Hasta La Motion!

Back in June 2004, Reason Magazine printed a custom cover for every issue of their magazine (circulation: 40,000). Each subscriber received a magazine with a satellite photo of their neighborhood on the cover, and their home circled in red. An uncomfortable surprise to find in your mailbox, for sure.

More recently, Chris Milk and Google created the interactive musical experience The Wilderness Downtown for Arcade Fire, which utilized HTML5 and Google Maps to put your house directly into the music video.

Hybrid production company B-Reel, who also worked on The Wilderness Downtown, just finished Chaos in Your Town for State Farm Insurance. The experience uses the same “enter your address” starting point to create a customized version of The Mill’s “State of Chaos” campaign. We’ll see if giant robots shooting lasers at your house proves as successful as their last viral hit — OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass” music video.

The New York Times article on the Reason Magazine stunt ends with the quote, “What if you received a magazine that only had stories and ads that you were interested in and pertained to you?” Seven years later, we have RSS readers that bring us only the news we want and iPad apps like FlipBoard and Zite. Not so far off.

For custom content, the inevitable next step is not having to type in your address at all. The applications would just read your computer’s IP address or your mobile device’s GPS location and auto-populate their content with the pertinent data. How hard would it be to have your cable box “know” where it is, and have the commercial streaming to your television integrate your Google Map imagery?

We’re curious to hear your thoughts on how successful this technology is as a marketing tool. How about as a storytelling tool? Will it become another expected facet of production (in the same way we’re often asked to produce complementary TV commercials, internet banners and print ads)? Does anyone find it disconcerting to have their data used to market to them?

Posted on Motionographer

We posted a preview of Newton back in May. The time has arrived — you can head over to Motion Boutique and try or buy the new stand alone app. I haven’t been this excited since Particular 2.0 and seeing the potential that plug-in had to offer!

Posted on Motionographer

Photo by Kecko

Recently, we posted a review of Frank, an online tool that facilities the holding and booking of freelance talent. In the comments, though, many readers diverged from talking about the software and engaged in a spirited discussion about the hold system in general.

(What’s the hold system? Read this.)

Several readers suggested that we highlight some of the arguments around the hold system, so that’s exactly what we’re doing here. Following are snippets from the original comment thread.
 

Defining the Problem(s)

 
sistarr:

I go along with the hold system begrudgingly, but I really despise it, especially when post-houses abuse it by putting five to 10 people on hold just for the sake of having them available.

Also, I just don’t like the idea that I need to get “permission” from someone else to take a job. Book me or don’t book me or pay me a fee for the inconvenience of being on hold.

monovich:

In the end I think the system will always be somewhat Darwinian. Producers hold the cards/weight in the booking negotiation much of the time, but if you can advance to the point in your career where you hold some quality/dependability cards, you can negotiate things like holds/bookings on a more even playing field… and you can tell them, “Call me back when the project is 100 percent.”

Bran Dougherty-Johnson:

The hold system as currently being practiced isn’t really working. What was once a system of gentleman’s agreements is now a death race. Companies should really rethink their habit of using production coordinators to try to blanket hold freelancers for two- or three-month stretches.

And I fully agree with the idea of either retainers or deposits for holds. If there’s no penalty for putting a hold on a freelancer and then just dropping it without letting them know, producers will just keep doing it. It’s sort of like overtime, which is intended to discourage the employer from abusing the worker.

mattonium:

Holds can work out fine, if used honestly. Unfortunately, in this business they seldom are. I’ve been put on hold for jobs that don’t exist, put on hold to “be in the mix,” put on hold for a month only to find out they need you for a week, etc.

Holds Around the World

 
sk:

Maybe it’s because the industry is a bit smaller in the UK, but in my (limited) experience, producers have nearly always either booked my time or not. When I have been put on a “pencil,” as they seem to call it here, I’ve always been confirmed later, and from memory I think there was an implicit understanding that I reserved the right to not be available — they weren’t booking me so I wasn’t “booking them in.”

ThatGuy:

I’m working in the New Zealand motion graphic industry, and it looks like we have a similar system to the UK where freelancers are “penciled-in.” There is an understanding that, unless we are paid for our services to be retained, we are still able to look for and accept other work. A first-in-first-served policy, pure and simple.

The Producer’s View

 
producer25:

As a producer I’m not sure what the issue is for putting someone on hold. If I call a freelancer, I ask them if they are available and either FIRM book them or HOLD for the time period. If someone else is looking to book the freelancer if I have them on HOLD, then it’s up to me to book or release the hold.

That Old Trick

 
alba:

And regarding the hold system, it is sort of broken but it’s lazy and selfish for producers to blanket hold anyone for weeks/months without a specific project in mind. This might be great for newer artists trying to develop relationships, get experience. But for the ones who’ve been doing this for a while, it becomes conversational diplomacy, where the artist has to politely decline the blanket hold while not upsetting the relationship.

Why is anyone talking about third and fourth holds? Doesn’t everyone know the old trick by now?

Maybe Not?

 
Many readers refer to the practice of always reserving your first hold for yourself. This, of course, is not something you’d tell the producer. But it gives you, the freelancer, the freedom to choose your jobs. You can place subsequent offers as third or fourth holds — in theory at least.

In response to that idea, bfarn says this:

I’ve found that very few producers are willing to put me on a fourth hold, or even follow their own rules. As a (fortunately busy) freelancer, I know it gets very hairy dealing with half a dozen noncommittal studios at a time. Nobody’s willing to book, nobody wants to be anything but my first hold, nobody returns e-mails in a timely manner, nobody gives a straight answer.

What’s Your Take?

 
Are holds a problem for you? If so, which solution is the most viable? Hold fees, retainers, or some kind of collective bargaining?

Please keep the discussion going in the comments below. This is clearly an issue that affects thousands of people on both sides of the table.

Posted on Motionographer

Editor’s note: The following interview and review are by guest contributor Cheryl Yau, a 2012 MFA candidate in SVA’s Design Criticism program. Catch the next screening tomorrow, June 1st at the SVA Theater.

New York in Motion is an ambitious attempt to facilitate a rich conversation within the industry of motion design. Bringing together the most prominent players in the field, the film explores the power and inspirations behind the medium. The hour-long documentary is a bricolage combining interviews, shorts and stills in a curated series of hand-held footage and time-lapse photography.

I had the chance to speak to the director, Graham Elliott, about his film-making process.

—

What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve been working in Motion Graphics for many years and am also teaching it at the School of Visual Arts. It struck me that even though it’s all around us, my students did not really know what Motion Graphics actually was. And thinking about it, I realized that I was somewhat hard pressed for a definite answer myself. There have been so many changes and developments in the last 15 years and you can point to things and say, yes, this is part of it and this and this, but where does it all come together? Motion Graphics is definitely the next big thing in the creative arts, and it’s already happening big time, but what really is it?

I was interested to find out what the people who are actually creating the amazing stuff around us have to say and had the idea of making a kind of short film/documentary. I ran the idea by Richard Wilde, dean of the SVA Graphic Design & Advertising department that also heads an ever-growing Motion-Graphics division. Richard and SVA president David Rhodes immediately shared my excitement and through their support we got the film on the way.

How did you start making New York in Motion?

We really wanted to get a broad cross-section of interviewees, so not just people doing computer-generated stuff but people using all kinds of different mediums and processes to show the incredible diversity of what’s out there rather than reinforce a common assumption about computer graphics. I asked my students to look around and give me lists of work and studios they’ve seen and heard of that inspired them. I also asked people in the field for their recommendations.

All in all we ended up with a hit list of 50 people, companies and designers. Matt Lambert from Motionographer was really instrumental in helping us connect with many of the studios. We expected that maybe a third, if we’re lucky a few more, would take the time to get back to us and hoped for enough material to do a 10-20 minute film. Then 47 got back and said “Yes, we’ll do it.” And it was amazing. We interviewed for several months and ended up with more than 100 hours of footage – really fascinating and inspirational, much more than we had hoped for.

What was the story you were trying to tell with this film?

The ongoing digital revolution has brought with it an era of digital democracy. Accessibility and affordability have put the creatives much more in control, as opposed to ten years ago, when you really had to be part of a large company to have access to tools and distribution. What has changed through this shift?

The other interesting thing in the equation was New York. Why is New York a vortex of this industry? It seems almost contrary to the sign of the times that any one geographical location should be home of such an incredible concentration of the top players and creatives in the field. I wanted to find out what it is about New York that so strongly attracts such a virtually based industry.

What are some things you discovered in the process?

I think we found many epiphanies for the questions we set out to answer, often different from what we expected.

We were just talking about the digital revolution and the empowerment of smaller groups and individuals – I think in a democracy the definition of a term is very much alive. Instead of being determined from the top down, it’s like a moving consensus about the relationship of a lot of different facets that come together.

There are 2 parts to this :

For one, it was very interesting to discover these facets. At any one point you can take a snapshot and formulate a definition. It’s quite exciting to compare and see the development of a definition over time – it kind of puts the status quo into a bigger picture.

Well, Motion Graphics is an interesting term to follow since it connects with communication and with art and expression. And it’s also very much influenced by technology, which has changed all our lives tremendously over the last decades. So looking at how the term has changed reveals a lot of how we have changed. And with “we” I mean not just the industry, but “we” as a community and a culture on a big scale, and also “we” as individuals on a very intimate scale.

On the other hand, the very fascinating part for us was to witness how the people we interviewed are not just pressed into an uniform mold that defines the industry, but are active and passionate about writing and re-writing this definition today. What they do have in common is their drive and creativity and excitement that is very much contagious and shines throughout the film.

What were some of the challenges you faced?

One of the hardest things with this film was restraint. With so much interesting input, I wanted to have the different voices come through as authentic as possible. Of course in order to bring them all together you have to order and edit them in a way they relate to each other in a storyline. And then there is the energy of New York that we wanted to capture. So for instance for the title sequence and between chapters, we shot time-lapse. It’s the city in camera. I’m not designing it, it’s there, but it’s in a bigger picture kind of way. What fascinated me and my team in the process of making the film was the diversity and personality of the people we met and we did not want to super-impose a look or design or treatment to the film that would take away from that diversity.

—

New York in Motion gathers the most respected story-tellers in the city, many of which pitch against each other on a regular basis, and creates a dialogue between them about the evolution of motion, their approaches and insights.

The film might seem chaotic and overwhelming at first, but the production corresponds to the content communicated, embodying the melting pot character of this visually rich industry.

Filmed and produced in New York, the documentary constantly uses the cityscape as a backdrop. Interviewees are filmed on the subway, on pedicabs, while driving, walking or even paddling in Central Park. The film is energized with sporadic rhythm and pace. And so is New York. The documentary mimics the grungy, grimy yet exhilarating nature of the gridded urban landscape that lends inspiration to the creatives that inhabit it.

In addition to speaking with experts on the subject by including an assortment of interviews with tourists, street vendors and passers-by, Elliott captures not only the dynamism of motion design in New York, but the city’s spirit itself. The raw quality of the film reveals how difficult it is to represent two vastly diverse and growing structures: the city of New York and the motion design industry, and the abrupt camera work and edits soon become justified.

The film does an excellent job of covering a wide range of topics from various voices, functioning as inspiration to aspiring motion design students and more importantly, elevating awareness to those unfamiliar with the growing industry. What becomes most resonant is realizing how each interviewee draws expertise from their various backgrounds, finding themselves organically with an influential role in the field of motion design.

The film highlights the opportunities in dissemination with the emergence of new technology, and showcases examples of the the best work today. Elliott’s New York in Motion initiates the much needed and overdue discussion of motion design in a movie format. You will leave agreeing that working in motion design in New York right now is an exciting place to be.

If you missed the successful premiere of Graham Elliott’s motion design documentary film in April, you now have a second chance. New York in Motion will be presented on Wednesday, June 1 at 7:30pm, at the SVA Theatre, located at 333 West 23rd Street. This event is free and open to public.

Credits

Director Graham Elliott
Producer: Graham Elliott, Roswitha Rodrigues
Executive Producer: Richard Wilde
Running Time: 1:00:33

Posted on Motionographer

Another week, another great batch. We have RE:PLAY films from James Copeman & Sam Renwick and Peppermelon with music/sound design from David Kamp. Two wildly different approaches to happiness, but both focusing on singular protagonists who yearn for the understanding of the world around them.

JAMES COPEMAN – “THE TELL TAIL”

“The brief was really open, all it said was “happiness”. It got me thinking about an interview I’d read with actor Christopher Walken a few weeks earlier. In it, he had mentioned his desire to have a tail. ‘It would be so great to have a tail. It would be like.. Look, get back, don’t fuck with Chris today, look at his tail, he looks pissed.’

This got me thinking, I thought how it would be to have a tail that expressed your basic emotions that were subconscious and you couldn’t control it. I pitched this idea to my good friend Sam Renwick, we then sat down and started writing funny scenarios and problems caused by having a tail.The protagonist would struggle with it, and ultimately find happiness in hacking the tail off with some DIY cosmetic surgery. I knew Sam could play the lead character. It was great to get Ed Rutherford on board to shoot it and Caroline Story was really excited about making some prosthetic dog tails. I was concerned about getting the narrative across in under 2mins but somehow it works, and people seem to get it. Sam and I are now working on our next short.”

PEPPERMELON – “fIRST”

FROM PEPPERMELON: “This is PepperMelon’s first approach to classic storytelling, but with the ol’ characteristic pink colors, tweaks and quirks of Garcia’s style…Happiness is to inspire and be inspired; it is the result of connecting with someone else. fIRST represents happiness as something that needs to be shared with someone to actually lift our hearts. True creations, true happiness cannot be achieved while being alone; it is something shared in a crowd, or in twos. Happiness is not about smiling, but about connecting. And, there’s always a first time for all of us to experience this. This is the story…of a fIRST.”

FROM DAVID KAMP: “The piece was a lot of fun to work on, especially since its quite different from my usual musical endeavours. I collaborated with a friend back from my university days. He is a trained Cellist and played the Cello parts on the piece, which i think really brought it to life. I feel like the cello really helps to connect you to the main character and his feelings. An inspiration in that regard was the Cello Theme in Wong Kar-Wai’s great Film “In the mood for Love”. Its been a while that i saw the film, but the melancholic feeling i remembered from that movie was what i wanted to express in my score. The project was a great challenge in the limited amount of time and in between other jobs, but i think the result is a nice little short.”

Posted on Motionographer