Gone are those years in which motion graphics was a plus within the reach of a few. The time has come when practically everything can come to life, when simple motion graphics are created to mix various audiovisual elements/techniques (image, drawings, letters, texts, audios, and so on)
And everything starts
to come alive
Nowadays, we can see motion graphics everywhere, many times in video format, but not always. We can see animated logos, icons that do the action they represent, organic headers, animated patterns, etc.
Motion graphics is no longer a technique/discipline relegated to showing how a product works or how a service is performed: it has become a defining tool for anyone who needs to make themselves known and convey who they are. Motion graphics has the almighty ability to capture the soul; it's a whole form of expression and it's art in movement.
Motion graphics is constantly evolving and never stops moving, driven by the latest trends in design, all the technological innovations and the new uses and customs of the audiences we want to reach.
This has a raison d'être that goes back to the hairy 'gentlemen' who throw bones in the air with incredible music in the background.
70% of the bandwidth that we use while surfing the Internet is for watching videos
Let's have a look. Several factors influence the game of seduction. There has to be the predisposition, the desire to be surprised, the ability to read and interpret signals and the audacity to take part and throw yourself into the game of love. It goes without saying that there are certain key movements that set off our radars: a cool dance step, a suggestive twerk or that deliberate gesture that shoots arrows directly into our hearts.
That's because we're programmed to capture and decode the movement. When something parades in front of us, even for fractions of a second, it turns on the mechanisms of our sensors, and our pupils expand and twinkle like those of a Neanderthal on the lookout for a bison.
Everything is constantly in motion. We live on a little rock called Earth that moves through cosmic space at a whopping 28.9 km/sec. And we keep every hair in place (without turning a hair, if balding is encroaching). That's because movement is intrinsic to our nature and to our lives and, therefore, is irreversibly inherent to our culture. Vasava couldn't let something like that slip through our hands.
70% of the bandwidth that we use while surfing the Internet is for watching videos: streaming services, social media content, memes, advertising, and so on. Adorable kittens, idiotic falls, the viral challenge of the day...
The future is audiovisual or it won't be
It's undeniable that the future will be audiovisual or it won't be. Brands are no strangers to this and have already understood that either they jump on the bandwagon of progress or they'll never get out of the little village where they sometimes live (with all respect for the rural world).
Brands are constantly faced with the challenge of capturing the consumer's attention. Audiences are increasingly immersed in a universe full of stimuli and messages. Captivating them to create authentic and long-lasting relationships will only be possible through relevant, differential, credible, honest and personalised content.
Brands (or anyone who wants to seduce an audience) should set their focus on a quantum leap. This is about identifying and putting into practice a new dimension of the story, about discovering new ways of telling stories in which products and services should be given their own identity, surrounded by experiences that allow the audience to travel and enjoy them, and create real connections with the brand.
At this point, knowledge of the audience is paramount. For this, it's vital to analyse the information in advance, listen more genuinely to the audience's wishes, concerns and beliefs, and internalise their attitudes to tailor the message to the individual.
This personalisation and contextualisation of content will facilitate an affinity connection with users. And if brand communication really manages to captivate and enthuse them with its message, users go on to become ‘ambassadors'.
If you've still not convinced yourself about the tyranny of video and movement, here's another piece of information: on average, users spend six hours and forty-five minutes a week watching videos*.
Vasava is also moving. We've internalised these trends and we've assimilated them, to such an extent that they're already part of our genetic makeup.
We definitely know how to express ourselves through movement. And we can assure you that nobody in the team is a breakdancer.
*The state of online video 2018. Limelight.t.
Motion graphics
Motion graphics is the audiovisual discipline that brings graphic design to the timeline. In other words, motion graphics grabs the visual tools of graphic design, such as typography, colour or infographics, and takes them to cinematographic language so that they harmoniously coexist with movement, cadence, editing, VFX, simulations, sound effects, sound design, and so on.
Motion graphics is what you see when your favourite show starts and invites you to sit back on the sofa to enjoy the episode. Those signs that indicate sections. The names of participants in a debate (the wretched lower thirds) are also motion graphics.
Motion graphics create identity. That's what we did when we created the visual identity of Late Motiv, the late-night show presented by Andreu Buenafuente for Movistar+ 0#. Or what we also did for LocoMundo, hosted by Quequé on the same channel, or for Està passant and La Nit dels Òscars on TV3, Televisió de Catalunya.
Motion graphics is also used to make the credits of the series that you can't stop watching at three in the morning, to help the weatherwoman tell you whether or not to take an umbrella when leaving the house, and to make kinetic typography animations.
Movement is a message in itself
This movement is then transferred to video pieces (as we saw earlier, it's where the future is at) and also to any format to which we can give another form of expression by adding movement.
We believe that movement itself is a message, so the variables of position, speed, form and scale are terms that we strive to look after right to the end.
Animation is the art of giving life to drawings and/or inanimate objects in general (in Spanish, the term for cartoon is literally 'animated drawings'). Animation is an artistic and communication discipline that makes the impossible possible and, above all, makes everything seem plausible.
Animation is a vital food in the nutrition of our imagination: stories and narratives come to our mind and they make it work as few disciplines can do (let's not forget how far a book can make us fly without having to suffer from fear of turbulence).
Here at Vasava we work with animation in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D).
Things are getting animated
2D animation, regardless of whether it's generated by computer or in a 'traditional' way, is characterised by being a succession of frames that give the illusion of movement using various artistic techniques without resorting to the use of three-dimensional spaces.
This is the case, for example, of cel animation. This technique is based on a drawing per frame for the characters. The backgrounds were usually made with gouache or acrylics. The character drawings made by animators were inked on acetates or cels, a plastic sheet of cellulose nitrate, and coloured with gouache or acrylics. Then to photograph them, a special animation camera known as a rostrum was used, in which the different acetates were superimposed, placing the stage at the bottom. The process today uses a drawing tablet and digital media, but is still 'artisan' and gives results in which the same end look is maintained.
Drawing by drawing, frame by frame... This is the crown jewel of animation as it was so popular before computers came into play. Surprising effects are achieved with this type of animation, as it can be really hallucinatory, expressive and impressive.
With composition we create scenes by stacking layers of visual, video and graphic content. Complex scenes are composed that mix together various media to integrate them and form a whole.
Through the animation of puppets, we give movement to characters by creating animation rigs or skeletons. This is the method used to achieve optimal results if we want to create unrealistic characters.
Rotoscoping is a very old animation technique that consists in re-drawing or tracing a frame while taking another as a reference. In general, rotoscoping is used to redraw videos frame by frame. Based on real image footage, we redraw it with a certain, more stylised artistic style. This laborious technique has smooth and beautiful results with its characteristic trembling lines.
In stop motion , real physical objects or materials are used to create characters and scenes. With this animation technique, we reflect the movement of static objects by means of a succession of photographed images.
The scenes created are photographed. We slightly modify the position and the acting of the elements that integrate it and are in frame. We photograph again. We modify again. We photograph. And we continue this sequence until the narrative requires.
When these images are reproduced at the speed of twelve or twenty-five frames per second, magic arises and the illusion of movement is created, with the elements and characters included in the scene coming to life. It's a meticulous technique, which calls for a lot of skill, a sense of time and planning.
3D. Computer-generated animation with 3D software is the technique that wins hands down today. There are hundreds of variants and applications because, with these techniques and tools, the results that can be achieved are on a scale that ranges from hyperrealism to more stylised and artistic aesthetics.
It's a technique of great technical complexity and with multiple sub-specialisations, which include the generation of liquids and gases, collisions of solid objects, simulations of formations or destructions, motion capture, and so on.
With this type of CGI animation, you can create very sophisticated and colourful static and moving images, corporate presentations, product reveals, product mock-ups, covers, video game cinematics, and many other things. The only limit is your imagination.
Animation is a fantastic way to produce audiovisual content, getting more and more popular as we speak. Its ability to express and create realities ('real' or alternative) makes it a very powerful narrative instrument, a true alternative to telling stories and connecting with audiences of all kinds, whether it's a brand, a film director or a storyteller.