Since the time in class we watched Motomichi Makamura’s video for the song “We Share Our Mother’s Health” by The Knife, I’ve been interested in creating motion graphics to go along with music.
I have watched other animations to songs since and found inspiration in Faye Orlove’s video for the song “Townie” by Mitski.
For my project, I have decided to create two 4-minute animations to go along with two tracks I will create in GarageBand. At the moment I do not plan on incorporating lyrics/vocals in the songs because I would have to find a vocalist. I plan on creating one track with the “classic” band setup (lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums) and one track that is more electronic and experimental. The animations will be made in After Effects.
Though both of these videos focus more on creating familiar objects (medical tools in “Our Mother’s Health” and markers in “Townie”), I aim to make my animations more abstract and focused on motion graphics. I am interested in doing this because I’ve always had a passion for music and find animation that goes along with music to be extremely pleasing. Since these are just videos, the viewer should simply be able to play them and enjoy the audio and visuals simultaneously. I plan on aligning the animation with the beat of the music using markers at specific points. The lack of lyrics may cause problems as in these examples the lyrics heavily helped to distinguish the tone/focus of the animations, but I believe an abstract animation can be just as pleasing to watch. I plan on making the tracks first and then gaining inspiration from what I hear to make my animations.
Obviously rhythm will play an important part in these animations, influenced by the music. Repetition will also most likely be important as I plan to repeat certain animations during parts of the music that also repeat, such as the chorus. The pace of the animation will probably be in line with the pace of the music. The other factors, such as color, scale, and pattern, will vary but are not as important at the moment. Side by side, music and motion appeal to the senses in a unique way that I hope to achieve through my project.
