Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
You can really add another level
of appreciation and excellence in
the bumpers, the head and tail,
and the reel's overall packaging.
—Terrence Masson
The opening is a very important part of your
reel, no matter what your specialization. It sets the
mood and gives your audience a moment to focus their
attention. You can provide that settling-in moment
with something as simple as a nicely designed static
titling screen, or something more ambitious, like
a bumper.
Bumpers are pretty much what they sound like: a little something that protects
two different things from uncomfortably smashing into each other. They are a very
short sequence of frames—one to three seconds is sufficient. If you are having prob-
lems transitioning between two otherwise disparate clips, creating a bumper as a tran-
sition and sandwiching it between the two might solve your problem. Bumpers can
Transitions
Most animators or game artists graft their clips together with straightforward cuts. In most
cases this is wise, as a badly used transition will detract from the impression of a seamless
flow and draw attention to the seams between clips.
However, intelligent use of transitions can actually enhance the sense of continuity. For
example, if you are following a character moving from right to left on the screen, a fast wipe
in the same direction with a new scene's character following the direction of the wipe can
have the same serendipitous effect as matching two objects in the same approximate posi-
tion in two consecutive frames.
These three consecutive frames in Herculano
Fernandes's reel are unified by the style of animation
and the direction of movement. When the character
who is the main focus of the first clip looks up as the
type moves from behind him, the text that begins the
next animation wipes down. The man's focus prepares
the viewer for something dropping from the top of
the frame.
