How I Got My First Animation Client in Psychedelics
Let’s break down how I used motion design to tell a story about responsible psychedelic use with Psychedelics-integration.com
If you have followed me here on Medium since I started posting, you may have noticed that I love adding graphic design to tell the stories I want to tell. The cover images of my articles are custom-made for each one of my articles and they often take more to make than the article itself. Sometimes, the cover images are made even before I start writing my articles.
Speaking about the responsible use of psychedelics can be challenging, especially if you run a business related to the mystical experience and the therapeutic power of psychedelic substances. Since last year, I have been working with Psychedelics-integration.com writing articles for their blog, and recently they approached me to commission an animated video for the front page of their website, to help people understand what they do.
Growing up I loved playing with 3D software Blender, and I was also accustomed to spending hours making compositions on Adobe After Effects. I even managed to land a few jobs making explainer videos for start-ups that boosted me in the world of world graphic and motion design. When I started producing the video for Psychedelics-integration.com I was confident that I already had the tools and know-how to make a good video for my client.
Producing a Motion Design Video
- Client: Psychedelics-integration.com
- Product: 2D-Style Animated Explainer Video; Duration < 2min;
- Motion Design Software: Blender;
- Animation and Production: Alexandre Perrella
- Illustrations In-House Designer: Arianna Lusardi;
Scripting and Planning
The first step in every project is the planning stage. For this project I decided to go for a 2D style art, using Blender as the main software for animating and editing. The client asked for a short video (less than 2 minutes).
Writing the script is — arguably — the most important stage of the video production because in this stage we are going to decide the course of the video and it is when you define all the important elements of the video.
First I produced a script that when narrated ran for around 3:30 minutes, so I had to cut it drastically and managed to get the narrated script down to 1 minute and 30 seconds.
Picture a journey of self-improvement beyond everyday reality,
dancing with vibrant colors, sounds, and emotions.
This is the transformative power of psychedelics,
guiding you toward profound self-discovery.
But the journey doesn't end there.
The real transformation begins when you return to daily life,
carrying insights from your psychedelic trip.
This is where psychedelic integration comes into play.
It's the science and art of turning profound experiences into tangible personal growth.
We connect you with expert integration coaches,
who illuminate the path to balance these insights into your lifestyle.
In a safe and empathetic space, you delve into your feelings and experiences,
fostering healing and growth.
Through integration coaching, we leverage the brain's neuroplasticity,
helping you untangle the emotions and epiphanies from your journey.
This process leads to deeper self-understanding,
resolution of emotional issues, practical strategies for daily life,
and improved well-being.
Psychedelic integration, guided by experienced coaches,
unlocks the transformative potential of your psychedelic experiences.
The result? A more meaningful life,
enriched by the wisdom of your psychedelic journeys.This is the last version of the Script that I wrote down, but when narrating I played with different versions and still changed many details, but the main structure stayed the same throughout the entire project.
With my script in my hands, I started making the storyboard. I went over each one of the scenes and made drawings to represent each one of the scenes.
Once I was happy with the storyboard, I sent it to the illustrator Arianna Lusardi, and she did a wonderful job making the scenarios and characters come to life.
When I had the script and all the illustrations I needed, I jumped into Blender and started animating.
Animating
Most of the project was spent in the animation stage. I had all the illustrations imported into Blender as a PNG and animated each one of the images as the scene required.
Animating the layers and characters while moving the camera is super challenging. I had to spend a lot of time on the graphs to make sure that the entire video went smoothly. Besides the movement of the elements in each scene, I also had to make sure that each scene transitioned between each other seamlessly.
A scene that I loved to make and think that looks good was the following:
All I had to do for this one was to trace a few bezier curves to define a path and then animate the circles along this path and deform them in the axis of the bezier curve during the movement to give some dynamism to the scene.
Zoom Out
In the last scene, I chose a popular trend in motion design which is the Zoom Out. I thought that this scene would be more difficult to animate than it was. All I had to do was organize all the elements I wanted to have in the Zoom Out, animate them, and then animate the camera to transverse each one of the layers of the Zoom Out.
Conclusion
Motion design is not easy. From writing the script to having a finished product, making an animation like this can be extremely challenging. I learned a lot from this project, and I have to thank Psychedelics-Integration.com for believing in my work and for guiding me in this journey of motion graphics.
After the end of the project, I have already started implementing what I learned from these videos in my own personal YouTube channel (that just got partnered). I have noticed a huge difference in my ability to implement graphic design in my work.
Go check my work with Psychedelics-integration.com on their Instagram.
Thanks for reading, and have a great journey!
