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Shop Vac (kinetic typography animation)

jmheather
Music
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this music video2 months2011–2023 score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Praised as a standout example of kinetic typography that holds attention, and known as the earlier work that led to the animator's Weird Al 'Word Crimes' video.

A kinetic typography animation for Jonathan Coulton's song 'Shop Vac', made by Jarrett Heather with Illustrator, After Effects and other tools over 500-1000 hours.

“this amazing piece of kinetic typography / video done to Jonathan Coulton's Shop-Vac” (HN, 2011)

2 recommendations · 4 citations · Music

6 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@biturd Jun 2011 Recommends
on HN thread How to Make Text Look Interesting: Minimalist Web Design
For me, this Shop•Vac Pardoy Commercial thingy had really great typography. It kepy me interested the entire time. Granted, it had other elements keeping me interested, though I feel it was mainly the interesting use of type. [this video]
Kinetic typography that holds attention throughout.
@programzeta Sep 2011 Recommends
on HN thread Y Combinator by the Numbers
Read more
I think it's a ripe field for experimentation at this point, as it's a very entertaining way to present information. There is/was a series in Australia called Hungry Beast, which produced "Beast File" segments that used kinetic typography in the same manner as this video: Stuxnet: [link] Google: [link] Apple: [link] There are more of these segments, but a lot of them have to do with Australian politics / corporations. I've watched them all because I adore the style but it might not be for everyone :) In addition, there have been several labours of love which really showcase what's possible when you make a full production out of such a work, such as this amazing piece of kinetic typography / video done to Jonathan Coulton's Shop-Vac: [this video] Any potential company would have their work cut out for them to allow user-generated content to even get close to the above segments, but as the current crop of tools are general professional-level tools (Adobe After-Affects / Premiere or related) there's definitely a specialized gap here.
A full-production kinetic typography piece set to a Jonathan Coulton song.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@DonHopkins Apr 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes (2014)
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Jarrett Heather is the artist behind Weird Al's "Word Crimes" video released in 2014 (at 48.4 million views now). Word Crimes: [link] Weird Al's spot-on parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" with T.I. and Pharrell Williams: [link] Weird Al contacted him after being impressed by "Shop Vac", his previous work with kinetic text (typographic animation), which he made using animation tools like AfterEffects. Shop Vac: [this video] This page on Jarrett Heather's web site tells the story and shows the art and technology behind the "Word Crimes" video. He's also published the Animatic storyboard-in-motion that took about 100 hours, to Weird Al's original home-made demo of the song! It's fascinating to compare them, and see how their ideas evolved from storyboard to final video. Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes: [link] >The Completed Music Video: In November 2013, "Weird Al" Yankovic asked me to direct an animated video for "Word Crimes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" about the supposed abuse of proper language. >The result of 500 hours of work in After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere goes by in 3 minutes, 44 seconds. I hope you find each one of them entertaining. The Animatic: [link] >This storyboard-in-motion took about 100 hours. Al signed off on this design on January 25th, 2014, only 3 weeks after he gave me his homemade "demo" for Word Crimes, which you can hear on the animatic soundtrack. >If you watch very closely, you might notice a gag or two tha
Earlier work that led Weird Al to hire the animator.
@DonHopkins Apr 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes (2014)
Read more
Jarrett Heather is the artist behind Weird Al's "Word Crimes" video released in 2014 (at 48.4 million views now). Word Crimes: [link] "Word Crimes" is Weird Al's spot-on parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" with T.I. and Pharrell Williams. I think Weird Al's version is better and more educational than the original -- smart and catchy like a modern Schoolhouse Rock. Blurred Lines: [link] Weird Al contacted Jarrett Heather after being impressed by "Shop Vac", his previous work with kinetic text (typographic animation), which he made using animation tools like AfterEffects. Shop Vac: [this video] This page on Jarrett Heather's web site tells the story and shows the art and technology behind the "Word Crimes" video. He's also published the Animatic storyboard-in-motion that took about 100 hours, to Weird Al's original home-made demo of the song! It's fascinating to compare them, and see how their ideas evolved from storyboard to final video. Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes: [link] >The Completed Music Video: In November 2013, "Weird Al" Yankovic asked me to direct an animated video for "Word Crimes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" about the supposed abuse of proper language. >The result of 500 hours of work in After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere goes by in 3 minutes, 44 seconds. I hope you find each one of them entertaining. The Animatic: [link] >This storyboard-in-motion took about 100 hours. Al signed off on this design on January 25th, 2014, onl
Earlier work that led Weird Al to hire the animator.
@DonHopkins Apr 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes (2014)
Read more
I'm delighted your stopped by! Thanks to you and Weird Al for all of your dastardly animated criminal words. Your Shop Vac cartoon led me to discover Jonathan Coulton's other geeky music, like Code Monkey! He makes his songs available via the Creative Commons license, so people have made some really cool videos to them, including yours. [link] [link] Shop Vac: [this video] Code Monkey videos: [link] >Jonathan Coulton is a singer/songwriter who releases his songs via the Creative Commons license, which enables projects such as this video. Through his "Thing A Week" podcast, Jonathan has put out a clever, creative song like this one every week for a year. >Mike Spiff Booth is a Program Manager at Adobe who though this great song really deserved a video. >Before you ask, since apes, goblins, and night elf receptionists don't tend to interact much in the wild, I couldn't only use captured game footage to make this video. Every frame of this video was composited together by hand using images captured from the WoW Model Viewer, WoW Map Viewer, and the World of Warcraft game itself. >No monkeys were harmed in the making of this film. >Please visit www.spiffworld.com for more information about my videos, including info about how I make them. >The song at the end of the video is "Big Bad World One", another great Jonathan Coulton song. [link] >This was an animation that was done in about 2 1/2 weeks. My friend Tom Weiser and I wanted to put together a short for a free ASIFA event. We are b
Led commenter to discover Jonathan Coulton's other music.
@DonHopkins May 2023 Cites it
on HN thread Wikipedia users edits over 90k uses of “comprised of”
Read more
Speaking of heroes who I could care less about: Jarrett Heather presents: Word Crimes (2014) (jarrettheather.com) Archive: [link] "Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes: [link] >The Completed Music Video: In November 2013, "Weird Al" Yankovic asked me to direct an animated video for "Word Crimes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" about the supposed abuse of proper language. >The result of 500 hours of work in After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere goes by in 3 minutes, 44 seconds. I hope you find each one of them entertaining. Word Crimes Animatic: [link] >This storyboard-in-motion took about 100 hours. Al signed off on this design on January 25th, 2014, only 3 weeks after he gave me his homemade "demo" for Word Crimes, which you can hear on the animatic soundtrack. >If you watch very closely, you might notice a gag or two that didn't make it through to final animation or some very subtle changes in the lyrics. HN Discussion: [link] MrHeather on April 9, 2020 | parent | next [–] When I first met with Al about this project, I was quick to point out that linguists would disagree with about a third of the "advice" he's giving out. His immediate reply was "WELL THEY'RE WRONG"--really loudly in the "Weird Al" character voice. In my mind the joke is that the song's narrator is a know-it-all character that shouldn't be taken entirely seriously. But on the other hand, a lot of educators have contacted me to tell me they use the song as a learning tool. DonHopkins on

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