Research & Design Document
Semester: AVI Course: AVID Docent: Cindy Vermeulen Student: Alexa van de Wall Studentennummer: 512993 Date: 31-08-2016 Version: 1
Table of Content Introduction 3 Research 4 Topic 4 Target group 5 Design possibilities 5 Personal Vision 8 Moodboard 8
Design 9
Concept 9 Sketches 9 Storyboard 12 Use of color 13 Use of Audio 15 Conclusion 16
Realization 17 Reflection 18 References 22
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Introduction My name is Alexa van de Wall. I study Communication and Multimedia Design (CMD) at the Hogeschool Arnhem and Nijmegen (HAN). This year I am catching up on the semester AVI, in particular of the course AVI-D. My assignment for this course is to design and realize a motion graphic based on a poem. With Cindy Vermeulen’s approval I am not using a poem but a short article. Within this document I will be two main topics the ‘Research’ and the ‘Design’. The research portion of this document will describe the article I want to use to realize the motion graphic, I will have to research the target group, and based on those two topics I will research design possibilities. As a conclusion I will add my personal vision on the topic and visualize this with a moodboard. In the design chapter I will describe the concept I have in mind. I will make sketches and draw out a storyboard to give a visual idea of my concept, I will then do some research of possible use of color and audio. In the end I will see which ones will work best with my concept and in my conclusion I will show some visual examples. I will also be writing a chapter on the realization of this assignment in terms of which programs will be needed to achieve this, what the expected hours will be and on estimation on the costs.
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Research Topic I will be making my motion graphic based on the Creation of the Aztecs. Aztec Origins Myth At the beginning of the world there was only darkness, void. Creation began when the dual Ometecuhtli (Lord of Duality) / Omecihuatl (Lady of Duality) created itself. This first god was good and bad, male and female, and gave birth to four other gods: Huizilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec . These gods created the world. The first things created by Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli were fire and a half sun. They then undertook the creation of humanity by sacrificing a god whose blood drops on a mass of ground-up bones produced the first man and woman, named Oxomoco and Cipactonal respectively. The birth of each took 4 days. After the creation of man, the gods continued creating the lords of the underworld, the heavens and waters, a crocodile-like water creature named Cipactli, and the rain god Tlaloc and his wife Chalchiuhtlicue. When the initial creation was completed, a cycle of 5 suns followed which corresponded to 5 world ages, each one ending in destruction. According to the Aztecs, we are currently on the 5 th sun of the creation.
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Target Audience My target audience is the youth between the ages of 15 - 18. I want the motion graphic to be informative.
Design & Possible Styles Before I start designing my motion graphic I am going to research different design and style possibilities. I will do this by analyzing different motion graphics that I find on the Internet.
Shapes in motion
Pavlov, P. (2011, 26 maart). Shapes in Motion [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https://vimeo.com/16153664
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Motion Graphics Reel 2013
Misra, A. (2013, 26 maart). ANUBHAV MOTION GRAPHICS REEL 2013 [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https ://vimeo.com/15880977
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Motion Reel 2012
Pavlov, P. (2011, 26 maart). Shapes in Motion [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https://vimeo.com/16153664
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Personal Vision After analyzing the different ways of making 3D layered motion graphic I have come to the conclusion on how I want to make mine. I really like the idea of contrast between styles. For example I could use different types of shadings to distinguish the foreground and background. Next to the voice-over I will use music and sound effects to support my motion graphic.
Moodboard
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Design Concept The motion graphic is to be informative. The pictures will support the story being told by the voiceover. I want the motion graphic to be as accurate as possible. I want to use colors and designs that were used by the Aztecs. I want the viewer to recognize the designs and where they come from without being told directly. Also there was a lot of use of vivid colors, so I would also like to use vivid colors in my motion graphic.
Sketches
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These sketches show the style I want to implement although I will not be using this particular drawing style I will instead be using a tighter drawing style. I will be using watercolor brushes to color in the drawings giving the designs a more playful look. Below are two drawings from the current motion graphic.
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Storyboard I will use as low-end storyboard to help me organize the images I want to use to tell my story and in which order I want to use them in.
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Use of Color For inspiration I used the Internet to find color pallets. I searched for bright color pallets with a lot of contrast because those color patterns were repeatedly used in Aztec dr awings and art.1 2
Pallet 1
Pallet 2
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Pallet 4
Pallet 5
Pallet 6
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Use of Audio Because I need to use audio that is royalty free I will use a website where I know the audio has a creative commons license; www. freemusicarchive.org After searching through the sites databases I found three songs I feel could potentially fit the motion graphic. Chris Zabriskie – It’s Glowing Red Hot Chris Zabriskie – Remember Trees Chris Zabriskie – We Were Never Meant to Live Here To be able to make a decision on which music to use I will wai until I have a draft version of the motion graphic and place the songs underneath the animation. This way I can see/hear which song fits the motion graphic best.
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Conclusion Color: After looking at all the different color pallets I’ve decided to use all of the ones listed above in the chapter color. I think these colors work well together and will give each seen a unique look. Audio: After listening to all three songs in combination with the motion graphic I’ve decided to go with Chris Zabriskie – We Were Never Meant to Live Here Here is a link to the motion graphic (draft version) in the video the motion graphic is played three times with the different songs for comparison. https://vimeo.com/192940693 (password: muziek) End Concept: In the picture below you can see a screenshot of a scene from my motion graphic. In this particular scene I used a combination of pallet 1 & 4. You can also see the exact drawing style and water brush I will be using throughout the motion graphic, as is explained in chapter sketches.
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Realization Programs To be able to make this assignment the following programs are needed. Adobe Illustrator Adobe After Effects Adobe Premiere Pro
Estimated Hours Design Animation Montage
52 hours 60 hours 15 hours
Total 127 hours
Price Program use €24,Designer per hour €25,- per hour Estimated price for assignment €3.199,- excl. btw
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Reflection Research To be able to design a motion graphic based on Aztec mythology I needed to first narrow down the target group otherwise the subject would be too broad, so I decided to make this motion graphic for a youthful target audience between the ages of 15 – 18. Also I wanted this to be an informative motion graphic so the facts had to be accurate. I started by researching the Aztec Gods. I found a website on with on article on Aztec Creations myth.3 I used this article to lead my motion graphic. To be able to give the animation an authentic feel I searched online for Aztec art. I used these pictures to influence my designs and color pallet. An important piece of the motion graphic is the scene on the four gods. I do not name them but I needed a way to show which gods they were so I searched for there symbols online and made sure they were presented along side them.
Huitzilopochtli (God War, Sun and Sacrafice) The name literally means something like “Hummingbird(‘s) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huitzilopochtli
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Tezcatlipoca associated with a wide range of concepts, including the night sky, the night winds, hurricanes, the north, the earth, obsidian, enmity, discord, rulership, divination, temptation, jaguars, sorcery, beauty, war and strife. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezcatlipoca
Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl
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Xipe Totec (Our Lord the Flayed One) God of life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, vegetation, the east, disease, spring, goldsmiths, silversmiths, liberation and the seasons. Sometimes seen with an elite eagle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xipe_Totec Once I was done with a general research on Aztec mythology I wrote my personal vision on the subject and supported it with a moodboard for visual underpinning. I feel that my research went well. I got a good idea for my final design.
Design Putting the design document together wasn’t too much work after completing the research document. I started by writing a concept and drawing some sketches. Once I was done with that I needed to make a storyboard. This was convenient to have during the production of this assignment because it gave me a visual aid.
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To be able to give the animation an authentic feel I searched online for Aztec art. I used the pictures I found to influence my designs and color pallets.
Not an unimportant subject was the music. I needed to find the right song to support the images. I needed music that could be used online. So I needed to find music with certain Creative Commons. Because the music would be used to fill the silent gaps it was important to find the right song to carry the otherwise deafening silence. After shifting through many different songs it finally came down to three potential songs. To help me make my decision I let different people around the age of 15-18 watch/listen to my draft version of the motion graphic. The choice in the end was unanimous and the result is to be heard in the final product.
Realization Proces Next to my school work I also as an independent video editor. For me it’s not too hard to set up an invoice. The only difference now is that I had to make an invoice for an animator and not an editor. I know the prices for the programs I use and the amount I would ask per hour. But these where knew programs for me and I wasn’t quite sure hoe much an animator would ask per hour. So I looked it up on the Internet and combined the prices I found with my own asking price. The total seemed to me to be fair enough.
Outcome As a result of my research and design document I feel like I was able to create an informative motion graphic on the Aztec mythology. I had a really hard time creating what I had pictured in my head. I may have slightly under estimated the work put into making a motion graphic with the use of a camera layer. I did learn a lot about using a camera layer in After Effects but I hope the next time I do a similar project to put more time and effort in the technique as well as in the contents. Even with that being said I am content with the result of the motion graphic.
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References Shapes in motion
Pavlov, P. (2011, 26 maart). Shapes in Motion [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https:// vimeo.com/16153664
Motion Graphics Reel 2013
Misra, A. (2013, 26 maart). ANUBHAV MOTION GRAPHICS REEL 2013 [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https ://vimeo.com/15880977
Motion Reel 2012
Pavlov, P. (2011, 26 maart). Shapes in Motion [Video]. Geraadpleegd van https:// vimeo.com/16153664 1 https://www.ecosia.org/ages?q=aztec+colors&size=&aspect=&f=false 2 https://nl.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=aztec%20colors&rs=typed&term_ meta[]=aztec%7Ctyped&term_meta[]=colors%7Ctyped&remove_ refine=drawings%7Cguide%7Cword%7C0
Audio
www.freemusicarchive.org 3 Holloway, A. (2013, 28 december). Aztec Creation myths. Geraadpleegd van http://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-folklore/aztec-creationmyths-0071
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