The power of frame by frame
A process of magic, back to cute days of Studio Ghibli, opportunities & cool ideas
👋 Hello enthusiast, how are you doing?
It's getting super cold here in France. As I am writing I am recovering from a cold. Today, let's dive into my relationship with animation. I recently watched a Ghibli piece that inspired me to share the power of frame-to-frame with you.
An idea, a few lines and magic It's funny how a few lines repeated and moved along can create an atmosphere: an open door to a story. That is the power of moving images. Animation is something that I have always played with it. After a series of projects using motion, I realized how impactful it could be in my work. As I gain more confidence in my hand and the things I create, I infuse more motion in my creative thinking.
The line is the start of everything + patience
Your pen or pencil and you sketch again and again. The repetition mimics the motion, it is a subtle yet effective trick. Any age can be in awe before the behind-the-scenes of an animation. Aside from the line comes the patience to draw and develop over and over again a scenery. With our digital tools, it is easier to do a ‘‘cmd-z’’, back in the day it was ‘‘start all over again’’. The patience in crafting is quite a teacher.
Motion gives the vibe, the catch
Animation gives an extra catch and grabs the attention right away. As we move into video-oriented content creation, motion is elevated by algorithms and metrics. For me, it’s an opportunity for illustrators and designers who can play with motion, to inject more of it into their work.
I created a giphy channel a few months ago and I have been creating short clips. Metrics on the platform show that progression and diversity of content using motion. A few months ago I received a DM from a marketing specialist who noticed my channel and saw in it an interesting tool for marketing. I never thought of it that way, it was a great insight for me to seize the market. I see it as my motion playground and I guess it helps create the vibe.
Creatives and animation: the big combo
As creatives, we have superpowers. If you can draw and create images, aesthetics, sceneries and patterns you have a superpower. From pen to paper, from procreate to after effect it’s the perfect match.
Motion links everything together, the craft + the story + the message
Exercise your animation skills
There are exercises and tools to entice you to start animating. For example, the flipbook aids in witnessing physically the process of animation. Here is a Playful masterclass: the Flipbook by Andymation that breaks down beautifully the magic.
I like watching animation movies long and short projects from students to more renowned studios. The process of watching current work to ‘‘still life’’ helps a lot in the thinking process.
It's such a magical tool! From an idea that you put in motion, you create a story.
It gives a lot of freedom and liberty in your creative ideas. I hope it inspires you to start one line at a time.
🔦 Sending warm vibes
The brightness of Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli’s mastery draws you in. I stumbled on this movie a few weeks ago, I had missed this masterpiece but better late than never! I am a Studio Ghibli admirer, this movie took me to the sweet beginnings of their work. The story of Whispers of the Heart alongside the storytelling and craftsmanship makes it a delight to watch again and again. I use it now as a motion class: observing those shadows, those lines subtle yet directing and the colours sparking LIFE. It makes me jolly!
🐎 Opportunity knocks
In every letter, I share opportunities I stumbled upon. There are so many cool grants, funding, competitions, and more to enter to experience progress. I hope the list of the week will be useful.
Descript is hiring (call for video creators)
Mondrian fund (grants for visual artists)
Bridging the gap (all Raise Black and Latinx Media Mastery)
Women Science Photographer of the Year (open call till Dec 31st)
Sounds of New york (call to 🇫🇷 7 French podcast creators, deadline Dec 15th)
What do you think of ‘‘Your creative letter’’?
🤩 Great 👍 Good 😕 Could be better
Pépites music
🤩 Cool links to click on
Who is this joyful creative genius? (Jason Naylor shines through and it glows)
A little spark of joy (what a cool inspiring blog from tarot to spirituality)
Freelance avant-garde (Abi Connick is a genius at expressing Brand feel)
Do you want to write a book? (Joshua Lisec have been a go-to for information)
Get smarter every day (5 links daily to make you smarter)
💡 It's a Prompt
Light up your creative fire this week • 💎 Prompt of the week
• Let’s animate in 3 steps*
Simple animations to bring a spark into your content don’t need to be complicated. I like to use here-and-there animations to bring that extra to my work. So let’s prompt you to your first quick animation:
→ ✏️ Choose a subject to draw and make a clean doodle
* You can also use a picture as a reference to draw.
* You can take a picture of that sketch and import it into Procreate.
→ ✏️ from that doodle, refine it to simple yet personal lines
* Create a canvas on Procreate, you can choose a 1080x1080 px size.
* Choose a background colour and start sketching on top of your layer.
* There are several brushes you can use. I like using pencil brushes for line animations.
→ ✏️ sketch over and over these lines, keeping in mind the frame-by-frame movement
* See your lines in motion and envision how elements can move along the lines. Each sketch can bring in information that moves in your frame.
* The more layers the longer the animation.
* Once you are happy, check the final result and export it as a gif or mp4.
* WHAT YOU WILL NEED: notebook + tablet + procreate application
Creativity is in every little curious experimentation.
Feel free to share! Have fun!
Yours creatively,
Keva.