Design and illustration from freelancer William Lawrence

Design and illustration from freelancer William Lawrence

“The Software That Will Take Digital F/X to the Next Level of Awesome” (Wired Magazine)

“The Software That Will Take Digital F/X to the Next Level of Awesome” (Wired Magazine)

Brian Cain: Wedding Crashers “The Perfect Girl”

Brian Cain is finishing up his time at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and he decided to throw an intonation project* into his portfolio. Working with Vince Vaughn’s rapid-fire “Perfect Girl” monologue from Wedding Crashers, Brian did a great job keeping pace while managing to throw in a few clever ideas of his own. My favorite bit—in both the original monologue and in Brian’s piece—is the “just the tip” gag. Apparently, I’m still 15 years old.

*For the uninitiated, projects like Brian’s have become standard fare in motion graphics classes. In my experience, they’re most often referred to as “intonation” assignments, because students are challenged to visually represent not just the content of the audio but also the way it which it is expressed—the intonation used by the speaker.

Although the basic concept of representing spoken words verbatim on screen and in real-time is probably almost as old as animation itself, MK12′s 2001 “Brazil Inspired: Macho Box” is often cited as popularizing the style for contemporary motion graphics.

Other examples include:
“Say What Again” by Jarratt Moody
“Feeling Good” by Tamara Gildengers Connolly
“The Lion’s Roar” by Mig Reyes and Matt Born
“Ya no se que hacer conmigo” from Milagrito Films (not student work)

For a higher res version of “The Perfect Girl,” visit Brian’s site.

Yves Geleyn: Kotori

Originally, Yves Geleyn had intended “Kotori” to be for the Tokyo Mode Gakuen. But when they decided not to pick up the project, he forged ahead anyway, sewing bits of tissue and cloth together to create an endearing little narrative about a bird who’s as persistent and creative as Yves himself.

Yves’ portfolio is full of hybrid approaches to animation and illustration. Ever sensitive to his subject matter, his creations are cute without being cutesy, and they always adhere to the narrative at hand. The result is a buoyant body of work that’s full of surprises.

By the way, the music and sound design in “Kotori” is from Mark Webster, with whom Yves has collaborated on several other projects. Mark runs a fantastic blog about motion design called… well… Motion Design. Check it out for thoughtful looks at the history and current state of motion graphics.

Yves is with Hornet in the US and Passion Pictures in Paris, where he is based.

Tales Of Mere Existence by Lev Yilmaz

Tales Of Mere Existence by Lev Yilmaz

Teppei Maki creates “Kokiriko Bushi” for Omodaka

Teppei Maki creates “Kokiriko Bushi” for Omodaka

Chocolade Haas by Sander Plug & Lernert

Chocolade Haas by Sander Plug & Lernert