One of the coolest (and most daunting) things about motion graphics is the amount of effort and detail that goes into short pieces. I can't think of a more perfect example of that than my contribution to Wicked Tale's Exquisite Corpse project.
For those that don't know (like me, prior to this project), an Exquisite Corpse project is where a group of artists take turns contributing to a piece, then handing it off to the next artist, who adds their own part, then passes it off, and so on. So it is basically a collaboration, and it requires a ton of creative flexibility to make sure that the piece is still coherent after everyone has added their part! Anyway, this project was based around the world of film and animation. I was the sixth designer in the queue, and what resonated most with me was showing off the "flow" that comes with animating through a program like After Effects. I really liked the idea of a computer mouse skating around the screen, flying through a series of keyframes and timelines.
The first step was to work on the timing for the mouse's movement.
I went frame-by-frame to draw roughly where in the line's path I wanted the mouse to be on any given frame. The entire Exquisite Corpse project was at 15 fps, which was something I needed to match. Certain areas of the path didn't need as much exaggeration to show the travel (such as the curve around the left side) so they have the opportunity to speed up. Additionally, the dragging and pulling add visual interest and dynamics in their speed. From there, I went on to actually animate the mouse.
Again, this was all done in frame-by-frame. I used the red dots as a guideline for where the arrow needed to be on a frame. The arrows size differs to make it appear as though it is pushing into the z-axis, giving it a bit of a 3D look. The arrow also stretches and shrinks based on how fast the arrow is moving. This also helps to exaggerate the movement speed. Finally, I added a rotation of the mouse to follow the path directly. The journey of the mouse is a bit more realistic because of it; keeping the arrow's rotation fixed makes it too sterile.
After the arrow looked tight, I brought it into After Effects and began to design the arrow to match the design consistency of the rest of the Exquisite Corpse.
The colors were in the project's prompt. In the interest of not having to redesign the mouse too much, I added an echo effect rather than a squash/stretch to mimic mouse speed. Not much else to add after that, besides a subtle grain to give more texture.
Okay, so the mouse was done, but I still didn't have anything for the mouse to interact with. I created a simple gradient background (again using colors from our prompt) and created a series of icons that mirror After Effects' UI. Going into further detail about this part would probably be another case study.
And there we have it: my contribution to the Exquisite Corpse project. I'm super proud of every detail, especially considering the amount of focus (and patience) that frame-by-frame requires. To see the entire project, I recommend checking out Wicked Tale's Instagram. It was really great to work with these other designers and see everyone's approach to motion design. I'm looking forward to working with them again on future collaborations!
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