pilgrim

Overlooking how silly the movie looks, I realized that it had some great application of type. Check out the shots at 0:27, 0:30, 0:32, 0:39-0:40, 0:51,  and 1:04-1:07.

To recap, the movie is based on a comic book series heavily sprinkled with pop culture and video game references. A ton of the actions here are supplemented with some great onomatopoeia that really feel integrated. There were also some neat effects like the VS text, indicating a fight scene. The way they come in and out of the scene are also noteworthy, just with the way the work really well with the rest of the objects in the frame.

None of this is particularly noteworthy to the project at hand, but when I do get back to typography/live action, I’m keeping those things in mind.

orientation

I’ll post up test shots in another post, so I’ll explain the premise here.

I’m doing an Orientation video of sorts, elaborating on the nature of time and narrative in the show Lost. It’s not as heady as it might sound. The show operates by alternating between present on-island events with flashbacks on specific characters, often relevant to the current situation. As the show has progressed it included the flashforwards as a new device. But besides these devices, several characters have actually experienced different forms of time travel, either consciousness or physical travel, which have drastically shifted the notion of the show’s “present” over time. I wanted to represent these aspects of the show, which has given it its charm and uniqueness.

The project is visually inspired by the Dharma Initiative videos, which appear occasionally throughout the series, serving as introduction and explanation of certain institutions on the island. I want to use the idea of a jumping film reel playing on a projector to visually interpret  jumping across time through the various “flashes” of the show. It’ll also appear like a piece shot on film, with a rough sepia tone, and scratches on the surface.

the swan

I’ve got an idea for Project 2. It’s Lost-related, and still very much in the early stages. I did some sketches that I’ll scan later this week, but the image below is the closest thing I can find to visualizing the idea on short notice:

It’ll deal with iconic locations of the show, and possibly the characters, using typography as both a setting and expression. Might be using hand-drawn or organic type, depending on the extent of the work involved.

blink twice

Project 1 for Type in Motion.

watch while i compress

Project 2′s coming up soon. I’m really hoping to do a music video of sorts using organic typography (read: not digital) but with the time constraints and a lack of a full-fledged idea, it’s getting less and less likely. I decided to take a look at some other type-based music videos to get me started.

Cibo Matto – Sugar Water
Not necessarily type-intensive but did some interesting things with splitscreen, time reversal and mirroring. I’m a big fan of Michel Gondry, who directed this video, and he’s often got cool idea like these in his other stuff. Definitely the beginning/ending and middle of the video which incorporate text is something to consider that don’t use digital type but make use of camera trickery.

Justice – D.A.N.C.E

Justice – DVNO

Kanye West – Good Life
All three videos were created by French artist So-Me (ironically, a theme in the music videos I’ve found for this post), and have a lot more to do with typography, especially Kanye’s video. These definitely fall more in the vein of digital, but something to shoot for in making expressive characters. I especially dig the type coming out of their mouths, but feeling very loose and natural.

A-Z Experiment Typography
This just blew my mind when I saw it. I’ve seen the effect before, applying a mixture on top of speakers running a consistent sound to gain a strange effect, but to include more objects not so much. But definitely the use of foreign objects, in this case the alphabet, was made to good use in terms of integration. I’d really love to do something like this as an experimental piece rather than a music video, both because I’d think the concept would fizzle out quickly.

blink

http://vimeo.com/9730987

http://vimeo.com/9775976

http://vimeo.com/9776051

Short tests for motion tracking, text, video, and transitions for Project 1, currently titled as “Blink”.

enter the void

DEFINITELY watch this in HD.

This clip is the opening credits to the film “Enter the Void” by Gaspar Noe. I saw the film at TIFF last year after hearing a lot of buzz about it, and is in my opinion one of, if not the best, movies of 2009. But that’s something to discuss later. The reason I bring this up is just the utilization of an extraordinary amount of type, a barrage of visual and text to the screen.

The film explores hallucinations, out-of-body experiences, the afterlife, and the neon-soaked city of Tokyo, which explains the reasoning for the credit sequence. The version during TIFF didn’t have any music, but as far as I can tell, the visual treatment stays relatively the same. I realize this doesn’t really fall under type in motion, but I think the use of multiple fonts and colours and sizes really create a unique appearance that effectively presents what to expect from the rest of the film.

One thing I noticed on multiple replays is the use of length to highlight importance in the sequence. At first glance, text appears rapidly in a disorienting manner, but for people such as the director and main cast, while they have multiple text treatments of their name, they have more renditions that lead to a longer time on screen.

And for those curious, the strobing effect is a directorial style seen in previous films, used as a psychedelic effect.

the conversation

This motion graphic piece is my take on The Conversation, part of Exercise 3 for Type in Motion. The source for my audio came from an episode of the TV show Community, an ensemble comedy show set in a community college. The scene involved multiple people in a conversation revolving around one character. This led to using different colours and typefaces for each person to match with their personalities. Depth became important in revealing the group aspect of the conversation, as they all gang up on one person. In the latter half of the conversation, there are recurring words and phrases said by different people, which led to the flipping effect, using the same words, but changed to the appropriate character’s colour and font.

star crawl

cary grant

Really interesting movie openings that deal with linear graphics. The first one has some really basic type movement that follow along a maze graphic. The second one transitions from a green background to a real-life skyscraper, retaining the angle and movement of the text.