Motion design for Screen Nova Scotia Awards incorporates classic film iconography

Context

2024 marked the 10th anniversary of Screen Nova Scotia, an annual event celebrating the talent, creativity and passion of Nova Scotia's screen industry. The event features various awards including the ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances, the Film Crew Excellence Award, the Women in Film & Television—Atlantic Award, the Community Recognition Award and the Screen Nova Scotia awards for best television, film and animation.

This year, Screen Nova Scotia introduced the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting. Additionally, ACTRA Maritimes introduced a new category: the Series Ensemble Award.

Methodology

The design was inspired by the classic film slate (clapperboard), incorporating chevrons and text that harken back to early cinema. Evolving alongside the film industry. The project included five vignettes, each showcasing a different region and film location. Chevrons introduce "Screen Nova Scotia" over b-roll clips, culminating in a Roman numeral “X” to mark the milestone of "celebrating 10 years."

A highlight of the design is the 'eyes' in the Best Animated Feature reel, emphasizing our creative approach. We explored aspect ratios of the letter “O” to reflect diverse screen formats, supported by a strong-grid system. Animations were first sketched by hand, simulated with paper mock-ups and then refined to ensure precise movement and typography in Adobe After Effects. Storyboarding was pivotal in our process, detailing layout, grid, sound and voiceovers on paper as our creative blueprint. This allowed us to meticulously plan and refine our vision before execution.

Results

Each Awards category was introduced with a nomination reel featuring voice-over and short, evocative segments: scrolling chevrons, expressive typography and animated colours. The reel is followed by a kinetic title screen and a video clip by the production company.

In honour of the gala's 10th anniversary, animated interstitial moments featured two intersecting chevrons forming the Roman numeral “X.” The reference to "Screen" in the organization’s name was purposeful, recognizing the dramatic changes to how we view media. There are many formats to watch our shows, from iPhones to airline seats, from theatres to the home. Many of the reels played with the letter "O" shape as a metaphor for the screen. Using the variable font Widescreen by Dalton Maag, we often extended the character to two common aspect ratios: 4:3 (full-screen) and 16:9 (widescreen). Utilizing both aspect ratios, we aligned the letters “A” at the end of the words “Nova” and “Scotia” in the vignettes.

Credits

• Creative Director: John deWolf RGD
• Motion Designer: Ella Hanson, Miguel Soto 
• Production Facility: 902 Post