Motion graphics is the use of virtual images which are added to a production during post production, these can range from simple titles to advanced complex special effects. In this blog I will look at current uses of motion graphics and analyse a range of film and television programmes which use these motion graphics.
Tv Idents
In television programmes there is a form of motion graphics called Tv idents, these are short motion sequences that inform the viewer of what channel they are watching, these started out as very simple black and white images but with recent developments in technology Tv idents are sophisticated pieces of film.
The BBC have used Tv idents since the early 1950's and were very simple compared to the ones we see today. As the BBC began creating more channels there Tv idents changed to accommodate these different channels, after the launch of BBC 2 the original BBC channel was named BBC 1, this was reflected through the new BBC 1 ident.
The BBC Tv idents are distinctly different depending on which BBC channel is being viewed, the ident gives an indication of what types of programs are going to be shown, this is most noticeable in BBC 3 as the Tv ident contains the characteristics of a humorous channel, this ident prepares the audience for the types of programmes included in the BBC 3 channel.
Unlike the BBC ITV used colour to differentiate between their programs, each ITV channel such as ITV 2 had their own coloured ident, this was until the 1990's when ITV chose to unify its identity and created the idents we know today, these TV idents however are not as complex as the BBC's but instead are simple yet effective, they often contain smooth camera sweeps of an area or for example a building being worked on.
These idents are automatically recognised and always contain the program name fading in and then fading out at the end. These idents appear before and after the program and always contain music
Another form of motion graphics is title sequences and in programme motion graphics, these are commonly found in music programmes such as Kerrang! Tv. Kerrang! Tv uses a very simple title sequence, although very simple it is dramatically different to any other title sequence, this title sequence always features a yellow ninja giving the viewer an idea of the nature of the show, the ninja is often shooting a futuristic gun at a giant purple rabbit, this shows that the show is going to be casual and not serious which is true for the programme.
Kerrang! Tv also contains a range of in programme graphics including a graphic appearing in the bottom corner which tells the viewer the name of the song and where it appears in the countdown (eg number 4). Another form of in programme graphics featured on Kerrang! Tv are small graphics in the top right, these tell the viewer what they are watching such as top 100 anthems of the decade, this simply lets the viewers know what songs are going the be featured in the programme, Kerrang! Tv will also often have special guests on who will show there top 10 songs or something similar, when these are talking there is often graphics on screen such as a border which makes it look like the guests are on an olden style television.
News programmes are often filled with motion graphics ranging from small graphics such as the time to completely virtual studios. BBC news relies heavily on motion graphics during the programme and in the title sequence, in the title sequence for BBC news (which can be seen on the left) motion graphics have been implicated, most notable is the red signal flying through various areas, this is a recurring effect throughout the sequence, although it looks simple the movement involved would be quite complex to create, making it look like its actually happening in the environment. Also included in the title sequence is a countdown and the BBC news logo, the logo would have been created in photoshop and then imported into the title sequence. This title sequence includes different known locations, showing what regions and are going to be covered in the programme.
In many Tv shows a virtual background will be used, most commonly found in news type programmes especially the weather. During a news programme at some point there will be a section on the weather, these take place in front of a green screen with a presenter, a green screen is used to allow complex graphics to appear behind the presenter without the need for any complex masking, this also allows the presenter to walk around freely. These weather sections are edited before the weather section is shown and are played on a screen off camera so the weather reporter can see where he/she should be pointing and when to speak. These weather sections rely heavily on motion graphics and composting video to create the graphic the viewers will see, these graphics are almost always 2-D layers but will consist of many layers used together.
Moving to more complex virtual backgrounds, some news studios are completely virtual, combining 3-d and 2-d layers to create a realistic looking studio with the ability to have presenters interact with graphics, this is done very much the same way as the weather but at a much more complex scale, graphs and bar charts showing statistics are added after in post or live on the fly. These studios are able to display graphics anywhere allowing for interesting viewing. These virtual studios are much cheaper and easier to maintain as everything is done through editing, this also allows any type of studio to be created, meaning expensive looking studios can be produced simply through editing.
A common use of motion graphics is film titles, these tend to set the tone for film and give some information about the film including actors, director etc, these can range from very simple to extremely complex, often using 3-D editing programs paired with programs like After Effects, the title on the left is for The Thing, the title uses similar music to that which is used in the film, the inclusion of the earth in the background gives the impression of an alien type movie, the way the title comes in implies that this is a horror film, and the inclusion of John Carpenters name at the top anchors the thought that it is a horror film. The way the title seems to burn in is a major part of the film, the inclusion of this wont mean anything to the audience unless they've seen or know what happens in it.
One of the most complex ways motion graphics and compositing video are used is through special effects, this is done by combining live action with graphics and other video, for example to create the effect of a gun shooting you need to use many layers to give a convincing effect, you need a muzzle flash layer, a smoke layer, a layer of light cast on anything that would be affected by the flash and possibly a cartridge being ejected, this is a simple effect compared to what can be achieved with After Effects, the ability to create these special effects in post means that effects can be done for free and as many times as needed, this also creates a much safer environment for actors and crew.
All these motion graphics sequences will have been made with different editing software, from basic programs that most home PCs will have such as windows movie maker which can import pictures and text into video, very simple and basic, lacking the tools available in more complex programs. For complicated advanced motion graphics sequences a range of programs will be used, if the graphics used are 2-D then Adobe After Effects would be ideal as it has the tools to create almost anything you can think of if you take the time and effort, but if any 3-D layers are needed programs such as element 3-D and cinema 4-D could be used, Element 3-D works in direct link with Adobe After Effects and allows 3-D graphics to be exported from element 3-D and into After Effects. Although these programs have much more editing power and capabilities there is a much higher price tag and some people simply cant afford these programs, meaning they cant produce the effects they require.
Tv Idents
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| The first BBC ident |
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| The most recent BBC ident |
The BBC have used Tv idents since the early 1950's and were very simple compared to the ones we see today. As the BBC began creating more channels there Tv idents changed to accommodate these different channels, after the launch of BBC 2 the original BBC channel was named BBC 1, this was reflected through the new BBC 1 ident.
The BBC Tv idents are distinctly different depending on which BBC channel is being viewed, the ident gives an indication of what types of programs are going to be shown, this is most noticeable in BBC 3 as the Tv ident contains the characteristics of a humorous channel, this ident prepares the audience for the types of programmes included in the BBC 3 channel.
Unlike the BBC ITV used colour to differentiate between their programs, each ITV channel such as ITV 2 had their own coloured ident, this was until the 1990's when ITV chose to unify its identity and created the idents we know today, these TV idents however are not as complex as the BBC's but instead are simple yet effective, they often contain smooth camera sweeps of an area or for example a building being worked on.
These idents are automatically recognised and always contain the program name fading in and then fading out at the end. These idents appear before and after the program and always contain music
Another form of motion graphics is title sequences and in programme motion graphics, these are commonly found in music programmes such as Kerrang! Tv. Kerrang! Tv uses a very simple title sequence, although very simple it is dramatically different to any other title sequence, this title sequence always features a yellow ninja giving the viewer an idea of the nature of the show, the ninja is often shooting a futuristic gun at a giant purple rabbit, this shows that the show is going to be casual and not serious which is true for the programme.Kerrang! Tv also contains a range of in programme graphics including a graphic appearing in the bottom corner which tells the viewer the name of the song and where it appears in the countdown (eg number 4). Another form of in programme graphics featured on Kerrang! Tv are small graphics in the top right, these tell the viewer what they are watching such as top 100 anthems of the decade, this simply lets the viewers know what songs are going the be featured in the programme, Kerrang! Tv will also often have special guests on who will show there top 10 songs or something similar, when these are talking there is often graphics on screen such as a border which makes it look like the guests are on an olden style television.
News programmes are often filled with motion graphics ranging from small graphics such as the time to completely virtual studios. BBC news relies heavily on motion graphics during the programme and in the title sequence, in the title sequence for BBC news (which can be seen on the left) motion graphics have been implicated, most notable is the red signal flying through various areas, this is a recurring effect throughout the sequence, although it looks simple the movement involved would be quite complex to create, making it look like its actually happening in the environment. Also included in the title sequence is a countdown and the BBC news logo, the logo would have been created in photoshop and then imported into the title sequence. This title sequence includes different known locations, showing what regions and are going to be covered in the programme.
In many Tv shows a virtual background will be used, most commonly found in news type programmes especially the weather. During a news programme at some point there will be a section on the weather, these take place in front of a green screen with a presenter, a green screen is used to allow complex graphics to appear behind the presenter without the need for any complex masking, this also allows the presenter to walk around freely. These weather sections are edited before the weather section is shown and are played on a screen off camera so the weather reporter can see where he/she should be pointing and when to speak. These weather sections rely heavily on motion graphics and composting video to create the graphic the viewers will see, these graphics are almost always 2-D layers but will consist of many layers used together.
Moving to more complex virtual backgrounds, some news studios are completely virtual, combining 3-d and 2-d layers to create a realistic looking studio with the ability to have presenters interact with graphics, this is done very much the same way as the weather but at a much more complex scale, graphs and bar charts showing statistics are added after in post or live on the fly. These studios are able to display graphics anywhere allowing for interesting viewing. These virtual studios are much cheaper and easier to maintain as everything is done through editing, this also allows any type of studio to be created, meaning expensive looking studios can be produced simply through editing.
One of the most complex ways motion graphics and compositing video are used is through special effects, this is done by combining live action with graphics and other video, for example to create the effect of a gun shooting you need to use many layers to give a convincing effect, you need a muzzle flash layer, a smoke layer, a layer of light cast on anything that would be affected by the flash and possibly a cartridge being ejected, this is a simple effect compared to what can be achieved with After Effects, the ability to create these special effects in post means that effects can be done for free and as many times as needed, this also creates a much safer environment for actors and crew.
All these motion graphics sequences will have been made with different editing software, from basic programs that most home PCs will have such as windows movie maker which can import pictures and text into video, very simple and basic, lacking the tools available in more complex programs. For complicated advanced motion graphics sequences a range of programs will be used, if the graphics used are 2-D then Adobe After Effects would be ideal as it has the tools to create almost anything you can think of if you take the time and effort, but if any 3-D layers are needed programs such as element 3-D and cinema 4-D could be used, Element 3-D works in direct link with Adobe After Effects and allows 3-D graphics to be exported from element 3-D and into After Effects. Although these programs have much more editing power and capabilities there is a much higher price tag and some people simply cant afford these programs, meaning they cant produce the effects they require.
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