Universal Production music
2023
To create a fascinating visualization of one of the new musical releases from the Universal Production Music studio. The animation visually interprets the music while introducing the name of the release.
Music Choice
In this music, gentle woodwinds and magical glockenspiel combine for a cue bursting with wonder and anticipation.
I selected this song because it reminds me of the memory of reading and drawing on the small desk in my bedroom.
Pitch directions
The first design direction is the 2D graphic style. I made the simple shapes and added some subtle organic textures.
The second one is to have a textile paper cut feeling. I added the paper texture overlay and drop shadows to make it look real.
In the third direction, I printed out some riso textures and scanned them.
Direction1 2D Graphic
Direction2 Textile Fish Bowl
Direction3 Riso Lamp
Concept
A small character takes a rest on the desk, surrounded by many huge objects, like a lamp, fish bowl, and pens.
Initial Design
Storyboard
first pass
After talking with the art director, I chose the second direction because it has more fun elements to play with. The first pass’s challenge is to refine the story and make the design more engaing, for example, put the character inside the fish bowl.
Notes: The styleframe looks better and the story is readable. The second styleframes design is not successful because it does not have a focal point and the character scale is too small, so takes away unnecessary objects.
Also, add some water ripple effect to the whole environment to make it more like an underwater world. The shape of the fish bowl is abstract and the square fish bowl is not communicating, so make the two edges more curved, which is more like a classical fish bowl.
Second pass
For the second pass, I made the beginning transition and refined the animation.
Notes: Change the fish bowl shape to a more curved shape. Add some lines on the cap to show the inner structure because the current shape does not look like a fish bowl.
Add the album name and composer name at the end.
Third pass
For the third pass, I worked on the details like bubble and fish animations.
Notes: Based on the art director’s critique, I need to work on the fish distortion behind the fish bowl. The fish head should be magnified due to the glass distortion, so I need to have more size contrast between the fish and the distortion.
Cover & Mock up
