Michelle Ho | Swan Creations

I'm a recent graduate of the Digital Media Design Program from RRC Polytech. As a multimedia designer and video editor, I use video and motion graphics to troubleshoot problems and bring stories to life. Welcome to my portfolio page!

Motion Design

Videography

Studio Project – "Why Regular Eye Exams Are Important"

This project was considered my thesis assignment during my last semester of school, completed from the beginning of January to the end of March, 2025. My maternal family has a history of poor vision (me included), and this inspired me to create a motion collage video outlining why regular eye exams are important.The prep work involved developing a schedule of tasks, researching the topic of eye health, and writing a script for the video and audio descriptions.The design and development phase involved creating a moodboard, designing the styleframes for each scene, recording the voiceover for the dialogue, and preparing a rough animatic to check the timing of the video.

In gathering inspiration for my moodboard, I noticed that most collages tended to go for a minimal colour palette, so I went with the primary colours plus black and white. The font selection was inspired by the eye charts that eye doctors use in their exams.Since pupils, irises, and eyes are circular in shape, it made sense to use circles as secondary elements in my design. The photographic elements and textures came from Adobe Stock and Texturelabs.The video sequence was animated in After Effects, the audio and sound effects were mixed in Audition, and the final edit was completed in Premiere Pro.

Motion Title Sequence - "Forensic Archives"

I enjoy watching true crime documentaries, so when the opportunity to create a motion title sequence came up, I knew I wanted to do something true crime related. So, I created a sequence for a fictional true crime series titled “Forensic Archives.”The yellow and blue colour palette was inspired by the tape that police use to secure a crime scene and the luminol chemical that detectives use to detect the presence of blood.

Promo Concept - Spark Batteries

This project was technically 3 separate assignments for different courses, and it’s interesting to see the evolution from start to finish. For my Typography class, we were randomly assigned a product and the brand archetype to base the design on, and I ended up getting AA batteries and the magician archetype. From there, I had to develop the brand name, tagline, colour palette, fonts, images, and animation style of the text that would best suit the archetype. The video below was the end result.

Following this assignment, I had to create digital ads for my battery product in my Visual Design course. Part of the requirements involved creating thumbnails and storyboards illustrating how each ad size would be animated.

Finally, for our Motion Design course, we had the opportunity to create a short product promo ad using a 3D model of our choice. I figured it was a good time as any to animate my battery product in Cinema 4D since I already completed most of the planning and design legwork in the two other assignments (final video at the top of this section). The sparks were animated in After Effects using the Trapcode Particular plugin.

A Small World - Miniature Pagoda

Using Cinema 4D, we had to model and animate a scene of our choosing, whether it was on land, underwater, in space, etc. At the time, my parents had recently come back from their trip to China and showed me photos of all the landmarks they visited. They toured through many pagodas during their holiday, and it inspired me to model one for my assignment.Following the advice of my motion design instructor, I utilized a lot of clonars in the model build, which helped streamline the animation process in the end.

Festival Promo Video – Winnipeg Fringe Festival

For this assignment in our Typography course, the type style and animation had to express the theme and personality of the festival event. Looking back at previous program designs and social media posts for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, I deduced that they fall under the brand archetypes of jester and outlaw, and selected a font and music style that seemed to fit those archetypes.The rectangular graphics mimic the shape of the letterforms and are a nod to the handbills that performers give out when promoting their shows.

Logo Animation - The North Face

Based on the brand guidelines for The North Face, I wanted to make the logo animation feel bold, extreme, and fast. After testing out some ideas, I decided to simulate a snowstorm and have the snow build the logo. I felt this concept meshed well with the sound effects I chose for the animation.

Frame by Frame Animation - Charleston & Harlow Promo Ad

In my Animation course, we had the opportunity to learn traditional frame-by-frame animation using Adobe Animate. I decided to animate a promo video for the Charleston & Harlow candle company since I felt this animation style would work well for a candle flame and smoke.The company has a scent collection called “Fernweh” to evoke scents for various places around the globe, including Indonesia, France, and Japan. As such, the video features famous landmarks from those places. I chose a calming colour palette of peaches, pinks, and purple to match the company’s brand and product packaging.

Leaf Rapids - Insomniac Show (Music Video)

My classmate and I filmed a music video for Leaf Rapids performing one of their songs called “Insomniac Show.” As this was a one-day shoot, we filmed the band doing their soundcheck at the Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club and returned to the venue later that evening to acquire B-roll of their performance, crowd shots, and bar ambience.Go check out their music in the link below:

• leafrapids.org

Motion Cinema - St. Boniface Cathedral

Filming this video was rather challenging as it got incredibly windy and rainy by the end of the shoot. Nonetheless, the weather conditions served as inspiration to composite wind lines over the footage. Tracking, rotoscoping, and colour grading were all done in After Effects.

Anything Can Be Cinematic - BMW Isetta

This assignment was a highlight reel to demonstrate that literally anything can be made cinematic. I wanted to experiment with dramatic lighting for this video and had a toy car as the perfect model for the setup. I acquired this car from the BMW Museum in Munich, Germany, and while the real-life BMW Isetta is no longer in production, I had fun bringing it to life with the lighting and music!

Showcase Video on RRC Polytech - Exchange District Campus

For this video assignment, we were tasked to create a showcase video for RRC Polytech that highlighted the positive aspects of the Exchange District Campus. I focused on the success of the architectural design using testimonials from students and B-roll footage of the campus. I wanted to showcase the ample natural light and harmony between the old and new buildings of the campus.

How-To Video - 3 Ways to Tie a Scarf

For this how-to video, I would’ve preferred to have a two-camera setup and film someone else doing the demonstration, but I was in a bit of a time crunch. Since I only had one camera to shoot with, I sketched out the shots and frame rates that I required to stay organized. Ultimately, I didn’t use all the shots in my video edit, but the list ensured that I got all the footage I needed with one camera setup before moving on to the next setup.To match the punchiness of the music, I went with bold colours for the text and graphics.