This is a short animated typographic music video of classic j dies and goes to hell part 1 by glass beach. I went for a minimalistic visual style as I played around with different dynamic movements to express the lyrics. This was the final project for a class in Simon Fraser University – IAT 100, Digital Image Design, made in November 2023.
Objective
To create a captivating animated music video that expresses the song's lyrics.
Tool Used
Adobe After Effects
All made in After Effects. Original song by glass beach
Initial Iteration – Storyboard
Design Solution
I gave myself a few principles when designing to effectively express the song's chill, relaxing vibe:
– Slow movements with consistent momentum
– Minimalist visuals, soft colour palette
– Night theme with stars, clouds and a dark background
With the time constraint, I also gave myself a big restriction:
– All assets must be made within After Effects
This restriction prevents me from going overboard with designing assets and focus all my time on the animation.
Expressing the trembling voice on the word 'awake' by using rotation
Main Challenges
This was my first time using After Effects, and strict time constraints made it difficult—I had to both learn the software and make a full project within a month. This forced me to learn to plan—I had to give myself 'checkpoint' deadlines to keep on track. It was also beneficial to work in iterations (blocking out animations throughout the whole video) instead of working linearly (finishing each scene before moving to the next). That way, I have something to deliver if I don't have time to polish instead of having to rush a whole scene to keep the quality consistent.
Intense 'falling' moment with quick color flashes for climactic ending
Takeaway
I was able to maintain a consistent quality throughout my animation by effectively managing my time throughout the process. I also give credit to giving myself restrictions to avoid myself from taking on too much workload.