I wanted to have that opportunity, as if I was doing this in 1977, on a 20-day schedule. It started reminding me of the kind of movies I could imagine I would have made back in the 70s, something like The Candy Snatcher (1973), an exploitation movie that has all these weird elements.'

Inspirations: Vanishing Point, Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), Bullitt, The Candy Snatcher (1973)

Assassins Creed 2

My housemate recently bought Assassin's Creed II for the xbox360, and I was instantly impressed especially with the menu design. The video above displays the menus in action at the beginning and talks of its design related to the game storyline. The flow from menu step to menu step seemed seamless and simple to navigate. Beautiful.

If that doesn't work, click here

First Direct

First Direct Banking
Watch the ad...

Probably the first advert that grabbed my attention for motion graphics. I wasn't sure 100% what motion graphics was, or how to produce it, but I knew from there I wanted to produce some. With moving type in the same way we all read subtitles, we always focus more on what is being said if its in writing in front of us, and this advert works really well. The black and white simplifies the information, but still grabs your attention with the differences in movement, to keep you interested.

James Bond - Motion Graphics

Incredible films with incredible motion graphic title sequences. The Manipulation of type is beautiful here, revealing key actors and information seamlessly withe sound track.

really memorable motion graphics with lots happening on screen, the duplication of glyphs and symmetry is really nice.