After delving into the wonderful world of motion graphics with our article, we decided to get a more personal take from our own Motion Design Director. We asked David a few questions about why he loves his craft so much. See his answers below:
Q: You started playing around with video at a young age. What would you do?
A: My dad bought a Super 8 home-movie camera. It was the 1960s. I was 10. My brother, Jonathan, was 12. Quickly, it became our camera, and we made short films constantly. Some were just us goofing off with our friends. Some were actual stories or ideas we’d steal from the movies we loved—war films, outer space epics, detective stories, dystopian last-man-on-earth dramas—all starring ten-year-old kids.
I had no idea that there was something called “editing.” To me, an edit was a splice—taping the film back together after it broke. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I began to discover what editing actually was (changing viewpoints, compressing time, clarifying the story). I hadn’t realized this could be something more than just me and my friends goofing around.
Forty-five years later, I still have all of those Super-8 movies. Three minutes of magic inside a bright yellow Kodak box.
Q: When and why did you realize motion graphics was what you wanted to do?
A: Not until much later, when I bought and fell in love with my first Macintosh. And even then, it wasn’t until after I felt confident with non-linear video editing on the Mac. That would have been the late 1990s. It was then that I first started playing with After Effects, and I saw how it could enhance and manipulate video footage and add a new dimension to my work. So, it really started as a way to enhance the storytelling of my videos.
Q: What is your favorite type of motion graphics animation to do and why?
A: No real favorite. I love manipulating type. I love flat, 2D animations that live in a 3D space and I enjoy taking the viewer through a journey in that space. I also enjoy modifying and manipulating video footage in realistic ways. I like subtlety. I want the work to feel real and honest. My hope is that the audience will be drawn to the work because they have an honest connection with it.