SUPERCHARGING CREATIVITY TO SMASH A CLIFF EDGE DEADLINE

 

The corporate projects for clients are always on a fast delivery timeframe. Businesses moves quickly and must retain competitive edge in order to survive. The posts are always moving in line with marketplace, technology and innovation. Strategies have to be devised, communicated and adapted for each new epoch. Communicating these to large workforce, stakeholders and, eventually, customers is the key to survival in modern era.
Fortunately it has never been easier to reach large numbers thanks to modern technology.
In order to communicate effectively and quickly animation and infographics are ideal tools. The semiotics can brake down a complex message and make it memorable. Visual memes can act as a anchor for these ensuring that all the agents are on proverbial same page of the same book.
Abellio recognised this when they approached Laws of Attraction to devise and deliver visual material. They were undergoing metamorphosis into Greater Anglia and have committed to a tour in order to ensure their staff are on board. Clarity and semiotics are crucial for this. There were a few videos planned and Simon of Laws of Attraction brought me onto this project to work on the animations. The script was almost ready and the butterfly, a symbol for transformation was devised. We had 28 scenes in total. A lot of copy and a few complex scenes aiming to deliver strong impact and anchoring.
There was only one challenge. We had to deliver the project in seven days.
We had two days before receiving the final script to prepare. This was the time I would use to create blueprints for the project. Due to project constraints After Effect was instrument of choice with workflow through illustrator, keeping files small and nimble. In order to deliver memorable butterflies

I first made the flat 2d version supplied into a flat 3d version, treating the icon as a kind of origami. I rigged it up to control the four sets of wings as well as the wind air resistance. This would allow multiple sprite versions, and lighting would add richness to the model.
Next step was getting the flight pattern just right. As an animator I am fascinated by all kinds of propelling movements and my large library of studies came in handy. In order to accent that irregular zig-zag pattern to the butterfly I added more weight to it’s movements. Wing pattern was established. I constructed it’s rough flight path which I could drop in and manipulate to fit each scene.
The script arrived on Monday and we were off. We formed a team brining in Lee from Kaiote to feed me illustrations which I would animate on a daily basis and Graham from Laws of Attractions as a project CD. The meticulous planning of days was super important here. In order to get everything animated to the plans, and giving enough time for amendments i had to achieve 17 hour day average through this. This means I had to approach this as an athlete. Regular stretching, yoga and sprints were interspersed throughout the day. Caffeine had to be restricted in order to avoid any crashes in attention and sleeping time had to be left for complex renders. Food intake had to be amended and regulated in order to keep the attention and focus high, restricting carbs, discarding sugars and focusing on fats. I also added in extra choline to fuel the problem solving. In order to keep fresh throughout the day I broke the day up into two sessions with a hypno-power-nap. Every shortcut and workaround had to be used, adding in plethora of expressions as well as deciding upon the flat folding style giving me a quick, yet visually rich, turnaround of scenes. It was also coherent with the butterfly sprite. The old adage that creativity thrives with limitations was proven true.
After delivering the first-cut we’ve decided that sprite multiples just weren’t enough. I had to make hundreds of these in two crucial scenes. There were two days left and there was only one way I could do this. It was to learn and utilise Trapcodes: Particular.
In order to learn the system and it’s application on a machine which was rendering simultaneously I unleashed my creative. I used everything I learned about learning. I added physical actions to help memorise new commands. I used the deep learning and system 1 & 2 interplay. I sneaked in high caffeine dose in the morning and then tapered it off with yerba mate and sencha green tea, with plenty of ginko. I aded some adaptogens too. The sprints were replaced by heavy power lifts keeping the blood flow going. Even speed-reading methods came in handy as I trawled through online instructions. Also extra-extra choline. In the end I entered into the desired feeling of flow. Becoming one with the interface and with the programme I could traverse through possibilities. Closing off the external stimuli, the time passing for my mind slowed down.
Thirty six hours later I had created the butterfly explosion scenes incorporating thousands of sprites.
We delivered the project on time, having surpassed my own expectations and current abilities. We smashed it. :)
Sometimes we can reach beyond our accepted reality and get that bit of magic from our umlaut.
Bellow is a teaser sample of the project showcasing one of the complex scenes. Due to copyright all business figures and score was removed for this. A public domain score by Victor Herbert Orchestra of ‘Little Nemo’ was aded to this teaser.

 

For the next few weeks I dreamt in After Effects :)