Michael's Art 328 Process

Enjoy the final piece!

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Process:
It took a while to reach a suitable animation style and tone that I was happy with and that also satisfied the requirements for building a new title sequence. I am not going to go into great detail about how I got there because my previous posts are quite long and in-depth that show how I arrived at colors, fonts, discovering the tone, music, and analyzation of the film's techniques as they apply to this project.

What was working in my trial AE exports was the use of screen shots as photos to relate to Joel's memories. This helped the viewer to understand better the significance of the story being told. To parlay this idea into a dynamic composition for my final piece I decided to use the visual effects I found throughout the film: face disfiguring, word erasure, multiple instances of elements that move in space, transparent red color, spotlighting, intense blurring from being out-of-focus and coloring for mood.

With these effects and previously gathered assets in my bag I was ready to blend the two in a motion title sequence. From previous trials I learned from critiques that instead of blurring out facial features it worked better to clone-stamp paint over their face in a rough fashion. The creepiness came across a lot better and mimicked the films style more closely.

I started the sequence with a long shot of Joel at the beach to set the tone as sad and lonely. It transitions in with a slow blur and camera panning away adding to the mood. The film still then rotates back into space giving the illusion of a frozen memory or photograph. The title "Focus Features" comes in blurry at first and illegible while soon after the sharper text comes in. This is to foreshadow what's to come in hopes you understand that it's not always clear what you are seeing or what's going on in the film.

For the next title I transition into it with a still of Joel's drawing of Clem on the train. Alluding to his memory being erased - I slowly fade the drawing away on his notebook. The title "an ANONYMOUS CONTENT production" then comes in on Joel's notebook. This also reinforces how the movie will go through tangible pieces of Joel's memory and erase them. I bring the camera in close in steps with the music until it's soo close that it becomes blurry.

The next title scene follows that out of focus exit and brings in another artifact from Joel's memory: A note from Lacuna warning his friends not to speak about his past relationship because it has been erased. Just as you can almost see the whole note as it comes into focus I erase it from the card. This should make the viewer frustrated since you aren't able to read the whole thing. This helps relate the viewer to Joel's frustration in life. The next title fades in on the card and the camera begins an awkward stepping towards the title. I chose to make the camera move in this fashion because Joel's interaction with Clem is quite awkward. Like the previous transition style, the camera comes in so close that the frame becomes out of focus. Only this time instead of having a gap of black between scenes I have the next scene blend it's out of focusness with the current scene so it appears like a slow seamless transition. This helps keeps the viewer engage with a transition that's not the same as the last.

As Joel's face comes into focus you immediately get a feel for whatever is happening to him in the film is definetly effecting him intensely. Again I use the awkward easing camera movement to pull out from his face. I slow down the camera movement while his face slowly transforms and reveals the creepy covered up features. In the film they use this effect to show how your memory can't always recall moments correctly and that the Lacuna process isn't perfect. Simultaneously a blurry part of his title comes in and then comes in sharper twisting in 3D following the speed of the camera panning. Since the camera is dwelling on this scene I chose not make any sudden movements and slowly fade out. This helps slow down the tempo for the next scene.

A still showing Clem on the train that you saw earlier in Joel's notebook fades in the same way Joel faded out. I keep all the movements timed to the music in order emphasize the lyrics in the song and how they relate to the title sequence. This sequence begins to speed up in how the camera moves and the speed in which the titles fade in. This is to steer away from the more melodramatic mood earlier that really only revolves around Joel and Clem and does not apply to the following title scenes. Kate Winslet mimics the style I used for Joel's title enterance and exit. I did this to subtly reinforce the idea that they have a relationship in the film. During the slowed down camera pan I flip Clem's eyes up-side-down which is another effect they use in the film to illustrate memory breakdown.

The camera now keeps a much faster tempo with beats in the song as it brings into focus the next title scene with Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst. Since their characters aren't not the main focus of the melancholy mood previously shown I give it a bit more energy. I use more edgy camera movement and quicker title revealing to keep with the pace of the song. To begin the transition into the next scene which will be slower I use the red semi-transparent color like they used in the film to slowly color burn out Mark and Kirsten's characters. Simultaneously the legible parts of the titles go away to reveal their blurry counterparts. I sit on this scene a little bit longer than necessary to let the viewer be suspended in thought as to what might happen next.

The next film still comes in at the exact same distance the previous one ended on except this time it's out of focus and you can make out two doctors holding a photograph. As the camera moves slowly in the image comes into focus revealing Joel and Clem on the photograph. This is the first time the viewer sees the two characters together and not long after I fade their image from the photograph. This is the final metaphor to show the viewer that Joel and Clem will eventually fail. The main title of the movie comes in on the photograph but first in black. I chose to do this because I felt it helped reinforce the way in which memories were being burnt away or burnt into the mind. Then the final white title text comes into the black text on the photograph. This is also the last time I use an awkward camera movement. The scene slowly fades out to black where you are left with the final title.

I figured the director should not be mixed in with all the other effects and metaphors used with the previous titles since he does not star in the film. Therefore I only used simple camera movements with the director's title on black fading out as the song ends. The movement along with the song and slow fade continue with the sad mood to end my title sequence.