Rebecca Wass - Chop & Chop: Execution of a Tomato
-
Upload
rebecca-wass -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
0
description
Transcript of Rebecca Wass - Chop & Chop: Execution of a Tomato
List of Limitations
‐ Stop‐motion requires accuracy in re‐production, even the slightest movement or change in lighting changes the result all together and is very noticeable.
This might mean that all filming will have to take place in one day (5‐6
hours or more) instead of 1‐2 hours spread over a couple of days.
‐ Smaller scale set means bigger lights might overpower and flood the whole set, may have to consider smaller lights (small lamps?)
‐ Clay might melt under heat of lamps.
‐ Clay and wire structuring might not be sturdy enough to support the weight of lifting another object.
‐ Variety of angles may be limited because of the space chosen, not possible to get around behind the clay man.
‐ Movements like pans might be limited or difficult to do because the shots must line up to make the movement appear seamless.
‐ Reducing the amount of outside light. Blinds let in slats of light and light spills into the frame from other rooms. This will be a matter of getting the other people in the house to co‐operate with my shooting schedule.
‐ The time put into filming is much more than the duration of the finished product. Patience is key!
‐ Making the clay model will take a good chunk of time. Should plan this out so that I get it done with enough time to test it.
‐ Conveying/evoking emotion with a cast of inanimate objects.
List of Assets:
‐ Smaller set – easier to control all the elements involved.
‐ No need for a large crew.
‐ Easier to direct inanimate objects.
‐ Less/smaller equipment means less heavy lifting and extended set up times. This means more time can be spent on the actual shooting.
‐ Filming in my own kitchen, so no unnecessary travel time.
‐ This short film has no dialogue, so there will be no line/missed cue issues.
‐ Scheduling is at my convenience because I will need only one other crewmember.
‐ Simple set up and less variables involved in the set up process.
‐ Low cost, I will only have to pay for the modeling clay to make the figurine.
‐ Easy access to equipment, scheduled a time to borrow a camera, lights, and I own my own tripod
Creative/Technical Approach
The set is small so it’s going to be hard to configure lights. Looking at some of the
behind the scenes footage of “Wallace and Gromit” it’s clear that they rig some sort of bar
across the top of the set with special smaller sized lights. I don’t have the resources to
reproduce this rigging, and regular lights will most certainly over power the tiny set. I have
opted to try something a little risky, I am going to use desk lamps; they are the right size,
adjustable, and produce a clean and focused light. I want to pool the light, attempt a soft
spotlight effect to make the background less distracting; there’s a table and flowers and
chairs and windows in the background.
I want to try camera movements like pans and slow push‐ins, but it will be tricky to
achieve camera movement because stop‐motion is dependant on consistency and there is
not enough room to lay down a track to maintain the height of the camera. Consistency in
camera movement is going to be dependant on my patience and diligence in referring back
to the picture I just took and comparing it with my next setup.
The film itself should be short and sweet, the effort I put into it time‐wise will be far
greater than the running time. I made the story concise because I want to be able to
complete it on time and to the best of my abilities.
I’m modeling my own character after an early character out Aarman Studios called
“Morph” and the character “Gumby” From the movie “Gumby”. The feet have to be stable
enough to hold up a surprisingly heavy body, and the body itself will have to have some
sort of frame to support the body’s movements. The colour of the body is most likely going
to be purple because it stands out, but it could also be yellow (I’m leaning towards purple).
The finished product should not be hazed or overly soft looking, I really want a crisp
feel to the image. The colour should follow this sentiment, white with a slight yellow tone.
Crew and Equipment
‐ Canon 5D Mark II
‐ 4 desk lamps
‐ Tripod
‐ 2 extension chords
‐ 4 large flops
‐ 2 scrims (1/2 stop)
‐ Myself – director, cinematographer
‐ Patricia Collett – helped with adjustments to model and other items, and helped with setup.
Shooting Schedule
Shooting must be done in 1 day approx 6pm‐2am (light purposes)
1) Wide shot – run through
2) Bird’s eye – run through
3) Close up – Tomato
4) Close up – Knife
Conclusion
Ok, nothing really went as expected.
First, when I tested out my model’s ability to hold objects like the knife, it kept folding
and falling over. I tried inserting toothpicks to make the limbs rigid but it didn’t help. In
addition to being unable to support the weight of other objects, it was very difficult to make
the model’s limbs stay bent in simulation of bending at a joint. It was these two factors that
made my storyboarded idea impossible. I had to alter the story to fit the capabilities of my
clay model. Instead of being the main character, the clay man took a bit of a backburner
role. That is the reason why the film I submitted is much different from my storyboard.
After the little hiccups with the clay model, I had to alter the set I bit. Even though I
blocked out the light with the flops, the background was still fairly visible and somewhat
distracting. So I shifted the set over. The unfortunate aspect of that choice was that I had a
weird looking beige tile motif going on the background.
Aside from those “gifts”, I also underestimated the amount of time the shoot would take.
I planned for it to take between 6pm and 2am, but I planned it that way with the notion
that that was giving me cushion time; there was no cushion time.
I used two of my lights, which was slightly disappointing, but not surprising seeing as
too many lights would have overpowered the small scale set. One was the main spot, and
another I set back from the set a ways just to soften the look a bit. I really liked the shadow
effect that came from this choice. If I could do this project over again, I would film
something that played around with shadows and reflections.
Even though the constant adjustment and comparison was time consuming, I actually
enjoyed the fact that I could be as fussy about detail as I liked. ie I could and would reshoot
the same exact shot because the model had drooped slightly.
I like the finished product, it’s short and sweet as I said I wanted it to be, the colour is
crisp, and it flows together much better than I was expecting for my first try at stop‐
motion. There would definitely be things I would improve, such as the contrast, the variety
of different angles, and I could be even more careful with continuity. All in all, I think it
demonstrates attention to detail, an ability to convey story through images, and clear
lighting and artist choice.