Animated Music Graphics

When I  first listened to this piece, the rhythmic guitar intro reminded me of raindrops hitting the ground. From here, I expanded the rain concept due to the intriguing juxtaposition between water as a fluid, smooth medium and the music’s staccato, percussive sound. Since the title contains three words, translating to “Self-Love, Self-Praise, and Self-Consciousness,” I decided to animate three corresponding segments. Due to this language emphasis, I explored more typography animation, utilizing words as the main medium of musical representation. Along with reflecting the music through rippling puddles and rising waves, I also incorporated music into the animation’s aesthetic. Miyavi’s distinctive slap-style technique, which can be heard throughout this piece, draws inspiration from how the shamisen, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument, is played. Thus, for the “Self-Consciousness” animation, I depicted Miyavi in clothes and a pose inspired by traditional Japanese shamisen players.

Music: “Jikoai, Jigajisan, Jiishikikajou” by Miyavi. Original Youtube Video.

Illustrated Character: Miyavi

Music: “Prisoners” by Jiluka. Original Youtube Video.

Illustrated Character: Jiluka members, Boogie, Ricko, Zyean, and Sena

For this piece, I was inspired by how the Korean artist Nine arranges covers and edits his videos, reinterpreting the song from a personal perspective. So I decided to create my own interpretation of his cover as an animated graphic.

The abstract animated elements are meant to represent the various sounds in the music: angular zigzags for the opening melody, fluid shapes for Nine’s soft vocals, and radiating lines for the electronic hum. A lot is happening in this design because I wanted to try animating different shapes.

Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out, especially considering this is only my third time animating. So far, I seem to be better at animating liquids rather than lines. Initially, the animation sequence was shorter, but the blinking rate felt unnaturally fast when looped, so I duplicated the other elements to create a longer sequence.

Music: “Automatic” by Chancellor, covered by Nine. Original Youtube Video.

Illustrated Character: Nine (Jung Wookjin) of OnlyOneOf