The initial plan for this piece of motion graphics was a simple white text on a black background. As most of the edit was completed before I began planning for this project I knew in my mind how I wanted to look. The documentary was so far comical and I needed a piece of motion graphics that would introduce the rest of the video but keep the mood and pacing the same.
I wanted it to be as simple as possible with text sliding into frame from the left and right but also experiment with an impact effect of a logo appearing on screen. So first of all I drew a sketch of where I wanted all of the layers of the animation to be.
After trying to research into pieces of motion graphics out there already, there weren’t really any that were similar to my own idea. I did however get a lot of inspiration from the old CBBC idents in terms of objects flying onto screen and the pacing.
After researching into impact effects, I came across a video tutorial on how to make them using expressions. I wasn’t exactly sure what expressions were so I read a little into them before following the tutorial. (https://www.lifewire.com/what-are-after-effects-expressions-4031213) It then came apparent that this project wasn’t going to be as simple as I would have liked it.
In terms of fonts I wanted to choose a comical/cartoon font as the nature of the documentary was quite humorous and uplifting and I wanted to carry on the same energy throughout. One font I liked the look of was ‘Avenir Next Condensed-Heavy’ which was a bold font that has a sort of cartoon look to it. This became the chosen font for my initial design.
The colours in this piece of motion graphics would come from the stamp of the Guinness World Records logo. I liked the idea that it would be just the logo that has colour so that it would draw your eye to it straight away. I wanted to keep it simple using white text on a black background as most documentaries I watched never had complicated title sequences therefore I didn’t want them either.
Before starting the project I had to find a PNG file of the Guinness World Records logo, specifically the roundel to become the stamp which flies onto the screen. This was important to the project as this was the documentary centred around and I felt this needed to be in the opening sequence.
In addition to the comical font, I wanted to also include sound effects in the animation, such as swooshes and an impact sound for the text and the logo coming onto screen. I began searching for these sounds on YouTube to use in the production process.
Once I planned, researched and collected everything I needed for this project, I was ready to start the production process.
-Joshua Poole- 