D&AD: Shutterstock // Animation

I'm completely new to moving image and so is Tamar, so I want to source out some story-telling animation that could help us see how it can be executed effectively.

Glory Halal
https://www.behance.net/gallery/33227811/GLORY-HALAL-ANIMATION

These very short animated gifs each tell a story in a simple format, such as 'Freedom, ruin' - this seems to be illustrating how jobs pay, but they keep you prisoner. The effective thing about these animations is that the scarce amount of words set off the subject which then tells itself quite clearly through the really stripped down imagery.

These gifs do their job but they don't tell a proper story, and through being a very simple loop not much changes like in a plot.

The History of the Treadmill
http://www.yukaidu.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al-30Z-aH8M

This animation tells a longer and more complicated story: the history of treadmills. This means that there are more dimensions and layers to it.

The colour scheme is very restricted, which sets quite a haunting mood. The black shadows overlaying the bright colours give it a dark feel. Colour choice is very important and it has been effectively done so that it can keep your attention throughout.

I have noticed that the animation is very smooth as it progresses from scene to scene, as the features morph into each other. This shows skill and makes the video more pleasing to watch.

California Inspires Me: Mark Mothersbaugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BVajI3j44&index=1&list=PLei6MuTjkmhYTJrsofI0tVDsLip4FX3h7

"The first seven years of my life I was in a fog. I remember the day I got my first pair of glasses and it was an incredible day, and I saw what the roof of a house looked like, and the top of trees. Before that I'd only known the part of the tree in our front yard that I ran into when we were playing."

"My teacher said "You're drawing trees better than I do." and I went home that night and dreamt that I was gonna be an artist."

"We weren't observing evolution, we were observing de-evolution and so we decided to write music about that."

This is probably one of my favourite animations I have looked at. There is a strict colour scheme of only pink, blue, cream and black. They can be seen all together in almost every frame. This is effective because it creates a strong playful and nostalgic atmosphere that perfectly fits the story, which starts off as set in the 50s.
Each scene is very simple in layout, often with a blank background, such as when the figure is walking. The figure then morphs into the full band through a very abstract style of morphing where the shapes get stretched out and then pulled back in. This looks really impressive and makes it a lot more watchable.


It's Nice That x HTC - The Pursuit of Brilliance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7BVajI3j44&index=1&list=PLei6MuTjkmhYTJrsofI0tVDsLip4FX3h7

"I'm really happy that we chose brilliance over perfection. I like brilliance much more, because its more expansive, and it feels like imperfect things can be quite brilliant."

"It's easy to have an idea, and it's kind of easy to execute something. To get from one to the other is the difficult bit. So I'd say the journey is the hard bit."

"I believe that if you do the same thing over and over again you become very efficient at doing it, but you miss the spark. And rarely you can create greatness with a rigid process."

"I think that if I start a project with the feeling or expectation that this has to be brilliant then I'm never gonna start so I think its forgetting about the end point and what it has to be and just discovering the process."

These small animations are really simple but effective in their storytelling. They are entertaining to watch, as there are strong concepts behind each of them that causes the objects to come alive.
The worm in the fruit transforming into a lightbulb is very clever, as it clearly communicates the effectiveness of something imperfect.




California Inspires Me: Rashida Jones
https://vimeo.com/138233056

"LA had an idyllic hippy meets suburban vibes"

"My parents were hippy types"

"I had friends that were everywhere and looked like everything"

"He would bring his snake called Muscles"

"I did not want to be in entertainment in any way and that was sort of a conscious rebellion"

"It took me till I was a teenager and in college to really realise that it was what I wanted to do"

"Northern California is the grown up sibling who is in college and studying the great philosophers"

"Southern California is discovering new bands and hanging out at the beach"

This story is told in simple terms through a breezy, sunny Californian animation. The features are very neat vector shapes that have only a hint of dimension through the differing shades used.


Japan Now - advertisement for festival
https://vimeo.com/109566146

This animation is extremely minimal and it is hard to understand what is happening. However, the colours are soft and well chosen, and the movement is very smooth and professional. The lack of direction creates a sense of mystery around it.


These animations and stories have really expanded my knowledge of how an animation is put together and how much thought goes into the different aspects. They can be anywhere on the spectrum between minimal and unclear, to very obvious. I have learnt that I need to create a small colour scheme so that all the animations fit together.