Case Study
Tools:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Sure Target
Goals:
- Create a 30-second Kinetic Type video
- Create a visual style that is visually cohesive and matches the dialogue
- Use creativity and animation techniques to create a visually dynamic piece
The Premise of the Production
This project entailed creating a 30-second animation to make a quote come to life using kinetic typography. The goal was to use the Sure Target plugin in After Effects to create a dynamic and impactful piece. I chose to base my video off the Doomfist Origin cinematic because of its strong dialogue delivery.
Audio Editing
The next step was to edit down the video into a usable short audio clip. The video itself was over 2 minutes and had to be cut down into just the dialogue and some white space to allow for a smooth flow. After downloading the video, I used Adobe Premiere Pro to cut out the majority of the video and utilized audio transitions to create seamless cuts. The final cut had exactly what I needed: An even flowing tempo and only the dialogue.
Storyboarding
After I had the audio I needed, I went on to storyboard the video. The goal here was to create a visual style that matched the Doomfist character and the solid and authoritative voice he projects, as well as determine how the text would flow and transition. I did this by using the color pallet that his character is designed with (red, yellow, dark brown) and experimenting with different fonts. The first draft had too many different fonts and had a too bland background and overly saturated color pallet. After some positive criticism and reflection, I made proper adjustments and made the final style by narrowing the font count, using a grimy textured background, and having a slightly more washed-out pallet to be less overbearing on the eyes and creating more contrast.
Once I had my storyboard layed out, I would bring it into after effects to begin staging the animation. To do this, I set up the background of the Illustrator file into several separate areas to create a 3D box. This would be the setting for the Sure Target plugin and allow it space to pan around in. Once that was complete, I brought in my audio and marked where every line started as frame-tight as it could be. This would allow me to know when to move to the next line of dialogue in the animation process and ultimately save a lot of valuable time.
Animating Process
Finally, it was time to start animating the project. With all the preparation done, the main goal was to recreate the storyboard’s guide and add some extra “oomph” to some key moments. That was done by adding some camera shake whenever there was a punch SFX, slight zoom outs/ins to create anticipation, and even a using a “cloud of dust” settling mp4. over the last slamming SFX to solidify the tone. I think the cinematographic elements really elevated this piece beyond what I originally planned and they’re so subtle that you wouldn’t even think about them unless they were absent.
Overall this project was very rewarding and one I am extremely happy with. Figuring out how to make an engaging and exciting animation using typography was a fun challenge that made me think outside the box. The use of both typographic rules and animation principles went surprisingly well together and the addition of some cinematography using Sure Target really blended everything together into a fine champloo of an animation. I already have plans on making another KN animation based on another Overwatch character, and I hope to make this one even better!