New World

The latest iteration of my BBC Natural World title sequence.

Natural World Titles 02 - Refined from Matthew Wood on Vimeo.

The animals are absent as there’s just not enough time to do them justice without rushing through the piece, and the titles of late have taken a more stylised approach; focusing on the wonder and importance of the small narratives that make up our natural world – a single drop of water or dandelion seeds in the wind.

Changes to be made:

• Have the text emerging from the depths (as if discovered) rather than fading in. Adding a sense of depth by including ‘bubble’ elements in the foreground.

• Better colour for the earth.

Strengths:

• The initial entrance into the drop, well timed and weighted with a nice effect.

• Overall duration; short and sweet.

Bit of 'Web Presence' maintenance to conclude with.

If you're looking for a prettier url to point people too them www.matthewood.co.uk is now in a more presentable state. That's 'Matthew' and 'Wood' sharing the same 'w' (just like in my logo!...is the excuse I give because matthewwood and any variation thereof is already taken). I also am now in possession of 250 business cards (mine), if you'd like one then arrange for us to do business, business cards are for business (as well as being 'The business').

...business

Au Naturel…World

My initial concept for the BBC’s Natural World titles.
A CG water droplet reflecting and refracting the earth makes its way to the ground. We travel into the heart of the drop (the earth) to discover the animals of the natural world.


Natural World Initial Concept Test from Matthew Wood on Vimeo.
(must say - looks much better in HD - click the link above if you have the time)

Rough and ready and all too fast but the concept works.

I like the immediate juxtaposition and change in scale from the usual ‘epic space shot of planet earth’ to the humble, yet essential, drop of water.
If given the go ahead I will likely suggest either lengthen the piece and creating a more abstracting interior for the drop (less of an underwater feel) or cutting the move into the water completely – simply reflecting the myriad of animals in the drop (falling in slow motion), showing that they are inside and part of the world. I would also like to enhance the final reveal of the titles, either a more interesting angle or have the water expose the text.
All of which would streamline the piece and give it more consistency.

Stay posted for more posting of posts.

RCUK Animation update

Well I've won my first paid commission. An animation for The Resuscitation Council UK to help identify the signs of cardiac arrest.

clickety for the project site.

Here's a clip from the pitch, the actual collapse will be more effective; staying with the sufferer as she falls backward, feeling the impact with her.



RCUK Fall from Matthew Wood on Vimeo.

It's a 3ds Max (I never know what to capitalize when I'm writing that; '3DS Max' I guess would be correct - 'aint pretty though) version of a playblast ... 'make preview' I believe, not quite as catchy. Keep watching my RCUK animation blog for updates. I intend to have a video gallery there soon but there's been some complications, incidentally anyone trying to reach me on my talktalk.net mail...can't, there's a fault so I'm waiting to get access to activation e-mails.

Looking forward to getting a full quality render on this sucker in the near future.

....tee he he, 'limp and heavy'.

Title Sequences

A wonderful opportunity has presented itself. In preparation I made this (it's looped so remember to pause it and get on with your life):
 

Explosive Particles from Matthew Wood on Vimeo.

Bet you can't guess which British based broadcasting company it's for.

It was a wild stab in the dark (I hear tell that's a very painful place to get stabbed) since all I was going on was 'motion graphics' 'title sequence'. I wanted to simulate realistic lens effects with the particles blowing out (in both senses), almost there.Composed to allow for credits to roll on while stuff got 'sploded on the other side. Mostly just a test of my computer's ability to compute. It does not like particles and advanced blurring effects, whiny piece of junk!
It was slow for the after effects files, but it's completely crashing with the things I'm trying to get it to do in 3DS Max. Possible posts on that to come...though they relate more closely to the RCUK animation project I'm working on, so check there first. Is anyone else beginning to think this multiple blog thing is getting tricky to track? Especially since I'm considering setting up another for this latest project. I may try to create an aggregating blog, a Matthew Wood Mega Store of a blog, to solve this problem, half price on everything that guarantees the death of local businesses! (that's right, I got political on yo ass).

I have a sign off on my 'main' blog...seems rude not to have a definitive conclusion. Maybe I'll just embrace it and stop half way though my