motion09 officially came to a close, Wednesday October, 15, 2009.

“It was our best year ever,” said Becky Padilla, co-producer of motion09. “We started motion three years ago. As working professionals in the industry, we were frustrated that nothing like it existed. As creatives – we were looking for an event that provided inspiration.”

“We’ve attended many conferences over the years,” said Elaine Montoya, co-producer of motion. “They all focused on learning software. While this has it’s place, we were at the place in our careers where we were looking for creative inspiration as a means to revitalize. With tight deadlines, and the pressure of the industry, sometimes you just need to get away from all of it and rejuvenate. That’s what motion is about.”

With motion09, these goals were realized. This year’s show included some of the top talent in the industry, including Karin Fong and Rod Basham (Imaginary Forces), Andrew Orloff (Zoic Studios), Synderela Peng (yU+co.), emmy award winning director Jamie Caliri, animation master Dan Haskett, Michael Waldron and Erik van der Wilden (nailgun*), visionary screen designer Mark Coleran, Patrick McDonough of PMcD Design, and many more.

“The intimate atmosphere allowed for some great one-to-one conversations. I made some great connections that will be invaluable as I continue to define and develop the new Department of Motion Design at Ringling.” Ed Cheetham – Ringling College of Art and Design

“It was so enjoyable to share time and space with other creatives who didn’t seem to be worrying about their place in the scene!” Erik van der Wilden – nailgun*

“We had a wonderful time, thank you – looking forward to next year already!” Alicia VanHeulen – Toolfarm

“I think the whole experience of motion is the people you meet. I have always found some great people that become friends that last much longer then the conference.” Jason Sorbie – Sorbie Design

“Congratulations on the conference! I am so glad I participated!” Patrick McDonough – PMcD Design.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This year we were honored to have the amazingly talented photographer, Chelsea Nicole capturing the event. Take a look…

“A shout-out to the rockstars of motion09, attendees, volunteers and sponsors of motion. You are what motion is all about,” said Montoya.

“I’ll say it once again,” added Padilla. “We truly appreciate your support!”

Next year’s motion, will take place in October 2010, in ABQ, NM. Details coming soon.

At motion, we are always inspired by the talented work we see coming from the future of our industry – students! This year we provided two unique opportunities for students to have their work seen at motion09:
– the reels@motion competition and
– our interstitials competition

Post-secondary students studying motion graphics, animation, and vfx were asked to submit their reels – 5 minutes or less. The top three winners in two categories – motion graphics and vfx, were announced at this year’s motion conference.

In the category of motion graphics, the winners were:

1st place: Tommy Strickland (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)
2nd place: Cassandra Chisom (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)
3rd place: Matt Aubuchon (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)

view winning reels:

In the category of vfx, the winners were:

1st place: Anna Tonrungroj (Vancouver Film School)
2nd place: Corey Coates (Vancouver Film School)
3rd place: Peter Choi (Vancouver Film School)

view winning reels:

Congratulations to the winners of the motion09 future@motion reels competition!

Students were invited to create interstitials that express the concept of motion. There were no strict guidelines. Our goal was simply to provide an opportunity for students to be creative, and have their work seen.

First, second, and third place winners were selected – and Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA took home the bragging rights – sweeping the competition!

“There were numerous outstanding entries in this year’s competition”, said Elaine Montoya, co-producer of motion09. “We had an extremely difficult time selecting the winners.”

“It was very difficult”, reiterated Becky Padilla, co-producer of motion09. “Almost every entry was good enough to be a winner. We saw some amazing creativity. I think this was partially due to our lenient guidelines. We wanted students to be creative – and they were. Ultimately, it came down to selecting the entries that best expressed the only guideline we did provide: to create an interstitial that expresses the concept of event – motion.”

Third place winner, Lisa Hetherington was selected for a piece she created using Cinema 4D and After Effects. “Lisa’s piece conveys the concept of establishing roots as a means for creative growth”, said Montoya. “We felt this expressed one of our primary goals for students attending motion – to establish roots in the industry through their participation in the event and on-site networking with professionals.”

Second place winner, Alyx Loos submitted an elegant type treatment, with a old-time ‘theatrical’ flair. “Alyx’s piece had several elements that caught our attention in relation to the event,” said Padilla. “First, the overall concept of ideas in motion was a good match. While most conferences focus on learning software, our mission with motion, is to produce a show where professionals in the industry can come together to inspire and be inspired, to share ideas, and to be revitalized. ‘Ideas in motion’ fits this goal. The theatrical flair through the film look was a bonus – in many ways, motion is more a creative ’show’ vs. a ‘traditional’ conference.”

Finally, Audrey Karleskind took 1st place in the competition and Best of Show for her interstitial. “When providing guidelines as broad as our were, it’s common to see submissions with outstanding creativity. We basically gave students carte blanche to create whatever they wanted to,” said Montoya.

“Most students use this as an opportunity to experiment – to come up with something they haven’t done before. In Audrey’s case, we felt like she took it a step further. She considered ‘the client’ – motion. It’s the exception rather than the rule that creative professionals are given carte blanche. In most cases, their objective is to create a piece that best meets their client’s marketing and/or communication objectives. Audrey did her research. In a simplistic, illustrative cut-paper animation style, Audrey captured the feel of  downtown ABQ – the event venue. From the historic buildings that line Central avenue, to the modern day high-rises interspersed, it was readily recognized as downtown ABQ.”

“We also like that she included the ‘tourist’ side of the event by including the NM Railrunner, the Sandia mountains, and hot-air balloons,” said Padilla. “We always encourage motion attendees to ‘make it a vacation’ if possible – and the unique attractions of the southwest are part of this.”

“And, she went as far as to use the motion09 logotype in her piece,” added Montoya. “Another sign to us that she was designing this with her ‘client’ in mind.”

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s competition – Lisa, Alyx and Audrey.

Kudos to Ex’pression for sweeping the competition – solidifying their reputation as one of the ‘elite’ post-secondary motion graphics programs in the country.

view all winners of this year’s competition

view all winners of this year’s competition

A couple of months ago we ran a Twitter contest, with the winner receiving a free {m}ticket for motion09. The winner? Ken Latman.

Since winning, Ken has Twittered about motion regularly – cheering us on, being our human count-down clock, and totally getting into the spirit of motion. Bottom line, that’s what motion is about – community.

Previous attendees of motion have always been surprised when they find out that it’s just two people (really!) who produce motion – doing everything from design, web development, signage, recruiting sponsors, selecting ‘rock-stars’ . . . you name it – it’s two of us who do it! We are really excited when members of our community help us grow motion – whether it is through Tweeting about it, blogging, or word-of-mouth. We truly appreciate your support! Ken – we’d like to personally thank you for helping us get the word out!

Just who is Ken Latman? We asked Ken a couple of questions. Here’s the scoop…

who do you work for?

I have been working now for 10 years for RGH Enterprises. They are a wholesale distributor of medical supplies. They cover everything from Diabetic and Urinary supplies to Chiropractic and Massage tables. It sounds odd that motion graphics would be used in such an organization but they do attend a lot of trade shows in various parts of the US and require booth graphics to bring people in. There are also in-house corporate videos for training and employee information.

I started out as the “web” guy and gradually pushed for more animation type projects. Today I am doing about 2 to 4 major video/animation projects a year around these areas.

what are your areas of interest in animation, motion graphics and vfx?

My interests range from the very traditional cartoon Looney Tunes type animation to motion graphic title sequences and visual effects supplied in motion pictures. I frequently pick up Cinefex magazine just to understand what is behind the effects used in Hollywood blockbusters. I also have a subscription to Computer Graphics World (CGW), Millimeter magazine, Studio Monthly (now it is just an online magazine, but still very good) and CreativeCow Magazine.

tell us about the kind of work you do in the industry and any favorite projects

I do a lot of title type sequences in Adobe After Effects for tradeshows. Usually we are trying to show the benefits of a company or companies and tie in something special either about the trade show’s location or some major new benefit.

These projects I enjoy the most because they have to be energizing and colorful to grab attention. They also have to have a loop point so trying to make them seamless without bringing attention to that point is a challenge. It is always nice to hear that someone really liked my work still after seeing it two or four times noticing something different every time.

Some of the in house work material is pretty dry. They tend to focus around medical compliance issues and company policies. The struggle though is also an exciting challenge because you have to take that material and keep the viewer interested. I am given much leeway to let my imagination run to get these types of project more energizing. They used to be just old PowerPoint slide presentations with audio of just re-reading the content before I took over.

tell us how you found out about motion09 and why you wanted to win the contest

I had been looking for a conference or seminar that focused on animation or motion graphics but was not a film festival. I had attended a number of years ago as a volunteer a conference in Pasadena, CA run by Lynda.com called AfterEffects West. Chris and Trish Meyer (motion09 speakers) had been presenters at that and I just started at RGH. This further fueled my interest in animation not only in what After Effects could do but how off-the-shelf applications can be used to do the very same work you see on the big screen.

I discovered motion through an online search last year, but it was already over. The session schedule and list of presenters appeared to be just what was looking for. I kept the page bookmarked and checked the site periodically for updates on motion09.

I had set up a twitter account when the initial buzz over the site (twitter.com) started over a year ago. When I saw that motion09 was running a contest using twitter to help create buzz about the event, I found a good way to finally use my account.

Having attended conferences like Macworld and Photoshop World in the past, I genuinely wanted something that was more like the old AfterEffects West. motion09 seems like this – and much more.

tell us what you are looking forward to the most in attending motion09

I’m looking forward to seeing how others use Adobe After Effects in their work environment. How others put creativity in their work or look for inspiration to aid them along. Are there others like me that work alone? How do people work collaboratively on projects whether in the same office or across the globe? I am also hoping to see how other applications can be intergrated into my work flow. I do not have a true 3D application that I use. I’ve been told that Maya is the best, but costs over $3k and would be hard to justify to my company to buy right away. 3D Studio Max is given a lot of acclaim, but I haven’t seen too many tutorials incorporating AE with it. Cinema 4D has a large number of followers, but I have never had any hands experience with any of these applications. I use Zaxwerk’s ProAnimator to solve some of my problems, but I could always learn more.

tell us about something about you…

I’m originally from Connecticut and started my career off working for color separation house for wall paper coverings. This gave me an intense experience with Photoshop. Where I work currently I am also the “mac” guy. We run three servers with a graphics group of 8 to 10 people. I’ve written some AppleScript to help with workflow aspects.

I have a degree in Studio Art from Kent State. Additionally, I attended an excellent and highly accredited visual arts program in high school that gave me a tremendous benefit in improving my own drawing and composition skills.

Aside from work, last summer I went on a mid-west road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. Check out my photos. Best vacation I have had in a long time!

motion09 welcomes ken latman! Thanks for spreading the word about motion! We look forward to meeting you.

In Ex’pression’s Creative Direction class, students take all the skills and software they have learned throughout the program, and focus them to create a new brand identity for a real client. This includes a new logo, a design for a website, a 15-second TV spot, posters and other marketing collateral in addition to a style guide.

This year the assignment required the development of a promotional package commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Alcatraz and the Transit to Parks Program. The class worked as a team under the creative direction of their instructor, Paul Sparrow. Their challenge? To produce a variety of multimedia products for the campaign.

For this class, their efforts paid off. Once again, Ex’pression College Motion Graphic Design students took top honors, winning the design competition for the re-branding of Alcatraz State Park.

Yael Braha had this to say about the student-winners: “I am very pleased that our students were able to demonstrate their professional quality work on such a high profile project.”

George Su, Media Specialist and Park Web Administrator, has posted the students work on the National Park Service site and proudly announced that they will be using the designs to market Alcatraz to the general public.

Kudos to Ex’pression students Chuck Meridith, Glen Ohlson and Patrick Hanlon. Together, they came up with a campaign based on the gritty feel of old crime novels and films and used 3D and motion software to create a compelling piece.

From the motion team…congratulations on your achievements! We look forward to celebrating at motion09!

Tina has a flair for design, color, and typography. Some of our favorites are her illustrative 2D pieces.

Kudos to Tina Chen from motion.tv. We wish you the best in your professional endeavors.

In his showreel, Brandon displays a combination of both animation and motion graphic skills. He has the ability to execute a wide variety of styles – and does so in an expertly manner.

Kudos from motion.tv! We know you’ll go far Brandon!