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Motion Graphics Literature
Hello Everybody,
I got some Questions. I’m writung my Bachelor Thesis with the topic:
“The Staging of Type in Motion Graphics Design”Of course I made research for literature to this topic, but everything I found were tutorials or a book full of examples. What I need are books which handle this theme intellectually.
Some examples of my questions:
-In what way did the aesthetics of type in Motion Graphics change from the beginning (1940) till now?
-How are the dynamics of the animations?
-Which different directions / styles of type in Motion Graphics are used (Projection of Type on 3D Shapes, Particle Systems, etc.)?Thank you for your help.
Stefan
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8 Replies
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You might want to look at theoretical writings on New Media, which often discuss the evolution of media (I recall one such paper on Z-space, but I don’t have specifics). I would also recommend looking at typography books. There are some interesting historical anectdotes about typography as it relates to computers (remember the days when there was no such thing as a ‘different’ font?)
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
Woolman/Bellantoni’s “Moving Type” didn’t help? My edition has a CD with Quicktime movies.
You’re breaking ground with this topic. I haven’t seen any thorough written analyses of this topic in print, so I think you’ll have to do a survey yourself of film titles (and commercials) through the latter half of the twentieth century up until now.
Doing research for literature isn’t enough. You need to go to the source material as well. Why regurgitate somebody else’s opinion? 🙂
Google “Saul Bass”, “Pablo Ferro”, “motion graphics”. Then borrow DVDs of their work from the library based on the information you get on the web.
Here’s a little article on film titles, hopefully to get you started:
https://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Credits-TITLING-TECHNIQUES.html… and try posting in the Broadcast Design COW.
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[Steve Roberts] “Doing research for literature isn’t enough. You need to go to the source material as well. Why regurgitate somebody else’s opinion? :)”
Well, I hate to say it, but regurgitating source material doesn’t help either. You need both, and I think it helps immensely to know what theories there are out there not so that you can repeat them, but present them critically and expand on them.
I took Digital New Media courses less than three years ago during college, and I can promise you that it’s important to understand the theories/explanations/metaphors that are out there and how they apply to your topic.
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
[Darby Edelen] “You need both …”
When I said “as well”, didn’t I say that? 🙂
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[Steve Roberts] “When I said “as well”, didn’t I say that? :)”
Yes, and I apologize if I came off a little biased towards theoretical writings, but I was trying to counter balance what I felt was an unfair bias toward primary sources… what with ‘regurgitation’ involved and everything =O
It’s easy to weight the term ‘as well’ when there’s mention of vomiting in the same paragraph =)
Bottom line is I agree, you need primary and secondary sources!
Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA -
Indeed. 🙂
I would like to see this covered in a definitive volume, but print and CD can become so obsolete so quickly.
Nevertheless, here’s my bit o’ blather on the subject:
Before computers (B.C.) the graphics had to be shot and animated frame-by-frame, on cels, just like cartoons. Just imagine Pable Ferro doing his work on The Thomas Crown Affair in multiple layers, with an animation stand, using film that had to be developed before he could really see what he was doing. Imagine the preplanning and visualization that he had to do.
Now imagine the flexibility we have now — to make changes immediately.
How has this flexibility changed the look of motion graphics? How has it changed the messages we try to communicate? How has it improved the lives of motion graphic artists? How has it affected the industry? What have we lost?
What was the one thing that opened up the industry? (that’s an easy one)
Where can it go now?
Anyway, check the Broadcast COW … and maybe Motionographer.
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Thank you all.
To use primary and secondary resources is the best way, i think. I didn’t worry about the primary resources. There are a lot in the www and of course a long list of films which are produced since the 1940s. So I can get the development from the early beginnings, like stop and motion, upto the newest things. I didn’t know where I can get the theory. Some of you gave me very good tips!! Also I go further into my research. I found some helpful stuff, I think. At the bottom I will post the list, because it could be helpful for you too. I decided to write also about the artisitc aspect in creating motion graphics. Why are media artist doing their work and what intension do they have? And so an 🙂
Maybe somebody of you knows a book in the list and could tell me, if it’s useful?
Literature List:
Bjoern Bartholdy, Showreel.01, Daab, December 15, 2006, ISBN-10: 3937718958, ISBN-13: 978-3937718958
David Carson , David Carson, The end of print, Bd.1, Bangert Verlag, Oktober 1995, ISBN-10: 3925560645, ISBN-13: 978-3925560644
David Greene, Motion Graphics: How Did They Do That?, Beaux Arts, 31. Januar 2003, ISBN-10: 156496910X, ISBN-13: 978-1564969101
Ellen Lupton, Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors and Students, Princeton Architectural Press; Auflage: 1, 7. Oktober 2004, ISBN-10: 1568984480, ISBN-13: 978-1568984483
https://www.jvallee.com/these_typographie_low.html (25.06.2007, 08:35 Uhr)
https://www.tronicstudio.com – Collection – GE: Go Big – View Quicktime (Flash Website,kein direkter Link darstellbar) (25.06.2007, 08:40 Uhr)
Japanese Motion Graphic Creators, BNN Shin-sha; Auflage: Pap/DVD, M
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