Author: Oliver Hale (Page 3 of 3)

This music video was made for the 2023 Valorant Championship and had this beautiful animation accompany it. while the company Wizz is a collection of animators and directors, each project has its own directors and sometimes separate animators. this project was by the group CRCR, while no interviews exist for this project, I was able to find this on their website.

“CRCR have garnered international attention for their approach of 2D animation and storytelling. As mixed-media innovators and artists, CRCR use a wide graphic palette to direct commercials, music videos and game trailers with an ever-increasing artistic vision and energy”

– CRCR

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OPINION TIME

while their influences were guided by Riot, the game company for which the music and the animation were produced for. CRCR still embedded its core graphic style and amazing FX animation into the video.

While i don’t think it had much impact on the industry as a whole but I can say as a viewer and lover of the game and music, the potent style and emotion that this animation gives me is very palpable.

what I find amazing about their work is their use of 3d camera tracking, they set their frames in these (I can only imagine) complex parallax systems, and perhaps they even use 3D software to position their 2D backgrounds on planes. while I don’t know this for sure, riot has often used these methods in other videos, and I can only assume the same is done here

this music video is important to me because it became part of my confidence music playlist or Cimp as I like to call it (the I is silent). the story about growing up around a video game resonates with me heavily as my entire life and friendships have often centered around connecting through gameplay.

SOURCES

CRCR ANIMATION STUDIO. “VCT23 / TICKING AWAY – CRCR.” CRCR, 8 June 2024, crcr.fr/project/vct23.

VALORANT. “Ticking Away Ft. Grabbitz and Bbno$ (Official Music Video) // VALORANT Champions 2023 Anthem.” YouTube, 31 July 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdZN8PI3MqM.

in animation, there are often themes that inhabit that said animation. Today I’m looking for films that each represent The Indexical, The Hand, and the Illusion

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The Indexical

I chose to feature a film that features everyone in the world. it can do that by choosing to represent an emotion we have all felt. the loneliness of being alive. It is called Impetus by William Landergreen, and it is hauntingly beautiful through its message and sound. it is indexical because it mentions the whole and features the one simultaneously. it both features all of us and none of us because it is all CGI, but the human emotion it shares makes us all actors in Impetus.

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The Hand

The hand is the tool of an artist. When we are allowed to see it, it can bring a new sense of beauty to a piece. I chose the Running dude, which is a short test of new Grease Pencil abilities in Blender. The Running Dude is by Łukasz Rusinek and features his process in making it, allowing us a glimpse into the hand of the artist.

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The Illusion

Norilska is a short animated film made by Oliver Ward in Unreal Engine. its brooding world and radio warnings fall on deaf ears while a captain forges forward through this waste land. While it lacks any character animation it makes up for it with its cinematic and atmospheric vibe. what makes it an illusion is how real this film looks, one could assume this is real-life footage not generated and rendered by a computer—that’s where the illusion comes in, blurring the line between the real and the real looking.

“we both know there is no other way, it will be too late” – Norilska