CHIEL VAN RIJN
Chiel is co-founder and motion designer/ editor at Merged Content Creators.
At Merged we have different kinds of expertise. Combining them creates an interplay that ensures the products meet the customers expectations and demands. Besides that we look beyond the obvious.
What does your creative world as a motion designer/ editor look like?
My expertise at Merged is concept, motion design, editor and I make sure that the post-production department continues to run. That’s the overall picture of my creative world at Merged. This world is a digital playground where everyone uses and combines their expertise to create beautiful content. It’s very interesting to translate text-based content into visual content. Something that I learned mainly during my studies and through the experience I have gained past years, is target-group oriented thinking.
Throughout my studies I have, for the most part, developed myself as a motion designer. Following that I started orienting myself in terms of edit, which I found very interesting. Briefly, as a motion designer I put stationary designs into motion. This involves design, storytelling, animating designs and the possibility to combine it with video footage. Telling visual stories and putting my own twist to it, in both animation and editing is something that I enjoy doing.
Which project really stands out for you?
There are several projects that I have worked on so far which I think are very cool. But the project that stands out is one for Heritage Customs. Because of the client’s trust, I only had to stick to the script and the corporate identity. Furthermore I have been given complete freedom. That has ensured that we have created a completely new world, where my expertise came to its own in terms of motion design.
The digital world of Heritage Customs we created, is a world where everything in terms of car redesign is possible. Various options are being addressed, from all available materials to all possible colours. On top of that the Custom Defender drives over all types of terrain for which it is suitable for. In this creation process we made choices, which are not obvious. Such as a female voice-over and classical music.
Is an animation fitting for the story I want to tell?
I would mainly choose animation when you want to tell a story about a topic that’s not physical. Through 2D animation you can make cloud services and software bundles visual, for example. A 3D animation ensures you can highlight certain products or plans and give it an extra visual boost.
With animation you can create something from scratch and give your own twist to it. When you choose film, you have to visualise something that already exists. The benefit of animation is that it gives you the possibility to communicate in a very targeted way in a short period of time. By using certain colour compositions, you can navigate viewers through the video in a targeted manner. A simple example is that viewers are more likely to look at an orange circle than a grey circle.
“You have the possibility to create your whole own digital world.
You can put all your creativity and passion in it, without it even existing. The sky’s the limit.”
The request for an animation comes from the client, therefore it’s important to keep the client satisfied and to achieve the set goal.
In an animation different components come together. Among others visual storytelling, design, 2D & 3D motion design, audio and much more. If the coherence between these elements is good, the animation will reach its goal.
Because we request some time from the viewer, it’s important that the animation looks visually appealing. This is a purpose I always want to accomplish.
You can also find a challenge in this. By, for example, providing a client who has a fairly plain corporate identity, with an animation that stands out visually and also contributes to the communication.
Does this match your story and are you interested? Please contact us, we will be happy to discuss all possibilities with you.
