Keeping Busy

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I made it through 2020 by "keeping busy"

2020 SCHOOL OF MOTION ALUMNI HOLIDAY CARD

This is the 5th year School of Motion alumni have collaborated on a massive holiday "card". I wasn't able to join last year, but I definitely made time for it this time around. This year, 128 alumni submitted work.

The entire compilation can be seen here!

This year, the theme was, "I made it through 2020 by...". As usual, we're given a 3-second limit due to the massive amount of submissions; it's also a nice challenge. I decided to create visuals that represented "keeping busy". I focused on a digital theme since most people are no stranger to their electronics. I tried to limit the number of key images in an attempt to avoid too much complexity. How well I did? You be the judge :). I then wanted to create a massive transition from the first group of images to the second group of images. The first frame represented some of 2020's major highlights, and the second frame represented a look into my digital life when I wasn't focusing on everything going on in the world.

A big thanks to Traci Brinling for continuously organizing this year after year.

Boards

Ideation

My initial idea was to open the scene with an illustration of a workstation and play with perspective transitions. As much as I wanted to do that, I ended up opening the scene using windows/boxes and using it as the theme of the piece not only because it was easier to plan and execute, but because there was still lots of potential to create something interesting. It was a bit of a challenge, but the end result of the layout is my attempt of what balance and harmony looks like with the desired amount of boxes a variety of orientations.

Transitions

Aside from animating, planning the transitions was also a fun challenge. Deciding which container would morph into what wasn't too difficult. Planning and timing each transition so that elements weren't crashing into each other was another story. I get it; there's a lot happening. This might've been my first time animating this many key visuals within a short time frame. The 3-second time restraint is obviously not ideal, but my goal was to finesse the timing as much as I could in order for audiences to digest most of the visuals.