UNIT 64 – MOTION GRAPHICS – EVALUATION

Out of every project I have done on the whole of the media course, Unit 64 was by far the unit which frustrated and pleased me in equal measure. On one hand it was the most challenging, boring and tedious bit of work I’ve ever done – on the other, it was relaxed, informative and above all, quite fun.

This is because of the way the unit was split up into 3 sections: HA4 – Computer Arts Blog Article, HA5 – SProc.Net Motion Graphic and HA6 – E-Sting Motion Graphic.

HA4 was the horrible one. The aim for the course was to write an article about the how motion graphics are used for a magazine called ‘Computer Arts’. We were tasked with analysing 4 different kinds of motion graphics, 3 different examples of one kind of motion graphic and then combining the information gathered from the first two tasks, write the article.

Maybe describing HA4 as boring isn’t a good reason to not do your work to the best of your ability in terms of quality and time-keeping but in all fairness it can be a challenge to become motivated to do a piece of work that you just do not like, especially with all the other work that was needed to be done (which were a lot more enjoyable to do as well).

In the end I soldiered on and it became clear that I was slightly overreacting. Once I got my head down the work was finished in quite a short space of time at a fairly reasonable quality.

The thing I have improved the most was my researching and analysing skills. It is very easy to type in a word and take your information from its Wikipedia page, so my research skills have come on leaps and bounds by actually visiting other internet sources. One example of this was by actually finding out the settings of videos uploaded to YouTube, something I would have never done or even though about before starting the unit. My analysis of subjects for other projects has greatly improved since the completion of this unit too.

I have also learnt many new words and their definitions. Frame rate, resolution, compositing and screen ratio meant nothing to me before this unit.

HA5 was where things started to pick up.

When we were told about the unit, Motion Graphics, I don’t think I was the only one was very slightly looking forward to doing the work as it was something that sounded very enjoyable for a media student. We’re going to do animation, which is pretty cool. So obviously when the first task

came round, it was a bit of a let-down. This is why I enjoyed HA5 so much.

The purpose of this unit was to create a 10 second motion graphic for a service procurement company, SProc.Net, to be used in their pitches, presentations and all of their marketing channels.

The unit was split into 3 units: the first being to create a storyboard for 3 different ideas for the motion graphic, the second to create our ideas using the LightWave programme and the third to composite the 3 together using Premiere Pro.

I enjoyed the unit, and I think I did quite well with it. If you compare this with the last task, this on paper should have been harder but this proves what I said earlier about finding things easier when you enjoy them.

There was really only one improvement of a skill to learn with this unit, and that was using LightWave in order to create the 3D sequence. I think that I did quite well using this programme considering I had never used it before.

HA6 was my favourite of the 3 units though.

This unit was all about creating a 10 second sting to be entered into a competition ran by the digital channel, E4. The winner will have their sting shown on the television.

The tasks included producing an outline schedule, producing a moodboard about E4, drawing up plenty of ideas on a piece of paper, develop the strongest idea into a storyboard and then creating the sting.

I enjoyed all tasks bar one – the outline schedule. I have never been a fan of doing a schedule or detailed plan for any work that I haven’t done yet. This is probably because I am not the most organised of people. I prefer to just do my work at times I feel like considering I have other teachers whose work also needs to be done. As long as I accomplish a good standard of work and meet the deadline then I’m happy.

Other than that though, this unit was really fun. I got to play about with all the different programmes, such as Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. As quite a creative person with a like for designing, these tools and this unit were a great one for me.

Compared to the other two units, especially the first one, this unit was struggle-free. This was because I was familiar with the programmes I was using and comfortable using them – which just fuelled my enjoyment because I was getting though it very quickly without having to ask for assistance.

In conclusion, all though with its fair share of challenges and struggles, I have found myself to enjoy Unit 64. It has helped me hone my skills with researching and analysing as well as using all the programmes quickly and efficiently. I am sure that this unit will prove to be beneficial to me in the long run.