Video and Sound Production - Final Project / Stop Motion

23.05.24 - 26.07.24（Week 5-Week14）

Qian Guoyi (0369462)

Video and Sound Production/ BDCM

Final Project：Stop Motion

LECTURES 

Stop Motion Animation

Freeze Frame Practice - Test Shots

Week10:

During this week, Mr. Martin introduced us to stop-motion animation and asked us to practice shooting.

Prepare all materials below for week 10 shooting. For the paper cut, please have all the characters, props ready for the shooting. 

All group members are obliged to support group leader in preparing stop-motion materials. All group members must share the expenses.

Venue: Photo Studio, E1.01.

Clay: The Cost of the Call 1st scene: 00:04-00:13

Paper cut: Adopt Don't Shop 2nd scene: 00:19-00:43

Filmed with a mobile phone:

Shooting with a camera:

INSTRUCTIONS

Here are three of my favorite stop motion animations.

Fig1.Fresh Guacamole by PES | Oscar

Nominated Short

This is a very classic stop-motion animation short film - Fresh Guacamole by PES, which was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination. This may seem like a process of making sauce, but it actually has a thought-provoking meaning. I like the author to use novel ideas to express his deep thoughts. I think this is very powerful. It can be seen from the video that the author uses special things to make the sauce. For example, he uses grenades as avocados and gambling currency as the food for dipping the sauce. This is to tell people that the essence of war is gambling. War It cost a lot of money, and the author used stop-motion animation to express his hope for world peace. The overall expression is very smooth, and it is a very deep stop-motion animation.

Fig2.Brown Forest

I really like this stop-motion animation plot, which tells the story of mother rabbit and baby rabbit living a happy life, but the sudden appearance of wire creatures ruthlessly tore this beautiful moment into pieces. Although the protagonist is made of paper, the overall expression is very smooth and has a strong sense of content. Of course, this short film also has a deep meaning. The author actually wants to express the damage to the natural environment during the process of urban industrialization. It not only brings people rich plot stories, but also guides people to think deeply.

Fig3.Kung Fu Steamed Bun Stop Motion Animation

Although this stop-motion animation is not as plot-driven and thought-provoking as the two above, what I like is the texture of these things. Everything in the animation is made of wool felt. I think this is very interesting. Although it seems simple, every item and scene is very interesting and well done. The whole thing is very smooth.

Week10:

Shooting Stop Motion

1. Pre-production: Prepare storyboards, record each shot, collect sound clips, prepare materials, make puppets and backgrounds

2. Shooting:

Shooting with phone camera: Shoot using Stop Motion app

- Mount phone on tripod

- Use manual exposure and focus

- Shoot in daylight, but use artificial lighting

- Choose JPEG L/Fine

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Editing Stop Motion

- Can be edited (cropped) in Adobe Premiere Pro or Adobe After Effects

Resolution size: 1920 x 1080

Wonderful octopus ball house proposal:

Week11:

We bought props and built Octopus Balls' house. After preparing other props, we started shooting.

Fig Material

Shooting attempt：

Week12:

This week, we combined all the photos we took into a video, found various background music, and edited the video.

Fig Video Editing

Final film：

Feedback

Week10:

We submitted our proposal this week, and Mr. Martin gave us some suggestions on how we could make the story more episodic.

Week12:

This week, we edited the stop-motion animations we shot and made a video to show to Mr. Martin, who suggested that we could agree on the tone of the video to make it more cohesive. 

Reflection

A crucial part of stop motion animation is the planning and preparation phase. Every scene, prop, and character position must be precisely designed to ensure the animation's smoothness. During this process, I came to appreciate the value of storyboarding, which helped me clearly plan each frame's actions and angles, avoiding confusion and uncertainty during post-production.

During the shooting process, I encountered challenges such as even the slightest camera movement or lighting change impacting the final animation. This made me realize the importance of details, as even the smallest mistake could disrupt the animation's coherence. Through continuous adjustments and trials, I gradually learned how to maintain camera stability and lighting consistency.

Stop motion animation demands patience and creativity. This experience improved my technical skills and deepened my appreciation for the effort involved in animation. It also sparked my interest in further exploration and experimentation in future projects.