INTERVIEWS
Interview with Harry Frank
Recently I caught up with Harry Frank aka Gray Machine to ask him a few questions about what is the advantage of using After Effects over the Photoshop to design storyboards and styleframes.1. A lot of artist are used to using Photoshop and maybe a 3D app like Cinema or Maya while creating their storyboards while After Effects usually gets overlooked, can you tell us the benefits to why using After Effects can enhance your design for the pitch?I like using After Effects as much as I can simply because it maximizes the speed at which I can get the boards animated. I remember one of my first real “big gigs” where I was working at DK in Chicago. I looked around the room and realized that this was the “real deal.” Everything had to be spot on. There was to be not cutting of corners. So, when I received a set of boards done in Photoshop, I was starting from square one. Nothing had been prepped to be animated. There lies the challenge: making After Effects emulate the boards. Animators hear this constantly. ”Make it look like the boards. The boards are approved.” But it’s such a painstaking process creating a world that is alive and feels real based on an image. If the look and feel are already prepped in the 2.5D world of After Effects (and that’s where you are going to animate) then you have so much more time left for refining instead of starting from the beginning. In my experience, the only boards I’ve worked with that were produced in After Effects were from myself. When I board then animate, that 2nd half feels so much more complete in terms of the workload. I am really surprised that more people don’t do this.2. Are there any plug ins that are useful for design that are only available in After Effects that can help enhance your storyboards?Hands down, Trapcode Particular is the “go to” plug-in for any job. Even after using it for 6 years and authoring massive 2 training titles on it, I am still discovering new things to do with it. I’ve received a lot of boards with still frames rendered from Particular, and it further points to how AE should really be explored as a visualization tool. Also, the wildly popular lens flare packages tend to be used only in AE. Although, Knoll Light Factory is actually available for Photoshop, now… I’m not sure that a lot of boarding artists have actually explored this option.3. Can you give us an example of a project you worked on that the tools in After Effects help benefit in the design process?The last job I boarded and animated was a set of news openers for a Jordanian television network for the news graphics heavy studio “Giant Octopus” out of Florida .
These two jobs were very quick turnaround. So, once they were approved, I really had to move quickly to get them animated. I was handling the design, boards and animation. It was here that I “discovered” boarding in After Effects. I told myself “if I can set this up already animated, and they approve it, then I am mostly done.” This job in particular was a flat bid. So, the quicker I could get it done, the more profit I would make. Boarding in AE allowed me to get the entire project done in less than 2 weeks from concept to final animation for both intros.
I started in Cinema 4D and took a little extra time setting up the final camera animation. Normally, someone might just block out the animation with several cameras and render out still frames from each. But, I went for the final animation and let the renders go while I set things up in After Effects using the 3D scene data from Cinema 4D. I dropped 4 markers in my AE timeline to designate each board and concentrated on the look of each moment, keeping the big picture in mind. I then output the 4 frames for approval and waited. When I got approval, I needed only to do a couple minor tweaks and I was done! If I had done my boards in Photoshop, I would have easily spent another week animating the elements from scratch. As a freelancer, that’s what it really comes down to sustain yourself: keep your clients happy, keep your invoices going out, and move on to the next job. 4. Thanks for answering our questions is there anything you would like to say, promote, and or plug in here?If you like using Particular, take a look at my latest training DVD: Complete Training for Trapcode Particular 2. It is over 6 hours of training that covers this massive plug-in from top to bottom. It has just won an “Award of Superiority” from Microfilmmaker magazine scoring a 9.3 review in September’s issue.http://www.classondemand.net/media/trapcode-training/particular02.aspxYou can also view Harry’s work and training materials on his site at www.GrayMachine.com and also sign up for his motion graphics social network at www.TheMotionExchange.com
Interview with Nate Howe
Recently I caught up with Nathaniel Howe to ask him a few questions about what it’s like to work in the Los Angeles area and even around the world.1. What’s popping Nate? Can you tell everyone a little bit about your educational back like where you went to school if anywhere or are you self educated?When I was about 9 years old I became very interested in filmmaking and cinematography, my father was very supportive and bought me a video camera and every book on the subject. He even used to record television shows and commercials and would play them back, pointing out nuances about the edit, cinematography and FX. When I was still very young he got me into NYU to audit some classes on Hitchcock and film/image theory. I remember people telling me “during a great film you should be able to stop on any frame and that alone could stand as a still piece of art” My father taught me a lot about design, film, editing and the audience from a very young age, which have all helped my career as a Art Director & Designer to this day.After running around with a film camera for a while I realized I wasn’t getting the epic shots I had imagined, then I discovered 3d. Around 10 or 11 years old I opened my first 3d package, it felt like I had an infinite movie studio without the limitations of gravity or anything else for that matter. This is what started the waterfall. I began playing with Photoshop, 3d and after effects. It was all for fun, I never thought I was going to get paid to use Photoshop or to design, I just did it because I enjoyed it. Most of the software and technique that I use is self-taught, and I am incredibly grateful to my father for sparking and nurturing my interests. I studied Maya at Full Sail University in Orlando Florida, I met some very influential artists and teachers at the school and am very grateful for my time there. I still serve on the Advisory Committee and go back to Full Sail whenever I can to help improve the program and to meet with students.
2. How did you decide that motion graphics is where you wanted to be?During college I was in the 3d program studying to be a visual effects artist, but I met Chris Kelley (http://chriskelley.tv/) and Chad Bonnano (http://www.chadbonanno.com/) who were doing motion graphics. These two guys really showed me a new world outside of film and 3d visual effects work. I remember one day after class when Chad showed me Anamorph by WDDG (http://www.viddler.com/explore/cptnemo/videos/1/) I had never seen anything like it and it inspired me, this was around the time I decided I wanted to work in motion graphics.3. I remember a few years back you use to do design and animation but now looking at your site you’ve seemed to gear yourself more towards design, we all know your a kick ass boarding artist but is there any reason you can say you prefer designing now over motion?At my first job out of school nobody used styleframes. I would get on the phone with the client and talk about what they want, then start animating. We would design on the fly as we were animating. It was definitely not the right way to work but I learned a lot after doing it that way for 2 years. Once I moved to LA I quickly learned about styleframes and the design process. I was an animator in Los Angeles and the east coast for about 4-5 years before I realized I was truly passionate about the design process. To me switching from animation to design made the job fun again, the freedom and flexibility of a job in the design phase allows you to explore different styles and possibilities and to take more risks. I love going after pitches and trying a lot of different styles, then working with the client to shape the piece into its final form. To me the design phase is supposed to be fun, if you are not having fun you are doing it wrong.
4. I know while working at Buster you’ve seemed to found a desire to do live action directing have you pursued that path more?Buster has been a really great place for me, early in my booking I told the head of the studio that I was passionate about directing live action, a week later I was co-directing a large shoot for them with Kurt Spenser. During the last 2 years at Buster I have got some really great directing experience, they really trusted me with some big accounts and I am grateful for the opportunities they have given me.5. Recently you’ve gone to Italy to freelance how has your experience been there?I am just wrapping up a 2 month booking with Angelsign Studios here in Milan Italy. It has been an amazing experience working here, I have got to bring out several artists from LA to help fill out the team. We have artists from all over the world here right now, it is a great group of people and I have really enjoyed working with everybody. I love traveling abroad for work it changes the way you look at the industry, I have worked in the past in Germany and Thailand on jobs and found it very inspiring.
6. How does the Italian market compare to the LA market in terms of how they do business? Is the pitch process similar or is it completely different because of culture differences?The culture is very different, the north of Italy is the hub for business and fashion, the south of Italy moves slower and is more relaxed. There is a lot less competition on pitches and accounts here, sometimes it seems like people don’t want to take a risk to do something too different out of fear that people won’t get it. I won 3 or 4 pitches since I have been here, I like using frames as talking points and then sculpt the final piece with the client. The language barrier made it a different process for me, my only “voice” was my frames so I had to be a bit more drawn out than I usually get with a style exploration. But Italy in general is very inspiring to me, there is beautiful art and architecture everywhere and the culture, people and way of life is a nice change of pace from Los Angeles.7. Thanks again Nate for taking time with us is there anything we missed that you would like to add?I just want to keep learning as an artist and growing into different roles, I hope to return to my love of cinematography and film on a larger scale in the future. I am truly grateful to all the studios and friends I have worked with so far in my career. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me.For more of Nates work visit his site at www.nathanielhowe.com
Interview with Dave Glanz
Recently I caught up with Dave Glanz to ask him a few questions about what it’s like to work full time as a motion designer in the D.C. area.1. Can you tell us where you are from and a little bit about your background as an artist via art school or are you self taught etc….I grew up in Pittsburgh, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a film studies degree. I had every intention of making movies for a living. Not very practical, right? I was a huge film fan (after seeing “Goodfellas” in 1990), and made short films with an RCA VHS camera. My first video was an “Indiana Jones” short, in which there was a lot of running around on rooftops (without permission). There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to do something creative for a living. After graduating college in 1998, I was lucky enough to work on a few films that were in production in Pittsburgh – “Dogma” and “The Temptations (miniseries)” were among them. After spending too much time on film sets, I thought that editing would be more in tune with what I liked to do. In 2001, I had a short internship with an post house / interactive studio that exposed me to Flash for the first time. I ended up doing a lot of web design. At the time, this required some knowledge of animation. That’s really what got me interested in motion graphics.On the “About” page of my site (daveglanzproductions.com), I wrote that I taught myself to “design and animate at the school of Barnes & Noble.” That’s partially true. I did spend a lot of time reading books & magazine on design and animation. However, I would say I learned most of what I know on the job, having been lucky enough to work with some great animators and designers.2. How did you decide you wanted to be an motion graphics artist? For years, I was working as a web designer, and had a lot of experience editing video. I found that what I enjoyed most about each was the challenge of making things move and telling a story. I decided to focus my energy on learning After Effects (and later, 3D software) and studying the basics of design to see how they could make me better as an animator. I also found that I loved to watch how other animators and designers crafted their own work. You can learn a lot just by studying closely the details found in the work of really talented people. 
3. Before you start a project can you talk us through your process. Do you look up influences or do you meditate before diving in?Yes to both of your questions. I tend to look at things that influence(d) me, and continue to do so, to get started on a project. I love looking at how other people solve problems and how they make things look cool. My friends and family will tell you – I watch a lot of movies, so I often try to think how I can make something cinematic. A good example would be the TEAM Audio animation, with the microphone conductor character. I’ve always been a huge fan of old Looney Tunes cartoons, and was particularly fond of anything timed to music – “What’s Opera, Doc” and “The Rabbit of Seville” and “Long-Haired Hare.” I was thinking of those shorts the whole time I worked on the TEAM Audio piece. 
My process usually involves meeting with a client or creative director, thinking about the project non-stop, looking for inspiration, designing styleboards using Photoshop + Illustrator + Cinema 4D and After Effects, getting approval on a concept, and animating the hell out of something.
4. We both have roots in Pittsburgh, PA but I came to LA to freelance while you stayed on the east coast and moved to the Maryland/DC area to work, can you tell us a little bit about the motion graphics scene in your area and how you have been able to stay so busy in a market most artists seem to overlook.Staying on the east coast, closer to family, was always more appealing to me. The market for motion graphics isn’t as huge in DC as it is in NY or LA – no doubt. The advantage is that there is less competition for mograph work. There are some great ad agencies here, like AKQA, and a lot of smaller ones that survive by doing advocacy work (and political ads, of course). On the broadcast side, most companies here tend to work with Discovery Channel, which is headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, as well as Travel, TLC, National Geographic, and the History Channel. 
5. Your portfolio is very impressive, you seem to have found your own style which is very vibrant with bright colors and elegant motion. How long did it take for you to develop your style of work.Thanks! I would say that classic animation shorts and films played a big part in the style I’ve become fond of. Disney, Warner, Fleischer Studios, etc are all really inspirational to me. “Fantasia” was always a favorite of mine. These days, I’m also drawing a lot of inspiration from photography, which has been somewhat of an obsession the past few years. I feel like every animator & designer should have a camera. I also have to credit my former boss and friend, Jeff Myers at This is Red (www.thisisredagency.com), for giving me a lot of guidance years ago. Watching him work was a great way to learn how to make things bright, elegant, and entertaining.
6. Ok Dave that’s all I have for now is there anything you want to add?I would say thanks to all the people out there taking the time to create video tutorials – Nick Campbell, Rob Redman, Aharon Rabinowitz, folks at Maxon & Adobe, and others. My hope is that designers and animators will take the skills that they learn from these guys, and use their own talent to make some great original work.Thanks again Dave for taking time out with us. If you would like to view more of Davids work he recently updated his whole portfolio on his site.
