Pre-Production.
Stop-motion has been around for over 100 years. So for my BTEC Level 3 TV & Film course I have been given the assignment to make a 30 second stop-motion production. After considering all the thing that make up animation to me I created a Mood Board.
These are some of the things I think of when I think of animation. If I was asked this question 20 years ago one of the answers would have been TOYS! But now being an adult I find myself enjoying animation as an escape from the mundane and predictable. Animation has a trick of making the unbelievable completely believable to the viewers if done properly. Character such as Buzz Lightyear and the Minions are so popular it is hard to consider them just as character from an animation. With all of this in mind and how I have a limited time of 30 seconds in conjunction with budget and time constraints I started to consider what could I do? It was then that I remembered the TV series The Inbetweeners. The opening for The Inbetweeners used pixalation stop-motion for their opening sequence.
Where I work on my college's student new show, Student Life, Student View, I realized how we did not have an official opening sequence yet. So I began to think what I could do.
After considering all sorts of options I decided to take four photographs of certain areas of the college that are recognisable to the entire student body. I chose the college sign on the side of the college, the main reception area, the library and one of the college entrances.
After considering all sorts of options I decided to take four photographs of certain areas of the college that are recognisable to the entire student body. I chose the college sign on the side of the college, the main reception area, the library and one of the college entrances.
My idea was to rip the images into 6 pieces and have the pieces individually come into frame and eventually group up to create the complete image. After about half a second the image would break up and the pieces move out ready for the next image's pieces to move in to frame. The final image would be a fifth image which would be the college logo and the words "Student Life, Student View".
With it in mind that this was to be aimed at the average 16-19 year old so I had to go for music that would be bouncy to accompany my stop-motion. But I decided to not find the piece I would use until the stop-motion was completed so I could make sure the moving image and the sound worked together.
My next step was to create a storyboard to illustrate my idea.
My next step was to create a storyboard to illustrate my idea.
Production.
As I was working alone on my production I decided being organised had to be my main priority. So I began doing some calculations to make sure I took the correct number of photos to cover 30 seconds with me need 24 images per second. Then I took that number and divided it into 5 to ensure each image had the same amount of time onscreen. To ensure this I took note of what number I should see on the images by the end of each scene and a small chart to keep track of photos being taken as I took them.
As I came to start shooting my stop-motion I decided it might seem a bit boring. So I decided to add in items common to the majority of students, so I found a pen, pencil, ruler, rubber, sharpener, scissors and correction pen.
Then I remembered I had a set of 5 highlighters which each had a superhero on them. So with the stationary acting as co-stars my highlighters became the stars of my stop-motion with them being dubbed, Power Orange, Captain Blue, Super Green, Ninja Yellow and Ms Pink. With my characters decided on, pictures ready and the camera set up I was ready to begin shooting.
Post-production.
After nearly 7 hours the production was completed. I then began looking for music. After searching on various website I finally located a track perfect for the stop-motion.
Music Credit: "Funk Game Loop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Music Credit: "Funk Game Loop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Personal Evaluation.
All in all I am pleased with my final production. It was the first time I had attempted to make a stop-motion and discovered truly how much work it takes to make a completed production.
The first thing I noticed was the slightly shaky result of the final production. While this would normally annoy me as it lacks true professionalism I decided in this instance it works. College for many young people is a uncertain time and a time for self-discovery. So the shaking if nothing represents the uncertain times ahead for any student.
I also noticed I used a stationary camera angle. While it is not as dynamic as shooting from various angles for the purposes of what I was filming varying angles would not have worked as the primary focus behind my stop-motion were 2D images.
I would have also given each image more time on screen as a completed image, but being my first stop-motion I assumed about a second would be good enough, but it did seem like they were flying in and then out of the production quite quickly. If nothing else it has given me a greater understanding of how a single second is sometimes not enough when in stop-motion.
I think my music goes extremely well with the quick tempo of the stop-motion and adds to the fun side as the "Hero Highlighters" swoop in and out of the production.
Lighting is also something I had to keep an eye on during the production. With the light changing throughout the day I would find myself having to close blinds to exclude natural light so the entire production was shot under artificial lighting.
I do think my organisation before the production was a massive factor behind the entire process being completed without any issues from start to finish. If I had not taken note of the photo number required or keeping track of what I had photographed I would have been constantly counting photos to check where I was in the production.
If I had not made the decision to add characters aside from the images I think my production would have been quite boring to watch for 30 seconds, where with the highlighters and stationary added it adds variation and to a certain extent comedy as the highlighters come in a remove the image.
I also think I made the right choice going to an opening sequence to a TV program as to conceive and tell a story in 30 seconds is difficult. Where an opening to a TV program does not necessarily have to do this, as long as the message of what the show is about is being received by the viewer it has done its job.
Normally I would have looked into making a risk assessment for a production but as I was working alone it seemed kind of irrelevant as I should be aware of any hazards around me during filming and it was filmed on a table top surface massively reducing risks.
The first thing I noticed was the slightly shaky result of the final production. While this would normally annoy me as it lacks true professionalism I decided in this instance it works. College for many young people is a uncertain time and a time for self-discovery. So the shaking if nothing represents the uncertain times ahead for any student.
I also noticed I used a stationary camera angle. While it is not as dynamic as shooting from various angles for the purposes of what I was filming varying angles would not have worked as the primary focus behind my stop-motion were 2D images.
I would have also given each image more time on screen as a completed image, but being my first stop-motion I assumed about a second would be good enough, but it did seem like they were flying in and then out of the production quite quickly. If nothing else it has given me a greater understanding of how a single second is sometimes not enough when in stop-motion.
I think my music goes extremely well with the quick tempo of the stop-motion and adds to the fun side as the "Hero Highlighters" swoop in and out of the production.
Lighting is also something I had to keep an eye on during the production. With the light changing throughout the day I would find myself having to close blinds to exclude natural light so the entire production was shot under artificial lighting.
I do think my organisation before the production was a massive factor behind the entire process being completed without any issues from start to finish. If I had not taken note of the photo number required or keeping track of what I had photographed I would have been constantly counting photos to check where I was in the production.
If I had not made the decision to add characters aside from the images I think my production would have been quite boring to watch for 30 seconds, where with the highlighters and stationary added it adds variation and to a certain extent comedy as the highlighters come in a remove the image.
I also think I made the right choice going to an opening sequence to a TV program as to conceive and tell a story in 30 seconds is difficult. Where an opening to a TV program does not necessarily have to do this, as long as the message of what the show is about is being received by the viewer it has done its job.
Normally I would have looked into making a risk assessment for a production but as I was working alone it seemed kind of irrelevant as I should be aware of any hazards around me during filming and it was filmed on a table top surface massively reducing risks.
Peer Evaluation.
I have present my peers with the following feedback sheet so I can evaluate how my production has been received by others.
Feedback from my peers was generally good. Some even said it was better than stop-motion productions they had completed.
Based on these results it is safe to say the opening sequence was well received. All the result being above the halfway mark clearly indicate that it was popular with viewers.
It is safe say people thought that the music fitted well with the moving imagery. I think the tempo of the song helped as it was a similar pace to the footage.
On the whole the majority enjoyed the character. One person did not realise the "Hero Highlighters" where the characters. This could be down to that viewer seeing them as inanimate objects rather than a typical moving character.
The majority of the viewers found the final production quirky which I am pleased with as it is the direction I was aiming for a quirky/amusing video.
Viewers enjoyed the torn pictures being used as it was different than having a pictures simply moving in and out of the frame.
One viewers commented on the fluid animation and how the use of ordinary objects in the stop-motion.
One viewer did say they felt 30 seconds was to long for a TV opening sequence.
Viewers enjoyed the torn pictures being used as it was different than having a pictures simply moving in and out of the frame.
One viewers commented on the fluid animation and how the use of ordinary objects in the stop-motion.
One viewer did say they felt 30 seconds was to long for a TV opening sequence.
Conclusion.
I feel confident in saying that my stop-motion was a success and that it has been well received by the viewers. Based on the feedback I can also see where I could improve on the technique for future stop-motion projects.