Task 4: Sting examples

(Click the Images for a link to the videos)

Cyriac E4 sting:

Starting things with a super zany, creepy yet mesmerising sting created for a promotional competition for channel E4 by Cyriac. He's a weird one to describe, an animator that uses a mixture of video and photography to make the strangest moving forms, as he put it "I want to take something familiar, and twist it in to something alien". None of the little tricks that after effects hides seem to go untouched by Cyriac, who clearly spends a great amount of time playing around with the programme, stretching it to it's limits. This is what makes me feel he is a suitable example, as a reference for what is possible, if cyriac can have a television form a mouth, then spit out growing buildings, then i can make a fella move across a screen in a believable manner.

Parallel, Unsatisfying stories:

A more illustrative example than the prior, these short stings are simple and incredibly effective. By that I mean, that i can clearly tell the mechanics of each idea, i.e. oh the letters in the soup are just being moved about. Its the way that these simple things are being executed that really grabs my attention. The animator clearly has an eye for, and put the effort to tell how certain objects would move/ react in a real world context, two that instantly spring to mind are the bears moving about when the grabbed bear drops back in to the pile, and the domino that doesn't drop having a slight turn from the miss hit. 

C2C, Delta/ By CRCR:

Something feature length this time, and had way more production time, the music video for C2C - Delta. It was created by CRCR and is without a doubt a personal favourite of mine. It is very clear that this team really understand how make their animation feel right, mixing both frame by frame animation, and your after effects basics (i.e. the stuff I know), without either sticking out like a sore thumb or being awkward. Two personal favourite examples of this being the big delta triangle floating slowly to the right of the frame, then as it halts dust is kicked up from the ground to show the resistance and hint that there is possibly more to this form.

God it's subtle but beautiful, really hinting at there being a weight to this object.

A frame by frame animated section that caused me to gasp out loud and really fall in love with this video relates to the previous section, where the idea of a forcefield surrounding the object is introduced and a character walks through it. Rather than just have him pass through a clear wall of fuzz, they chose to keep it invisible, and show the struggle to break through, his face pulled and warping against the force/ resistance of the wall.

I mean look at it, lovely bit of nuance in the animation, especially the snap upwards as the head breaks through. Oh man and I've just this second noticed the bottom lip getting caught in the wall, god damn great stuff.

So I've got to step aside from being a fan for a moment and draw up some conclusions. Cyriac, this fella has demonstrated just how much after effects has to offer, and that it doesn't matter how weird, i can probably find a way to make my imagery move in the way that I want it to. Parallel's unsatisfying series tells me to not let that get to my head though, some times its the little things that really stand out, just display motion grounded in reality, make it verisimilitudinous. And then to even out that complete contradiction, CMCM knock it out of the park with a nice middle ground for the two, I just have to keep and open mind with my animation, and draw my own conclusions on when to have stripped back animation, and when to go all out.

Extra: Hunger - Peter Foldès

This is quite the fascinating video, suggested by my tutor Ben, this was animated by artist Peter Foldes years ago, before after effects, but still manages to have what would come accross as an After effects polish. The smooth transition between the characters warps is really commendable, and something I should keep in mind for my warping, transforming character.