Motion Graphics and VFX Case study

1. Motion Graphics and
Compositing:
Case Study
Katie Hair-Morse
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2. 2
Critical Discussion

3. The first use of motion graphics was in the form of title cards for silent films in the early 20th
century. As films were silent, it was important that the title cards stood out and were interesting
and easy to understand for the audience. It was found that white lettering on a black background
was preferable, as it showed up clearest on film. As film itself progressed, so did the style of the
title cards, allowing film makers to create their own identity through typography. The Great Train
Robbery (1903) , the first official film, uses a title card to introduce the film, but the rest of the film
contains no dialogue (therefore no further text cards). Film typography would have been as new as
film itself at this point, however, in Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights (1930), title cards frequent
throughout the film to represent text. This was an early motion graphic being used for effect
rather then necessity, as sound in film had been introduced in 1927. Chaplin’s film remained a
silent film as this was his desired effect, not because it had to be silent. He did this as he wanted
the audience to be able to connect with him in the way that they’d always been used to seeing
him.
In modern film, titling is still essential branding for a film, and utilises motion graphics not only in the form of text, but often
in animation and moving image. Motion graphics in a title sequence can be used to distinguish the genre and themes of a
film in the opening moments. An example of this is Stephen Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can (2002) which not only
incorporates the retro setting of the movie, but provides insight to specific moments in the plot before the audience even
knows what they are. For example in the movie, DiCaprio’s character disguises himself as a pilot to hide from Hank’s
character while the opening sequence shows a cartoon man walk through a wall and change from a suit to a pilot’s uniform.
Catch me if you can uses a 60’s style silhouette ’cut-out’ animation to represent characters and locations, with colour and
rhythm used to determine a new location in the sequence. This opening sequence is known to be a tribute to Saul Bass,
who is well known for his stylised motion graphics and animation for film and how his works changed and advanced motion
graphics. He created the opening sequence for Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) which uses simple lines and text to create a
dramatic and engaging effect. Psycho’s opening sequence is an example of early motion graphics as we know them today, as
Bass created movement that accompanied the rhythm of the soundtrack, while adopting a simplistic yet effective style still
used in graphics today. The opening credits of Psycho feature bold lines that move on and off screen in a synchronized
manner while highlighting the white text of the film’s title. Bass displaced the text in multiple ways to give the impression
that it has been sliced (which could be insight to the film – sliced with a knife). The pace of the music and movement of the
graphics build tension and have an effect on the audience, which gives the opening sequence intensity that was cleverly
created by its simplicity.
Motion Graphics

4. Motion Graphics
An alternative use of modern motion graphics can be found in the works of Kyle
Cooper, who incorporates live action stills and use of text to build atmosphere
within his sequences. Cooper’s graphics are matched to the rhythm of the
products’ soundtrack and his use of motion for text creates impact. Cooper is
known for using rapid beat editing and image distortion to create effect. This is
seen in the title credits for the television series American Horror Story. The
sequence consists of stills and footage that change on the beat and includes old
iconography for the horror genre with a juxtaposing bold, modern text.
Transitions are used between images in the form of image movement, distortion
and flashing. Cooper also uses dark colours in this introduction, blacks, browns
and soft blues which give the impression of a dingy, mysterious environment.
This also contrasts the stark white font on black background of the text, making
the sequence feel disjointed and giving the audience a preemptive unsettled
feeling towards the programme ahead. Kyle Coopers works are known to build
on the story of the show, using images and themes to not only provide insight
into the programme, but to be a short story in themselves. The advantages of
this style of motion graphics are that they lead the audience into the show or
film that they introduce in an interesting and engaging manner, however it is
important for the title sequence to accurately reflect the product it has been
created for, and the motion graphics of the opening should not out shine the
content of the product. Danny Yount creates sequences similar to those of Kyle
Cooper but with transitions between live action film and graphic design,
meaning that the opening sequence cannot ‘out do’ or misinform, as it is almost
an extension of the film itself, allowing the audience to associate with the
characters before being projected into the story of the product. An example of
this is the opening and closing sequences of Sherlock Holmes (2009) which
include Robert Downey Jr’s character in real and graphic form and even uses
dialogue alongside the soundtrack.

5. Visual Effects
The earliest VFX technique is Matte Painting which was used in as early as 1898 and is still used in modern visual effects.
Matte painting is where an area of the scenery is painted and is used when its difficult, expensive or impossible to film in a
desired location. It is especially common in the fantasy genre as it enables filmmakers to create realistic worlds for their
story to take place. The earlier uses of matte painting are simple but revolutionary, for example in 1898 George Melies
used the technique to black out his face so that it would appear invisible on a black background to complete his sketch
‘four troublesome heads’. This short also featured multiple exposure filming, another effect still used in modern
filmmaking. As filmmaking developed, so did use of the matte painting technique. Artists created entire backgrounds and
locations for films and the production team were even able to implement moving image into the scenes by cutting out a
desired area of the scene and projecting the desired footage into the space. This was then recorded over the film of the
setting, giving the appearance that the characters were interacting with the background. An example of this is in Ben Hurr
as the majority of the roman large cityscape is actually a painting by Matthew J.Yuricich. Although this technique is
definitely impressive, it is time consuming and can often appear unrealistic to modern film standards. Inspired by matte
paintings and with quickly developing new software, visual effects artists have found ways to digitally render entire scenes
in 3D, that often can move with the camera. CGI (computer generated imagery) has revolutionised film as it enables the
artist to create entirely new creatures, objects and even worlds digitally and place the characters within this world during
production. An example of this is Avatar (2009) which contrasts live action filming to an intricate and enormous CGI
rendered world. It was acted and filmed by real actors who wore motion capture technology and were later altered to
create the characters within the world. The film is made of around 70% CGI rendered content and took 4 years to
complete from the beginning of production.

6. Visual Effects
Alongside matte paintings, matte backgrounds are also key tools for visual effects in
contemporary and modern film. The blue screen was first used in 1930 and developed by
Rko radio pictures, who discovered that the matte blue created a better background to
expose other footage onto, although in the experimental process, the blue was often
visible around the edges of the character imposed in the image. UV and Yellow Matts
were experimented with, which were actually often created by facing a sodium light onto
a white backdrop. The green screen, or Chroma Key, was a breakthrough for
contemporary filmmaking as digital sensors are most sensitive to the colour green.
Because of this, mattes and keys come out clearest on a green backdrop and had the
least grain or ‘noise’. However, early chroma key had the same issue as the matte
paintings that it had to be filmed with a static camera and ‘locked down’ to prevent the
backdrop moving during the filming process. The advancement of motion control camera
technology allowed more camera movement to be possible and the advancement of CGI
allowed backgrounds to move as the camera did (as they became 3D).Blue and green
chroma key screens are both still in use today, and although green is most favoured, blue
is preferred for situations where the characters or main features of a scene are
predominantly green. In modern filmmaking, chroma key can be used in the form of
objects rather than back drops to create CGI items, animals or fantasy creatures. It is
done by creating an object of similar size and shape as the desired animation and
covering it in green material. Markers are used as a guideline for the animator rendering
the item, to show where an animals eyes, nose and mouth may be or where an object
has a change of texture. Chroma key is heavily used in HBO’s series Game of Thrones.
Many of the shows visuals are created completely digitally using this visual effect
technique, and notably features many rendered creatures and characters, such as an
abnoramally large wolf and a trio of dragons. This works extremely well as it allows the
audience to become immersed in the fantasy world that has been created. However, use
of CGI can be extremely expensive, an the show has confessed that they often have to
limit the appearances of the mythical beasts to keep the show’s production costs
reasonable.

7. 7
Analysis

8. Motion Graphics Sequence
The opening sequence of Watchmen is well known for its creativity and insight to the mood and themes of the film. It
consists of a series of freeze-frame images in a montage style sequence that encapsulates the audience within the
themes of the story and how the characters came to be as they are. It is another example of an opening sequence that
could be an extension of the film itself or a stand alone story. The 5 minute running time of the opening could be a
homage to older filmmaking techniques, especially as most of the sequence is set before 1975. The opening also
includes text which moves along with the camera – a subtle use of motion tracking. The characters in the live action
often interact with the text, crossing over or behind it and giving the effect that it is part of the scene instead of
something that has been added afterwards.
The text used for the credits is yellow with a black
outline, heavily contrasting the soft beige, brown and
grey colouring used in the sequence to suggest that it is
in the past. Although it is bold, the text isn’t so striking
that it detracts from the scene in place. It appears to
have been marked to the wall and moves slightly with
the movements of the camera as if part of the scene.
Here is another example of the simple but effective use
of graphic text, this time in a freeze frame rather than
live action film. The camera carefully tracks around the
pair who are frozen in time. The combination of live
action and motion graphics are popular in modern
filmmaking as it allows the audience to become
acquainted with the characters and develop an opinion
of them before the film actually starts.
The sequence is set to the movie soundtrack and cuts often happen on the lyric ‘the times they be a changing’ – showing
that time is passing between each shots. The rhythm of the soundtrack also affects the speed of motion in the shot and
how the graphic text actually moves. The opening ends with a large CGI explosion which rolls into the title of ‘Watchmen’

9. Motion Graphics Sequence
The title sequence of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was designed and produced by Danny Yount and Kyle Cooper. It is a homage to
the work of Saul Bass and incorporates a retro 60’s feel, in both the stylised design of the animation and the length of the
sequence itself. This also reflects the era that the film is set in and gives the audience insight to the themes of the movie
ahead. The retro style is created using a silhouette animation in black and white, with elements of colour used to draw
attention to important features such as the orange text on the white or black background.
The opening titles appear on the screen in time to the rhythm
of the soundtrack, with each word appearing on the beat. The
font is bright white on an orange background, matching the
previous colour scheme of the title sequence but also creating
a contrast as the background and text colours become
inverted. The addition of bullet-holes link back to the theme
of the movie yet seem light hearted despite the implications
behind it. The font is slightly distorted and has a splattered
effect which, when associated with the bullet holes, could be
interpreted as blood. The entire sequence consists of graphics and animation
rather than live action imagery, which allows the sequence
to be distinctive and could be a separate piece of film to
the movie itself. The animation consists of simple shapes
and descreet movement, allowing the viewer to
concentrate on both the story of the sequence and the text
of the credits. The camera follows the characters from
scene to scene indicating that they are the main focus of
the credits. This is also supported by the animation design
as the people are more cartoon-like compared to the
realism of the surrounding objects – indicating that the
people are constantly changing where the settings are
constant. This could give insight to the characters within
the actual film and how their situations frequently change.

10. Visual Effects
For the visual effects analysis, I’m going to be studying a scene from Series 7 Episode 6 of Game of thrones. In the
sequence, a handful of the protagonists are trapped on a frozen lake and surrounded by their enemies. There are many
examples of VFX used in this scene, including CGI and Chroma Key.
The main setting of the sequence was filmed in a quarry and then touched up
with CGI in post production. Green screens were used for Chroma key alteration
which allows editors to impose a different background onto the original
environment. Many of the actors had parts of clothing covered with the green
material as they had limbs that looked skeletal and some of them were
supposed to be warped or frozen away – the green on the clothing made it
possible to CGI this onto the person’s body in the same way that the
background is imposed onto the main setting.
For the dragon, the actors had to sit upon a robotic object that moved (Similar
to a bucking bronco) which is covered in chroma key fabric and spotted with
markers which gives the editors an idea of what part of the dragon is supposed
to be where. The actual movement of the dragon is controlled by a drone which
is flown around the set to give a more realistic idea of how the dragon would
move.

11. Screen Ratios
Film: 1.85:1
TV: 1.77:1
Web: 16:9
Resolution
4K 3840 x 2160
Full HD: 1920 x 1080
HD: 1280 x 720
Standard : 720 x 576
Frame Rate
Film: 24fps
TV: 35 fps
Web: 60fps
Video Format
Compression
It is essential to consider what the preferred playback method of a product will be. Most commonly, the products of
students will be uploaded to Youtube or another digital video streaming page. In this context, the file should be
exported with the format H.264 and preset of Youtube or Vimeo at 1080p.