Blog #2 (Imaginary Forces)

For our latest assignment, I wanted to choose a motion piece that had a simple, but powerful aesthetic, strengthened by educational/historical content. 

I was able to find Imaginary Forces through motionographer's Cream O' the Crop page. It was rated as one of the top 20 motion design firms by motionographer. Their work spans across film titles, commercials, tv, broadcast design, graphics, and branding, so they have immersed themselves in multiple art forms just as our Digital Design program aims to accomplish with us.

The reason that I was drawn into the Digital Design program in the first place was because it was presented as more than just simply learning the multimedia applications. I have a desire to articulate my thoughts in a visual, auditory, and experiential learning environment, and the digital design program attempts to provide the resources for a conceptual approach rooted in societal education. 

One of Imaginary Forces most recent works was the main title sequence for The Number 23, starring Jim Carrey. I was instantly drawn to this movie based upon Carrey's serious performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Needless to say, I was a tad disappointed  with the movie as a whole, but I found the title sequence of particular interest. I find the aesthetic to represent a great deal of what the program is aiming for, with an appropriate articulation of visual imagery to be paired with historical or societal foundation. This is displayed in a title sequence (http://imaginaryforces.com/featured/5/371) that utilizes After Effects to create a strong allure for the conspiracy thematics of the film. I like how the sequence furiously drives you through the list of names, pairing people with historical dates and events that all correspond to the number 23. The jolted camera and scribbled writing/typing contribute to the frenzied pace of a conspiracy theorist. The blood seeping into the paper is a dynamic color-shift, and it prepares the viewer for the grave urgency of what this conspiracy can truly entail. In retrospect the movie sucked, but the title sequence, a design project outsourced to Imaginary Forces, sets up some pretty good potential.

I feel the program's strength will not lie in the education of program or process, but rather the education behind utilizing the programs to communicate to a largely saturated public, and to promote new ideas in a time of fiscal decay.