Motion Graphic

The Summer of Rave - (2006) The BBC takes a celebratory tone in its depiction of the positivity energy generated by 1980s rave culture and covers Englands nightlife transition and the beginnings of Acid House, specifically the summer of 1989 and captures the shift in mood amongst those feeling marginalised by Thatchers Britain. 

This includes visual research of imagery consisting of rave flyers, photographs, newspaper and magazine spreads, record covers/sleeves, club membership cards and more Acid House related iconography.

Warehouse Rave - I’m not sure of the location but this was the highest quality video I found, from the Kinolibrary archives

All of these songs featured in one or more of the multiple articles Mixmag published both online and in print such as “The History of Acid House in 100 tracks” and “14 DJ’s tell us their favourite Acid House records” for example, which were published in May, the same month their Acid House issue was released, further linking my motion graphic to the printed magazine.

This song is the perfect introduction, its straight to the point as the gospel-inflected vocalist acts as an MC and creates the effect of hyping up the viewer along with the concise and fast paced chords reflecting the strobe like typography and erratic “Acid House” title. This timeless classic was even sampled by Kanye West as referenced here.

This song consistently came up in multiple lists of ‘Top Acid House Records’ and is a classic example of early lo-fi techno with that digital transmission like sound created by the Roland TB-303 drum machine. It also works really well with the voiceovers as it is not too intense and the repetitive beat allows the viewer to easily distinguish when someone is talking.

This song became a pop culture phenomenon, synonymous with Acid House and was one of the UK’s biggest contributions to the genres catalogue. A Guy Called Gerald was 1/3 of the electronic music group 808 State who reached commercial success and were pioneers of the British rave scene. Instantly recognisable, it gives viewers an insight into the more tribal/spiritual sound of Acid House and was an obvious choice to include it in my motion graphic.

GiF’s created for my motion graphic using photographs taken from Mixmag’s Acid House issue - In the final video I doubled their speed and also played them in reverse after their first repetition for a smoother effect

GiF’s of symbols relating to Acid House iconography I made for my motion graphic. The smiley is an unmistakable symbol of raving, expressing the simple joy of hitting the dance floor, together as one. DJ Danny Rampling said “The smiley reflected the feeling and ethos of raving hedonism – the positivity, love, unity, fun and happiness”. 

The intimate distribution of the artwork heralded an undeniable life-affirming physicality to graphic design that pre-existed domesticated graphics software. It meant designers had little choice but to meticulously scrawl the lines and patterns that documented and glorified the societal shifts during the Summer Of Love.”

The final currated GiF and one example of what each frame looked like, shown below 

The title sequence from Enter The Void (2009) is what inspired me, the designer Tom Kan created a fast-paced compilation of typefaces, all very unique, inspired by films, flyers, and neon signs and even features French and Japanese credits as well as the photography technique: electrography to introduce the tone of the film which I think he did very accurately. 

For the Acid House title I used 34 different typefaces, some where taken directly from old rave flyers I had scanned in and used a font finding website (https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/) to identify, others were inspired by these DIY flyers which I felt still fit the futuristic digital/grunge aesthetic created by them.

GiF’s created for my motion graphic using photographs taken from Mixmag’s Acid House issue

UN-USED GiF’s created for my motion graphic using photographs taken from Mixmag’s Acid House issue

My motion graphic was inspired by the second summer of love (1988) which was consistently covered by various media outlets such as i-D magazine, The Guardian, Vice and more, throughout the year. It compliments an issue of Mixmag, a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine, which dedicated a majority of its issue to reminisce and celebrate the UK’s largest and most important youth cultural revolution.     My motion graphic corresponds with Mixmags May issue as it provides the viewer with snippets of 3 iconic Acid House tracks, consists of vintage VHS footage of illegal raves in warehouses/fields, clubs and festivals during the years 1988-1989, event flyers as well as motifs and symbols relating to rave culture in the early 90′s. In addition, there are voiceovers taken from different Acid House documentaries with first hand descriptions of how it felt to be apart of the movement that changed dance music history. The chaotic, fast paced collage style of editing is an attempt to emulate what it would be like to experience an Acid House rave and fully immerse the viewer.