Mock Project Ideas Please

[swaggerStudios 0]

So as a newbie, without actual paying work and very little experience in the motion arena I am trying to figure out some ideas for some mock projects to work on. Trying to think of unbiased ideas is proving tough. So, anybody want to give me a fake project to work on? Any ideas that might occur in the real world would be much appreciated.

[Ratbaggy 1]

titles for a film.

[schumway 0]

One of the most important things a designer is the ability to come up with new ideas.

Maybe your first project should be to sit down and think of projects you wanna do.

[djkorova 0]

Ok how bout Adam Sandler gets stuck on an island and falls in love with a coconut....

 

I am AWESOM-O.

[docphibs 0]

Ok how bout Adam Sandler gets stuck on an island and falls in love with a coconut....

 

I am AWESOM-O.

 

Um, okay. How about this? Adam Sandler is like, in love with some girl, but then it turns out that the girl is actually... a golden retriever... or something.

 

hahaha

[misanthrope. 0]

how are your 3d compositing skills? add 3d objects to a set of video footage. be sure to match the movement, lighting, and video grain.

[iline 0]

This is the problem with motion graphics - it's so commercial that you can't do it at home, but once you actually get the work it's not the work you want.

 

Try typographic animation - what are your political views? Script a short rant and try to present it in visuals in a way that won't bore us to tears.

[Guest Sao_Bento]

Look at the way photographers do self promotion, then just mograph it. - Alphabets, multiple pieces around a theme, etc.

[swaggerStudios 0]

Thanks everybody for being so quick with ideas and cool insights!

[sixtydays 0]

Perhaps take a look at some good trailers for good movies with boring graphics and make your own...

[Colin@movecraft 0]

Mograph is compositing. For your brain.

 

Take a class in poetry. Edit a documentary film. Learn how to cook. Learn Calligraphy. Take capoeira.

 

Etc. etc.

[PMC 0]

I used to do a lot of this when I was trying to get my foot in the door. Tv show titles are allways good. I remember doing a 30 second seq in which I had to come up with a way to show 5 photos (show stars) and then a nice logo animation. Surprise, surprise a year later when I landed a job creating these types of templates was a big part. Cheeck out alot of those crappy MTV reality shows, often have really good titles.

Also I remember doing a full animation for selling an imaginary drink, it was all vector animation in AE. I chopped it up into various pieces, and tried animating to an imaginary VO. 'filleds with calcium' and all that.....

[nextexit 0]

I used to do a lot of this when I was trying to get my foot in the door. Tv show titles are allways good.

 

I would have to disagree, don't do something 'commercial' like titles, do something worth watching, something with meaning, something that makes people think, something like THIS

[PMC 0]

I would have to disagree, don't do something 'commercial' like titles, do something worth watching, something with meaning, something that makes people think, something like THIS

 

Well at the time thats what I thought I was doing. I wasn't trying to produce something for an imaginary client, just something that I thought kicked ass but that also could apply to a gig I might get in the future. I actually did show one of these projects to a client shortly after starting (a year back) and on that reference they were happy to go a more creative route. That said I wouldn't be showing it off now!

 

I'm all for going nuts creatively in your spare time, but if begining I think its also worth creating something that might relate to the real world jobs....

[nextexit 0]

I'm all for going nuts creatively in your spare time, but if begining I think its also worth creating something that might relate to the real world jobs....

 

Creative originality does relate to real world jobs it's what sets you apart from the pack and gets you those jobs.

 

Working for a client is an ass, even an imaginary client. The only reason to produce a fake MTV intro would be that you have a pseudo brief, i.e parameters like time, certain technical cliches, logos etc etc that you can use to guide you, but the spot will never be seen and all you'll end up with after a lot of sweat will be a piece of visual spam that future employers would have seen a bazillion times before.

 

On the other hand, the David OReilly film I linked to above received quite a considerable amount of press for something that was technically not that difficult and not that amazing but compared to the majority of mograph (especially American) at the time it stood out for it's originality and got quite a lot of exposure, to the point where he's giving talks about it at places like Art Electronica.

 

Yeah That's my rant....aren't you all sick of seeing that same sad tired shit in peoples portfolios? I know I am, and I know I'm also one of the offenders that's why my advice to someone starting out would be do what I say not what I do, don't follow the crowd play with the medium and make something worth watching.

[Guest Sao_Bento]

It's always better to do something that you can honestly call your own rather than going down the ethically jagged route of pretending that Nike, MTV, etc. has hired you - that's only going to make you look bad every time some asks “Oh, you did work with W+K or Nike?” and you have to fess up or run the risk of being seen as an all out liar. Not to mention that fact that there's a 90% chance that anyone with a trained eye will immediately recognize that your work is not on the level of those brands and wonder what's going on.

[PMC 0]

but the spot will never be seen and all you'll end up with after a lot of sweat will be a piece of visual spam that future employers would have seen a bazillion times before.

 

Thats a fair point. But I can only speak from my own experiences, and being desperate as I was at the time at the to break into the industry, (and unemployed) I figured just through enough stuff out there its bound to stick, be it title sequence, or advert for product, or just plain silly animation or whatever, if your own stamp is on it you are gold. I'm NOT suggesting someone looking to get into mograph just recreate what they see before an MTV programme, but if they can create a really fresh and exciting title seq as a spec project, why not?

 

Like wise if trying to bust into print graphics, is it not better to have some really well and originally designed spec brochures to show prospective employers as apposed to illustrator/photoshop art projects with no real world relevance?

 

I figure if the talent is there cool, show you can apply it to something!

 

David O Reilly kicks serious ass in any case, as a fellow Irishman hes really something to aspire too! Hoping to check him out at his next talk over here!

[PMC 0]

It's always better to do something that you can honestly call your own rather than going down the ethically jagged route of pretending that Nike, MTV, etc. has hired you - that's only going to make you look bad every time some asks “Oh, you did work with W+K or Nike?” and you have to fess up or run the risk of being seen as an all out liar. Not to mention that fact that there's a 90% chance that anyone with a trained eye will immediately recognize that your work is not on the level of those brands and wonder what's going on.

 

Not suggesting that at all, when I did it they were just made up titles for made up products, the 'blahblah' show all that kind of stuff......

[Guest Sao_Bento]

Not suggesting that at all, when I did it they were just made up titles for made up products, the 'blahblah' show all that kind of stuff......

That's reasonable, it could even be funny which would make people remember it. It opens the door to being way more creative. This whole thread is really kind of preposterous from that perspective. What truly creative person needs to be told what to make?

[PMC 0]

That's reasonable, it could even be funny which would make people remember it. It opens the door to being way more creative. This whole thread is really kind of preposterous from that perspective. What truly creative person needs to be told what to make?

Agreed!

[iline 0]

I don't think I am 'truly creative' - I'm tired. I quite miss having a college lecturer forcing me to think for myself instead of mindlessly following trends when all else fails. This is a tough tough industry at times, especially freelancing at the brink of a recession, and it's ageing me. Regarding this stuff as fun is sometimes difficult when you've been AE'ing like a m*therf*ucka all day (more often til 9, 10, 12 pm) and so my personal projects get neglected. I now understand why people turn to teaching - so last week I attempted to record that Blender tute. Give sommat back, eh?

--

Does anyone remember that kid on here who did that reel that he presented himself, like a resume, and talked about the films he liked and there was, like, that Donnie Darko bit where he stabs the screen? It worked, because that kid was actually sick at homebrew VFX, and I think he got a callback from UVPhactory in the end. There could be so many inventive, aesthetic, modernist ways to present ourselves as visionary video creatives without emulating Justin Harder's infamous reel.

[RVA8 0]

Does anyone remember that kid on here who did that reel that he presented himself, like a resume, and talked about the films he liked and there was, like, that Donnie Darko bit where he stabs the screen? It worked, because that kid was actually sick at homebrew VFX, and I think he got a callback from UVPhactory in the end. There could be so many inventive, aesthetic, modernist ways to present ourselves as visionary video creatives without emulating Justin Harder's infamous reel.

I agree. I remember being impressed with the way he handled that reel. It was an inventive way to represent himself (presumably) in spite of a lack of work. Conrad Ostwald also put together a really fun reel with little to no commercial work. Being in that position myself, along with many others I'm sure, it's great to see reels like these succeed. At least in landing internships.