Animation &
Motion Graphics
From a technical point of view, animation and motion graphics production is our heartland, at least where we cut our teeth in the fledgling industry. We find we increasingly use a mix of 2d, 3d and live action in our work, though we always begin with an old fashioned pencil and paper.
Once upon a time you could make one single film and that could do for your product launch, TVC, corporate video – and then bung it on Facebook too and forget about it. But the rapidly fragmenting world of social and broadcast video has made things a lot more complicated.
What is Animation?
Animation is a pretty loose term. At its most basic it describes a technique of creating the illusion of movement through a series of drawings or models, at its most complex a CGI piece featuring 3D animation and compositing.
We tend to make a distinction between 2d animation – traditionally vector art much beloved of the explainer video – and 3d animation. Although, just to confuse you, increasingly the 2d animation will now feature some simple 3d too to keep it feeling fresh. Here’s an example of an animated film we created:
This TV commercial for Westin was done in a very traditional way in many respects, with much of the ‘3d’ frames actually being drawn by hand. This is very time consuming but can give great results, particularly in the smooth movement of this film.
Of course character animation is just one category of animation, and at Hocus Pocus we would also animate illustrations, infographics, typography for a variety of different outputs. One of our main areas of focus though is motion graphics video production.
What is Motion Graphics?
Motion graphics are a type of animation, focused on giving movement to graphic design elements, but tend to have less of a concrete storytelling aspect than other types of animation. Motion graphics takes graphic design that would be otherwise static and gives it animation and movement, often without telling a specific story.
As a motion design studio, Hocus Pocus uses motion graphics to illustrate complex ideas visually. Some ideas (especially complex or abstract ideas) are hard to explain with words or still images. Motion graphics production can really bring a tricky concept to life, as with this film we made for Zovirax about cold sores:
Animation or Motion Graphics?
It’s important to make the right choice as to what type of film you want to make. Motion graphics are best for detailing facts and illustrating a point you’re trying to make. Motion graphics are used when there’s no need for narrative or storytelling.
If you want to highlight the emotional aspects of a story, provide a narrative or if you need to connect with your audience on an emotional level, you probably want to think of a different type of animation. Of course there is a lot of overlap between all these different techniques, and sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish.