Smosh Turns 20
This project served as a way to showcase all the techniques learned throughout the semester in my motion graphics class. The goal was to make a 30 second (minimum) animation that told a compelling story or offered a narrative of something that was interesting or maybe even personal. My choice was pretty simple from the moment I knew the assignment and I chose an animation to highlight and celebrate all of Smosh for their 20 year anniversary.
This project was a tad bit personal as I have been a fan of Smosh since 2012, making it 13 years of me watching the videos they’d produce. This piece was created in honour of the 20th anniversary of Smosh as a whole and the day since the channels creation. I wanted to evoke emotions of nostalgia and happiness from the actual animation, hence why I made my own audio and used the slates as a way to signify every leap of faith Smosh took to get to where they are today. I used the slates as a way to show the times they tried, yet failed and then to the time it finally all worked out for them.
Roles
Research
Researching past milestones and awards won
Looking through old and new videos to get ideas
Concept
Sketching out frame by frame ideas
Creating a moodboard with fonts, colours & inspiration
Design
Creating components and assets to be used
Mounting up montages through various clips
Animating
Import all assets into After Effects
Position everything according to the animatic
Adding transitions and little extras to tie it all together
Research
I utilized my research to look through older and newer Smosh videos to compile mini montages and gain more insight on what I truly wanted the animation to be. I sketched out frame by frame the idea, created my own audio after looking through dozens of Smosh fan edits on Tik tok and looked through my personal playlists at songs I felt a strong connection to.
Final Look
I feel I strengthened my motion skills in general and had to teach myself how to be patient. In the middle of this project being made, I had a mishap with my computer that forced me to have a temporary computer while mine was getting fixed. During that time, I lost half of the initial progress I had and needed to start over half of the project. I felt extremely down on my luck with it all but nevertheless, I persisted because I had a vision and a dream, and I intended to make it into a reality. I didn’t receive any feedback in general since I had a pretty easy to understand and clear cut idea from the beginning. All the people I showed my work in progress to loved my concept and how I was executing it. I find I might’ve been the only feedback I received since I was very critical of my work the entire time. I didn’t receive any feedback in general since I had a pretty easy to understand and clear cut idea from the beginning. All the people I showed my work in progress to loved my concept and how I was executing it. I find I might’ve been the only feedback I received since I was very critical of my work the entire time. I learned that I love motion projects and that this is truly something I want to pursue as a career. I learned that it’s okay to have fun when creating but it’s also important to be serious sometimes. Most importantly, I learned that sometimes you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone to create something that’ll make you forget your comfort zone in the first place.
