Artcenter Berlin Project FA25: Berlin on Stage
Video file
Graduates
Jared Rodriguez
BFA in Graphic Design — Graphic DesignCourse:
Artcenter Berlin Project FA25: Berlin on Stage
Faculty:
Michael Sans, Robert Ball
Term:
2025 Fall
DREISATZ
Dreisatz, which is an old German saying that translates to “Rule of Three.” A motion design project informed by direct engagement with Berlin’s cultural, social, and urban environments during a three-month study-away semester. Grounded in observation and lived experience, the project explores how individual perspectives can be shaped by the same city.
The film follows three different young people navigating life in Berlin, each with their own routines, environments, and personal moments. While the subjects never interact directly, the city itself becomes the central thread connecting their stories. Berlin acts as both setting and narrator.
Process:
Blob tracking is used to highlight subtle movements and gestures that are often overlooked during everyday interactions. By isolating and following these small shifts, hands moving, bodies adjusting, glances passing, the technique draws attention to the micro-moments that shape social encounters but typically go unnoticed.
A thermal heat overlay is layered into certain sequences to visualize the energy present in social environments. This effect exaggerates the sense of activity and intensity within shared spaces, suggesting how much emotional and physical energy is exchanged during moments of interaction.
Datamoshing is used as a transitional device to blend the three perspectives. Instead of cutting cleanly between scenes, the visuals glitch and melt into one another, creating a fluid shift between subjects. This technique helps generate a simultaneous feeling throughout the video, reinforcing the idea that these separate experiences are unfolding within the same city at the same time.
Between these sequences, fast-moving, flashing typography acts as a narrative layer that threads the film together.
Project Website: