For this project, we had to create an animated production logo for our upcoming film opening. Here were some of the tips we had to bear in mind  for making a good logo animation:

- Think about what the company stands for, and how to portray this in the animation
- Don't give to much away. Make the viewer want to see more, the reveal the logo piece-by-piece.
- Keep it under 10 seconds. The shorter, the better.
- Most intros end with a black background. It's not a rule, if you want to keep it consistent with the industry, it's a good idea.
- Spend time building a quality sound design. Bad sound can ruin any good visual.


Before I proceeded with animating, I made two sketches of what my production logo would look like. Here is what I designed:

Although it seemed like a good idea, I decided not to do the second design for my production logo because I felt that it would be too complicated to create and also because animating it would be very time-consuming. So, I opted for the first design because I felt that a minimal production logo would be more distinctive and memorable for the audience because of its simplicity. Also, I felt that too much animation would be distracting.

To help me design my production logos, I drew inspiration from the 'Walt Disney Pictures' animation logo used in the film The Haunted Mansion (USA, Minkoff, 2003). I decided that my production logo would incorporate some elements from the Walt Disney Pictures logo and also from the film itself, such as dark colours and clouds/smoke.

MEANING I WANTED TO CREATE
My goal was to make my audience feel uncomfortable after viewing my production logo. To achieve this, I had to take into consideration some of the conventions from the horror genre. I took some time looking for the perfect audio for my production logo because sound can evoke many emotions. Upon researching, I came across a website called FreeSFX.co.uk and found the sound that was ideal for Spectre Productions. The audio made the animation more disturbing/uncanny as it was a long, high-pitched drone. I made the audio fade in and allow it to gradually get louder, then fade out. This maintained suspense and also amplifies the startling events. I also liked the idea of the smoke effect bringing the text in because it makes the motion seem unnatural, as if a ghost has made an appearance, which makes it unsettling. One of the conventions of many horror films/production companies are the sombre colours, as it creates an eerie atmosphere, hence I used the dark background against the light text in my production logo so it sets the mood of the film. Furthermore, I thought that having a smokey and slightly blurred background, instead of a plain black one, was more effective because it gives the idea that something is being hidden, thus making the audience feel anxious. The meaning I wanted to evoke is also explained in the Smoke Effect, Colour Scheme and Background of the design process. 

PROBLEMS AND CHANGES
Before I created Spectre Productions, I used a software called Blender to create my logo animation. It was previously called Slow Motion Animations because I wanted to make an animation of a snail with a film reel as its shell. However, when I finished creating the animation I was unsatisfied with it because it was just text and the animation was very quick, so it would not have matched the name of the company. Another problem I encountered when I was using blender was that it did not allow me to import any form of audio. Therefore, I decided to abandon it and start fresh because I really wanted to add sound to make my production logo more polished.

Thereafter, I switched to Adobe After Effects because the controls were more straightforward and easier to understand. Since my new production logo design motivated me to enhance my animation (from my previous one), I am very happy with the outcome because it looks more professional.

Here is the final product: