Here is my reel intro, with my demo reel following afterwards. I had a lot of fun with this project. I really got to come up with a look and feel with animation and style in this piece. I feel that the colors are really me and it has that "Justin" feel. I actually got a lot of good feedback too which was a plus.
The Department of Motion Design - Ringling College of Art and Design
MD 321 Animation IV
Creative Brief Date: 1/26/12
Demo Reel Opener
The Client - Potential Employers
The Project Overview
To design and animate a 5 to 7 second animation that is to be used as the opening introduction to
your demo reel. That identifies who you are and what you do.
The Target Audience
This animation is designed with the potential employer in mind. This will be seen by recruiters and
potential employers looking to hire a creative animator with an excellent sense of graphic design.
The ‘audience’ will have seen many of these types of reels and is looking for something that really
stands out as a unique combination of animation and design.
The Project Objective
To create an engaging animation that clearly identifies the artist (your professional name ) and title;
which gives the viewer a clear sense for which job you may be applying. Sample titles may include;
“Animator”; “Motion Designer”; “Compositor”; “Animation Demo Reel”. Caution!!!! Do not use
something like “Motionographer”, or “Designimator”, or “Compositor/Animator/Motion Designer”.
These ‘clever’ titles tend to make your work look like someone who is brand new, and doesn’t know
the industry. It makes you look like an inexperienced beginner.
The objective for this animation is to intrigue the viewer enough to want to watch the rest of the
reel. People will make immediate judgments just by the title. It can color their entire perception of
your work, negatively or positively. Don’t try to do too much, or be too fancy. Don’t try to oversell
yourself. The best opens are the beautifully simple animations that are really well designed.
The Target Emotional Response / Tone
The response should be interest and excitement of what is yet to come. At its most basic level, it’s
got to interest them enough to NOT click away and look at someone else’s reel. Once again, the best
emotional response will be one of appreciation for the well-designed animation.
The Competitive Positioning
There will be hundreds of student reels against which you are going to be competing. Look at
professional demo reels. Notice how simple or complicated they are? Notice the length of time, and
the clarity in which they communicate the information. Personal logos do not enhance an open, as
very often they require time to interpret and understand the ‘symbol’ and takes away from the
importance of having them see your name.
Technical Specifications
In giving the required technical specs, remember that they do not have to be over-the-top,
amazingly spectacular examples of the potential of the technique. It just means that you need to
incorporate these ‘tastefully’ into your open. 3D text does not have to be big with fat bevels, and
shiny chrome. 3D text can be subtle and refined.
- 5-7 seconds - Fade up and fade out (can be done in After Effects)
- Including 3D text for name or title. Keep in mind everything you learned about title/action safe
- Animated camera
- Use of a deformer
- Use of spline for modeling or animation
- Lighting
Deliverables:
- Due next class, Monday 1/30: Storyboards/animatics and concept art for
Exploration 1 turned in as PDF’ s or Quicktime movies to the webshare at the beginning of
class.
- Due next week, Thursday 2/2: Exploration 1 Final turned in to webshare at the beginning of class.
Output at half res: 960 X 540 29.97 FPS Quicktime Movie w/H264 compression.
Name files: first initial, last name_E1_v01.mov Example: jpublic_E1_v01
- Throughout Exploration 1 process: Post updates to your blog including; a recap of the brief, your
plan of action, critique notes, interim tests, process notes, and final project, etc.
