Mike Moody
Concept. Design. Production. Done.
Animation
I can be honest, when Adobe abandoned the Creative Suite for the subscription-based Creative Cloud, I was not happy. Buying the programs I wanted in a physical box was a perfect world for me. But living with the Creative Cloud has afforded me the opportunity to explore all Adobe has to offer. Enter After Effects. I fell in love with this app and continue to improve my skills with every project.
Combat Cancer Jubilee Run PSA
Task: Utilize the existing logo and create a compelling PSA.
Concept: I believe those who participate don't necessarily run for themselves. They run for loved ones.
Production: Because the logo was set, I took the time to frame-by-frame animate the male and female and then duplicate to make more characters. I recorded the music on a small, MIDI keyboard in my studio.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
QR Code Video
Task: Educate our insurance agents on the usefulness of QR codes to increase business.
Concept: I tried a new program called Doodly and produced this video in one day.
Production: Most of the production was easy as many of the elements were pulled from Doodly. I still, however, needed to produce company-specific elements that would visually flow in the video.
Programs Used: Doodly, Illustrator, Photoshop
Member Benefits
Task: To answer more prominent questions about our member benefits, I was tasked with creating an engaging, short-form video to highlight benefits and a new app.
Concept: I wanted the story to take place as one long scene with each image moving intentionally into the next.
Production: The most challenging part of this animation was creating a folding map that would then become a background for the next scene.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Road
Task: Create a video to highlight the new online insurance quoting site for an online micro campaign.
Concept: I an existing vehicle graphic as the centerpiece of this video, moving through the logo as if it were on a trip.
Challenge: I had to conceptualize how the vehicle would look from the front, top and back. The next challenge came as I needed it to go over a hill and had to further conceptualize the vehicle front-facing at a downward angle.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Final WIG Report
Task: For internal use, a graphic was requested that would indicate that our Wildly Important Goal (WIG) had been reached.
Concept: A space theme and been previously adopted. Therefore, the basic concept was for the rocket, which was reporting monthly growth goals, to land above the intended targeted goal.
Challenge: I wanted the rocket to appear 3-D so I created its rotation frame-by-frame in Illustrator and stitched it together in After Effects.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
Alfa2Go App Features
Task: Create an animated commercial that could be used in a variety of outlets to highlight new features of our app.
Concept: I liked the idea of a video with no voice-over that would keep the viewer's attention long enough to receive the message.
Challenge: Timing the animation with the upbeat bed music.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
Spider (concept never used)
Task: So, I had Covid and time on my hands. I came up with this concept commercial. It was not used but it did push me to dive deeper into After Effects.
Concept: Simple colors and characters. It was more about what was happening rather than the characters themselves.
Challenge: This took more time than I would have liked but I was pleased with the outcome - even though it was never used. I gained knowledge that helped me do more.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Simply Southern TV Show 2018 Open
Task: Create a television show open for a statewide and nationally broadcasted agriculture-centric program.
Concept: To create the assembled state of Alabama in the final shot, I used the separate planks at the beginning ask the question, "What are those objects floating across the screen?" The question is answered in the final scene when they come together to make the state.
Challenge: Finding the right mix of wooden "county" pieces and show clips to keep the concept moving.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Monthly WIG Report (no sound)
Task: Create an internal graphic showing the progress of the actual amount reached verses the intended monthly goal.
Concept: We continued the space theme. Last year we were traveling through space. This year we have landed on the planet and are expanding our operation.
Challenge: As the rings get larger, it becomes more of a challenge to have a visual hook. Because this is an internal graphic, I decided to relive some childhood fantasies - in this case, Lost in Space (the original show).
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
Rocket Report (open & close)
Task: Create an opening and closing for a company-wide, monthly video reporting on goals reached throughout the year.
Concept: Pulling from the Wildly Import Goal (WIG) logo, I used elements and animated several parts to create subtle movements to introduce and close out the video report.
Challenge: Animating the flag took some doing but the final result was worth the effort.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
2022 Rittenour Award Recipient
Task: Create a short video to announce the winner of an annual award.
Concept: The recipient specialized in bees. Having the honeycomb motif and the use of animated bees was easy to embrace.
Challenge: I only had one main bee animation. Manipulating the bee in After Effects was key in making the one bee animation seem like a hive.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Alabama Tourism Spotlight
Task: Create a 1-minute vignette series about areas to visit in Alabama.
Concept: The state tourism department wanted to highlight areas of interest around the state and also highlight their updated website. I pulled colors and fonts from the site to match their intended look.
Challenge: Once the original format was created, repeating, week-after-week, was fairly easy. Doing my own voiceover work also helped speed up production.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere
Animated Convention Logo
Task: Animate convention logo for session openers.
Concept: The theme focused on agriculture and forestry. The logo I created combined a plant with a saw blade.
Challenge: Envisioning the saw blade cutting through wood was easy. The sawdust was created using fractals. This was more challenging but a great project for learning another effect.
Programs Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects