Week 6 in Digital Media: Motion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQGCen355Ns&feature=related

This is a link to an example of motion graphics that I love. It is the opening title sequence for the HBO series Dexter. I remember when the series first started and I saw the title sequence for the first time my mind  was blasted by the downright coolness of the opening. Before the show even started I was in awe of everything that was going on. The Music and visuals work together in such an amazing way that as soon as it starts you forget where you are. Well, maybe that's just me, but no one can watch it and not be interested or entertained. Six seasons into the show and the title sequence hasn't changed one bit, and for reasons I think. I believe creators know exactly what kind of genius that sequence is and how it compliments the show so well. Even if they wanted to change it they would be hard pressed to find something that works better than the opening they have now.
When I say the opening compliments the show, I mean that it sets the stage so well for the what show is about. The series, Dexter, is about a man who is a serial killer, but the good kind....if there is such thing. he kills for, what he thinks, the betterment of society. This weird approach is illustrated through the opening sequence as well. In the sequence, we have the main character, Dexter, going through his morning routine. Eating breaking breakfast, shaving, and getting dressed. But if you notice, he does everything backwards. He puts his shoes on before his shirt and drinks his coffee before his juice. This jumbled order of events is one that represents his "jumbled" personality. He is a police blood spatter expert by day, and a serial killer by night. If that's not messed, I don't know what is.

I actually had trouble finding an example of motion graphics because these days, there is a very fine line between cartoony animation and motion graphics. My biggest question is what constitutes what. How do we know what is animation and motion graphics. I guess they are the same thing, depending on what context you are looking at something in. If it were two separate categories, then both would borrow from the other different aspects each had. Hopefully some digital guru comes to write a dictionary that defines these two so that we can differentiate the things we see.