Animation For Motion Graphics

Final Animation

To create the final motion graphic I used Premiere Pro. I had never used this software before but where I had a mixture of my filming, clips, GIFs and pictures, it seemed like the best software to use. I used a lot of YouTube tutorials to get to know the basics of Premiere as well as for certain transitions and audio effects.

I started by putting together my clips of the suspect board, all the characters with the actors and actresses names. I then fiddled with the speeds and transitions. The original clips I filmed I move the threads quite slowly, after showing the footage to my Dad he suggested it was too slow and didn’t quite the effect I was after. While I was editing it I had to try and think about how Sherlock works because I aimed to symbolise that. If you’ve watched Sherlock before you’ll know he works everything out in his head and this is shown on screen by floating white writing, this all moves very fast as he is quick-minded. I wanted to add the floating white writing by the characters and what Sherlock wanted to deduce from them, but I didn’t factor in enough time for that.
The font I used is from DaFont called “IAmSherlocked” this font is very similar to the title font used in the poster on my moodboards. Strong bold type in caps, but looks like it’s been badly printed, with splatters of missing colour. For colour I stuck with white as the rest of my footage is very dark, I can change it up with effects when I finalise the edit.

To fill my project up and add a bit more depth and variation from the clips I filmed, I screen captured snippets of the episode. 0.40 to 0.55 are merged clips and I think it ties in nicely with the titles. 1.00 to 1.03 are stock images and gifs. I found these online, I decided to use them because they’re very similar to what is used in the actual Sherlock titles. These include the London skyline with moving traffic, Piccadilly Square and the huge billboards and a gif of molecules under a microscope. I only needed these to flash up for a few seconds and I think that works really well. the London gifs also point out when the show is set. Because of the effects I added to the video, it comes across quite old, the gifs are of modern London which is when Sherlock is set.

Once I finished editing all the clips together, I used an old film reel and set a blending mode to give the effect I was after- a bitty and grainy picture with a vignette border that changes colour and jumps as if it changes tapes midway through. I also add a glitch in now and then, sometimes as a transition but mainly when text appears. This is to symbolise Sherlock’s “fuzzy" thought process. The idea his brain is much more advanced than others but isn’t entirely “bug-free”.

For audio, I originally had the current music from the opening titles but it doesn’t build and fall the way I wanted it to. I thought about possibly editing it slightly, adding another chord progression to change it up, but this would have been very time consuming. Instead, I used the melody used within the program. It’s on a loop as it wasn’t quite long enough, using the quiet bits where it cuts to build suspense in the titles; it's fast-paced which is what I was after. There could potentially be a copyright issue with using the music but I sourced it off of YouTube. The person who published it has put the details of the licencing, as I am a student and using it for educational purposes and not at all for any form of income, I’m not breaching any copyright laws. The same goes for the gifs and any stock images used.

I am really pleased with my final outcome as I think it’s very successful. The feedback I have received is mainly positive, “very good, could be the real thing; you notice more and more hidden things when you watch it again”. Comments for improvement would be that parts of it are quite dark and possibly a bit too grainy. Personally, I think there are a few bits that need smoothing over but overall I’m very happy with it.

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