I now have an idea of what style of character design i am going for (superhero-ish, strong lines) and i have placed an image of a footballer i quickly sketched which is Didier Drogba who plays for the Ivory Coast below to give you an idea of what i am going for, there are still changes to this sketch i will make later, i will place final character sheets of the footballers i am including in the animation soon.
I have been working on character designs and I've finally got a style that i am going for, a more superhero-ish with exaggerated muscles which i really like. Player below is Cristiano Ronaldo but i still have a few things to work on.
Below is the final facial design for Lionel Messi which i struggled with at the beginning but I'm happy with the outcome.
I've managed to sketch a image of what Rio Ferdinand will look like for my animation... and i am pretty happy with this design but i think i will have to go back to the other drawings and add a little more detail into them because whilst i was drawing the image of Ferdinand it only came together once more detail was added and i think that will help the other designs a lot more, originally i wanted the designs very simple but i think the little touches, help the designs greatly.
Below i have an image of Wayne Rooney that i think i am going to use for the final design. During the design process for Rooney i found it very difficult to get the style i wanted because he has very distinct features but as many drawings of him they exaggerate his features to make him look more cartoony/goofy than what i wanted which was to make him look heroic which i think i have achieved.
So far i am gathering information on all the area's i think i need and want to cover, i have a few ideas on where i want to go with this, i also think i will try to look for similarities between the modern and historical South Africa and the similarities between football and South Africa, if there is any, i think this could be a starting point for the script.
Things i definitely want to cover so far for my animation:
Modern South Africa - I want to show more modern landscapes, cities, buildings, skyscrapers...
Simple 3D animation with toon render - bright colours
Over exaggerated movements - Superhero style cartoons
Possible things i could include - to help with scriptwriting process
South African Mythology - /Kaggen or Cagn who was the creator of the world and the people, takes human form and certain animal forms.
For one of my ideas i am thinking about having a narrator telling a story about a god or gods, some mythical creature or something along those lines but as he does the images on screen are of the footballers displaying those attributes that the story teller is saying as they pursue their goal. I don't want to compare footballers to gods but i do want to give them some sort of legendary or superhero feel for the animation and i think it would come down to the script writing and storyboarding process's of how the players will be portrayed.
Below i have added a video that has helped me a lot in the structuring of how to write a script and has given me some useful tips.
I decided to look at two tribes from South Africa which are The Bushman/San and the Zulu people. I have decided to look into the mythology of these tribes to gain a better knowledge and understanding of the culture which will also will help me to generate ideas and help me in my scriptwriting process.
The Bushmen/San
San creator Kaggen/Cagn is a trickster who features in many of their myths and takes many forms such as human, mantis, eland, hare, caterpillar but usually takes the form of the Mantis. In many of the myth's Cagn is portrayed as foolish, wise, helpful and playful. Cagn is the god who created the world and all the people in it.
San Shamanism For the San, the natural and supernatural worlds are entwined, and the San rock paintingstestify to the importance of the shamanism in the San culture. The San say that Cagn dreamt the world into being and the San shamans can enter a similar dream state to exercise their powers, such as rain making, healing and hunting magic. When in this state the shaman is said to have died; his or her heart is said to have become a star. One of the main sources of San mythology was the /Xam shaman /Kabbo, who's name translates as "Dream" and who is said to have derived his powers from Cagn. San shamans are said to be able to shape shift particularly into the form of a Lion.
/Kaggen's Eland
Things you may need to to know for the myth below;
Eland - Taurotragus (Antelope)
Kwammang-a - A rainbow
/Ni-opwa - the Ichneumon
Making an Eland Kwammang-a, the Rainbow, lost a piece of his shoe. His father in law Cagn, the mantis, found it and soaked it in a pool of water. It turned into the first eland. and trilled to it to come to him and called it Kwammang-a's shoe-piece. Cagn rubbed the eland with honeycomb to make it shine, and fed it on honey until it was full-sized. When he saw how beautiful it was Cagn sang for joy. The death of the Eland Kwammang-a and his son /Ni-opwa the Ichneumon wondered what Cagn was doing with all the honey, so /Ni-opwa spied on his grandfather and saw the eland. Kwammang-a lay in wait for it and killed it while it drank from the pool. When Cagn arrived to see Kwammang-a cutting up the eland, he wept. The coming of night Cagn took the eland's gall-bladder and pierced it with a stick. Darkness poured out covering the world. So that there might be some light Cagn tossed his own shoe into the sky and it became the moon. The myth's legacy To this day the eland is the most spiritually charged of animals appearing in four key rituals of the Bushman - a boy's first kill, a girls puberty, marriage and the trance dance, in which the San shamans attempt to take on the potency of the eland.
The origin of Death
In the San mythology the moon walks across the sky like the shoe he once was, when the moon is full, the sun pierces him in the back with his knife, so that he decay's on ly leaving his backbone.
Then following the promise of the creator Cagn, the moon is slowly reborn, until once again he feels truly alive again. Until he was annoyed by the hare, the moon wantd the animal-people of the San creation time to enjoy the same privilage.
The time before death
Just as the moon always rose after his death, he wanted the people to return after their deaths. The moon wished for the people as he did, for allowing them to be reborn would bring them joy.
The danger of despair
A human in the form of a hare was greiving for his dead mother. "My mother is dead and will never come back," he lamented. The moon said "Don't cry she will come back." "No," said the hair "she is dead and will never return." Because the hare would not agree with him, the moon flew into a rage, he struck the hare, leaving a scar on his lip, and cursed him. The angry moon declared "As for men they shall die and never return," and with his words began death.
The information above was taken from the book 'Mythology by Philip Wilkinson & Neil Philip'
I also have looked into information on the internet on these myths however very much how these myths have various versions from over the years so do the facts on these myths on the internet which makes it difficult to get a clear vision but i have tried to pick out points where most of the sources tend to agree and i will go from there for developing a script.
Shamans
Shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit world. Arising from many ancient cultures around the planet, they use altered states of consciousness to enter supernatural realms.Shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit world. Arising from many ancient cultures around the planet, they use altered states of consciousness to enter supernatural realms.
Communicate with the spirit world, with its good and evil spirits Understand the roles of spirits in our lives and in human society Treat sickness caused by evil spirits Employ trance induction techniques to go on vision quests Leave their body on demand to enter the supernatural world Evoke animal images as spirit guides, omens and message bearers Tell the future, scry, throw runes and perform other divination
Shamanism is based on the idea that the physical world is permeated by invisible spirits which affect our lives. It operates outside of religion, with most shamans working alone or with an apprentice. One interesting function of shamanism is the ability to communicate with spirits in lucid dreams. A lucid dreamer who does this is known as a psychopomp. As a ferrier of souls, they help spirits cross over from within the dreamtime (aka the dream environment).
Football intro and promo conclusion so far From looking at the other football intros and promos you can see that they always include the best footballers and moments of all time and in the case of the animated promo for the BBC (Japan and South Korea) and the intros for recent World cups for TV shows they include only the best footballers in the world at that time.
Also you can see that on many of the intros for football TV shows for English broadcast they like to place a few more moments of English players and the moments within the sequence.
So after noting the above i have looked at all the teams in this years World Cup and looked through the squads to see which players are instantly recognisable (superstars) that most people in England would know too.
There are more players that would be recognisable but i have chosen these players below because i believe they are more recognisable and if the animation i make was to be broadcast in other countries (hypothetically) i would hope that the they would be recognisable there too.
Highlighted in yellow are the players I will most likely be including in the animation because they are superstars, also in some cases i will be including English players because the animation is for English TV and in i will also be looking to include a few South African footballers.
South Africa -S. Pienaar, A. Mokoena, B.McCarthy Mexico - Marquez, Salcido, Ochoa, Uruguay - Forlan, Luis Suarez France - Anelka, Ribery, Henry, Gallas, Evra, L.Diarra Argentina - Messi, Tevez, S. Aguero, Mascherano Nigeria - Martins, Obi Mikel, Yobo, Yakubu South Korea - Park Ji Sung Greece - Samaras, Kyrgiakos England - Rooney, Beckham, R.Ferdinand, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard USA - Dempsey, L.Donavon, T.Howard, Beasley Algeria - Belhadj, Karim Ziani Slovenia - Robert Koren, Novakovic Germany - Ballack, Klose, Schweinsteiger, Mertesacker, Lahm Australia - Kewell, T.Cahill, Schwarzwe, Lucas Neill Serbia - Vidic, Kezman, Zigic, Kuzmanovic, Ivanovic Ghana - Essien, Mensah, Muntari Netherlands - Robben, V.Persie, De jong, Babel, Van Der Vaart, Sneijder, Heitinga Denmark - Bendtner, Agger, Poulsen Japan - Nakamura Cameroon - Eto'o, Kameni, Emana, Geremi, J.Makoun Italy - Buffon, Del Piero, De Rossi, Chiellini, Luca Toni Paraguay - Santa Cruz, O. Cardoza New Zealand - Ryan Nelson Slovakia - Skrtel, Hamsik Brazil - Kaka, Ronaldinho, Lucio, Maicon, Robinho, Daniel Alves, Marcelo, Pato North Korea - Pak Nam-Chol Ivory Coast - Drogba, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure, Zokora, Eboue Portugal - C.Ronaldo, Carvalho, Simao, Quaresma Spain - Casillas, Torres, Villa, Ruyol, Sergio, Ramos, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta Switzerland - Senderos, Frei, Gelson Fernandez, Barnetta Honduras - Palacios Chile - Luis Jimenez, Marias Fernandez
Style of animation
From looking at trends in animation from the cartoon networks you can see some key points such as the animations use bright colours (to keep the child's attention), the characters are over exaggerated in their movements and expressions and the adventures the characters get up to are over the top. I've also noticed that with more 3D animations being made the style of rendering is becoming simpilar for cartoons, such as for the Ironman animated series it looks as if they use a toon render giving it harder lines, flat colours and only having one colour for shading which to me resembles flash animation slightly (only in the rendering purpose).
Script direction
Through my research i came across many websites and forums based here and abroad but i was especially glad to have come across the forums about South Africa where people from South Africa spoke about the stereotypes many people have and how people forget it has modern cities and it is a developing country. I definately think that is a valid view and to be honest at the start of this project i probably would have not thought about this and would have headed for the more obvious route also because i am aiming this at a younger audience i think it would be a great way of educating kids on South Africa and also it could help to re-educate older people too. So taking this into consideration i now am going to think about incorporating more modern cities of South Africa throughout the animation but i do also want to include some historical sides of South Africa too.
I will also be looking at commercials and virals to see how they promote their product and see if their method can be applied or modified to my project in any way, this will also help me to gain more information on newer trends in football that can be applied later throughout the animation.
Frank Ribery - The Pink Panther - Pink Vapours
This is a animation that brings together several things to promote their product which is a pair of pink football boots. Obviously the first main thing is that they are promoting a PINK pair of football boots, they then base the animation on a cartoon named 'The Pink Panther' which has a French officer as one of the main characters (Inspector Clouseau) and finally the advert uses a very well known French footballer Frank Ribery. I've also noticed that they use Frank Ribery's footballing number number 7 where ever they can for example on the licence plate of the car and several times at the casino and in one scenes where the slot machine reels are spinning to reveal the objects 3 of the pink football boots appear as if to say 'you've got the boots and your a winner', so you can see subtle promoting is there that you might not normally notice.
I think this advert is for French TV and is different to many other English football adverts i have seen, this advert uses live footage and animation throughout, and uses humour also to promote the boots by using Frank Ribery as the Pink Panther. This animation is defiantly aimed at football fans because they are selling football boots and because they use a footballer also to promote the product, however with that being case i do think this model of promoting works well even if i am trying to promote the World cup to a younger audience that might not know so much about football and i think this because of the style of animation (cel-animated), humour throughout, a famous footballer and it is also lighthearted but i do also think this appeals to an older audience too because of the same reasons.
So to summarise i think this advert has a lot of positives that i could consider when developing my animation.
Differences between commercials for broadcast and virals for the Internet
I also want to look into making a viral if i have time to spare after i complete the animation and i wanted to look at the differences between promoting on TV and the Internet. From my years and years of watching TV and surfing the net i think i have some knowledge of the differences between the two however in the virals campaign case they are more of a recent type of promotional tool and i will look into the differences.
I wanted to pick a product not necessarily football that is being promoted and see the differences between the products broadcast for TV piece and the viral campaign piece.
I came across a viral campaign that i quite liked so i then looked for their commercial piece which are both below and the product being advertised is the HTC mobile phone.
Commercial for broadcast on TV
Viral piece for the Internet
I think both of these pieces work great and have a different way of promoting the phone where the commercial goes for a more heart felt approach showing how you can use the phone in everyday situations, which works great with the narrator talking over each scene in a monotone and there being a up tempo soundtrack, which is the first time i have come across something like that but it does remind me of the Apple commercial. I think the combination of the scenes being very well played out, the tone of the narrator, the dialogue and the soundtrack all are very strong and i wouldn't consider there to be one weak piece.
The viral however goes for a more humorous style where they play on the name of the phone 'Touch' where also the phone is the man's surrogate girlfriend.
You can see that the virals are a little more riskier with how they promote, i also think the commercial is aimed at a more maturer audience whereas the viral is aimed at teenagers and young professionals, more Internet orientated people.
I've placed the Apple - Think Different advert below, just in case you wanted to see it...
Over the years football games have developed not only through technology but through trends and styles of those years. Where as there are games that dedicate themselves to giving the most realistic look and game play to them there are other games that go for a more unconventional look and game play, for example there have been numerous football games where they base the game around famous computer game characters such as Mario strikers charged football which is a 3D game.
I've looked at this game in particular because i believe this game covers a wide variety of demographics such as children who would like this game because of the characters, worlds, magic amongst other things to the older generation game players who have followed Mario for years would like this game just because of the Mario franchise but of course they would have some interest in football.
Mario strikers charged football
Another game that i think could have a positive influence on the style of my animation is the FIFA Street games which is not very realistic in the way the game looks or plays to the normal game.
This game is based around playing on the streets, 4 players versus 4 players, also this game focus's around players performing tricks which you wouldn't really see to that extent in the World Cup or any other football tournament.
I think this game would appeal to wide age group from around 5 - 30 mainly because apart from the game play it looks very different (a more humorous look on the characters), playing in a different environment and unrealistic style of play. This game is a success because they have continued to make more games like this and in total to date they have three FIFA Street games.
I think the style of FIFA street will influence my project a lot because i want to design the characters in a different way (not so realistic) also because of the over exaggeration of the movements, i think this gives you more room to be more creative in the scriptwriting area. Also another thing FIFA street did was to create short clips of footballers doing tricks on the street which was to help promote the game, this could be another way for me to help promote the FIFA World Cup 2010 tournament, possibly i could create some short virals...
I've been looking into target audience for my promotional video and i wanted to gather information on when children develop their interest in football, so i got in touch with a local football academy and they gave my details on the classes they hold for football.
They have three classes:
9 months - 3 years
3 years - 5 years
5 years - 11 years (biggest group)
and then if the player is good enough they get picked to join the football clubs youth academy.
Although they have a class that starts from 9 months i won't be focusing to much on that statistic just because i think at that age it's more the parents that might be pushing them into it and i want to see when the children's own interest develops in football. For the 5 - 11 age group the academy have multiple groups so this could indicate that at that age is when the children's own interest in the sport begins.
I will also get in touch with other academies to see if their classes are for the similar age groups.
Cartoon networks
I have decided to look into recent trends in animation for my target audience and thought that the best way to do that is to look into what type of animations are aired on cartoon networks throughout England. Disney XD, Cartoon Network, CN TOO, are the networks i will be focusing my attention on because they are some of the biggest subscription based kids channels in England and they focus more on animations where as some other kids channels have a mixture of animation and live shows.
This promo above shows a person in the snowy hills looking to take back the head of the rock statue from the clutches of what appears to me to be a big bear or some sort of Ice demon. The character uses Winter Olympic themed sports to travel to his destination and to evade the pack of wolves (snowboarding, skiing...) until the person arrives at the mountain of ice where the demon and the statue piece are entrapped, the character then uses another sport (curling) to break free the statue piece. This year the Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver (Canada) and this sequence also shows one of the native cultures of Canada, the Inuit people which this sequence is also based around. To summaries this sequence brings together 2 main elements, the country and the event to create a story for this animation, which is a useful method for me when i approach my script writing process.
Olympics 2008 Monkey Movie - BBC Sport
The above promo takes a similar route as the Vancouver 2010 animation where the monkey seems to be trying to escape the mythical monsters while on his quest to reach the Olympic stadium and with the help of his friends he manages to evade them using Olympic style themed sports again such as diving, the horizontal bars amongst others. This style of animation has a more traditional feel to it than the 2010 one because of the hand drawn feel of the monkey and it also looks as if the egg at the start where the monkey breaks out off is made in a 3D software, also there look to be some motion graphic elements to this sequence aswel for example at the beginning where the camera is zooming towards the egg, the water where the sea monster appears from are just some examples to say the least.
Above is a 3D French animated TV show about football called Galactik Football, a 3D cartoon which is set in the future where the team try to win a cup for their home planet with the help of some mystical powers. This cartoon tries to expand on the normal football game and tries to capture the children's attention by creating new and magical futuristic worlds which is also coupled with the fact that the players have extra-ordinary power abilities. I think the animation achieves this because not only is it something different but they also had another season approved to be shown in the UK in 2008 and the cartoon was shown around Europe which shows that it was a success not only in the UK and France but also in internationally and i believe it was a success in Europe because in Europe football is the most popular sport.
With more animations being made and trends developing this animation has gone for a 3D style which has become very popular in recent years not only in TV but in films and games. This animation also uses a simple look for the rendering a more flat look (toon shading/vector style).
On the character design side of things they look similar to many other characters from other animations aired on the same network Jetix.
The Hurricanes
This animation was a big hit in Britain back in the 90's running from 1993 to 1997 and the animation was based around a football team who would be battling against their enemies The Gorgon's or they would be touring the world and and getting up to unpredictable adventures. Whilst this animation was a hit in Britain it is still mainly unknown globally.
In the 90's cel animation was still the main form of animation which was what was used for the Hurricanes cartoon.
Below are some images for me to gain some knowledge and inspiration from.
I have recently been looking into the cultural side of South Africa and have found that they have many different groups of people and tribes, with cultures varying from one to another, however i have decided to focus on 2 tribes, the Bushmen/San and the Zulu people. I have decided on this because i want the animation to also show the history side of South Africa which is why i am looking at the Bushmen/San tribe because they are the oldest inhabitants of South Africa and the Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, i will also be looking into the modern South Africa and try to see if i can incorporate the historical and modern world of South Africa for my animation.
Zulu
Below are some key points I have found out about the Zulu people:
• Are located mainly in the Natal Province in South Africa
• Population is roughly 10 million
• Language spoken is Kwazulu (Nguni), Bantu language
• The Zulu people are virtually split in half with about 50% living in cities engaging in domestic work and the other 50% working on farms.
• The Zulu believe they are descendants from a chief from the Congo area.
• In the 16th century the Zulu migrated south picking up many of the traditions and customs of the San who also inhabited this South African area.
• The Zulu believe in a creator god known as Nkulunkulu, but this god does not interact with humans and has no interest in everyday life. Therefore, most Zulus interact on a day to day level with the spirits. In order to interact with the spirits the Zulu must use divination to interact with the ancestors. All misfortune is a result of an evil sorcery or offended spirits, nothing just happens because of natural causes.
• The first noted King of kwaZulu is King Malandela kaLuzamu
• A Zulu king is always succeeded by his elder son in a clan
Below are images of the Zulu tribe which will help me in my development in the history of South Africa and possibly help me to develop a style for the animation.
Below is an image of two Zulu men demonstrating a fight. You can see the big cultural differences in the way of living from the background you can see the accommodation the Zulu people where they live in wooden huts also the clothing is very different.
Traditional male clothing is usually light, consisting of a two-part apron (similar to a loincloth) used to cover the genitals and buttocks. The front piece is called the umutsha, and is usually made of springbok or other animal hide twisted into different bands which cover the genitals. The rear piece, called the ibheshu, is made of a single piece of springbok or cattle hide, and its length is usually used as an indicator of age and social position; longer amabheshu (plural of ibheshu) are worn by older men. Married men will usually also wear a headband, called the umqhele, which is usually also made of springbok hide, or leopard hide by men of higher social status, such as chiefs. Zulu men will also wear cow tails as bracelets and anklets called imishokobezi during ceremonies and rituals, such as weddings or dances.
Below is another image of the traditional African Zulu people tribes clothing also with their weapons shields and spears.
Below is a video of a South African tour guide explaining some of the traditions and customs of the Zulu women for clothing and marriage, also i found the guy very entertaining.
I have also been looking into the Bushmen/San tribe and trying to gather information on the history and culture of the tribe and below are some of the key points i have come across:
The Bushmen/San
The terms "San", "Khwe", "Sho", "Bushmen", and "Basarwa" have all been used to refer to [hunter-gatherer] peoples of southern Africa.
The oldest race of the human race
Rock art
Originally hunters and gatherers
Oldest inhabitants of south Africa, said to have lived there for tens of thousands of years
The term Bushmen/san has some negative connotations to them which are understood to have been imposed by outsiders, however many now accept and use the term Bushmen
They speak a variety of languages which incorporate click sounds.
They live in the desert
They make their temporary homes from wood that they gather
Many make living from growing and selling fruit and working on ranches.
The Bushmen can track their prey by examining the signs they have left behind, in an article by peter Godwin for The National Geographic he says "One young hunter drops to his heels and examines the droppings of a hartebeest; the more roughage, the less efficient its digestion and the older the animal."
The Bushmen tribe are rapidly disappearing
Modern South Africa
I will also look into the modern side of South Africa, the more westernized cities.
Below are some facts and images of Johannesburg
Johannesburg has a population of nearly 3.9 million people and has shown a 20.1% growth since 2001. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. The city is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world and it is one of Africa’s only two global cities. Johannesburg is one of the youngest major cities worldwide. Johannesburg is 118 years old, and was founded on October 4, 1886 During one century, Johannesburg has been rebuilt four times: first it was a tented camp; then a town of tin shanties; then of four-storey Edwardian brick buildings; then a city of modern skyscrapers Johannesburg houses the tallest office block in Africa, which is called the Carlton Centre (50 stories) and the tallest tower being the Hillbrow Tower (270 metres, or 90 stories). Johannesburg is also called Egoli, which means “place of gold”. Forty percent of the world’s gold has been found in the greater Johannesburg region The altitude in Johannesburg is 2 000m above sea level. The air is therefore thinner There are over 10 million trees in Johannesburg (2.5 million in parks and pavements, and 7.5 million in private homes) Forty percent of the population in Johannesburg is under the age of 24 There are 12 river systems which run throughout Johannesburg
Images of Cape Town
What i especially like about these images of Cape Town is how not only do you have the mountains, river and open fields but they also have the buildings incorporated into the scenery which look stunning, which i think shows the natural beauty and modernization of South Africa, I think using scenery's like this throughout could work for my animation because i want to show the historical and modern sides of South Africa.
As well as South Africa having such a rich history i would also like to have some sort of modern influences of South Africa within this project, i think it's only right to include the present South Africa too because i think many people forget that South Africa has some great modern cities which are developing all the time.
Rock paintings
I've now have been looking into rock paintings and the history behind them and came across some facts that could give me direction for my animation such as;
subject of paintings were mainly humans and animals but mainly elands (Antelope)
hunters gained powers from the animals they killed
they would paint the eland so they could harness it's essence to open portals to the spirit world and they would enter a trance
when they are in the trance, their nose would bleed, they would be in physical pain, their arms would stretch back as the transformation to the spirit world took place
spirit doctors/shamans
At the spirit world they would seepowerful visions, of gods place, of magical things...
Below is a quick video that shows some examples of rock paintings.Also i came across an article that said some of the paintings resembled some sort of animation, like cel-animation but instead of the images being placed on top of each other they were painted side by side and you can see this at 0.19 in the video below.
This one of the earliest intros i could find for the World cup tournament. This tournament was held in Italy and i have managed to find a sequence for Italian TV. I think this design and style is very basic however for the 1990's it was probably quite modern. This sequence does try to tell you about the tournament by images shown such as flags from different parts of the world,a football flying throughout the intro and landmarks from different parts of the world appearing within the sequence.
1990 world cup Italy intro (for English TV)
This piece has the famous opera song by Pavarotti that i think is the strongest thing in this whole sequence which is why the intro also has large opera style stage with dancers who are also dancing around what appears to be a football. I think the clips used throughout were great and from special moments of the World cup and coupled with the music works great to build up the upcoming football match however this is a fairly simple concept but it was made 20 years ago so it was probably great at the time. Also another way the intro emphasis's on the great moments is by highlighting the players and adding a grayscale on the background which works to some effect.
World cup USA 94 intro (for USA TV)
This intro was made by the host country of the World cup at the time (USA) and there are many differences from this sequence and others from previous years made for English TV for example, this piece obviously would be very patriotic and you can see this by the beginning when the World cup is in the foreground and the American flag is flying in the background, also this piece has the famous football clips playing throughout but again there is a lot of American themes throughout also with the state names flying towards the screen which i haven't seen any other intro be so direct as this one.
World Cup 98 France (for English TV)
This intro goes along the same path as many other intros with live footage clips playing throughout of the host countries traditional and famous places so that the audience knows where the tournament is held before title appears also the famous football clips are played on billboards through the cities, i've also noticed that when the football clips appear on the billboards they first appear as artworks which you will see appear later in other football title sequences.
World Cup 98 France (for American TV)
This version of the France 98 tournament made by the Americans is one of my favorites because there is more motion graphics and 3D in this intro than in any other previously. However after the starting with the flying worlds and where the camera flies into the stadium the following doesn't really show much about football which is a big chunk of the sequence and i think that is a big flaw in this piece.
World Cup 98 France (for English TV)
This intro is similar to others, it chooses the theme of a fine restaurant (maybe because the French are known for their food and wine) and plays historic moments throughout which are projected on to windows, on to wine, on menu's..., also the music has a calming feel but works well with the shots and the theme.
ITV Japan/Korea 2002 Opening Titles (for English TV)
From looking at the Intro above it keeps in theme with where the tournament is held (Japan and Korea) by integrating cultural aspects of the countries into the sequence such as the samurai references throughout and the scenery reference (do-jo). Also the intro begins with a samurai and a footballer having a stand off where it looks as if the two are ready to battle, where the samurai swings his sword towards footballer and the footballer kicks the ball at the sword where they clash and a bright effect appears and a silk cloth flows past the screen with historic football moments. Although a stereotypical view from my knowledge of at least Japan from film and TV you see the traditional Japan as a calm and elegant place and i think that the silk flowing throughout is meant to represent that in some form. The music also plays a big part in these sequences and i think this also has a big impact on this intro where it helps it to convey a calming theme but mixed with the visuals it also sounds dramatic in a historical sense which works great with the historical scenes of football and the more traditional Japan.
BBC Match of the day World Cup 2002 Intro (for English TV)
Below we have another intro for the Japan/Korea World cup also from 2002 however from a different show and from looking at this intro they have gone for a more mixed look, integrating traditional and new cultural and scenic views together throughout however there looks to be more modern day references which i think works better also for this piece because of the choice of music which is a up tempo piece. Again this sequence begins with shots of the host countries most recognisable themes (sumo wrestling, traditional style buildings) and of course the hosts flags. You can see throughout this sequence it has a lot of city shots also shots of the famous bullet train and through that there is a modern effect for that time which flows through the sequence which is the glowing streak effect. The shots of the previous World cups are played throughout on the screens of the of the modern city.
BBC World cup 2006 opening titles (for english TV)
This sequence is an intro for a football TV show that shows highlights of the World cup and what i've seen from these BBC intos is that they are all very similar in that the sequence is live footage of where the tournament is held, golden beams/streaks flying throughout and clips of top footballers from recent times playing through. So from this it looks as if this particular show have a structure they stick to but just adjust it depending on the host country and players at the time.
ITV World Cup 2006 Title Sequence (for english TV)
Below is an intro for a TV show and this is more of a motion graphics piece. This intro was made for the World Cup 2006 tournament which were held in Germany.Again throughout the intro they play historic moments from previous tournaments which I've also noticed that the clips they play are from the country the TV shows are for, so for example if the TV show is an English show they would have more historic English moments than from other countries in the intro.What I've also noticed is that this intro is for an English channel and the first clip they show is of the England captain from 1966 receiving the world cup trophy when they beat Germany in the final and this 2006 intro is for the world cup which is set in Germany, so you see from that there is some hidden messages there, maybe a cheeky dig at the Germans.
BBC World cup 2002 Promo (for english TV)
The sequence below is also for the World Cup 2002 however this is not a intro to a TV show, this is a promo which is to help promote the World cup which would usually be aired in advance to the World cup beginning. There are big differences between this promo and the intros set for this year such as the intros being live footage with visual effects running throughout and the promo being hand drawn and more of a story going on throughout, from clips of Zidane the French footballer placing the World cup trophy into a bag indicating that it is theirs because they are the winners from the previous year, to a shot of the English TV hosts looking at David Beckham in a life size glass tube with a robotic looking leg attached to him because he damaged it prior to the World Cup and he was England's big hope for the tournament, all this tells a story from the last World Cup which builds up to the 2002 tournament. It looks as if the Promos are more of a story based sequence which also tells you information you might need to to know from the last four years of football (time between each World cup tournament).
The World cup is an International football tournament where the best international teams compete for the World cup trophy. The tournament is held every four years and the host country for the world cup also changes at each tournament. The first tournament was in 1930 and has continued since except four the years 1942 and 1946 because of World War 2.
How the tournament works is that 32 teams compete in 8 groups of four and they play each other twice and the top two teams with the most points from each group go through to the knock out stages where who ever wins progresses to the final and the whole tournament is held over a month. Brazil are the only country to have played in all 18 tournaments and there have been 7 nations that have won the title including Brazil who have won the title 5 times, Italy who are the current champions have won it 4 times, and Germany have won it 3 times. Uruguay and Argentina have won the title twice whilst England and France have won it once.
Below is a list of the host countries and past winners of the World Cup.
YEAR HOST WINNER
1930 Uruguay Uruguay 1934 Italy Italy 1938 France Italy 1950 Brazil Uruguay 1954 Switzerland W. Germany 1958 Sweden Brazil 1962 Chile Brazil 1966 England England 1970 Mexico Brazil 1974 W. Germany W. Germany 1978 Argentina Argentina 1982 Spain Italy 1986 Mexico Argentina 1990 Italy W. Germany 1994 U.S.A Brazil 1998 France France 2002 Korea & Japan Brazil 2006 Germany Italy 2010 S. Africa ?
Below is a picture of the World Cup trophy which is solid gold.
Below is the new logo for the World cup upcoming which is going to be held in South Africa 2010.
Below are the host cities for the World cup matches:
Johannesburg - Soccer city stadium / Ellis Park stadium Below is a link to where you can view the Soccer City stadiums development and artist impressions of what the stadium will look like once it is finished http://www.soccercity2010.co.za/gallery.asp
Pretoria - Loftus Versfeld Stadium
Cape Town - Green Point stadium
City Durban - Moses Mabhida Stadium
Port Elizabeth - Nelson Mandela Stadium
Nelspruit - Mbombela Stadium - artist impression
Polokwane - Peter Mokaba Stadium - Artist impression
I am a Animation student at Birmingham city university in the 3rd year. I am a big fan of motion graphics. 3d animation, live footage and illustration.
