Taylor - Design Essentials for the Motion Media Artist

Design Essentials for the Motion Media Artist

A Practical Guide to Principles & Techniques

Angie Taylor

Focal Press

DESIGN ESSENTIALS FOR THE MOTION MEDIA ARTIST

Front matter

A Practical Guide to Principles & Techniques

ANGIE TAYLOR

AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier

Copyright

Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier

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2011 Angie Taylor. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-240-81181-9

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Printed in China

Dedication

To the memory of Monkey, my darling little pooch who understood my every thought and loved me regardless. To Stanley for being a girls best friend and helping us through a difficult year. To my Mum and Dad for their continued love and support. But most of all to Jo, the love of my lifethis is our book.

Foreword

Rob Chiu | Director

www.theronin.co.uk

Figure F.1 Rob Chiu.

Motion designer and director of film and photography.

www.theronin.co.uk.

The first time I encountered Angie Taylors writing was in 2001 when I read her book Creative After Effects 5.0. Id recently finished a part-time bachelor degree in Graphic Design, and I had decided to explore After Effects on my own. I had been working in various print design agencies in the north of England for four or five years and had quickly grown complacent with the medium. I was always a storyteller at heart, and for my dissertation piece, I had already created my first short film in After Effects 3.1. I put it all together using an old VHS camcorder and a pile of scanned photographs. I boldly decided to embark upon the path of freelancing as a motion designer in the hope that someone would hire me and let me escape the world of static design.

Figure F.2 Dr. Nakamats titles.

Main and end titles for a documentary on the infamous Japanese inventor Dr. Nakamats. Directed by Kaspar Astrup Schrder and produced by Plus Pictures.

www.theronin.co.uk/Motion/?Dr_Nakamats_Titles.mov

At the time, I had probably only two pieces to my name: Journey, which was my degree piece, and a short live action film called Dual/Duel, which was my first experiment with full live action. I had a very basic understanding of how to make things move between point A and point B in After Effects, and when my first live commission came in, I had no idea what I was really doing. One afternoon, I was in a Borders bookstore (that, sadly, no longer exists), and I came across Angies book Creative After Effects 5.0. It was just what I had been looking for. It explained everything to me in simple terminology and also in a way that didnt impose a design style on me or even influence me in any way. It was perfect. I purchased it that day and set off on a mission to learn and master After Effects.

I never did complete my second objective of mastering After Effects, and I still use only the slightly less than basic functionalities of it, but I always refer back to Angies book every time I get stuck on how to do something. For the past ten years, her book (I now use the version 7 edition) has been my guide whenever I get lost (which is often).

Figure F.3 Webbys gala opener.

During a one-month stay in New York, I directed the Webbys gala introductory sequence for Digital Kitchen. As part of a larger package completed by DK for the Webbys awards show, this became the final directors cut version, complete with a Hecq soundtrack. Shot in one day around Manhattan and Brooklyn with a low-key crew, I edited the sequence in New York and sent it to DKs Chicago office for the graphics to be added. It was then returned to me in London for final grading and editing duties. My thanks to Dave Skaff, Abbe Daniel, and Rama Allen for giving me the freedom to see through my vision on this project!

Rob Chiu, Rama Allen, Hecq, Gene Park, Frank Donnangelo, Anthony Vitagliano, Nick Campbell, Jason Esser, Peter Kallstrom, Mike Alfini, Erica Rangel, Abbe Daniel, Andrea Biderman, Josh Hartsoe, Julie Rutigliano, Chris Caiati.

I had never met Angie, and I didnt know anything about her, other than what I had learned through her book. I knew that she was at heart a punk girl and had a very distinct personal style, but that was about all. In 2007 I gave a talk in her hometown of Brighton at a conference for Adobe Flash designers called Flash on the Beach. My work was a little out of place there, as it is not Flash oriented at all, and yet quite a few people attended to hear my presentation and see some of the work I had created over the years.