ANIMATION

Jumbo Animation

Large-scale jumbotron-size animation for product launch at a cell biology conference. Because of the sheer size of this piece, any sleight-of-hand animation tricks like cross-dissolves would be immediately seen. I created vector-based particle animations using ActionScript and Flash libraries. 

​Animation and programming: Lydka Jablonska

Flipbook Animation

An Easter egg to be discovered by the catalog reader, this tiny animation could be seen by flipping the lower corner of the catalog. I created the stills for the flipbook animation by compositing an electrophoresis gel with the silhouette of a jumping skateboarder.

Compositing, animation and layout: Lydia Jablonski

Ciliary Motion

Tutorial animation shows coordinated wave-like movement of the cilia which line respiratory tract. A less elegant brute-force solution, I keyframed the animation of a single cilia hair and then instanced the hell out of it. To see this animation and other biomedical examples please visit my older animation portfolio.

3D modeling and animation: Lydia Jablonski

Zoom Sequence

To update the previous company screensaver which simply cross-dissolved between microscopic images, I added more complex but meaningful transitions such as color overlays and zoom-in sequences. I composited a series of mouse-kidney images taken as different magnifications to create this seamless zoom-in sequence.

Screensaver design, layout, animation and production: Lydia Jablonski.

REPETITION AND SURPRISE

Animation's superpower is its ability to capture our attention and prepare us to experience the *feeling* of change. Animation is an expert at the game of repetition and surprise. This is a game we learned as babies (Peak-a-boo) and continued to play as kids (Duck-duck-goose) and be entertained by as adults (watching sports). It builds a visceral anticipation that can lead to simple insight, shock, or a burst of laughter.

Digital cinema has blurred the line between film and animation. However, animation can be defined as the rapid display of a sequence of images to create an illusion of movement. In the film Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio and Ron Fricke), the repetitive motion of people and cars flowing through space builds a hypnotic awareness that prepares us to see any new detail or change.

Sometimes when I have drawn storyboards for animations, I have wondered if the idea could just be better represented by a static sequence of images on a page. Comic book text like BAM! POW! BOOM! tries to evoke this change but it is only an approximation of the *feeling* of change.

Animation is also good at showing us the hugeness and tininess of things. The film "Powers of Ten" (by Charles and Ray Eames) takes us on a journey between the subatomic and cosmic. Koyaanisqatsi's fast-motion people become small and ant-like. The slow-motion building demolitions show the incredible complexity that can take place in a short moment in time.