Tokina Features Motion Graphics

Welcome to Hamil Bros Studios and to this epic project post for our good friends at Tokina Cinema USA. About a month ago we were tasked with doing motion graphics for the new Tokina Features Videos. The videos we covered were the Vista Primes Features, The 100mm Macro Features, and the PL Expander Features. Check em out!

This project wound up in our project page because it has some significance. First off, I want to give a shout out to the entire crew that worked on it. Ryan Avery and Carl Scot have been an immense pleasure with whom to work. Ryan hired us last year to produce “Curse of the Were-Pa!” for Tokina. They pulled together an amazing production that even without motion graphics stands well on its own.

The entire crew is as listed

Director – Carl Scot

Executive Producer – Ryan Avery

Director of Photography – Austin Sabado

1st AD – Alec Reyna

Gaffer – Mark Lopez

1st AC – Hayden Warner

2nd AC – Beckie Baliko

Art Direction – Molly Anne

Key PA – Mitch Sabado

Motion Graphics – Hamil Bros Studios

The Motion Graphics Goal

Our goal for this project was that the Motion Graphics ENHANCE the overall feel of the videos, not detract. It’s very easy to get carried away when putting in graphics. After a while, you look at the project and realize it’s all graphics and the original footage is buried somewhere in the background.

Not much Time

We had a REALLY short turnaround time for these graphics, so being able to work with Carl efficiently really saved all of us a lot of headaches. We received each video and Carl included a PDF of rough sketches drawn on top of the frames needing graphics. This SAVED SO MUCH time because we could actually see exactly what Carl had in mind rather than guessing over and over. We had to turn around 18 different shots for motion graphics in less than 2 weeks, therefore clarity was imperative.

Creating the Visual Language for Tokina

It was really fun building these graphics and figuring out how to best enhance the frames while still keeping the intent behind each shot evident. Originally all the graphics were just white text and arrows. We didn’t land on the final look of the graphics until we hit the 114mm front ring graphic in the vista features video. You can scroll through the photos to see the multiple versions. In these graphics, we had two points we were trying to drive home. First was that the lenses all have a 114mm front diameter and a 112mm filter thread on the inside of the lens. We decided that just plain white text was too confusing for everything going on in the frame, so I sent Ryan a newer version of the graphic with the alternate parts in orange just so we could differentiate what each part meant. From there, Ryan sent me the hex code for the correct blue that’s part of Tokina’s brand.

I was struck with the idea of making the important text match the “Tokina” raised text you can find on the barrel of the vista primes. I decided to use CC Light Sweep in After Effects to give the text its metallic sheen. I knew I struck gold with that! Check out the progression photos above.

Later on one of the many phone calls I had with Carl, he said, “You should be proud because you’re helping write the visual language for Tokina.” Whoah. Let that sink in. It sends shivers down my spine.