Project 3- Exhibit Video

For our third and final motion design project we were tasked with creating a exhibit video for a designer of our choice. With this we need ti encapsulate their style and showcase at least 7 pieces of their work within the video. I was very excited for this video, but knew that this would take much research and planning to create a well thought out and interesting video. What was hardest for me was to be able to show my designers work, without making it a fancy slideshow. I wanted to do something very interesting and different.

When looking through my favorite designers I knew only one could capture this image of different and off the rails. I decided to choice Virgil Abloh, a fashion designer and creative director for many influencers in our world such as Kanye West. His works has been always something so subtle but so interesting. What he envisions is to be the gap between streetwear and high end fashion. Because of this, I wanted to making a video that showcased this idea of minimalism and streetwear so I decided to create a collage based animation. With this I wanted to focus mainly of his work with his brand Off-White and the many different collaborations he has done over the years. The first step was to collect as many pieces of Imagery as possible. I picked many pieces of work such as his work with Nike, Ikea, Sunglass hut, and many more. I also chose many fashion clothing he created for champion and even the Paris Fashion Week clothing he created. Along with some pictures of Virgil himself I went into Photoshop and took each piece of imagery I needed. I then game them a simple white stroke to give the pieces the collage feeling. From there it was time to get started in After Effects. I felt as though this entire semester has been building up to this moment. The two pervious projects, working on type and sound, has given us the tools to create and visualize this final animation. I had to take step back at this point, mainly because I did not know how I wanted to continue the animation. I knew the style and feel, but did not know how to do transitions, which I wanted to do many. I started creating storyboards, but felt stuck here as well. Finally, I decided to create simple rough sketches for storyboards and felt that I would have more luck just trying out different animations within After Effects, to understand different transitions I would accomplish.

After much trial and error I was finally able to unleash much creativity into the animation. I wanted to capture a feeling of playfulness and get a little "crazy: with the collages. To start off I had Virgil in front of a solid yellow background. His head would then open to reveal multiple works of his. These would start to expand out of his head and begin to pour out. These will then start to fill the screen and reveal the title of the exhibit and his name. I chose to name the exhibit "The Grey Area" to showcase how he views his idea of Off White, his company. He pictures it as not something black or white but an "off white" area in design. From here the pile would go back down to reveal a series of still images of shoes that he has worked on with Nike called "The Ten". They would constantly move around to different positions with a key word in the center of the piece. Next, a black and white stripe would close the screen and act as a transition to the next screen, which is a Tv. This is to represent one of his various logos for the company which this one is a black and white striped box. The TV is to show a piece of an interview of Virgil to get a better understanding of how he thinks to those that might not know much about him. After the interview was complete the tv would go to a simple purple screen, and expand to the entire screen. This would then be the part where I would showcase his fashion by chopping us various models into three sections, head, body, and legs. I then created a type of "spin wheel" in which the models get mashed up with the other models to create different outfits then the original. Finally this would end by covering the screen with his work with Ikea which includes rugs, towels, and a bag. The ending is the location, date, and my name. Finally I chose the song "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West, in instrumental form. I felt that as a frequent collaborator, nd creative director for most of Kanye's albums, Virgils video would benefit from a very fast paced and exciting song.

Overall, I am very happy with the final product and love the way in which everything works together so well. The only thing I would change is to extend the video with more transitions and interesting ways to showcase Virgil's work. I am very proud of this product and will be adding this to my portfolio work to show different ranges of work I can accomplish.