BrainyQuote
Visualising a quote for the largest online collection of quotes, which gives access to the spoken word to more than 4 billion individuals worldwide.
Designed in Cinema 4D, rendered in Redshift. Composited in After Effects
THE CHALLENGE Using the extensive collection of quotes that Brainy Quote has accumulated, bring a quote to life through animation. Inspired by personal creativity, enhance and expand the understanding of the original quote.
THE QUOTE “Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” - Stephen Hawking
THE SOLUTION Challenging the audience to question what they see, and guiding them on an exploratory journey, which reinforces the meaning of the quote. Focusing on realism with a sense of otherworldly magic and fantasy.
Research
The science of soap bubbles.
An important part of this project was research, soap bubbles are very unique and to achieve a sense of realism required understanding the science and motion of bubbles. This would ensure more appropriate lighting, texturing and animation in production.
A bubble is air wrapped in soap film. The iridescent colours occur from light waves reflecting between the soap film’s outer and inner surfaces. Soap bubbles move gently through the air because the addition of soap molecules to the water molecules, decreases the surface tension.
Thin Film Interference Spectrum. Credit: Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Texture Exploration
Production
COLOUR Palette consists of blues, greens, with hints of pink and purple, highlighting the thin film transporting the viewer to a magical world of childhood fantasy and wonder.
LIGHTING The overall lighting treatment emphasises the reflections in the surface of the bubbles and sets a lighthearted and wondrous mood for the piece.
CAMERA The camera uses a 20mm wide lens for the majority of the piece. This matches the spherical shape language of the bubbles and distorts the field of view, which suggests fantasy and magic. Moreover, this reinforces the quote “try to make sense of what you see”, as the lens creates more of an illusion. In the final shot, there is a camera zolly where the focal length changes to an 80mm lens, which flattens the view and creates a smooth transition from a more fantastical world into the real one, where the audience discovers the hero of the piece, the bubbles.
ASPECT RATIO The piece starts in a 23:9 aspect ratio. When the audience is taken through and out of the fantastical tunnel of bubbles, the aspect ratio changes to 16:9 HD. This creates a sense of compression and release, which makes the audience feel more at ease and relaxed as the screen grows and they are able to see the full image, which emphasises a sense of wonder and reinforces the curiosity of the quote.
TYPOGRAPHY There are two fonts used interchangeably throughout the piece to create visual hierarchy within the quote, which is further emphasised by the consistent colour change. The words appear to be a part of the scene, emerging from behind the bubbles and refracting against their surface.
Finishing
CRYPTO MATTE and ALPHA TRANSITION A crypto matte was rendered out as an AOV during production to allow for a more seamless alpha transition between the first and second shot. This was so that the illusion of being in another world was not broken and matched the tone and fluidity of the bubbles.
COLOUR CORRECTION and GRADING The chosen colour palette consists of greens, with hints of pink, which highlights the thin film of the soap bubbles and transports the viewer to a magical world of childhood fantasy an wonder. A LUT was used to bring out the vibrant colours and create a more surreal atmosphere.
use of EXPOSURE RAMP An exposure ramp was used at the start and end of the piece to gently invite the audience into the piece to explore a new world. This effect also mimics the idea of nostalgic flashbacks, when one remembers times from their childhood and past. It was used to create a soft atmosphere.
MOTION VECTORS and CUSTOM DISPLACEMENT MAPS were used to refract the typography and add custom motion blur to the renders.
LENS EDITS A combination of lens imperfections, including lens smudges and flares to create more realism and atmosphere throughout the piece to support the visuals.
ATMOSPHERE Dust particles were added in post to further emphasise realism and atmosphere but also push for more depth.