CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY + RESNICK SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE
The mission of the Resnick Sustainability Institute (RSI) is to advance global sustainability through transformational science, engineering and education. The Institute prioritizes research addressing climate science, the stewardship of natural resources, and developing sustainable energy solutions.
The Insitute wanted to provide for visitors to its principal offices in Jorgensen Laboratory some way of knowing what the Institute did: RSI needed an elevator pitch for itself, and it had to be in a visible, permanent place. So the first assignment they gave me was to update the digital signage in the lobby of their building and make a brand new video for it.
CALTECH + RESNICK SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE | Creative Director, Editor, Animator, Motion Designer | Digital Signage Project
The video I ended up making had to play across five 1080p HD monitors, each monitor with its own hard drive, positioned together to project a single long rectangular image. This posed an interesting design challenge to frame a variety of media within a unique aspect ratio of 8.89:1, providing an incredibly wide-screen experience. The resulting video gives viewers a sense of the research that goes on at RSI.
There was one more video to make, once the Resnick Institute finished building its brand-new Resnick Sustainability Center on the Caltech campus.
CALTECH + RESNICK SUSTAINABILITY CENTER | Creative Director, Editor, Animator, Motion Designer | Digital Signage Project
The second follow-up video would play on a 144-inch monitor in the breezeway of the new Resnick Sustainability Center. The video was delivered in a conventional 16 x 9 aspect ratio, which meant that the video at the Jorgensen Laboratory couldn’t be used: a completely new presentation had to be re-designed and edited. In the end, we came away with a presentation everyone was happy with.
On both projects, my main duties were Creative Director, Editor, Motion Designer and Animator (2D & 3D). I was supplied with almost all of the footage and photos by Caltech and Resnick Institute. I created the 3D animation for the “Climate Science” satellite sequence that incorporated a NASA Image of the Mississippi Delta. The background image of the farm for "Sunlight to Everything" is based on one of four posters I created for the Resnick Institute. Sound and music have been added later by me specifically for the videos on this website.