Join the Movement. This is the School of Motion Manifesto.
We recently had the bucket list-level pleasure of commissioning Ordinary Folk to create a brand manifesto video for us.
I pitched an early version of this idea to Jorge years ago, during the first Blend conference, but at the time neither of us were ready for such a huge undertaking. A few years later, the stars aligned — and this is the result:
Directed By: Ordinary Folk | Creative Direction: Jorge R. Canedo E. | Production: Stefan Green | Script: Julie Rybarczyk | Design: Jay Quercia, Nuria Boj, Loris F. Alessandria | Animation: Jorge R. Canedo E., Victor Silva, Greg Stewart, Joélie Sémoulin, Jordan Bergren, Manuel Neto, Claudio Salas, Jose Peña | Featuring Animation from SOM Alumni: Taylor J Peters, Deanna Reilly, Francisco M. Quiles N., Abbie Bacilla | Music & SFX: Ambrose Yu | School of Motion Production Team: Joey Korenman, Reaghan Puleo
School of Motion: Fired Up to Be the Best
Since School of Motion launched Spring 2013, we'd been shooting toward a single goal: to be the best online motion design school on the planet.
It's a nice-sounding goal...but, it's pretty vague:
- What does it mean to be the "best" online school in a specific creative field?
- How do we decide if we've achieved that goal?
- How do we know if our training is better than that of our competitors'?
- Why qualify it by only trying to be the best online school?
- Are we admitting we can't compete with traditional art schools?
Why School of Motion isn't an "Online School" — It's a School
Over 12,000 artists from more than 100 countries have taken our courses.
There are working motion designers in the field who have no "formal" training other than School of Motion classes. Many of our alumni have landed full-time employment as well as freelance gigs through our network, and we're actively expanding our efforts to help studios and other companies recruit talent from our student body.
There are School of Motion alumni meetups all over the world, most of which are organized by alumni with no help from us. We have a culture, inside jokes, and our own language.
We are a school, in every sense of the word.
School of Motion's Clear Vision for the future
It's with this in mind that we proudly release our manifesto video — at once a declaration, and a hint of what's to come.
Throughout the past several months, we've been working behind the scenes on a total rebrand. Our new visual identity — developed by some very talented folks — will be rolling out toward the end of the year, along with a completely redesigned and revamped website.
Meanwhile, we've been refining our vision:
School of Motion is a compelling alternative to traditional four-year art schools.
I believe, deep in my bones, that we are on to something.
If you've never taken one of our classes, you may not realize how unique our model is, especially compared to the traditional "passive" video course. We provide a level of human interaction, feedback and motivation that simply isn't offered anywhere else on the internet — in any field.
Before releasing a new course to the public, we labor over it for up to a year, ensuring the quality is unmatched.
We provide the tools and training for motivated students to progress at a rate that far exceeds that accomplished at any other online or traditional school.
We bring together the top artists and instructors in our field, and scale their genius through technology and a truly one-of-a-kind teaching model.
We recreate, as best as we possibly can, the camaraderie and competition you feel when learning the same things at the same time as your classmates.
And we do all of this at a price point that allows you to learn professional skills without taking on a level of debt that severely handicaps your career from day one.
Onward and Upward
Our manifesto video was a mere tip of the spear for us.
We relaunched our website with a major redesign, along with some incredible new courses. We expanded our full-time staff to over 30 team members and two incredible Creative Directors: 3D Creative Director, EJ Hassenfratz; and 2D Creative Director, Ryan Summers.
We teamed up with Holdframe to launch a new series of instant-access Workshops so you can learn from some of the leading artists and projects in the industry.
It's been over eight years since we launched School of Motion... and we're just getting started!
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for being a part of our community.
We're here to help you achieve your goals, so please reach out if we can do anything to help push you to the next level.
Like this Manifesto? Then check out this Workshop!
This project was one of the best learning experiences we've had in witnessing top-tier artists collaborate to create a motion design masterpiece. That's why we had to bottle up all of that knowledge into one of our first Holdframe Workshops!
In addition to the video walkthroughs, this Workshop includes various project files that were used directly in the production of these films. From initial mood boards and storyboards, down to production project files.
