Ankita Panda is an LA-based designer and motion director.
My biggest take away from Ankita's presentation is understanding her method of animation. She approaches it like system design instead of a straight ahead process.
What I learned most from her presentation was the value of building strong frameworks before worrying about expression. Instead of starting with emotion or story, she often starts with structure, and meaning emerges from how the system behaves over time. It made me rethink how I approach motion design, especially when working on more abstract projects.
Pause Play Repeat was Ankita’s thesis film at USC. The film is built entirely around looping graphic elements that expand and connect within one large composition. Everything feels smooth and effortless, but hearing her talk about it made it clear how much precision is involved. Each loop depends on careful calculations of space and timing, and feels more like a moving system rather than a narrative film. Every loop feels intentional, and nothing feels decorative or random. Learning how tightly controlled the animation is made me realize how much discipline is required to make something look simple.