As a farewell to 2011, we have selected 32 brilliant videos from the last five issues of Motion Gallery, which were themed around Network Branding, Projection Mapping, Mixed Media, Infographics and 8Bit Video-Games Technology, as well as from the online channel IdN Onair. This review of the best work to have appeared over the course of a year will become an annual feature.
The software technology known as 8 Bit was responsible for the rapid spread and unprecedented popularity of video games in the '70s and '80s. Primitive though they were, those games grabbed the imagination of an entire generation. And now that many of them have grown up to become motion designers, they are summoning up their childhood memories to incorporate aspects of them into their latest digital creations, be they music videos, smartphone games or short movies, thus giving a 30-year-old sub-culture a whole new lease of life.
Motion infographics are to be found everywhere – on the Internet, in TV commercials and programmes, and in educational films. Their basic goal is to help the viewer digest the information presented to them as painlessly, indeed pleasurably, as possible. But how do their designers set about them? How do they absorb all the material they need to understand before deciding how to demonstrate it? And to what extent does the type of data to be illustrated affect the visual outcome? We have selected more than 30 brilliant infographic motion works, movies and animations, to show you how lively and aesthetically pleasing such instructional efforts can be.
Film-making is a bit like cake-baking – time and ingredients are critical to the final outcome. Faced with short deadlines and miserly budgets, the trick is to bring various techniques to bear in a bid to make your movie stand out from the crowd. We take a look at the various mix'n'match approaches adopted by some leading exponents of the genre.
You really can't believe your eyes these days — not when you're exposed to Projection Mapping. Shining stars in this issue's DVD are 17 leading international studios and designers who specialise in making magic by playing with our optical perceptions, creating imaginative illusions in real time in the real world.
Bumpers, promos, idents, teasers... the world's TV stations are in a fierce battle for your subconscious mind now that multi-channel satellite and cable delivery systems — and zapping through them with the remote control — have become the norm. This presents designers with an enormous opportunity — and a stiff challenge.