https://gaponoff.cargo.site Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:56:01 +0000 https://gaponoff.cargo.site en https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Battle-of-Samar-80th-Anniversary Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:56:01 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Battle-of-Samar-80th-Anniversary The USS Kidd, a floating museum of one of the last preserved WW2 destroyers, approached me to produce and direct a documentary in honor of the Battle Off Samar and air in time for the 80th anniversary. Time was limited; two and a half weeks, which very short given the subject matter and goals. Thankfully, I had a small, wonderful team through the museum to help divide up the monumental task of cutting hours of interview footage and creating a compelling narrative that did justice to the men present that day. The documentary’s introduction alone was a monumental task; I needed to properly orient viewers and set up events leading to the night prior the battle, and do so clearly and concisely.I’ve found the challenge in documentary directing is finding the proper balance between context and brevity. The Battle off Samar is a little-known (though fascinating and very pivotal) naval engagement 80+ years ago, involving a myriad of moving parts and actors. So like many documentaries, we’d lean on a time-honored tradition of effective historiography; by utilizing detailed animated battle maps. I built these maps out, and annotated in conjunction with historian-provided voiceover all meticulously cut down from 20 minutes to a very tidy three and and a half. This alone was a labor of love and required deep familiarity of the subject matter. There’s multiple documentaries present detailing the Battle off Samar; where the participating warships were, when they were hit, when they sank, etc. No new ground needed to be broken here; our goal was to use this documentary to thoroughly illustrate of what the experience was like for thoJohnston, and all who participated in the battle. This all would be followed by new and untold information on the search and discovery of the USS Johnston and Samuel B. Roberts, at the bottom of the Philippine trench in 2019-2021, from the people directly involved. One of the key media sources utilized was over five hours of interview audio with the USS Johnston’s senior surviving officer, Robert Hagen. He provided some truly incredible first hand accounts of the battle, and really gave the whole documentary the ‘heart’ it needed. <img width="500" height="741" width_o="500" height_o="741" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a5374159eedb9bce7ddce70dfab755a2d2521eca66361f3eaee8d4a247fc834c/hagen_thumb_NH102399.png" data-mid="237793923" border="0" data-scale="67" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/a5374159eedb9bce7ddce70dfab755a2d2521eca66361f3eaee8d4a247fc834c/hagen_thumb_NH102399.png" /> Hagen’s Navy ID, 1941 We accomplished this though contributions and interviews provided by acclaimed historiographer Drachinifel, the Director of Naval History and Heritage Command,&nbsp;R.Adm. Samuel Cox, oceanic explorers Victor Vescovo and Parks Stephenson, hours of recorded survivor’s accounts and interviews with next of kin. The final narrative wove between past and present to help effectively paint a picture of the experience itself for those present on that day, October 25th, 1944. Full credits:&nbsp;Parks Stephenson — Executive Producer Aaron Gaponoff — Director/Producer, Motion Design Molly Bahlinger — Videographer &amp; Editor Alcides A. Ortiz-Ferrari III — Editor Tim NesSmith — Videographer https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Pacific-Fleet-Sub-Museum Wed, 03 Nov 2021 22:48:25 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Pacific-Fleet-Sub-Museum Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum Occasionally as a designer and artist you land a project and opportunity that is just so perfect it feels tailor made for you. This is one of those moments. The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum in Honolulu brought me onboard to produce animations as part of their exhibits. It couldn’t be a cooler topic: torpedoes and submarines! I find that stuff fascinating, I mean who wouldn’t?! The museum was expanding several exhibits, and needed videos to help demonstrate how three different torpedoes designs through US history functioned and were fielded. So cool. The history of torpedo technology is fascinating, and having some prior knowledge on the topic certainly assisted with the research necessary. The venerable Mk-14 steam torpedo, the electric Mk-37, and the modern wire-guided Mk-48 torpedo are featured in the three videos produced. I’ve yet to visit the museum, but they should be on display for your enjoyment and education. The Technical Deets: I’m not a shader artist/engineer, so building accurate over/underwater caustics and lighting was an exceptional challenge that required a lot of trial and error. I utilized a mix of compositing multiple plates; depth maps, particle plates, caustics, etc, to provide a sense of underwater visible distance (which was exaggerated substantially for effect). <img width="540" height="303" width_o="540" height_o="303" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/259b46f168ebac8a27c31ca7ea761d0d0758cc51ab1eacbe0ba4c60893ffe8d8/mk14_studio_01.gif" data-mid="123555531" border="0" alt="&quot;To hell with the carrier aircraft, or lousy long range gun. We'll do it with the damned old steam torpedo!&quot;" data-caption="&quot;To hell with the carrier aircraft, or lousy long range gun. We'll do it with the damned old steam torpedo!&quot;" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/540/i/259b46f168ebac8a27c31ca7ea761d0d0758cc51ab1eacbe0ba4c60893ffe8d8/mk14_studio_01.gif" /> Working off of existing engineering specs, each version was painstakingly modeled in C4D, and textured with substance painter, and rendered with Redshift. There’s no playbook for a lot of the particle systems that were required for this project; high pressure air bursts from torpedo tubes, underwater explosions, surface effects for torpedo explosions, propeller cavitation. This stuff is all my jam, of course, but to get the exact look and feel I was going for, a substantial amount of tweaking and trial and error. I utilized X-Particles for C4D, robust, but challenging system.&nbsp; The Take system in Cinema 4D is a damn godsend. If you’re not familiar with it, essentially it allows you to set up all your necessary objects, and animate separate “takes,” each unique shot and camera angle can all be individually customized, and any changes on the parent-level apply downward. The whole thing is contained within a single file, and enables for easy batch-rendering. So much time and sweat was saved iterating within the Take system, on this project that consisted of over 40 individual shots, each with as many as 7 different composite plates in a cryptomatte. This is the project that made me fall in love with the EXR format and Cryptomattes, which kept output files nice and tidy; each EXR file rendered is an individual frame, containing all relevant composite layers (As opposed to each composite layer frame being its own separate file). After Effects powered through the compositing for the individual shots (EXtractoR plugin is a must-have), and the final edit was fine-tuned in Premiere. <img width="540" height="303" width_o="540" height_o="303" data-src="//freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/424355edc3308727fb7854bef86b0ec590948bb529a9e91f99e196dfe67394c1/mk14_studio_01.gif" data-mid="123555211" border="0" style="width: 540px; height: 303px; display: none;"> <img width="466" height="520" width_o="466" height_o="520" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b0276f6d1c19881a002909dc268c50aa7dac32c78b78e8952434dcb9297056cb/particle_system.jpg" data-mid="123553121" border="0" alt="The X-Particle build for a single object in a scene." data-caption="The X-Particle build for a single object in a scene." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/466/i/b0276f6d1c19881a002909dc268c50aa7dac32c78b78e8952434dcb9297056cb/particle_system.jpg" /> <img width="271" height="318" width_o="271" height_o="318" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abe99e386cc736ff447686bd000ab4d4c2c4de2880ae7360eeecf586aee1f8f5/take_system.jpg" data-mid="123553122" border="0" alt="Upfront investment in setting up your projects into takes pays dividends down the road." data-caption="Upfront investment in setting up your projects into takes pays dividends down the road." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/271/i/abe99e386cc736ff447686bd000ab4d4c2c4de2880ae7360eeecf586aee1f8f5/take_system.jpg" /> https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Thunderpussy-Maneki Sun, 11 Feb 2018 23:54:39 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Thunderpussy-Maneki <img width="650" height="181" width_o="650" height_o="181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d523f669b60ad1b3b1d06d7bb95f2ed25d1a835cb80b7cf4d023a994943036ea/logo_x650.png" data-mid="11421203" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/d523f669b60ad1b3b1d06d7bb95f2ed25d1a835cb80b7cf4d023a994943036ea/logo_x650.png" /> “Maneki” Sequence The Seattle-based band Thunderpussy brought me on board to be their visual designer for their live show projections. I’ve been with them ever since, designing graphics and running the graphics for their shows. One of the first sequences designed was the “Maneki Neko” sequence, utilizing the iconic cats, with a bit of Bowie flair added to it. I hand painted onto some dollar-store maneki. Filmed on a mirrored turntable, and shot several dozen different iterations of the cat, spinning, static, etc. <img width="500" height="342" width_o="500" height_o="342" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9d2883c61f49e113d688f0ec781bb99e4af521ad89a29f96f2c2aff06ffc1934/pussystardust2.jpg" data-mid="11421201" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/9d2883c61f49e113d688f0ec781bb99e4af521ad89a29f96f2c2aff06ffc1934/pussystardust2.jpg" /> <img width="500" height="281" width_o="500" height_o="281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/161159fa44cfb328fcb13504f2b6d3ab16d2484d624da2519796728bf084bfe5/ManekiStagePrep_01.gif" data-mid="11421199" border="0" alt="Okay, do that paw thing you're famous for." data-caption="Okay, do that paw thing you're famous for." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/161159fa44cfb328fcb13504f2b6d3ab16d2484d624da2519796728bf084bfe5/ManekiStagePrep_01.gif" /> I see a lot of live shows, and there’s some boring graphics up there; simple geometric shapes, or random pulls from music videos. Viz needs to POP. The usual wasn’t good enough for me, I wanted something more, and something that fit the flavor and color of the song, most importantly added to it. The challenge though finding the right balance realizing these visuals are not the show itself, they’re just an aspect of the show... an additional topping on the pizza, if you will (And who doesn’t love pizza?). You need to have your visuals work with the band, the sound, the lighting, not steal the show or overshadow it. Confident I struck the right balance. And here you see it up on the main stage at the 2016 Capitol Hill Block Party, with singer Molly Sides in the foreground. The viz looked damn good up on a Jumbotron, and it never gets old seeing things scaled up to 100 feet. (Event footage by Andrew Franks) Individual clips were programmed and controlled via a midi pad, and plugged through the program VDMX5. Beep boop beep. <img width="500" height="281" width_o="500" height_o="281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8d7fb6f677afba13f085ec22062148e98bf659b4dcfe407d7154a4c5292672c7/ManekiSequence_cut.gif" data-mid="11421200" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/8d7fb6f677afba13f085ec22062148e98bf659b4dcfe407d7154a4c5292672c7/ManekiSequence_cut.gif" /> <img width="500" height="264" width_o="500" height_o="264" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d18720025d0474a8262b49ae0ebe9fb0ed1f75612140de90f8659b44243a474f/CHBP_01.gif" data-mid="11421202" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/d18720025d0474a8262b49ae0ebe9fb0ed1f75612140de90f8659b44243a474f/CHBP_01.gif" /> https://gaponoff.cargo.site/T-Mobile-Uncarrier Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:40:14 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/T-Mobile-Uncarrier Working with Publicis at World Famous, for T-Mobile's Uncarrier campaign. We produced a series of Out of Home spots for Times Square in NYC. <img width="500" height="150" width_o="500" height_o="150" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ee247bd7cf445574549b05d79be9fc2d7d5aad89c6ebfa69efd4eb9a1767be65/TMO_Uncarrier_GFX-2.gif" data-mid="11421205" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/ee247bd7cf445574549b05d79be9fc2d7d5aad89c6ebfa69efd4eb9a1767be65/TMO_Uncarrier_GFX-2.gif" /> This version is formatted for the Marriott building, which has unique twelve-screen display which required our motion to be specialized to its characteristics. <img width="500" height="282" width_o="500" height_o="282" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/81d12e0ccbcb351cbfba7d6450ac25fc784942de992f46b216c3247ebcdf9737/TMO_Uncarrier_Insitu.gif" data-mid="11421206" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/81d12e0ccbcb351cbfba7d6450ac25fc784942de992f46b216c3247ebcdf9737/TMO_Uncarrier_Insitu.gif" /> https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Highlights-Magazine Thu, 04 Nov 2021 19:37:03 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Highlights-Magazine Highlights Magazine Mobile Ad During my time at Bamboo, one of their longtime clients, Highlights Magazine needed something with some color and pizzaz. As senior motion designer on staff, I pushed for more animation to utilize 3D. This was modeled, fully shaded in Redshift and animated all roughly across a two week period. The finished spot https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Thunderpussy-Planets Mon, 19 Mar 2018 23:17:52 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Thunderpussy-Planets <img width="650" height="181" width_o="650" height_o="181" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d523f669b60ad1b3b1d06d7bb95f2ed25d1a835cb80b7cf4d023a994943036ea/logo_x650.png" data-mid="13239711" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/650/i/d523f669b60ad1b3b1d06d7bb95f2ed25d1a835cb80b7cf4d023a994943036ea/logo_x650.png" /> “Planets” Sequence Another piece I animated for the Seattle-based band Thunderpussy, which I typically run for their song Badlands. Badlands has a pretty haunting quality to it and so I started to come up with some spacey visuals in my head. You’ll probably notice a common theme running with my work. If I can make it space-themed, I will! Inspiration struck when watching raw sequential footage of Cassini’s (RIP, spaceboi) flybys around Saturn and her moons. The haunting ballet of motion interrupted with the imperfections of technology attempting to capture it. I was in love with every bit of it. I had to do something like it. With the demise of the Cassini, it has become a bit of an homage, its breathtaking photos and data having been a constant for most of my adult life, something that I had taken for granted. <img width="500" height="139" width_o="500" height_o="139" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/df71b8e3b90bacc998aff8cdbd3a53bff1f90f6b3a388a1f99cdf6d6780d6a85/ThunderpussySign_1.gif" data-mid="13300435" border="0" alt="I turned the band logo into marquee signage, and animated it into the C4D build" data-caption="I turned the band logo into marquee signage, and animated it into the C4D build" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/df71b8e3b90bacc998aff8cdbd3a53bff1f90f6b3a388a1f99cdf6d6780d6a85/ThunderpussySign_1.gif" /> I created with what the band has dubbed “Planet Thunderpussy,” orbiting some unnamed super fab gas giant. And in the proper spirit of 70’s glam rock, I had to give the planet some signage oomph that would be impossible to miss, and foolish to forget. The saturated colors of the visuals pair well with heavy stage lighting, fog machine. The song builds up and I start to roll out the close up looping shadow of the planet at crescendo. <img width="500" height="281" width_o="500" height_o="281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/724f0c2756a209010a50db877b380e574f39a22faf97cc3257dd454cdc5999ed/C0049_cc01.gif" data-mid="14833766" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/724f0c2756a209010a50db877b380e574f39a22faf97cc3257dd454cdc5999ed/C0049_cc01.gif" /> https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Experimental-Abstract-1 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 22:36:08 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Experimental-Abstract-1 Experimental Abstract #1&nbsp; Created in Cinema 4D, and After Effects, for the purpose of an experimental Exquisite Corpse Project I was doing with several other friends. (In short, each week you complete an expressive piece of any artistic format, and pass it to the next person, who makes their own piece in response to what they’ve recieved, and so forth.) I was hungering to make something both beautiful and haunting, absolutely abstract with its imagery and representation. Shapes, color, sound, and some Xpresso in C4D would be the path to achieving this. I was working with some limited hardware, as well as limited time to execute the project (but really, when is ever not limited time?), and needed to create a system for efficient rendering and iteration. My vision required extensive use of depth of field and rack focusing, as wells a overexposed specularity, both which are very processor-intensive if done natively through Cinema 4D. I’d need a workaround. In otherwords, fake. that. shiz. I settled on an effective solution by rendering in Cinema 4D in a multi-pass series, with separate specular and depth fields. I’d take the different plates/passes and composite them into After Effects. The depth pass I’d plug into Frischluft, (which does very powerful lifting with depth maps at a mere fraction of the processor time that C4D can.) which enabled me to actually iterate depth of field control without having to pull my hair out. Specular passes gave me full control on overexposed glow, to really dial in the grimey, Super 8, projected-science-class-educational-video feel I was going for. Here you can see the different passes and how they muster up together. Your basic color pass looks like bland garbage, but then once you lay your different effects plates/passes in, the visuals really have life to them. Music: RJD2 - Smoke &amp; Mirrors https://gaponoff.cargo.site/GALACTATHON Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:57:11 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/GALACTATHON <img width="905" height="100" width_o="905" height_o="100" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7bd2e463458014312d882b07755faba10aec79ca6493a77544dbcb444b4ad00a/galactathon_title_grey-01_o.jpg" data-mid="11421212" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/905/i/7bd2e463458014312d882b07755faba10aec79ca6493a77544dbcb444b4ad00a/galactathon_title_grey-01_o.jpg" /> I'd be lying if I said my friends and I weren't big fans of older film. Each year, I co-host a 24-hour movie marathon dedicated entirely to a pre-selected genre. I decided that for this year's marathon, I should step up my efforts in creating the trailer. GALACTATHON was the chosen marathon theme- a full day of 70's and 80's classic sci-fi and their subsequent cheap knock offs. Post-Apocalyptathon's trailer turned out great. But I wanted to do something with equal punch. With such a spacey subject matter, this opens the doors to go try some crazy new things. After some concept sketches I decided to go with a sort of holographic-screens floating in space look. I did a series of tests of camera control and compositing techniques between After Effects and C4D, to make sure what I wanted to do was possible with the resources and time available. <img width="905" height="400" width_o="905" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ba0dbc605d52e9ef1eee4f7a8f9fea882b81af1a43e748e2554e00e32f40010/boards1_o.jpg" data-mid="11421210" border="0" alt=" Some sketches and storyboards that shed some light as to my creative process." data-caption=" &lt;blockquote&gt;Some sketches and storyboards that shed some light as to my creative process.&lt;/blockquote&gt;" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/905/i/4ba0dbc605d52e9ef1eee4f7a8f9fea882b81af1a43e748e2554e00e32f40010/boards1_o.jpg" /> <img width="905" height="400" width_o="905" height_o="400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f272bf51707bb3971e537948e8ff11e7b1b0d1a77a16b22b5e663ce0ce1f5bc6/board2_o.jpg" data-mid="11421211" border="0" alt="Additional sketches and concepts of the &quot;hud screens&quot; as well as color choice." data-caption="&lt;blockquote&gt;Additional sketches and concepts of the &quot;hud screens&quot; as well as color choice.&lt;/blockquote&gt;" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/905/i/f272bf51707bb3971e537948e8ff11e7b1b0d1a77a16b22b5e663ce0ce1f5bc6/board2_o.jpg" /> The workflow was heavy— this was a fully independant project, so every step of the project had to be completed by me, regardless of how time consuming. I won't lie, this project took up a number of evenings and nights and weekends. Each shot required 3+ plates composited on top of each other, a "starfield" plate (that matched and remained true to the camera's rotational motion. The "Action plate" with the holographic screens, film titles, and edited footage. And the holo-ship plate which rested on top/front of everything else. General workflow was staggered, but after concepts and boards, I proceeded with editing down footage to use. This was a very edit-heavy project, and finding the right clips out of 12+ hours of footage to squeeze into 2 minutes is a sizable task. Further, I couldn’t just pick any clip. I needed to really enbody the feel of the marathon’s theme. The lofty, the weird, the dream, and the unsettling qualities of science fiction are things I love and eat up. You have 2 minutes to capture that, so each cut needs to count.Most assets were created in illustrator. This was followed with rigging in AE, and making a rough edit cut in Final Cut Pro to getting everything matched to the audio track. Camera motion was exported to C4D, where starfield and holographic components were then animated and rendered out, then composited back into the AE file. Audio was manipulated and stylized in Soundbooth. Sections of alternating A/B camera shots were rendered out, and the final was edited in FCP. This video is a quick breakdown of the compositing and effects process I had to go through for each shot— including alternating camera angles: Programs used: 5 End result: Reception for the trailer was great! People were jazzed for the marathon, and attendance was up from the previous year's. <img width="500" height="281" width_o="500" height_o="281" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d8c340e475471ddb662e5dde3ee1378d72cf6d368efcc73a2de89e9eefb61366/footerfunny.gif" data-mid="13295562" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/500/i/d8c340e475471ddb662e5dde3ee1378d72cf6d368efcc73a2de89e9eefb61366/footerfunny.gif" /> <img width="600" height="338" width_o="600" height_o="338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d5707a8db8310f92311ec0de3cbdf73b735bbe96b3dcc4a997c16551ecb9e862/galactathon1_improved.gif" data-mid="13295563" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/600/i/d5707a8db8310f92311ec0de3cbdf73b735bbe96b3dcc4a997c16551ecb9e862/galactathon1_improved.gif" /> https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Nissan-RFP-Deloitte Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:06:10 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Nissan-RFP-Deloitte Deloitte contracted me to assist them on the final stages of a partnership proposal with Nissan. They needed something fast and upbeat that highlighted key elements of technology integration along the customer experience. I took their ideas and through a full process of storyboarding, a few rounds of iteration, settled on a design and created and animated this piece across two weeks. This is the final result— they loved it, Nissan loved it, all around a great project. https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Artefact Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:50:43 +0000 Aaron Gaponoff Motion Design https://gaponoff.cargo.site/Artefact Artefact I worked with Issara at Dos Rios Films to produce this reel for Artefact. Building this required multiple steps, for each of the shots involving FX the footage had to be match moved, along with accurate depth of field and rack focus matching. All the footage a bright and full of warm-fuzziness, we even had to carefully match lens flare and caustics. This allowed all of the floating FX to really live in each shot perfectly. I loved this project for the attention to detail required and the end result was a very satisfying piece.