The Future Of TV- Jamie & Steph Although I wasn't present during the discussion forum, I took some notes as to the points that they discussed through speaking to Steph and Jamie who were running the discussion. There was apparently a broad debate on what the future of television was, so I've discussed my own points separately and presented some further research too.
Points that were explored:
The future of television and how it has been impacted by present medias.
Where television came from and the background behind it's evolution.
How the ideas developed and why- who's in charge of the television.
Certain aspects of the future of television in the view of many relies on the expansion of the internet and the connections it constantly evolves towards television. Television in the 21st century is of a new era completely, with alternate television packages being offered from broadband and software engineers such as Virgin and Sky, to the online streaming of live television available on a variety of
desktops. Television has been made portable, easy to access and more open to the public, with large showings of television in pubs being a regular thing, such television as football or other live streaming can be shown on any handheld device with internet streaming software. Television is evolving.
However, with the freedom of television comes many difficulties, with the television clips being able to be accessed more freely by persons of many ages, the aspect of censoring and the watershed is being abolished. How are we going to gain more control of the television in the future, and what should be allowed to be broadcast for the seeing eye. In accordance to this, this discussion forum links beautifully with Rachel and myself's as we discussed the censorship of broadcast elements and how these could be controlled.
A Quick History of Television
Based on an early invention called the 'Electric Telescope' in the late 1800's, the television was used for generations in families, work places and establishments to broadcast news, entertainment and important broadcasts. It was a complete establishment from the original radio broadcasts, and was adored by people of many ages.
Evolving of Technology
Over the recent years, television has been successfully adapted and altered to fit the needs of those involved, and with it being a popular invention in most households it has been evolving since the very production of the invention. With it having first evolved in black and white to then being colour, it then evolved into such technology as 3D television and smart tv's which allow you to stream clips directly off the internet such as Youtube, as well as allowing you to surf the web and use programmes such as Netflix for the work involved.
I've always liked the thought of my input being within short sequences of animation, in title sequences and advertisements for example.
Particular title sequences are shown in the examples I've picked out, but I find that the title sequences really set the tone to the film involved, and motion design is the perfect partner to this.
'Oz the Great and Powerful' is Disney's recent adaptation of the 1939 Classic 'The Wizard of Oz', and they used the title sequence to reflect this, with the title sequence animation reflecting the vintage side of the production of the previous film, and setting the scene for the abstract nature of the production itself.
I've additionally noted the dramatic effect such title sequences have on such films such as horror films, where title and credits sequences build up a tense atmosphere, like in a film I recently watched called 'The Orphan' which is a horror film that uses scribbly text and rough cut motion design to set the scene.
D.W Griffith 'Intolerance' 1916
It used to be that title sequences were simple black and white type (black and white due to the best results when projecting) but soon it was revolutionised into more specific design elements, that really set the scene for the entire film. The designers in the initial title sequences such as this 1916 Griffith film 'Intolerance' used small serifs for ease of production, but could then in future design elements but more complex in future design and eased into further elements.
These differences include the complex evolution of typography that also lead to more interesting title sequences as well as ending credits.
I found this reaction to the aspect of title sequences from some Motion Design graduates, who produced an animated title sequence that listed the important names in title sequence history. (See link for full video below) And I've found the making of video equally as interesting,
with them explaining the process and why particular shots are important.
(http://www.fromform.nl/a-history-of-the-title-sequence/) 1 min. Making Of "A History Of The Title Sequence" from From Form on Vimeo.
Throughout this personal development it has become clear that a section of the design industry that particularly appealed to me would be the area of creative advertisement. After previous studies of Creative Media Production at A Level, I had to hypothetically plan the course of advertisements and plot the finances and features that the set up would have to involve. The course of this design and development has further supported this idea that I wanted to further explore.
I'd love to in future be part of a creative marketing scheme, in which I helped to design and develop an idea for a business and creatively output it with the skills I have collected through this course and other previous courses. The motion design aspect is in particular an additional element that would be successfully received if technical skills could develop to match creative ideas.
I personally love how animated elements within advertising can have any desired effect, with simple ideas being creatively involved into more complex and interactive ones. I love the effect and memorability particular adverts have because of this. Such adverts like this from 'Satsuma Loans' involves an aspect of comedy which gets the point across in a memorable way, and I've always found how inspiring such a concept has been over the years.An extremely memorable advert for me is the scheme of alternate bizarre circumstances representing something unrelated, a particular favourite with this scheme is Cadbury's chocolate advertisement. Cadbury began an advertising scheme years ago that would involve breaking away from traditional chocolate advertisements, and instead producing very abstract and odd forms of commercial advertising. A personal favourite of mine being the eyebrow Cadbury's advertisement, this involved two children sat about to have a school photograph taken, when music appears, and their eyebrows begin to move rather individually and abstractly to realistic movements. The girl wears a purple pinafore, slightly hinting to the Cadbury's trademark colour of purple, yet there are no chocolate bars featured throughout the entire advert.
Cadbury's advert received a mixed response, with viewers questioning throughout what the advert was for, and why they chose such an advertising campaign. For me, I found this campaign an extremely influential and memorable one, with everyone soon recognising and talking about the advertisement and recommending their peers viewing it. It was a breakthrough in terms of advertisements, with the company avoiding the product being included in the advertisement, and yet everyone began to recognise exactly which company it represented.
The chocolate bar only ever appears as a reveal at the end of the advertisement which I feel is a beautiful ending as it built up the tension beforehand to the product being named.
Again with the Cadbury's advert Motion Design (although now mixed with filmed footage) there was an aspect of comedy throughout, with such a random theme within the advertisement being shown, Cadbury's continued the campaign with similar advertisements, which alternatively was as deeply memorable as the first.
The aspect of purple is also and important use of colour for the advertising referencing. Purple is often recognised as the correct colour for Cadbury's with a lot of people being reminded of the chocolate when they come across the deep purple colour.
On the other hand, I find that adverts such as the EDF adverts, which also include an aspect of Motion Design, use simplistic stop motion elements to produce a theme of comedy and fun, additionally being a memorable form of advertising. Stop motion paired up with the song "Together in Electric Dreams" produces a comedic source of advertising. The character of a little blob that dances along to alternate forms of electricity is a memorable form of advertising and is used to develop the company's energy policies. The character included involves a cute theme, everyone I've seen view the advert sees the character as a cute character, in the way it looks and moves, and yet the animators have stripped away features such as not having a mouth, but still with an effective impact on the viewer who supplies their own emotion around the character.
The character named by EDF Energy as 'Zingy' is a cute little orange blob type character, which is produced with a mixed range of animation and real time filmed footage.
Additionally, a factor of advertising is used in relating objects everyday to animals such as a flock of birds. The advertising production team of the Ikea advert analysed the behaviour of birds in a flock in order to link such everyday objects like clothing to imitate their behavioural patterns and make them learn more of how such everyday objects would relate to such things as animals and their behavioural patterns. Analysing the animals that they needed to be related to is an important part of the concept research that would have been involved in the production of the advertisement, such as Pixar when creating 'Finding Nemo' had a full exotic fish tank placed in the studio in order to implicate further research on how the animals behaved with each other, and how such surroundings interacted with the characters. Such research that allowed further evolution into the production, a similar process applied to this advertisement for Ikea.
The Director of this advertisement Dougal Wilson who is regarded as one of the top commercial producers, begins to explain the process of the advertisement for the YCN (You Can Now) Articles.
Interviewer: What process do you go through to turn an idea like this one into a polished ad? Dougal Wilson:"Well the original idea isn’t mine — that obviously comes from the agency creative team — but I can elaborate on the basic thought. In this case, I just took the idea of a flock of flying T-shirts being like migratory birds who constantly have to move on. I plotted out a story, using all the reasons we could think of as to why they couldn’t stay where they landed. In the first location, it’s too cold, then they get shot at by a river, then they have to get out of the way of a big ferry, then they get chased by a child, then a dog, before finally finding a house with a nice wardrobe. This journey takes the viewer from a cold, remote place, eventually arriving in a built-up, inhabited environment. A lot of the inspiration came from wildlife documentaries. There's some amazing footage of geese that had been 'imprinted' since birth to follow a handler, and then trained to fly alongside a microlight aircraft, enabling them to be filmed very close up — as in the movie 'Winged Migration' for example. I thought it would be fun to contrast this kind of epic tone with our very mundane participants: the everyday T-shirts."
An additional favourite for the aspect of advertising, is the Ikea advert with the tagline 'There's No Bed Like Home' which elaborates on the cosy and appealing side of Ikea furniture and what would be included in their alternate products and how these things could be further displayed in their customer's minds. Again, the audience's attention is additionally transformed through the underlying aspect of humour in the advert.
As part of the research process of personal development, I have looked up current jobs further and I want to then look into what they look for. Here are a selection of jobs I've seen locally and in other places across the country, and what they look for generally.
3D Animator & Visualiser (Manchester) What they look for:
·Degree in Animation (or equivalent),
·A minimum of 12 months experience with Autodesk 3DS Max or Maya,
·Experience using Adobe Photoshop and After effects,
·Experience of producing edited animations with sounds and effects, producing high quality 3D imagery and 3D modelling (including texturing) from given details,
·A professional manner with good communication and people skills,
·Good verbal and written communication skills,
·Strong organisation skills, details orientated and the ability to handle multiple priorities,
·Willingness to learn and take up new challenges.
Ideally you will also have:-
·Experience using AutoCAD,
·Experience of graphic design packages such as InDesign and Illustrator to create Infographics using 3D images,
·Experience in editing short video production using animated and video footage from around the business to assist in presentations,
·Experience of Temporary Works,
·Experience in the Construction Industry
Motion Graphics Designer (Southport) Role Responsibilities: - Creating videos from supplied, stock and/or self created graphics, screencasts and/or screenshots. - Thinking creatively to produce new ideas and concepts. - Manage customer and supplier relationships as required. - Recording all project details in their CMS. - Working with a wide range of media, including photography, illustration, animation and video. - Proofreading to produce accurate and high-quality work. - Working with printers, copywriters, photographers, other designers, account executives, web developers and marketing specialists. - Various administrative tasks to help the smooth running of the office and projects.
Person Specification: - Creative flair, originality and a strong visual sense. - Strong computer skills. - Fluent in the Adobe Creative Cloud package particularly Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects & Premiere Pro. - A professional approach to time, costs and deadlines. - Ability to work to a brief agreed with the client or account manager. - The ability to grasp client needs and consider practical solutions. - The ability to pay attention to detail. - The ability to balance work on several projects at a time. - You will instinctively know when a design feels right and have a strong visual sense of what is looks right. - Typically you'll be opinionated about fonts and may have a collection
Creative Multimedia/Animator Designer- Creative Agency (Leeds) The ideal candidate should have: • a university degree or equivalent in graphic design and visual communication • creative flair, originality and a strong visual sense • accuracy and meticulous attention to detail • confidence in presenting and explaining ideas to clients and colleagues • full proficiency in the Adobe Creative suite / Premier / After Effects • working knowledge of Microsoft Office • solid working knowledge of the print process • skills with animation (a distinct advantage) • a full driving licence
Rachel and I have been the first to lead the Discussion Forum for this project. The subject we were given is Freedom of Speech & Censorship. A subject that I believe can withhold a wealth of discussion as it involves alternate things. The discussion forum itself I believe went really well, with nearly an hour long discussion transpiring from the points that we made which I believe is a successful outcome. Dictionary Definitions: Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.
Free Speech is the right to speak without censorship or restraint by the government. Freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
After having looked at the definitions we subjectively underwent research relevant to the subject given that we personally believed would spur on further discussion in the forum. We thoroughly went through the following points to spur conversation successfully about what freedom of speech and censorship means to our peers. Here are the points we produced:
Freedom of Speech comparatively- we came across a story where there were protestors belonging to the Westboro Baptist Church in America, where they openly insulted homosexuals and other persons rather crudely in public, where they weren't punished, whereas we compared this incident to one back in the UK, where a man got arrested simply for swearing. We applied the idea that Freedom of Speech is punished in some ways if abused, but in alternate degrees in differing countries.
Freedom of Speech at home- the fact that we can speak freely at home without being arrested, judged etc. Whereas there is a completely diffe
rent impact when you're in public, considering laws etc.
Censorship in Art and Design- using the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris as an example to this, we encouraged the group to discuss the subject of freedom of speech through art, whether they think it should be controlled, and if so, how?
Censorship of self- we discussed the fact that although we have no laws against such things as tattoos and piercings, such things we use as censorships for self, such as people consider where to get a tattoo in relation to employment, having them where they can hide them etc. How does this effect your own appearance within freedom of speech?
"Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects."
I firsthand developed the aspect of what Motion Design actually is, then I decided to delve into what jobs are actually available within such a theme.
For me I've considered my own route in the aspect of Motion Design derived from previous studies in Creative Media Production at A Level as well as my exploration of design in my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design. I've always had an interest in animation and design in correspondence of the advertising industry, and how commercialisation of products or places coincides with aspects of design such as my studies of Motion Design.
The first place that springs to mind that is within a local range is Media City in Manchester, which offers a wealth of design opportunities for all sorts of designers including Motion Designers. Such Motion Designers are part of programmes for Media City such as the 'Animation Toolkit' founder Westley Wood who often produces animation sequences for alternate companies in regards to advertising and commercialising as well as entertaining. A key opportunity Wood works in is with Citv producing children's animations involving alternate forms of animation, but with such animators Media City offers programmes where other animators can get involved.
Examples of Media City's current vacancies include:
Digital Campaign Strategist– Manchester – £25 – £35K “Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall One of the Top PR agencies in the UK are now looking for a digital enthusiast to help lead on Digital marketing strategy and the convergence of Digital marketing and PR. They re [...]
Delineo are a fully integrated agency and one of just 18 members of The IPA in the North West, as well as one of the top 100 marketing agencies outside London and a Prolific North Top 50 Integrated Agency. We pride ourselves not only in the creativity of our campaigns [...]
A fantastic opportunity to work for an award-winning agency has emerged. They’re based in South Yorkshire and looking for a Digital Producer with top-notch communication and organisational skills. You should possess previous digital experience and excellent knowledge of the digital space, ideally gained in an agency environment. You’ll be an enthusiastic, [...]
We are looking for an experienced and proven individual to take on the role of Senior Account Manager within our brand department. You will report to our Head of Brand and work on a challenging mix of accounts with the following responsibilities: • Building relationships with clients and acting as the key [...]
A video that particularly stuck out for me was the video created by animator Mikey Please who I have previously researched. This piece 'Seven Legs' I found particularly interesting as it involved complex animation of polystyrene and card stop motion mixed with carefully thought out tension with the drumming in the audio. The way in which the drums become the setting of the piece allowed audio to accompany the video beautifully due to the way in which zoning in and out of the animation is used in accordance to the music.
An aspect of abstract tension and representation is produced throughout the short clip, advertising the motion design site 'DragonFrame' the use of the abstract shape over the moon with the aspect of black and white composition is clearly shown and selected by the animator for a purpose, and adds a tense idea of mystery and suspense.
Although I wasn't present during the discussion forum, I took some notes as to the points that they discussed through speaking to Steph and Jamie who were running the discussion. There was apparently a broad debate on what the future of television was, so I've discussed my own points separately and presented some further research too.
desktops. Television has been made portable, easy to access and more open to the public, with large showings of television in pubs being a regular thing, such television as football or other live streaming can be shown on any handheld device with internet streaming software. Television is evolving.
Based on an early invention called the 'Electric Telescope' in the late 1800's, the television was used for generations in families, work places and establishments to broadcast news, entertainment and important broadcasts. It was a complete establishment from the original radio broadcasts, and was adored by people of many ages.
