The Five Best Uses of Animation in Hollywood

The Salamandra team has rounded up the five best animation usages in Hollywood in Part  of their new series. 

They chose some of the most unique and inspirational animations out there, to hopefully shine a new light on how flexible animation can be and how it's being used in the movie industry.

Animation's something we specialise in and we do it as a service to convey businesses' stories, allowing them to communicate better with audiences.

Check out this link for some great examples of how animation is being used in the business world.

01. A Series of Unfortunate Events

Starting off the list with Lemony Snicket's - a Series of Unfortunate Events, we thought this titling use of animation deserved the first spot on our list.

Using a mixture of after effects, cut-out illustrations and 2D animation this sequence creates a short, visual, story replicating the antagonist's role in the movie.

When watching the animation you can see how they illustrate each character, especially the antagonist and how he puppeteers and controls the three children along, linking it to the movie's storyline, something animations is very good at doing without the need of dialogue.

It also uses a unique art style, creating a child-friendly but sinister feel. At the same time though they try not to overdo it and create something that can frighten. We've had similar fun with cut-out illustrations when creating a logo for our client, Silhouettes Sarah.

02. Wonder Woman (2017) Credits

Moving on to our second spot, we chose to include Wonder Woman's end credits scene.

Here, Warner Brothers decided to mix VFX, motion graphics, 3D Rendering & V-RAY lighting, to create a 'wondrous' effect - aweing the viewers till the movie's end.

With the best technologies at hand, this animation was ranked as one of the best in the world. And by watching the video above you can see the different overlays of the mixed technologies and the effects that they produce which ultimately leads to why it deserves a high rank. For more info on how this animation was created, check out this link here.

Although we've never faced a video production at this magnificent scale (incorporating all technologies into one), we are however familiar with using motion graphics, 3D rendering and Lighting effects for individual client projects such as QA Apprenticeships and Curve.

03. Guardian of The Galaxy, Powerex Motion Graphics

There's a common trend in the examples we're showing, which is most of these animations use motion graphics...

The great thing about motion graphics is that it has no limits; even to the point where it extends itself into the reaches of the outer space (so to speak).

Jokes aside, Guardians of the Galaxy successfully used motion graphics with a different approach. Creating something incredible by incorporating 3D elements with the use of VFX. You can see in the animation above how motion graphics (with 3D VFX) was used to bring alien technology to life.

As opposed to other technologies, motion graphics can be a simple solution in creating interfaces and holograms overlayed on to a scene, but because of its flexible nature, new technologies are emerging at a rapid pace and with new advancements every day, integrating it with 3D technology is now possible.

04. Star trek discovery title sequence

Made completely out of motion graphics this animation turned out to be one of our personal favourites on the list.

Reason being is the artist's ability to use 2D drawings for an illusional 3D effect, which is simply gobsmacking and you can barely tell which illustration is hand drawn and which one is a 3D module, making their talent indistinguishable from actual 3D renders. Think of it sort of like drawing a cuboid on a piece of paper, except, try drawing a spaceship...

Nonetheless, this animation has multiple 2D/3D illusions which are just amazing and satisfying to look at! Especially when expanding each one of its components inside out giving the viewers an insight into the object itself.

Funnily enough we've also had our own take on expanding 3D objects for one of our client's product. Check out our take and visual illustration created for Milwaukee Corporation's, Tape Measure.

05. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This animation sequence may perhaps be the most artistic out of the bunch.

As it used computer-generated physics to create liquid motion which is just simply outstanding and something that just had to make our list. With the use of VFX, After Effects and 3D sculpting, they created an animation that makes a person wonder, how is it even possible for someone to create such life-like imagery and motions that replicate real, water?

With a million dollar budget though, it's not really a surprise to that it can be accomplished, in our day and age. But one thing we've consistently seen about the animation sequences mentioned here is that correlating the movie's storyline with the movie titling is a great trend to follow. As such if you've seen the movie "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" you can pick out the subliminal messages. And like all animations (even the ones in business) the same rule applies. If a business's story revolves around finance, so will the animation thereby reflecting and marketing the business' narrative, tone of voice, brand guidelines.  Resulting in leveraging yourself over competition with a versatile tool that target audiences will be impressed over.

Conclusion

So, why not have a visual story for your brand too?

Think about having a preview of your story or services, that's attractive, captivating and visually stunning, catering to your audiences' attention. Whether you're in B2B or B2C, animation finds it's way and adapts itself in all capacities to fit your brand's story-arc, acting as an extension to your 'movie' or animated film, so to speak.

For more examples of business orientated animations check out www.vimeo.com/salamandrauk or our other blog that range in Education, Finance, Advertising, Telecommunications, Health & Safety, and more, here.