2D animationArt workMotion graphicsOriginal
Glancent
2023, 2024
00:00:21
Description:
Though brief, this self-produced work further elevates the style I have developed up to now.
While incorporating a high level of harmony between sound and motion, it again takes as its theme the pursuit of one’s own identity, aiming to establish a style that is not swayed by trends.
The title “Glancent” combines “glance” with the suffix “-ent,” which gives a word a noun-like form,
implying “something to be glanced at.” Here, the “subject” refers to both sides: the work that is glanced at and the viewer who glances at it.
It is also a kind of irony, taking a meta view of the fleeting nature of spending a long time creating something only for the viewer to watch it for 20 seconds and be done with it.
More than in any of my previous works, I placed great importance on freedom. While I prepared a conventional color palette and had carefully set colors in the past, this time I allowed the colors to be free as well, mixing gradients and flat fills to create a stronger pop impression while maintaining a consistent tone and feel.
In pursuing freedom, it was also essential not to set any particular theme or message, and to build a composition that appeals purely to the senses.
Because of my obsession with detail, the production period became the longest in my career so far for a short piece, at just under half a year, but that also caused the style to fluctuate partway through.
For better or worse, the changes in my thoughts over those six months, as well as in how I approached my work, are strongly reflected in just a few seconds, as if that half-year version of myself had been projected unconsciously as it is.
The entire piece was produced at 24fps, and while emphasizing the film-like texture that arises compared with the standard 30fps, I also attempted to verify the limits of screen changes and motion speed that could still be properly viewed without relying on “shortcuts” such as motion blur, and without leaving a trailing afterimage.
As a result of creating motion aimed at the “fastest motion graphics in 24fps history,” I think that this also contributed to a style that is uniquely my own.
In addition, the textured expressions—such as noisy graphics, slight camera shake reminiscent of film, and color fringing assuming a soft lens rendering—were all aimed at creating a distinctive visual style, but if I come to like them too much and use them too often in the future, they could become stuck in place in a bad way, so this is also something I want to be mindful of going forward.
The carefully synchronized motion to the music, in contrast to my past works such as “nostalmic” and “Quiet or Upset,” which emphasized overall atmosphere and message, appeals simply to an instinctive pleasure that can be felt intuitively without overthinking it. In a world where works are often expected to have themes, supporting rationale, and depth, I want to present something that is simply sensory.
Once again, the entire production was done in After Effects alone, with no use of any other 3DCG applications, for example.
No plugins were used at all; this is a purely Ae-based production.
Although it was made only in Ae, I frequently expanded into 3D space and connected it seamlessly with 2D imagery,
with the aim of creating not only a sensory sense of satisfaction but also a sense of surprise. (The 2D-to-3D transition from 14 seconds to the end is an unprecedented device in my work.)
Without trying to compete with anyone or relate it to work, I positioned this piece as one step toward breaking out of the “hardening” I felt when looking back at my past works over the years—such as formulaic expressions and other forms of stagnation—and as a way to constantly search for a new style.
