When Buck Hit Me-Part I: The Spark

Motion GraphicsCareerExploration2D3DCodeAI
Written By rchen s



I. The Moment Everything Shifted

Every creative has that moment, the one that rearranges your idea of what’s possible.
Mine happened long before I understood what “motion graphics” even was.

In undergrad, my world was built around traditional animation. Characters talking. Storyboards with dialogue. Linear stories I followed because someone told me that’s what “animation” meant. But none of it sparked me deeply.

One afternoon, during a routine portfolio class session, our teacher pulled up a playlist of animated shorts. Most were familiar: small narrative pieces, student films, straightforward storytelling.

And then a single sequence appeared on the screen.

Within seconds, I felt the air shift.

II. When I First Saw The Spectacle of the Unreal

The piece was The Spectacle of the Unreal, created by Buck for David Blaine’s 2016 ABC special.

At that time, I didn’t know:

  • who Buck was

  • what a motion studio did

  • or even what motion graphics meant

But I knew one thing with absolute clarity:

This didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen.

The visuals melted into each other with surreal logic.
Textures breathed.
Shapes carried emotion.
Transitions felt like thoughts shifting inside a dream.

It wasn’t narrative animation.
It was poetry, told through transformation.

I turned to my teacher and whispered, “Was this made by a student?”

She laughed.

“No. This is Buck … One of the best studios in the world.”

In that moment, something clicked in my mind.
Something rearranged itself permanently.

III. Growing Up in a Place Without Motion Graphics

When I discovered that Buck piece, “motion graphics” barely existed where I lived.

In China at that time, animation usually meant:

explainer videos/ UI walkthroughs/ feature introductions

Functional. Informational.

But not expressive.

Nothing like what I just saw: a piece that used design to create emotion. not explanation.

For the first time, I saw that animation didn’t need characters talking.

It didn’t even need a traditional story.

Motion itself could be the story.

rchen s
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When Buck Hit Me-Part II: The Shift