Computer Graphics World

Summer 2019

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54 cgw s u m m e r 2 0 1 9 M otion graphics can be an invisible art. The animated graphic elements that are used to tell a story can do such a good job that the audience accepts them, and the art disappears into the content, so no one thinks about the signs in the sky, or the interface in their game, or the hero's computer screen. On the other hand, motion design graphics jump up, shake your hand, and look you in the eye. This year, motion design – which applies graphic design principles to filmmaking and video production through the use of animation and visual effects – is getting a lot of well-deserved attention. A few months ago, a Scientific and Technology Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was given to the developers of soware for motion graphics, including Per-Anders Edwards for his contribution to the development of Cinema 4D's MoGraph (Maxon) tool set. Adobe's critical role in the movie industry was also recognized, and developers David Simons, Daniel Wilk, James Acquavella, Michael Natkin, and David Cotter were recognized for the design and development of Aer Effects. The Knoll brothers, John and Thomas, also received awards for the development of Photoshop, as did Mark Hamburg for his continued engineering work on the soware. On the same weekend that the Academy Awards were broadcast, Motion Plus De- sign held a conference for motion designers in Los Angeles. The organization Motion Plus Design was founded in 2011 in France by Kook Ewo, joined in 2015 by Ronan Guit- ton, to promote the art of motion design around the world. Their events have drawn attention to people working in the motion design field worldwide. DESIGN IS EVERYTHING Not surprising, early innovation in motion design came during the mid-century golden age of design in art and architecture. Along with Charles and Ray Eames in architecture and furniture, Eero Saarinen in furniture, and Paul Rand in graphic design, Saul Bass was exploring the power of a space-age aesthet- ic as a graphic designer. Bass' logo designs helped define many major brands, including Bell Telephone, Continental Airlines, United, AT&T, and Warner Communications. His work designing movie posters naturally led to creating the title credits for movies. The designer's first work was with Otto Preminger, who so liked his work on the Car- men Jones poster that he suggested Bass do credits. Among his best-known images are the jutting lines and jagged, ragged shapes in the titles of The Man with the Golden Arm, which become an arm splitting the frame. "Why not make it move?" Bass famously asked Preminger. Bass redefined credits by making them part of the movie, and as in North By North- west, the credits introduce the story as the titles line up on a grid that is revealed to be the side of the United Nations building. The titles continue as the movie begins. As a result of Bass' influence, credits became longer and told their own story. Bass and his wife, Elaine, worked long into their careers, creating movie posters for several directors including Stanley Kubrick (The Shining) and credits for directors like Martin Scorsese (Casino, Cape Fear). In the 1960 article "Film Titles – a New Field for the Graphic Designer," published in Graphis magazine, Bass argued that film titles provide a new canvas for designers and directors. Noting that at the time of publication audiences really didn't care about the credits and used the time to talk, go to the snack bar, and fidget, he wrote, "I have approached titles with the objective of making them sufficiently provocative and entertaining to induce the theatre inhabitants to sit down and watch, because something is really happening on the screen. It then may become possible to project a Breaking Barriers with Motion Design HOW THIS GENRE HAS EARNED ITS PLACE IN THE SPOTLIGHT BY KATHLEEN MAHER

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