Skip to content
Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes by Matthew Rankin

Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes by Matthew Rankin is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award de Fer in Film Competition Category.


FerFilm· 2020

Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes

by Matthew Rankin

Client: Matthew Rankin

A' Design Award de Fer Winner in Film Category

12,675

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #103476

Colors

The Design

About Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes

Preludes est un court métrage d'animation en techniques mixtes inspiré du poème éponyme de T.S. Eliot. D'une durée d'une minute et huit secondes, le film associe l'imagerie d'Eliot à une composition musicale originale. Les scènes sont reliées par le thème et par le son plutôt que par un style visuel unique. L'œuvre combine animation 2D et 3D, modélisée dans Cinema 4D, rendue avec Redshift et composée dans After Effects. Les vues aériennes cèdent la place au niveau de la rue, où des silhouettes se croisent derrière des écrans. L'animation propose une réflexion sur la vie moderne à travers un texte ancien.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Fer

Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes est lauréat de l'A' Design Award de Fer, une reconnaissance prestigieuse décernée à de bons designs qui répondent aux exigences professionnelles et industrielles attendues de créations bien conçues. Les lauréats Fer démontrent la grande compétence, la haute spécialisation, la compréhension experte et la capacité créative de leurs créateurs. Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes est censé être une création très estimée, admirée et chérie, pratique et innovante. Ce design lauréat de l'A' Design Award de Fer intègre les meilleures pratiques de l'industrie et présente des caractéristiques techniques compétentes associées à un savoir-faire et à du talent. Preludes Animation en techniques mixtes est respecté pour sa rigueur et est conçu pour apporter des améliorations de la qualité de vie qui contribuent à faire du monde un monde meilleur.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties
Preludes is a mixed media collaborative animation based on a poem by T.S. Eliot. The process involved the poem being chosen by the producer, who then invited a musician to compose a one-minute piece which was handed off to me to provide to create visuals on both the the words of Eliot and the music.
Dimensions & Packaging
Duration: 1-minute, 08-seconds
Tags
poetry, animation, motion graphics, 2D, 3D, after effects
Production Technology
Preludes utilizes both 2D and 3D animation all composited in After Effects. The scenes with 3D were done in Cinema 4D and rendered using Redshift. It also uses several After Effects plugins such as Video Copilot's Sabre, Rowbyte's Plexus, and Red Giant's Particular and Form.
Design Challenge
The challenge became putting the many ways this manifests into only one-minute and matching those visuals to an already created musical composition. And that's how an aerial view helps to alienate us from the tracking signals on the street and we are suddenly shifted to street level view to see faceless people bumping into one another with screens blocking the vision.
Research
For this project the research fairly straightforward. It started with a cursory reading of the poem, Preludes by T.S. Eliot, and listening to the soundtrack created by Angus Macrae. I listened to the audio repeatedly to let it sink into my memory and to help with visualizing general concepts. This was followed by seeking out deeper analysis of the poem so that I better understood the themes, ideas, and symbols. While I could certainly have skipped this step it was profoundly important as I went along and was searching for visual fragments to add to the density of the piece.
Inspiration
Preludes is based on T.S. Eliot's poem of the same name and a one-minute musical soundscape provided to me and composed by Angus Macrae. The whole project was organized by a group called Campfire Poetry that uses poetry as away to promote collaborations between musicians and animators.
Project Duration
The project was started 20 December 2019 in New York City and completed in February 2020.
Operation Flow
I was immediately drawn into Eliot's non-narrative and slightly abstract form, even though he was describing a very defined and concrete world. I took that as an opportunity to create scenes that were thematically, but not necessarily aesthetically, connected. Instead, I chose to let Macra's soundtrack be the connective tissue weaving together Eliot’s view with my own as I explore how our modern world looks and feels in the context of Eliot’s ideas.
Team Members
Director/Animator: Matthew Rankin
Producer: Max Rothman
Music/Sound: Angus Macrae

Sponsored

Explore Beyond Designers.org

Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

The A' Design Award is an international, juried accolade for good design. Take part in the A' Design Award to get an opportunity to earn meritocratic recognition, gain fame, prestige and publicity for your work. Nominate your work for the A' Design Award and compete for the coveted A' Design Prize.

Nominate