Motion Design / Lesson 1 / Stills to Motion

Lesson Overview

Gestalt, a psychology term meaning “unified whole,” contains laws of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. Its principles explain how we can perceive a succession of stills images as fluid reality.

To begin our exploration into motion design, we will start by implementing some of these laws, so that our compositions retain a sense of unity, as opposed to an assortment of random shapes with no immediate relationship to one another.

According to the laws of similarity and proximity, our brains find pattern and unity when objects look similar to one another and are arranged closely together. So we will begin by evenly spacing and pacing three layers of the same shape.

We will then explore the law of continuation, by first applying the same linear movement to each shape, then by influencing its arc of motion in a relational way.

Lecture Videos

  1. Stills To Motion: History and basic concepts

(Stills To Motion Lecture Video)

  1. Stills To Motion: Using VDMX

(Stills To Motion Demonstration Video)

Lecture Notes

(Stills To Motion Lecture Slides)

Resources

Homework

Assignments

Create and record three black and white shape-based sequences using variations of the Gestalt principles

  • ~10 seconds without music
  • ~10 seconds with music, adjusting timing for tempo

Notes:

  • Recordings for these assignments can be in h.264.
  • Use ProRes if you plan to use them for further editing in Final Cut Pro, Resolve, After Effects, etc.

Review Questions and Further Discussion

  1. Animating basic shapes
  • ISF Shape Layers
  • Src controls and Layer Comps
  • Linear movement (left-right, up-down)
  • Using LFO’s to create arcs, etc
  1. Introduction to Gestalt principles
  • What is the “unified whole”?
  • Visual perception and grouping
  • Similarity
  • Continuation
  • Closure
  • Proximity
  • Figure and Ground
  • Symmetry and order
  1. What is The Law of Similarity?
  • Similarity is influenced by the shape, size and color of the elements
  • Designing with Similarity in Mind
  • Breaking the law of similarity
  1. What is the The Law of Continuation?
  • Perceived motion / flow
  • Negative space