Tell me what you think?
by Bryan Carvajal
on
Jul 14, 2001 at 7:58:26 am
Hi,
This is something I made for my demo reel back in Febuary of this year. http://homestead.juno.com/bcarvajal/files/tvlogos.mov
It was done using after effects 4.1
Re: Tell me what you think? by s wolf on Jul 14, 2001 at 4:54:47 pm
real nice -- i esp enjoyed the soft color/lens effect on the MSNBC clip at the end. IMHO, that particular music distracts a little from the visuals, maybe has a bit too much presence.
Re: Tell me what you think? by Bryan Carvajal on Jul 14, 2001 at 6:56:40 pm
Thanks Stephen,
Yea I think the ending MSNBC part came out nicely done. The blur from the beginning of it to the final focus sort of followed the theme of "The whole Picture". The music was from the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker soundtrack which I felt had the beat needed to drive the reel foreward. After looking at it several times and seeing the mistakes, I hated the Access Hollywood part and the discovery channel part could use a few more tweaks. (trying to imitate that scene from the opening part to the second season of Babylon 5 with the nebula reflecting off the spaceworkers faceplate).
I am starting on pre-development on a second, more updated version of that reel using ideas that I didn't have time to impliment into first one.
Here is my question, what would you like to see in a promotional reel like this?
Re: Tell me what you think? by jean hauptman on Jul 15, 2001 at 1:55:27 am
Hi Bryan- I'd use more layers and fewer static cutouts. If you're gonna do a show like Blind Date or Access Hollywood it should at least be as developed as the original. I think that you're trying for quantity, but need to concentrate on fully developing fewer animations. Hope this helps.
Decent to good. My only major probem was the use of typefaces. I thought more care should have been put into choosing fonts with better style character.
But it's a good starting point and well worth the time to upgrade it. Cheers and have fun.
Maybe it's just me by Jim H on Jul 16, 2001 at 8:18:32 pm
I don't like demos like this. This looks like you're just coping animations that are already have been done. It's kind of like the remake of Pyscho. They did it shot for shot. It seemed to lack creativity. And if you you did do some new treat of an established logo the design copies make it look like all are just copies. I don't mind you using established logos to animate, as long as you make it clear you weren't paid to do them.
Re: Maybe it's just me by Bryan Carvajal on Jul 17, 2001 at 3:14:24 am
Well when I first started this project, I wanted to make some original stuff, but then I wanted people to reconize the names and logos and relate to it. Sitting down and recording the main tiles of opening sequences and seeing "what could I do to make it more appealing in my version?" I am going to put in some original logos but I want to have some reconizible stuff in my new version.
Re: Maybe it's just me by Jim H on Jul 17, 2001 at 1:31:17 pm
But the recognizable stuff isn't your design. When I look at work of ab artist's I don't care if I don't know who "XYZ" is. I look at how the logo is intergrated in the design. Can I tell what that company does even though I don't know who they are? If a artist can do that then that's a good designer. I think most employers understand you're just starting out in the field and you don't have billable work on you're reel. But to just copy the promos, to me, seems to lack creativity. And that's a worse message to convey than unrecognizable logos.
Re: Maybe it's just me by Lumpy on Jul 19, 2001 at 11:44:25 am
I agree with Jim H, you shouldn't worry about doing recognizable logos if you're not doing it for a client. Okay, you've been doing some nice animations, but you're mostly demonstrating your mechanical aptitude, and not showing as much in the way of original thinking. I hope this doesn't sound negative...I've also made this mistake before, and it took me a little while to understand what I was doing wrong. I had originally started out by doing some pretty far out stuff (not technique-wise but subject matter). Then I got it in my head that I'd better start making some stuff that looks "marketable", and use real products etc. I can tell you it usually doesn't work though, unless you're doing something really innovative with the software, or really pushing things conceptually. And if you are able to achieve that, wouldn't you rather have your animation say something about you as a designer or person? Look at it this way, one of the drawbacks in our business is the ever-present clients telling you "it's too fast" and "make it red instead of blue" and "make the logo a little bigger". This is one of the few times we get to do absolutely anything, whatever we want, and we only have to please ourselves. You should take advantage of it. (If you really must do something that says "Pepsi", take it in a direction that no-one's ever seen before, and really develop it into something. Come up with a whole campaign- a series of spots, or title sequence, bumpers, lower thirds, etc etc.) But you should realize that clients want you to have original ideas, so you can "bring something to the table". Almost anyone can learn how to use the software, the hard part is being able to come up with great ideas on a regular basis (and then know how to use the software to pull it off). That's the difference between an operator (or "wrist") and a Designer. Sometimes clients don't know what they want, and they need a creative person to pick up the ball and run like hell. Your reel is your chance to demonstrate your originality. I'm not saying chuck it, your reel is your reel, we all have to go with what we've got. But if I were you I'd take all this into consideration for the next projects you do. And if you're stuck for ideas, try illustrating a piece of writing, or make a "tone-poem" around a theme (like "Untitled:Darkness" or "Infinity", which you can see at www.Belief.com)
