Companies have used animated logos to connect viewers to their brands. There’s something about seeing an appealing animation that will make viewers turn into consumers.
This week, I will be taking on the project of creating a logo stinger for Space Cadets. I want to build my brand’s presence and viewer awareness by using my stinger for ads and for some video intros.
In order to prepare for this week’s project, I read some more of Liz Blazers, Animated Storytelling. Blazer asked us a question that I believe should be asked for every project moving forward. It was whether I chose the best technique to bring my animation to life. It is human nature to want to stay where we are comfortable. After doing all the work to learn one style of animation, why would we catapult ourselves to learn a different one?
It is important not to become stagnant once mastering an animation technique. We must understand that the best creators are the ones who adapt and push themselves past their level of comfort, all in the name of creating.
Adaptability also means thinking about who our intended audience is, in order to set them up for viewing success. It means not being married to one idea of how a project should be executed, if it calls for a different technique.
Animation Techniques
In previous chapters, we leaned into a deeper understanding of color and sound. In this chapter, Blazer expanded our knowledge of animation techniques to consider when making our projects:
Hand Drawn: These animations are drawn using tools such as pencils, crayons, paint, ink and charcoal.
Stop Motion: Photos are taken from a camera in a stationary position. Each photo is shot frame by frame and objects are moved incrementally between frames. Once all photos are taken, they are put together to create an animation. There are two ways to execute stop motion—2D & 3D.
2D: Photos are taken frame by frame with a camera held over a flat surface. Light boxes are often used for sand, oil, paint or paper silhouettes. This technique gives a flat, handmade quality to films that express emotions well and have high adaptability.
3D: Photos are taken frame by frame with a camera on a tripod to shoot things on a created set. Objects used for animation would be clay, puppets, models, found materials and pixelation of puppets.
2D CGI: This animation is created in a flat or two dimensional software environment. The range of the environments can be either flat & super clean to modeled & highly textured. It is sought out for print because it translates well to that medium.
3D CGI: Is made in a three dimensional software environment. Elements are modeled, rigged, textured, puppeted and animated in a virtual space. This technique allows you to create characters and environments that are not limited, even to the laws of gravity.
Adapt For Success
The main take away I got from this week’s reading is to not be married to one thought, technique or idea. It is better to adapt and utilize work arounds than to burn out because a project did not go in the direction I expected.
The beautiful thing about creating is that any issues with execution can be solved through utilizing creative tools. Blazer gave us 3 work arounds to hold in our back pockets for future use:
- Import still images: using a still image in editing software allows us to create the illusions of animation through tools such as masking.
- Shoot live action footage: stock photos can only do so much, sometimes it’s better to source our footage or photos ourselves to use for our projects. There’s materials to use all around us, we just have to have the vision to utilize them.
- Staff Up: it is known that car dealerships outsource their body work to nearby body shops. Well, this concept is the same for creators, if there is a needed technique that can’t be done by the creator, why not collaborate with a creator that can?
It’s important to remember not to limit ourselves when creating for the best possible creations to be made.
Research
Marvel utilized staging by having their many movie scenes playing up close at first to slowly pan out. We are immersed in all of the characters that we’ve come to know and love. By the end of this animation they reveal that all of the footage is playing in the letters that spell Marvel Studios.
Treyarch during the Black Ops III campaign played with the concept of digital data being hacked and altered. Using staging we are greeted with bright visuals that once panned out reveal to be a part of Treyarch’s logo.
This logo stinger, being glitchy while incorporating their signature orange color, pulls viewers in for Activision to also showcase what is inside their logo design.
Cartoon Network played with 2D and 3D boxes to build up to reveal their company logo. I like how they played with 2 different animation styles, which represent their network provides 2D and 3D cartoons to view.
PlayStation started their video zoomed in, showing all of the button letters located on their controller. They added in their signature voice saying PlayStation as well. This stinger brings viewers into the world of Playstation as an invitation to play.
Play 30secs-37secs
Dribble used squash and stretch for their basketball that they used in their stinger. Adding the circles to show the impact of the ball was elevated by the basketball sound effects they added in as well.
Space Cadets Logo Stinger
I found a lot of my visual elements through Canva. I saved them with transparent backgrounds so that I could build them in Adobe Illustrate. Having all of my layers saved separately to import into Adobe After Effects allowed me to work with the elements independently.
Using After Effects, I animated Saturn to spin in and grow larger, and then I transitioned the animation of the moving clouds to build the atmosphere. Adding in sound effects for Saturn landing onto the stage, the clouds passing by as well as the spaceship entering the stage and leaving, brought my animation to life. Playing with the opacity to indicate the spaceship moving quickly and to fade out the video were nice touches.
With this stinger I wanted to capture the essence of my small business, which is to be an adventurer in the DIY world. It is alien in a way to our current society to see the value in making things for ourselves. Our ancestors did this to survive, but we feel far removed from the need to do so. What Space Cadets encourages is exploration, fun and discovery.
How do you think I did?