Digital Media Zone: Beyond Moving Pictures

There is much more to creating moving pictures for the Web than just crunching codecs to build streams of images — especially if you want those pictures to communicate effectively. It takes innovation. And for those working to achieve greater effectiveness in communication, if you’re looking for inspiration, look to online creative talent Hillman Curtis.

Amid the continuing convergence of broadcast-style advertising and rich media technologies (such as the use of bandwidth-friendly vector graphics combined with video, animation, audio and interactivity), Curtis is making his mark, offering exemplary motion graphic designs, innovative media formulations and books. A former art director at Macromedia, Curtis is the author of "Flash Web Design, The Art of Motion Graphics." He was described to me by respected Web design author and trainer Lynda Weinman as "one of the first artists out there who showed what was possible with Flash. [Curtis brings] a more cinematic approach to Web communication."

Undoubtedly, Curtis has been influential with his Flash creations. In a twist to offline-online digital media convergence, effects that are strikingly similar to some of Curtis’ Flash designs (which were originally developed to conserve bandwidth) have been adopted by some of the "big boys" in broadcast advertising. For example, some ABC spots produced by the now defunct but once leading-edge design firm, PittardSullivan, had a noticeable Curtisian flair.

The Medium Is The Message

Curtis’ genius flows in pioneering new forms of media messages, perhaps best illustrated by motion graphics advertisements that he has developed for clients such as 3COM, Intel and AOL. These are short, focused, cinematic online movies that deliver messages with elegance and, more importantly, with impact.

In most of these Flash movies, Hillman uses just a few video frames in combination with vector graphics to deliver highly engaging, highly visual presentations. He told me in an e-mail interview, "I love the style we have come up with utilizing limited sequential video stills to impart a real sense of filmic motion, while at the same time respecting the Web environment. It’s a great way to make small files stream immediately. Yet if done carefully, they give a real sense of film," says Curtis.

In his book, Curtis gives a step-by-step explanation of how he uses Flash’s "Trace Bitmap" command to import bandwidth-friendly video frames.

What makes these and other Curtis techniques exemplary is that he uses them to take the communication beyond the technology. He is a firm believer in the simple power of the narrative. Frequently, his designs are economical in the extreme (in some of his early "Macromedia Shockwave" logo pieces, for example), yet they also successfully deliver much of the power of a broadcast spot. Part of his discipline, he says, is that he "stays away from loud eye candy."

Another good example is a spot his company produced for Hewlett-Packard. Using small bitmap files, the advertisement was derived from HP’s broadcast campaign. The result is an engaging narration that delivers a powerful, well-polished yet extremely bandwidth-friendly presentation.

At the same time, noting another kind of technological advance, Curtis says that the demand for streaming productions is increasing: "We’re doing more and more streaming video these days and less Flash, believe it or not," says Curtis. "We use elements from both in each other. So, we might use sequential images from a video in Flash, and we might use vector elements from a Flash movie in a video."

Spirit of Collaboration

Another message repeatedly delivered by Curtis in his books, Web site and workshops, is the spirit of collaboration that sets the Web apart from all other media. Think of it as a creative version of the open source movement.

Expressing this collaborative wisdom, Curtis told me, "I think that if you hang on to your tricks and techniques, and stash all of your secrets away so no one will ‘steal’ them, those tips and techniques slowly become prison bars."

This kind of generosity and open-mindedness, in my opinion, is necessary for us to work together to make streaming media and motion graphics on the Web better and more viable. In other words, it can help us to break through the barriers of technology in order to communicate more effectively. This kind of attitude, coupled with creative talent, can give real promise to the future of the Web.