Evaluation for Studio Brief 2: Design for Screen

Screen Evaluation 

The design for screen brief provided a platform for me as a designer to expand my skillset and knowledge of appropriate software for industry. Having no prior knowledge or experience with After Effects and Photoshop animation, I can now comfortably use these forums to develop and present audio visual experiences and motion graphics. Although it is important to note that as After Effects was self taught for this brief, learning shortcuts or how to tidy the composition workspace would aid my progression with it.

Personalising the brief to something that would motivate me did not only make this project highly enjoyable, but also allowed the productions to be something of individual worth. It also meant that a lot of work was churned out, and a refinement process could select the better more relevant imagery with a greater sense of justification. I particularly enjoyed developing the imagery from stills to their final animated form, in some respects bringing my own depictions to life.

The acknowledgments of animators of more contemporary practices to old fashioned ones was a real driving force for the progression of the project. The stylistic approaches of Becky & Joe, as well as Norman McLaren, fuelled the visual literacy of the concept by their visualisations of music through varying artistic techniques. Wireframes and storyboarding allowed the project to develop on an industrial level, considering stage productions and the constraints for which the designs would be placed in, as well as how they would be delivered to the user. Additionally, the logotype design was a strong point of the project, with it directly reflecting the ideology of the band and aiding their digital/online presence.

The less successful aspects of the final production would be the lack of coherent story through the background visuals. Certain parts needed smoother transitions, and were relatively jolting, making the music sound tense and off balance at parts – particularly at the green flower part in ‘Skiptracing’. Nonetheless, the response from people who viewed the videos was that the visuals are very befitting of the music, and almost everyone has described it as 'trippy'; so in this way the audience response is very relevant, seeing as psychedelic pop music should adhere to the 'trippy' aesthetic (psychedelia is defined as music, culture, or art based on the experiences produced by psychedelic drugs - that being geometric imagery or depictions out of a realistic visual).  

The visuals created were done at low-cost and relatively quickly compared with industry. Being more comfortable with the programs would allow me to create more developed imagery using varied medias and techniques off of what was used. Hence, moving forward in order to enhance user experience in this context, I would consider telling the bands story through a visual narrative. How can the designer get the message of their songs across? By using the platform created, and developing a relationship with the client, the designer can then depict and visualise the musicians story telling goals. This is something that was initially intended but strayed from during the progression of the project. In this way a perfect environment for the different variations of creativity and 'art' can fuse together to enable an epic immersive experience that considers the viewer’s experience with the client’s concept/intentions.