Journal 9

Animated Type

The Adobe examples were inspiring.

The videos were much harder to follower without sound and the timing seemed really odd either too fast or too slow. The similarity is that they are all spastic!! They jump around everywhere and lack logical flow. I feel like some videos can work with upside down type and all of that–just not like some of the ones I watched...I literally was dizzy. The experience of the 6 different videos varies but not severely. There seems to be an idea of the "right way" to animate text. The ones I liked better had a solid theme and tone to them. They were consistent and the timing was logical with the speech and reading it on screen. I do not like the extremely jumpy ones that go up down all around then back around and upside down...it is a little much. Transitions used were fading, pushed off screen, zooming in or out, blur and most of all rotation. The sound was typically just the speech/scene etc. but some went too fast, too slow, some added breaks and little sound effects like bouncing or clicking. The type on some was standard helvetica–a typeface that fills a block so it is good for stacking etc. Other typefaces were detailed and make specific for the tone/theme of the speech. I watched a gladiator video that actually used video clips and a couple that used photographs. I like the used of photography if it is secondary to the text and quick so it doesn't become the focus.

30-unforgettable-movie-title-sequence:

The most memorable videos to me are ...

1. Casino Royale

This sequence was the most memorable to me because mainly how they connected the sequence to the movie and played off the casino objects. The visuals of the king and queen of hearts becoming animated was amazing. It is an icon that everyone recognizes and they added life to them. The transitions were varied from jump cuts to following the patterned path. I loved the use of perspective in this one and in the "Catch me if you Can" sequence.

2. Thank You For Smoking

This one was memorable because all the name were put into context. They used the cigarette boxes and the style they were in. I liked how they brought things on screen in layers and kept the transitions to simple ones that reflected that the type is on boxes.

3. Spiderman 2

I always loved this sequence because it takes what was always a comic but turned into a movie, back into a comic. The whole thing transitions on the black web and red and blue color planes. It concentrates the focus and the text simple against the crazy backgrounds.