I am however happy to say that I am not moving on for bad reasons. Working in software this last three years has been a huge shift for me and extremely challenging. During that period I have learned a hell of a lot, developed an intimate understanding of the process of creating and developing software and had the opportunity to work with some incredibly smart people. It is an experience and insight I will not soon forget.

In addition to that, we created Flow. Just for what has been done so far, it was an extraordinary achievement. Simply as a piece of technology it was a radical and nothing anyone had previously achieved. As an artists tool it had some rough edges but for a version one product was remarkably robust. The feedback from those who got it was incredible. Something capped and recognized when we received a Macworld Best in Show in 2008 for a product that had yet to even ship.

Where it is going next and what it will be able to do in future versions, will leapfrog version one and I hope, will become an indispensable part of all creatives toolsets. Some great new ideas and changes to make it far easier and far more useful.

Despite being sad that I will be leaving such a great team and brilliant project, I have got the itch to get involved again in the front lines of creative work and looking forward to getting stuck in, on some great new projects.

I must say I am proud to have been a part of team who created Flow and wish Gridiron all the best in the future with it.

Mark

The first was with Petra Mayer on the weekend edition of NPR’s All Things Considered that went out on the 23rd January. A short but interesting look at what we do. Show site is here and you can get the audio, show notes and transcript.

The second was with Nora Young from CBC Radio One, Spark. A great little show I have long enjoyed and a real honor to have taken part in. The full length interview is available on the site, here. The show itself will go out with an abridged version on Sunday 31st January at 1pm EST.

It is wonderful to get to talk in detail about the subject and share some of the insights and background with those interested.

Mark

On Thursday I noticed a sudden surge in people following me on Twitter and was a little confused as to the reason. Some days, one or two people follow you. All of a sudden, there are hundreds! It turns out the reason was an article in Gizmodo that had a write-up on the work I have done in film.

It was really nice to see the article and great to get good coverage of what is usually a much scorned, misunderstood and hidden area of work in film and television. The core of the article really hit at what we try to do when we create these things and it was refreshing to see such insight.

There is however something I wanted to add to the discussion and it comes down in essence to the title of the article. Ridiculous User Interfaces In Film, and the Man Who Designs Them. I have nothing wrong with them being called Ridiculous. I agree, they sometimes are. What I would like to expound upon is the ‘man’ part.

The use of the singular ‘man’ and also from the resulting wave of Tweets about the article, one would be left with the impression that the only person who ever created screens in films was me. I am not that old, I didn’t do the job that long and perhaps curiously, don’t do it anymore. In fact I haven’t worked on a movie in almost 3 years. It makes the timing of the article all the more strange.

There is a out there, although not massive, a significant pool of talent that has created and worked in screen graphics and on-set playback for many years. Some of them inspired me with their work on older productions such as 2001, The Andromeda Strain, Dr Strangelove and Wargames. Some of them hired me to work onthe productions you see in my folio and I had the honor and pleasure of working with them and today new ones continue to impress and inspire.

I would never want anyone to come away with the impression that I am the only person doing this. I am a big believer in credit where credit is due. It can sometimes be a more significant reward than the payslip or cheque.

To this end, I am gearing up a project that I have had in mind for many years. To create a good, curated gallery website that explores and illustrates the art of screen graphics in film and television. The films, the shows, the people and their work.

I would like input from people on what they would like to see. Lists and contacts for artists they might know who have done this work. The films and shows they want to see covered. I know quite a bit about who did what and where but the more input, the greater the project could be. I would hate to miss people.

It is going to be difficult and a huge undertaking but in the end I hope it becomes the go-to place on this subject and that it can serve as a great reference for the craft and the people, so they can finally get the credit they are due and to offer a deeper insight to the craft.

Mark

P.S. I and others have always struggled to give a name to what we do. Playback design, fantasy interfaces, screen design etc. The list is long and not always clear. In all the tweets and links sent around the last few days, one term glared out at me and perhaps we can finally have a good, encompassing term. FUI. Fantasy User Interfaces? Who knows. I like it!

UPDATE
Seems that replies to comments is broken and I hadn’t noticed. Will get it fixed but in the meantime, thanks for the good feedback.

UPDATE
Thanks to everyone for the incredible offers of help. The biggest thing I need to know, is who did what, on which film. One of the main things about the new site will be to give proper credit to those who did the work. There can be a lot of misconceptions about who did what, with multiple people doing different parts of the film and of course the occasional bullshitter who claims all kinds of work they haven’t done. Send me the info and it will go into the construct. As films are also listed, it will be a dynamic process so people can comment and fill in the info. Over time it should become deeper and more exhaustive.

Who do you think you are?
“What do you do?” has always been a harder answer for designers to give than you might think. Using his own career and work in print, broadcast & film as a backdrop, Mark looks at what we think we do, what others think we do and what we really do – and how they are sometimes very different. Those differences can have huge impacts on the way we work, our mental state, the way we see opportunities and our futures as designers.

This is a subject I am interested in exploring more and more and would love to hear feedback and stories from people. Who do you think you are?

I will be down in Albuquerque next week, from the 10th until the 14th October, for the Motion 09 conference. This event has been running for a few years now, and although small in comparison to some, it has attracted some really good people, presenters and attendees alike. I am really looking forward to being a part of the event and a synopsis is below.

You can still sign up for the event here, but hurry, not much time left!

See you there!

Presentation: Screen Design, Imaginary Visual Interfaces
The camera cuts to a close-up of a computer screen, showing an incredible ‘futuristic’ application – software you’ve never seen. That’s because it doesn’t exist – except for in the mind of visual designer, Mark Coleran.

Join Mark as he takes you on an in-depth look at the tools, workflow and techniques used to create screen graphics for films. How does he use Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects to create these works of art? Learn about his process for gathering reference materials, along with looking at how to make the most of resources you have – and how to re-use them for other things.

Take part in activities that focus on design and storytelling as one step in the process of creating screen graphics.

Session 3hrs, 13th October

Friday – 12.00-12.30, 14.30-15.00
Saturday – 9.30-10.00, 13.00-13.30
Sunday – 9.30-10.00, 16.30-17.00
Monday – 9.30-10.00, 16.00-16.30

If your nice to her and say sweet things, she might also give you an invite to the Gridiron party where I will be doing a short presentation on screens and UI design; Screens: From Fantasy to Reality.

At most other times we will be hanging out at the Adobe booth.

If your there, send a tweet and catch up.

Mark

Last year I had the pleasure of contributing to a term at FXPHD and they are being re-run in the new July 09 term.

If you have never come across it before, FXPHD is a superb teaching resource for visual effects professionals, film-makers, editors etc and all those aspiring to be so. Detailed and professional courses taught by people who do the work; day-in, day-out.

I did 4 classes of (one of which was a recorded interview). These were looking at the design and animation of screen type elements using Photoshop and Illustrator, but mostly at After Effects.

Overall the course went down well. A relief as it was the first time I had attempted such a thing and fitting the production of the course into daily work was tricky. There were however a few complaints.

The main thread of all of them was that it had been billed as a 302 level course; Advanced After Effects. It did make me chuckle at the time. I do not get out of bed in the morning with the aim of doing ‘advanced After Effects’. I just want to design and animate something that works well, appropriate for the brief and production and hopefully looks good.

The irony is that a lot of the work ends up looking complicated. The reality is rather more mundane. When you have a deadline you do not look too exotic and sophisticated techniques. You use good and trusted tools, techniques and workflows to deliver. In a fast turnaround environment there is only one rule. Deliver. It is not always as important what you deliver as long as you do.

I would almost describe myself as lazy. I want to find the easiest and best way from A to B. It gives me more time to spend on other areas of the production and makes later changes far easier.

Hopefully the sessions I did give a small insight into this process and they are available in the current term which has just started. Course AFX207.

Check it out.

The reason why is now available for all to see, try and hopefully buy.

Flow is an extraordinary new tool.

It was in IBC in Amsterdam in 2006 that I first met the guys from Gridiron. Introduced via a friend Wes Plate at Automatic Duck, I spent a few hours talking with Steve Forde, their president. We had a long ranging conversation talking about the stuff I had done for movies, ideas I had for better ways for interacting with systems for creatives and showed me a sneak peek of a little tool they were playing with. Nothing more than a small command line application that was tracking everything that happened on a system. One of the first and most basic iterations of what was to become Flow.

We followed up 4 months later and I spent a week with them in Ottawa, talking about the design of a front end for the application and how creative users could best leverage the amazing technology the guys had developed. Two days after I started working with them, I took the job. There were many reasons for doing so, personal and professional, but you rarely get the opportunity to work on something so radical and with a team of inspired and brilliant people. It was too good an opportunity to not take.

It has been a hard journey as well as a cultural shift in so many ways. To go from freelancer to employee in a company, to move from England to Canada, to convert from fast turnaround, almost single shot productions to a development process that is painstakingly iterative and drawn-out. All large challenges on their own, but combined is another matter entirely. Yet, they are all ones that have been worth it. Flow 1.0 is done.

I am proud to have been a part of the great team that have realized Flow. This is just the start and there are so many great things we can do with this, so many avenues yet to explore. There is a larger vision that I and others have for this product and what you see now is just the first (huge) step. What we have done together, the development team, extraordinary users and testing team, is pretty cool, what is coming will be even more so.

The reason for this tardiness is not down to any lack of desire and more to do with circumstances. I have taken a sidestep from my time as a freelance designer & motion graphics artist to work with the great people at Gridiron Software in Canada. We have been working on a radical new way of visualizing creative workflow and the result of that is Flow. Check it out and download the public beta now.