Newsies on Broadway – TV Commercial

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I stumbled upon this commercial when researching for our own theater commercial projects. I love how it shows the use of still images to create a "movie" by using the Ken Burns effects and turning 2d images to 3d. It also includes a little stop action. I found it fascinating watching black and white images turn to color and pop off the page. I can't wait to try some of these techniques!

The Royal Castle

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Source: Stash, An online video library of animation, VFX, and motion design

This animation starts with a line drawing of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland. The line drawing becomes a rotating 3D model. As the model rotates, the years go by and the viewer watches as the castle is damaged, then destroyed in war, and, eventually, money is raised to reconstruct the castle. It is now home to salvaged castle art. The entire video is done in black and white graphics with the exception of the damaging forces which are portrayed in bloody red. Occasionally, years are posted which clearly identify the era of the building's demise. I found the most visual visual indicator of time, though, was the constant rotation of the platform.
One small detail that I noticed is when the artwork is being saved from the bombed building, a truck passes by carrying the artwork and one of the paintings briefly turns to color. This seemed to me to be a beacon pointing out the importance of the Castle and the artwork to the people and why they worked so hard to restore it.

Lonnie Busch

(Click on image to view videos, wait a few seconds and a page will pop up with all of his videos, then choose these to see.)

Source: Workbook 33, 2011

Lonnie Busch is a popular illustrator who also has motion graphics in his portfolio. The two examples I've chosen are 30 second commercials that could possibly have been created in Aftereffects. I thought they were interesting because they are full of movement and preset effects. It seemed an appropriate find for this week since one of the homework questions asked about the dangers of using too many presets. Rules can always be broken and sometimes it works :)

Saul Bass

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While searching for information about well-known motion designers, I stumbled upon Saul Bass who is considered the "undisputed master of film title design." He is also well-known for many logos and film posters.
The first film is for Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Before this film, movie titles were often a still image shown on the stage curtain. This film was shocking because of the animated title. I thought it was interesting because it was so basic—the beginning of a new art.
The second film is for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). I find this style so endearing. I like watching how the "world" is constantly manipulated and new shapes are always forming. It sometimes reminded me of the Pink Panther cartoons.