Week 3 Tutorial

Task: Using the supplied audio file, create a 30 second composition in After Effects exploring the relationships between 2D Text and Digital audio.

Type In Motion

This exercise was an introduction to typography and movement to eightprime's audio track "Chameleon Phonics".

I am quite happy with the end result of this exercise, as it was my first time experimenting with typography and I wasn't aware of the large variety of effects. Listening to the audio, I selected a section that was consistent in theme. I felt this could be associated with current environmental issues and headlines.

I initially had a strong idea of what could be used in this clip, and this was implemented at the beginning with newspaper articles and text. However, continuing the exercise, I lost track because I hadn't planned for the whole 30 seconds; something I have learnt is very important for a successful presentation.

This clip could be further improved by experimenting with transitions. I didn't feel comfortable using them at the time as there were already a lot of options for text animation. I should have maintained one style, rather than being text-heavy at the beginning and then using numbers in the middle. However, I believe I have succeeded in interpreting the audio and conveying a theme.

Week 2 Tutorial

Task: Construct a Spatial and Temporal montage from the supplied source materials.

Spatial Montage

Having almost two hours to do both exercises, I found I only had enough time to finish the first in class, which doesn’t surprise me. I have only used Photoshop a few times and haven’t explored all of its features, so I was figuring things out on the way. I selected images that were interesting, but feel I should have considered the composition of the images more and how they could possibly piece together. There is too much blue sky on the right side of the image, and it should have been blended in further with the adjacent image. I feel the montage could have been improved if I had selected an underlying theme, but for a quick project using an unfamiliar program, it’s okay.

Temporal Montage

My temporal montage is very basic and only experiments with movement through position and scaling. When creating this, I was testing out effects but feel I need to explore them further before using them. Having never used After Effects before, a great deal of time was spent learning the basics of the program, and thus the result is very simple. I feel this montage could have been improved if I had selected similar images or presented a theme through movement. I don’t particularly like the black background at the beginning, and maybe should have used another image there instead. Again, it’s okay for my first project, but I’m looking forward to enhancing my knowledge and skills with After Effects.