Craig Dennis
Head of Motion and Video
A minute of good motion can do wonders for your brand.
Craig heads up motion and video at Fuel, which is a grand way of saying he has After Effects and Premiere open most days and rather likes it that way. He works with clients, project managers and our Creative Director to carry a project from the first vague notion through to the finished thing. Sketching out concepts, style frames and storyboards early so everyone can see where it’s heading long before a single frame moves. He’s genuinely good at the conversation that happens at that stage too, the one where a client knows what they want but hasn’t quite found the words for it yet.
He arrived at Fuel after eleven years freelancing, which is a long time to spend being thrown at other people’s problems and a very effective way to learn. One month he’d be explaining a new drug for a pharmaceutical company, the next cutting social content for a sports team, with finance and tech filling the gaps in between. It taught him to listen properly to a brief and work out what a piece actually needs to achieve, rather than what it’s been asked for on paper.
There’s something special about taking static imagery and bringing it to life. Being part of a project as it grows from a rough idea into something finished and polished is a real privilege, and I’m always excited about whatever’s coming next.
Craig Dennis
Head of Motion and Video
Experience & Expertise.
His craft spans 2D, 2.5D and 3D, using After Effects and its vast array of plugins and effects to turn genuinely complicated products and technologies into something clear, watchable and, most importantly, rather exciting. Explainers, product films, social and event content all ask for something slightly different, and working out the right visual approach for each is the part he enjoys most. Event media has a particular hold on him, the whole sweep of it, from the social campaign beforehand to opening titles, speaker intros, digital signage and the visuals playing behind everyone at the evening do. The nightclub visuals he made for the iconic LIV in Las Vegas are still filed under one of the best weeks at the office.
He keeps a close watch on where animation is going, browsing Motionographer, Art of the Title and Stash for things that lodge at the back of his mind and resurface months later at exactly the right moment. He’s equally content hunting down a plugin that saves half a day in production, or a funny video worth sharing with the team, and he’ll happily admit the two searches often start the same way. He likes to keep a close eye on what’s happening in video and animation, while steering clear of some of the more viral Instagram trends. Dancing and ice buckets? Probably not his thing. What holds it all together is a simple belief that motion and video are the most generous way to explain something to someone, and that people deserve to be told things well.
