The overall challenge was in defining our vision - tone, aesthetic, visual metaphor - for the animatic based on the chosen clip, then executing that vision through the use of motion design principles. We also learned to adapt various After Effects techniques and workflows to work for our purposes. One additional challenge was our fairly short turnaround period between approval of pre-production elements and delivery of the final animatic, which challenged my relative inexperience with both After Effects and animation overall.
As this was a solo project, we were each responsible for the workflow from conception, to pre-production, to rough cut, then the final cut. We began by putting together mood boards, style frames, and other visual references, then synthesizing our style inspiration into a defined graphic style, palette, and typeface choices.
Since this animatic centered around an existing sound bite, our storyboards needed to follow the pre-defined timing, which provided us with a structure for which scenes would need more elaborate animation, and which would be simpler by necessity. I chose to incorporate visual metaphors in some scenes and animated typography in others for a more clearly defined break between scenes, which allowed for easier editing.
The outcome of the project was a fairly polished animatic that pushed and expanded my knowledge of After Effects, with a narrative focusing on Socko, the sock puppet character that appears halfway through Burnham's song.
Though I would like to refine some areas of this project, it proved to be an immensely valuable and enjoyable experience.
Direction, Visual Design, Motion Design, Production
