VSP Final Project- Stop Motion
27/10/2023 - 8/12/2023 / Week 9 - Week 15
Lim Jia Zhen / 0349294
Video & Sound Production / Bachelor in Mass Communication (Hons) in Advertising and Brand Management
Project 3: Stop Motion
INSTRUCTIONS
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PROJECT 3: STOP MOTION
Our assignment for this project is to create a stop-motion film. The video must have a maximum of two characters, 1080p screen resolution, and 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, and we can utilise music, sound effects, and voiceovers for the video. We have the option of working alone or in groups of two. The video is required to be 60 seconds long for groups and 30 seconds long for individuals.
For this video I decided to work individually. I first searched for some stop motion video inspiration from YouTube.
1. 'Archie
"Archie" is a captivating stop-motion short film about Archie’s journey to his late aunt's home in Scotland with his loyal pet dog. I really like this stop motion animation, the meticulously designed sets, every scene looks so beautiful and the lighting is perfect. Also, the extraordinary attention to detail using wool for characters and effects like fire, shows remarkable creativity. I also like the scene where tears are streaming down through Archie’s face. I was amazed by how they make it look so smooth and realistic.
2. "Lost & Found"
Through meticulously crafted visuals, the film beautifully portrays the bond between a crochet toy fox and a dinosaur. Its deliberate lack of dialogue emphasises the power of visual storytelling, and yet the emotions on all the character's faces were so well done, which allows me to empathise and relate to the characters deeply. Each frame is a work of art, meticulously crafted with attention to detail, lighting, and composition, which not only brings the characters to life but also creates an immersive and enchanting world for the audience. As I will also be working with toy animals, I hope I could achieve a similar outcome to that of the film.
This short stop motion film is about a lonely snowman who builds a friend for himself but their friendship did not last. The meticulous attention to detail in crafting the facial expressions of both snowmen is truly astonishing. The way they stretch, bounce, and emote in every movement adds a remarkable depth to their characters, making them incredibly lifelike despite being made of clay. The gradual transformation, as the friend starts to melt away, is a testament to the incredible skill and artistry of the animators. It's truly remarkable how they've brought such a natural and realistic quality to the melting process using stop-motion animation with clay. Though I won't use clay for my stop motion, the detailed background with its house, sky, and trees inspires my project. I aim to create a similar immersive environment for my stop-motion animation, drawing from its visual depth and atmosphere to enrich my storytelling.
IDEATION
I want to create a narrative that highlights a valuable lesson through an adventurous tale. After going through some references from youtube, I ended up choosing a theme like respect for others' belongings by using cute characters to portray this story.
STOP MOTION PROPOSAL
STORYBOARD
I sketched out my storyboard and added descriptions in each of the scenes.
PRE-PRODUCTION
I first created a cheese because it is an essential element in the story. I made this using clay and utilized a pink tool to poke holes in the cheese.
These are the main characters of the story. The rabbit dressed in a pink dress is Mrs. Rabbit, whereas the little rabbit beside her is Jason. and the fork with the sad face is Mr. Fork.
SET DESIGN
This was actually the first set design I created by using a large cloth as the background and there is only one house and a garden. However when I was filming the video, the background cloth keeps moving due to the wind and I realised the set design was a little too simple.
Then I added another house and changed the background using blue manila paper as the sky and green manila paper as the grass. There's also another garden and The set design looks so much beter compared to the previous one.
This is what the top view looks like. As you can see, there's a piano on the balcony of the small house, it is for Jason to play in the story. And
PRODUCTION
This was filmed in the first set design. I showed Mr. Martin my progress and got his feedback. He said that the background cloth was moving, and I kept blocking the light so some of the scenes appeared dark. Also, I could add more movement to the characters in the fighting scene, and make the characters face front while eating the cheese.
Then I acknowledged my mistakes and tried to film in the second set design and added some more scenes and it definitely looks so much better than the previous one.
I didn't block the light this time. However the lighting keeps changing in every scene. I did try to fix the issue but it didn't work, so I thought maybe I could fix this through colour correction in Adobe Premiere Pro.
POST-PRODUCTION
Once I'm done filming, I imported all the clips to Adobe Premiere Pro and rearranged the scenes according to the storyboard.
Next, I made basic corrections in the lighting and colors for all the scenes.
I then used Adobe Illustrator to create thumbnails for the intro and outro of the stop motion video. Since the title is 'Cheddar Chase' and the main element in the story is cheese, I used the pen tool to create various types of cheese.
Then I imported the animation to Adobe Premiere Pro and place it at the intro and outro. I also added the title anf my name in the video. As for the outro, I typed "DON'T TAKE WHAT IS NOT YOURS" to emphasise the valuable lesson from the story. I also added video transition in the intro and putro of the clip.
Then I imported all the sound effects and background music to Adobe Premiere pro and added audio transitions to all the audios.
I then added the pitch shifter effect in the ,little rabbit Jason's voiceover by increasing the semi-tones because it needed to sound more childlike.
I also added the pitch shifter effect to Mr. Fork's voiceover by decreasing the semi tone and make it sound like a man.
FINAL STOP MOTION VIDEO
Embarking on this project was an enjoyable journey. I have faced some challenges during the filming process, such as lighting issues and set design hurdles. However, everything worked out through trial and error, and I'm thankful I didn't give up. At first, I thought that filming would be the hardest part. However, as the process progressed, I found that editing turned out to be an even more difficult task. The editing procedure required meticulous attention to detail, from carefully adding transitions to fine-tuning colour adjustments and flawlessly synchronising audio. This made the project a little time-consuming. Completing the project brought about an overwhelming sense of fulfilment and pride. This experience not only instilled a deep satisfaction but also ignited a newfound inspiration within me. It propelled my desire to craft more intricate and imaginative stop-motion projects in the future.
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