Poetry in Motion Animated Video

Animated Poster

Final Video - Sound

Final Video - No Sound

For this project, I worked with type and motion to visualize poetry. The theme of the poem had to focus on a message of social justice, so I chose the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes. For this poem animation, I was to synthesize and interpret the message of the poem through the visual treatment and kinetic behavior of the text. I was able to utilize different typefaces, color, and sound within the posters and animations I was creating. I was also tasked to strategically implement time and motion into the animatic to make sure the text displayed aligned with the sound, as well as whether it was slow or fast enough to be legible. 

This was a challenging project not only because there were many final deliverables, but also because I had never created such a long video on after-effects that had to consistently flow. I chose to only use music and no other sound effects on the video because I wanted the text to be the only thing that the viewer was being concerned about with the music in the background not disturbing anything. The posters are the same, yet I chose to show one with a gradient background and one without because I believe they evoke different feelings within the viewer. The gradient poster produces a feeling of falling and despair. The black poster produces a simplistic and calm feeling. The timing of the videos was challenging to get down, but the final product is much stronger because I was able to time the animation correctly.