The Original
The original was too abstract. The idea was that lines and text would form book-related imagery, but when my classmates watched the animation, a common criticism was not understanding my vision without an explanation. The original and revamp had the same timeframe of five weeks.
Process Work
Since the poem was about the author’s love of reading, I decided to make the animation type-based. I wanted the animation to correlate with the poem verses (ex: “The words were spoken” = an echo motion to represent sound waves). For inspiration, I looked at typographic animations focused on blunt movements and cuts. I also liked the sans serif type used in the animations. It was important for the animation about reading to have a legible font.
Other animation ideas I considered were interactions with paper, such as ripping and scribbling. These motions were essential, as paper often acts as a medium for words.
by Riccardo Agostinelli
by Optimus Design
by Pedro Winter
by Matt Mamic
by All American Rejects
Earlier sketches used abstract shapes as supporting elements to the text animations. These were abandoned, as they reminded me of the orginal’s problems. I wanted the text solely to tell the story.
I kept the white and black color scheme for the storyboard; the colors found in most book pages. Some scenes invert colors to emphasize certain motions.