prototype

Sean ProctorPrototype Project

IntroductionFor this prototype project I have been experimenting with different styles of stop frame animation, in order to find the right style that will suite me for my final project. I feel a slightly confused into which medium I should use to carry out this project. My original idea was to use card and photographs to create an emerging town whilst someone walks through it. The per-son walking would be made out of individual photographs that would be placed one in front of the other to give the effect of the photograph magically walking around. As this is happening, the further the man walks, the more buildings, paths, roads and much more would appear beside him.

I was pretty sure on my idea and felt that if it was executed correctly, it would be very effec-tive. So I decided to start making some stop frame animations made from card, just simple ones to get the idea of the fundamentals. Straight away I found out how important it is having the right equipment, more so then the actual content of the animation.

This document will show you my experimentations and different methodology used to explore the area of stop frame animation.

Idea“Card Motion”

FACEBOOKI came up with this idea of creating an analogue version of Face-book. As I wanted to get more experience in using paper and card I thought this would be a good opportunity to practice moving multiple pieces at the same time. I also liked the fact that practi-cally everyone uses Facebook, so it would have a big target audi-ence. The general idea worked out really well, I managed to get the various pieces working at the same time, and it managed to look like an analogue version of the digital, my fall backs lied with the equipment I was using.

I was using all my own equipment, because I had never shot a stop motion before I thought my tripod and lamps would be perfect……..I was wrong. Because my tripod is extremely light weight, it didn’t have the stability needed to cancel out any camera movement when the picture was taken. I also then found out that the lights were far too dull and that I needed daylight bulbs to get the effect I was looking for.

FacebookI’m going to re-do this animation and cover the points I have just mentioned. With a stronger tripod that will be able to look down at a 90 degree angle, I will be able to have more control over the stability, I will also use a wireless remote, this will stop any unwanted movent. I will also invest or borrow some proper high powered lamps with daylight bulbs. Once updated, these problems, should go away and i think this will be a really nice piece to be proud of.

http://vimeo.com/30668224

Red BullThis was another little card animation I created for a red bull competition, I actually just used their brief for another way of experimenting with card, I had no expectation to enter it. I created the can out of a toilet tube with a paper sleeve to go around it; I faintly draw the red bull logo onto the front of the sleeve so the camera wouldn’t be able to pick it up. I then started to take the pictures, each picture I took I added one line of colour. It took a while to cover the whole can but I think the end result was quite good and very satisfying.

I managed to change the lighting on this animation by experiment-ing with the exposure and white balance on my camera. I think I ruined the animation by adding the digital red bull man flying out of the can at the end, it didn’t go with the rest of paper and card feel and I think I was just trying to find a quick easy way out.

Red BullOne thing I really need to learn when creating a stop motion is commitment. Once you start it, you need to follow it through with the same enthusiasm the whole way. I think what I tend to do is start the animation with high hopes and being quite excited about it, but gett bored or frustrated and talking myself out of the idea. I realise now that it is all down to planning, lots and lots of careful planning. If I keep track of where I am, where I need to be and how I’m going to do that, then everything will go a lot more smoothly. I must also include the time element of the planning allowing myself sufficient time to complete the project.

Freeze LightThis idea came to me when I was searching the internet for inspiration and came across a video called Freeze Lighting. I was instantly drawn to this video because of the beautiful colours shown on the thumbnail before clicking into the video. Freeze Lighting is when you set your cam-era to a long shutter speed, with a low exposure and take pictures in the dark, whilst someone uses a torch or any light source to create patterns. These are some pictures taken from a company called Freezelight.ru.

Freeze LightAfter seeing some of the photographs produced by FREEZ-ELIGHT.RU I decided to try some of my own, it took me a while to get to grips with the exposures, shutter speeds and ISO levels, but the photographs got better every time.

Freeze LightAfter experimenting taking the photo’s myself, I really enjoyed the anticipation of waiting to see what the image would come out like. I found that this technique can be very powerful if used in the right way, so I decided to create a number of stop motion animation out of the same technique. I made a number of small animations using various different lights; torch, bike lights, multiple light attached to a rod, fairy lights. I was quite pleased with some of the out-comes, and these were only small animations, if I do one on a much bigger scale I think it will have a great effect.

This is an edit I created combining freeze lighting and different useses of light, I think it’s quite effective and can pitcure it in a club or bar somewhere.


InfluencesJohnny Kelly

Throughout this project I have managed to get inspiration and generate ideas by researching into my chosen practice. One of the artists that gave me the most inspiration and the idea of creating a stop frame animation was art director Johnny Kelly.

He originally comes from Ireland and studied at the Dublin Institute of Technology, he then moved to The Royal College of Art where he completed an MA in animation. The two pieces that made me want to do a stop frame animation was “The Seed” and “Back to The Start”. Both of these animations have the smoothest movements to them and are driven by a simple yet diverse idea.

The Seedhttp://vimeo.com/3715286

Back To The Starthttp://vimeo.com/28349065

InfluencesFreezelight.ru

This company Freezelight.ru is the reason why I wanted to change my idea from paper to light. As soon as I saw their work I instantly wanted to create my own freeze light images. They have found a concept and stuck with 100%, and in doing that, they have managed to create a style of their own and are pretty much the pioneers of this genre. There website had lots of useful hints and tips about getting the best out of your images.

http://www.freezelight.ru/category/english/

ConclusionThis prototype project has been really helpful, not only has it made me realise what I’m going to do for my final project, but it has made me realise how much effort is going to be needed to be put in next semester. This project has been like a journey through process’s and practices, I have started with an idea that I was quite set on, but got distracted and hit a cross roads when I dis-covered the freeze light effect. Instead of just trying out this techniuqe in my spare time for my own personal project I decided to change my hole idea to a stop frame animation within this genre. After playing around with this idea I now realise that the possibilties with this idea arnt as flexibile as my original.

I am glad I got to grips with the techniuqe because I will deffinantly use it in the future, but cant help feeling that I wasted some valuble time in the process. I’m going to carry on with using card for my stop motion and perfect my style over the Christmas holidays, so by the time semes-ter two starts I wont need to waste any more time trying out things, I can just go straight into the project.

I’m also diserpointed that I didn’t get chance to finish my “Facebook” animation as I wanted to re-do the one I did at the beginning and improve on the negative within it, which was quite a lot. I’m going to make the animation a lot longer, and by using the right equipment; lamps, tri-pod, remote and getting the lighting sorted etc, I think I will be ready to tackle my final project.

Bibliographyhttp://www.freezelight.ru/category/english/


http://www.nexusproductions.com/directors/johnny-kelly



http://www.stopmotionpro.com/

prototype

Documents

Transcript of prototype