Cinema 4D practice

Some quick animations I put together using dynamics, mograph, etc. Multi-pass renders rock

Logo bounce animation

Lebron James inspired animation

Mograph fun

Playing around with the mograph module, I decided to create something for my friend Dave, who just happens to be the biggest UNC fan. Watching the tar heels win the NCAA championship was painful, so creating this image was kind of like systematic desensitization for me.

Kobe Part II

In between commercials during the NBA playoffs, I found myself playing around and experimenting in After Effects. As mentioned in the previous post, I specifically started creating a motion graphics spot for Kobe Bryant as I was very inspired by his playoff run. I should’ve known that I’d be jinxing him from the moment I started the project and sure enough, the Lakers are down 2-0 to the much despised Celtics.  I decided to stop work on the spot after about a week and half of time.  My excuse is that I want to stop the jinx I put on the Lakers so that they can bounce back and start winning. However, the real reason is a busy schedule and a lack of free time. It’s a bit sloppy right now but check out the first mix below or click the vimeo link:

Kobe

Watching Kobe Bryant make his run through the playoffs and onto the NBA championships has been pretty remarkable and very entertaining. Regardless if you are a Kobe fan or not, its been nice to see someone bounce back from so much adversity and carry himself with such poise and maturity. Without a doubt, he stands up there in the top 10 players to ever play the game.

Recently, I’ve had a very strong urge to create a motion graphics spot after viewing some works by Johnason Lo. He’s based out of Taiwan and his work is visually beautiful. All of his spots are so rich and he definitely takes ‘bling’ to a whole new level. So for my creative outlet, I found it fitting to create a spot on Mr. MVP himself. Below are some screenshots taken from my work in progress. Stay tuned…

expect…what?

Don’t get me wrong, I respect the WNBA and the female athletes that comprise it. However, for a sport that is trying to earn the respect amongst a male dominated profession, the WNBA’s new campaign is downright embarrassing. The campaign features a couple of the league’s superstars saying negative remarks about the WNBA such as “No offense, but women’s basketball is a joke.”  At the end of each spot the message “She wouldn’t say that. Would you?” come up on screen followed lastly with the WNBA’s new slogan: “Expect Great.” Now do me a favor and say that to yourself a couples times…”Expect Great.” Pretty damn awkward huh? The words blunt, boring and unclear come to mind as well. The only thing this campaign does well is completely confuse you while you juggle the words around in your head trying to understand its messaging. (Expect great because she wouldn’t say that? Would I say that? What does this have to do with me expecting great? I know its not grammatically correct but at least it could make sense!) Sadly with this campaign, I expect even LESS from the WNBA. Perhaps it should take some lessons from its big brother, the NBA.

Granted the NBA is much more established with its rich history and internationally recognized superstars but this year’s campaign was dramatic, exciting and fitting thanks to the genius of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The campaign features beautiful, iconic imagery of the NBA from Jordan’s emotional championship victories of the past (“Where grown men crying happens”) to the present day of Kobe’s dominant scoring (“Where 81 points happens”). My favorite is the image of the Warriors upset over #1 Dallas in the 2007 playoffs and the tag “Where never meant to happen…happens”. The main slogan of the campaign is fitting…”The NBA. Where Amazing Happens.” There aren’t any voice overs or visual tricks and it doesn’t need it. It captures your attention and sucks you in with great storytelling by using powerful visuals and a beautiful score. If only I could say the same for the women’s side. I hope the WNBA is taking notes…