“Ken Burns Effect” Pales in Comparison to Striking 3D Versions of Archival Photos

We’ve all seen how Ken Burns brings old photos to life by panning and zooming. This clip demonstrates a striking effect of mapping a 2D photo onto a 3D surface. The animator has to clone in order to create the missing data — the background details that are hidden by foreground objects. But the end result is very powerful.

I would say the virtual camera is about 30% too swoopy towards the end there, but if the director keeps this effect subtle, so that the audience doesn’t notice it at first, and the camera action is tied well to the narration, this could be a striking storytelling effect.

ARCHIVE PHOTO INSERTS FROM MOTALKO on Vimeo