MIDTERM PROJECT

This a school project proposal for my final video project. The fundamental goal of my final project is to create a comprehensible animated video that will inform the viewers about a brave young girl named Malala Yousafzai who is known  for her activism for rights to education and for women. In the year 2013, the Heroic women of the year show has given Malala the first place. She won the hearts of millions of women around the world. From a teenage girl to an old woman, she was admired by everyone even men around the world. Throughout the project, I will be exploring  various techniques used in After Effects in order to effectively make my animated video come to life, along with creating all the characters that the video will be composed of into vector shapes using Illustrator.

Who is Malala Yousafzai ?

That is the question the Taliban asked when they stormed the 15year old Malala’s school bus on October 9th 2012. They shot her in the head in an attempt to silence her and end her campaign for girls’ rights to go to school. Her shooting, and her refusal to stand down from what she believed was right, brought to light the plight of millions of children around the world who are denied an education today.

Here’s a video that can help you understand her story a little better.

|INSPIRATIONS.PALETTES.TYPE.STORYBOARD.SCRIPT |

I really love the idea of how certain animated commercials use 2d animations, because it is exactly the type of style which I’d like to experiment in my final project. As you can see, the characters in these following images are based on minimalism, nothing to complex to create. I find it these type of animations are really in nowadays and I believe it is really original because you can create anything you want and bring it to life and another great thing about it is that you get to play with the camera position which can be very authentic.

Screen Shot 2014-01-31 at 5.52.19 PM    Screen Shot 2014-01-31 at 6.00.01 PM

Here’s another great inspiration. The very first time I saw the American Express ad in this type of video, I was amazed on how creative it was and I realized how that style really gets to me as in, I’ve always liked to create something this simple yet original, this is also applies to other types of design mediums I work with. Since that day, I’ve always said to myself that I would one day try doing something in the same style. I’m sure it’s hard to perfect such video, but I am definitely inspired to create a video of my own that includes this style.

american-express-impossible    american-express-traveller   

Here is another awesome AMEX ad, which I recently discovered and this is a great inspiration which I will combine in my brainstorming process.

PALETTE

When it comes to the colour palettes, I chose to go with pastel colours that are somewhat bright but not intensely. Since it is going to be an animation video, I believe using these colours to convey Malala Yousafzai overall message: Education. It will be a lot more interesting rather than a darker palette. Malala is going to be in dressed pink, since the day she gave her speech at the United Nation Assembly, she was wearing several shades of pink.

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TYPE

The minute I saw this font, I felt it was the perfect typeface for this project, because it has an animated touch to it (according to me). Complete suites of faces in this genre, however, are nearly impossible to find, especially families that are crafted with as much care as Burbank. I really appreciate seeing the attention to detail that usually goes into “serious” text family put into a family primarily intended for display use. Burbank never breaks character, convincingly reproducing bouncy and spontaneous hand lettering down to the details without ever looking gimmicky. Even the Small Italics look perfectly natural, and the automatically-inserted alternates subtly maintain the illusion that type set in Burbank Big is real lettering, not just a typographic facsimile.

STORYBOARD

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SCRIPT

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for demanding education for girls, gave a speech at the United Nations on her 16th birthday on Friday, where she spoke about the importance of education. Here is some of the text of her speech:

I fully support Mr Ban Ki-moon the Secretary-General in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of the UN Special Envoy Mr Gordon Brown. And I thank them both for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action.

Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. There are hundreds of Human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them. So here I stand…. one girl among many.

I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights: Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated. Dear Friends, on the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed. And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. My dreams are the same.

Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorists group. I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child. I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists especially the Taliban.

I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him. This is the compassion that I have learnt from Muhammad-the prophet of mercy, Jesus christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of change that I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learnt from Gandhi Jee, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learnt from my mother and father. This is what my soul is telling me, be peaceful and love everyone.

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By converting the youtube video of her speech into mp3 audio, I will be able to play with what I’d like to keep and the rest I can chop it off by using Adobe Premier. Her speech at the United Nations Assembly was moving, she is a determined young girl and nothing is going to stop her from fighting for her rights, which is to allow every girl and boy around the world to have the right to have an education.

Here is the part I selected to use in my final project :

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future. So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education First”