Consciousness — Westworld Kinetic Typography
2017
"There is no threshold that makes us greater than the sum of our parts, no inflection point at which we become fully alive. We can’t define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next. No my friend, you're not missing anything at all."
— Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins), Westworld, Season 1: Trace Decay
A 40-second kinetic typography project quoting the iconic line of Robert Ford (played by Anthony Hopkins) in the HBO series, Westworld. The animations follow the tone of Ford's voice and message he wishes to convey about the human conscious.
The Process
I recently became a fan of the latest HBO show Westworld, and was pulled in by Ford’s character and his philosophical views of life itself. One scene that really struck me was his explanation for the human consciousness. Observing other kinetic typography works, I noticed animations that mainly used the words itself to shape a speech, or stress key points of a speech intrigued me the most. This is especially true with the calm, grievous, and philosophical tone Ford expressed in his dialogue. As you watch the video there are subtle animations that correspond with certain words of the speech meant to evoke emotions.
