FMP - OUTCOME

Writing for change is a campaign created for Survival International raising awareness about issues affecting tribal people in Brazil and promoting the valuable work of the organisation.

writing for change from Mariana Lopes on Vimeo.

FMP - Storyboard development

During the process of writing the script and finding the right tone of voice and narrative, the script went through major changes and in response to each of the changes, I created the visual language that better represented the spoken words.

Those changes happened after testing them against the audience, listening to their feedback and understanding critiques. This was a very important and intense stage of the concept development with loads of input from my primary research (copywriter, client, anthropologist) and extensive secondary research. (please see: visual references and motion graphics and social awareness entries in this blog)

FMP - 1,2,3 testing

STOP MOTION TESTS

testing type+ink+paper+movement

PRODUCING ASSETS AND TESTING RESULTS

WAKE UP, FREAK OUT

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

FMP - Visual

This is possibly what I am willing to achieve in terms of visual style.

The tangibility of letter writing, which is the focus of my piece, should be represented by the use of paper in different forms.
We can write, draw, fold. It comes to life with the use of stop-frame animation, it interacts with pictures, characters, words.
This also refers to the fact that my aim is to persuade the public to take an action, to write a letter.
For this animation, I choose to use paper, ink, hand-write texts and drawing to address the subject.

Colour palete (green, red, black, terracota) - main colours found in a Brazilian tribe.

FMP - Proposal Form

Proposal Form

Mariana Delellis Lopes

Project Title |

Writing for change

Statement of intent | [Rationale and Summary] What is the purpose of your project and why is it important? Summarise your project, the subject area, your aims and objectives and what you will do to meet them.

It is my intention to create a short piece of Motion Graphics that communicates to a broad audience (Male + Female / 20-35 years / European) to persuade them to join the Survival International Letter Writing campaign. This would be done by raising awareness about the specific issue of the treatment of Tribal people in Brazil. The campaign would demonstrate these issues and show a way that the audience can actively force change within this specific situation.

I hope to draw attention to the Survival International website, where in depth information can be found on the topic and other related issues in which the organisation also works. It is here on the website that information and instructions about how to write a letter to the government in Brazil to affect change can be found.

Field of Study | [Subject area] What is the general area that your project deals with – either within motion graphics or in conjunction with it? What existing work does the project build on?

Motion Graphics and Social/Political Awareness.

Motion Graphics is increasingly used to raise awareness about social and political issues, it is flexible on its form, which makes it suitable to address different problems to a wider audience.

The possibility of abstraction through the use of illustrations and pictures makes it easier to communicate very abstract ideas and concepts. It also offers the possibility of distribution via the web or via broadcast. It can be sent out to members and interested audiences via email with a link to the website.

My plan is to work in collaboration with Survival International and write the brief according to their needs.

Some of the work that really influenced me are the animations made for Amnesty International by Magic Lab, Sweet World and Lobo; “Don't stop dancing” animation made for Oxfam by PAM; “Taking liberties” series of animations made by Simon Robson; “Stop and Forgive” and “Hope HIV” promo by Kathrin Fietzn.

Focus | What is the specific focus of your project within the field of study, what are the challenges of undertaking it, who are the experts in the field – past or present?

Motion Graphics campaign for Survival International raising awareness about Tribal people, specifically in Brazil and a call for action through the organisation's letter writing campaign.

The challenge here is finding the right tone, narrative and visual style that engage the public and show solution and a perspective of a better and fairer society. The aim is to inform and encourage participation.

Survival International is a non-governmental organisation that for 30 years have been working with Tribal people in different countries, helping them to protect their rights. Their aim is to educate and inform the general public, promote respect for tribal people cultures and advocate in the protection of their rights.

Context | [Background] What are the wider contexts that will inform your project? Which aspects of contemporary or historical activity within motion graphics is your project connected to?

Social / Cultural – This project tackles social and cultural issues and calls society to engage with it. I truly believe that graphic designers can use their very particular talents and skills to communicate and engage other people to participate in the construction of a better and fairer society. Motion Graphics is a very engaging medium and should not be restricted to only sell commodities but also to promote the possibility of change, to re-imagine the world, to get people involved.

Economical – This is a voluntary work, there is no budget involved.

Technical / contemporary – Internet would be the way of distribution. The work can be sent out via email to the Survival's e-mailing list, it can be on their channel on Youtube and general public can embed the animation onto their blogs and websites.

Visual language – The visual language and narrative of my animation will be a result of my research and aims. It will follow the tone of voice chosen for the spoken words and will emphasise the main idea, which is letter writing. Its linear and illustrative narrative refers to the almost extinct practice of writing letters.

Methodology | What are the theoretical and practical processes you will go through to realise your project, what primary (including visual/material research) and secondary research do you need to do?)

1 – Define the main goal/concept of the animation through secondary and primary research. Decide on a client to work with and make contact with them.

2 – Primary research:

- Discuss project with the organisation involved. Contact Fiona Watson and Nayana Fernandez to explain my ideas and goals and get feedback from them on their needs and expectations.

- Talk to a copywriter, Rogerio Correa, about the best way for finding the right tone and the use of language.

- Have my script supervised by a brazilian anthropologist, Bruna Rocha, to be historically correct.

- Talk to Yasmeen Ismail from Sweet World TV about their experience on working for Amnesty International.

3 – Prepare Materials

a) re write the script based on testing and feedback from experts, peers and client

b) visual research and prepare assets

c) record voice-over

d) storyboard

e) animation tests (possible techniques to be used)

f) animate different versions of the storyboard and test against the audience.

g) make changes and animate final version.

g) add sound

Resolution | What potential outcomes might you hope to achieve as a result of going through this process of design and research? What skills do you have/will you need in order to complete the work.

I am hoping to achieve a concise and cohesive piece of Motion Graphics of approximately 1 minute.

For this it will be very important to be able to synthesise all my research so that content, narrative and visual language work together to communicate the intended message to a chosen audience.

Bibliography | List all of your references [using the Harvard system] Continue on another sheet if required

- Bestley, N & Noble I 2005, Visual Research, Ava Publishing, Switzerland

- Holland, DK 2001, Design Issues, How Graphic Design Informs Society, Allworth Press, New York

- Various 2004 , Creativity, culture and citizenship, Formarte, Brazil

- Papanek, Victor 1985, Design for the Real World, Thames and Hudson, London

- Heller, S , Vienne, V, 2003, Citizen Designer (perspectives on design responsibility), Allworth Press, New York.

- Survival International, available from: www.survival-international.org

- Dahra (designers against human rights abuse), available from: www.dahra.org

- Sweet World, available from: www.sweetworld.tv

- Amnesty International, available from: www.amnesty.org

- FUNAI (national indigenous foundation – Brazil), available from: www.funai.gov.br

- First Things First 200o manifesto, available from: http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=18&fid=99

- Adbusters, available from: www.adbusters.org

- Lobo, available from: www.lobo.cx

- Youtube:

Kathrin Fietz, available from: http://www.youtube.com/user/fietzn

Amnesty International campaigns - Signatures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKA8vi2EbE&feature=related

Taking liberties, Simon Robson : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j21rcnJ3EO8

Oxfam, Don't stop dancing, PAM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziswJVqfi3g

FMP - Organizing thoughts

or trying to structure it

FMP - Quotes

"your culture (whoever you are) is as important as our culture (whoever we are)"

Tibor Kalman

"(...)Design is not just an ‘industry’: it goes to the heart of what it means to be human. The ability to use our creativity to transcend our limits as individuals and as a society is surely needed now more than ever(...). Graphic communication cannot be limited to the process of selling commodities, it is a powerful tool for both re-imagining the world, and expressing the truth of our situation. Those of us who love design must use it toward these ends or we may not have a future to imagine, let alone a present to enjoy..." Noel Douglas, Eye Magazine, 2007

"(...) There are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills. Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention. Many cultural interventions, social marketing campaigns, books, magazines, exhibitions, educational tools, television programs, films, charitable causes, and other information design projects urgently require our expertise and help..." First Things First 2000 manifesto

FMP - Tribal Communities in Brazil

FMP - Other references

A Collection of Visual / Narrative references - not necessarily related to social awareness.

The use of paper, ink, handwritten text, pictures. Fluid visual narrative achieved by the use of camera movements - pan through paper, revealing the illustrations.

Adobe Records - Masayoshi Nakamura 

A Little Atomic Bomb - Poem by Charles Bukowski

BBC 4 The Today Program - Why Not Associates

FMP - Social awareness and Motion Graphics

A collection of Motion Graphics pieces related to the topic

Amnesty International

Signatures Campaign is for me the best in concept

What Barry Says

WWF

Good Magazine - US

Theo Alexopoulos - Shake Out

The ONE campaign

Oxfam

Don't stop dancing - Oxfam

Simon Robson - Taking Liberties

The Big Brother State

ARS Electronica

I just got back from a short trip to Linz, Austria.

I went there to visit the Ars Electronica, a center for art+media+technology, as part of my research for my major final project. And what was supposed to clarify the horizons, so far it just made it all very blurred... Maybe I needed another couple of days breathing the cleaner air. It was very inspiring though.

Broken exhibit!!!!!!! What a shame!!!

Eric Dyer - Bellows - machine based on the same principle as the zoetrope, but instead of the physical shutter and the human eye, it's replaced by the camera.

Tadashiru Suzuki L-E-D , LED, L-ED. Panel made with LED/beads in strings. It leaves a blank space where the viewer generates the next idea, form, concept.

Multi-touch screens, machines, cameras, robots. Interaction, participation, inclusion. Art and science equals virtual reality. 

picture taken of the back of my eye ball, and put up as part the exhibit later:

The Art+Com exhibition was a bit disappointing since only 1 out of 20 was the real exhibit. All the other 19 were videos about each of them explaining and showing how they were made. The one which caught my attention the most was the Machiavelli's Virtual Opera project, commissioned by the Opera Biennale Munich.

Interactivity

generative motion graphics visuals for night-clubs responding to, of course, music

Back to the Future III - Live visuals - Audioreactive from clubvisuals.net on Vimeo.

David O'Reilly's iPhone/Pod application

iHologram - iPhone application from David OReilly on Vimeo.

Experimental DADA Films

Hans Richter - Rhytmus 21 - 1921

Viking Eggeling - Symphonie Diagonale - 1921

Marcel Duchamp - Anemic Cinema - 1926

Ballroom

Playing ball with AE

ballroom from Mariana Lopes on Vimeo.

Futurismo Zugakousaku

Mamoru Kano is a japanese art director at WOW who uses mostly algorithms to produce moving graphics. His work is very minimalist and he's well known for his interactive / live motion graphics instalations.

Futurismo Zugakousaku is a Lab/Studio he also runs with his most experimental work using Processing and Quartz Composer.

New Moon

"The moon lights darkness. It lights natural beauty and human culture."

animation by Zugakousaku

Loved the rhythm, the simplicity of the compositions and the fluidity of the movements.

And a bit of interactivity:

People Forest Exhibition

"Tree grows slowly. That approaches the sky from the ground. Branch swings in the wind. Nut falls. You become wind now. Well, let's play with the wood."

thanks David!

FEMALE TYPO - Self directed Type in Motion project

I had the feeling that something was missing since project 4 - type in motion/Leonard Cohen.
I wanted to work with type again, and with more confidence, I wanted to use the 3rd dimension, and camera movements and also wanted to make somenthig that could reflect more my style and what I like. Wanted to do something more graphic and more aggressive.
And also put in practice some of the concepts I have learnt.

Here some references of style and textures:

                                           David Foldvari

                                             Valero Doval

I chose a piece of audio from a John Waters movie called Female Trouble, where Divine (a famous Drag Queen) makes a wonderful speech about being famous, beautiful (???) and criminal.

I tried to represent the aggressiveness of her voice by using bold colors, a font that insinuates being written with either blood or a lipstick and fast camera movements to reveal and change scenes.

Layout test/font/colours

Final Outcome

Female Typo from Mariana Lopes on Vimeo.

(sorry but I had to render with a very low resolution in order to be able to upload everything I needed for the assessement on time)

Michel Gondry Overdose?

Just came across this video where he explains his music video masterpiece - 

Daft Punk's Around the World