Film School: Handmade Motion Design

Ahoy 'The First Video Game' (2019) Ahoy 'The First Video Game' (2019)

Things you can do before – or even without – the computer.

Handmade Slide Show

Ahoy sidesteps the computer altogether to edit together this research video. In celebration of the retro-tech subject matter, well-designed slides are printed out (perhaps onto paper, possibly onto transparent acetate?), which are then slid in and out of frame by hand. With bold typography, a distinct design sensibility, and well-scripted voiceover narration, ‘The First Video Game’ maintains visual interest throughout its nearly two-hour runtime:

These slides could even have been a detailed storyboard – and they feature a lot of the types of information design (diagrams, graphs, archival photographs) common to explainer videos.

Ahoy 'The First Video Game' (2019)
Ahoy ‘The First Video Game’ (2019)
Ahoy 'The First Video Game' (2019)
Ahoy ‘The First Video Game’ (2019)

Handmade Previs

Michel Gondry‘s mind-bending visuals are very much about the interplay between the visual and the audio, and often take a massive amount of conceptualising and planning. His computer-generated music video for The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Star Guitar’ began life with just pen and paper, but then with the unique step in-between of computerless previs – using everyday objects, ordinary groceries, and (now retro) hardware…

(Our more detailed look at this process is over here)

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