Learning Report

Learning Report

I found these tests really useful in working out what needed further improvement and what worked well. I found that towards the end of the scene, while animating the set, the church at the back feel, so I held it in place for the last series of photographs. I decided not to re set the camera, as I wanted to see how it would look, as it was at the section of the animation where a riot ensues on stage, and I thought it might help give a troubled panicked feel. I found that I had the camera slightly slanted and had to move the set a fraction while shooting, but I feel this gives the piece a more fluid feel, rather than have the camera move in an exact straight line.

Through these things, I learnt that the placement of the camera and set are crucial to get correct before shooting, and although I was able to utilise these mistakes for effect, it is important to make sure everything is carefully planned before shooting.

The maquette, model and set building were not only educational, but very satisfying to create. As stop motion is a very hands on animation techqniue, I found these elements furthered this and out of all of them i think I learnt most about the set building aspect. Where as my set could have perhaps more detail on the brick work, and been built so it stood by itself more freely for longer periods of time, I am pleased that I was able to achieve the broke, old, run down feel that I was aiming for.

I also learnt that when compositing, it is necessary to animate using the right light, and with the pumpkin, I decided to leave some paint on the assotate for effect, but this would cause problems with keying at a later stage. It is also important that when using a variety of materials, that they still all aesthetically fit, otherwise the animation can loose its original visual style. However, I am pleased that I have tried a variety of materials and techniques, as it has given me an insight into the various aspects of working in stop motion, and the trials pitfalls of working with different textures and techniques. In this fully composited version, I found  the compositing needs work and I should try using motion tracking in future, I am pleased that for the main part that my elements fit well together. However, the pumpkin and the vines work less well, and do not seem to fit so easily into the scene. Next time I think I would animate these on the set as I photographed the camera movement, and use less clay to avoid weight problems. I was however pleased with the way that my lighting design worked. From a purple (the colour of magic) when the pumpkin turns into a coach, to a dank green when the witch is transported by a Centaur to the town, to then a orangey burning light while the crowd gathers, to dark red as the town burns down.

Research

Stop motion animation is the art of taking a photograph of an object, puppet, model, armature etc, and then moving the subject very slightly, then taking another photograph. Working on the premise of 24 photographs, or frames, can produce one seconds worth of 'moving image', multiple photographs are taken to produce a scene where action takes place and characters are brought to life. Where this differs from traditional film production, is that instead of actors moving about a setting and a camera taking photographs continuously, between each photograph a slight adjustment is made to an inanimate object. 

While Edward Muybridges' experiment with a racing horse is a good example of how seperate photos played together in sequence can give the illusion of movement, with stop motion, the subject is usually some sort of model or puppet, which when combined with the 12 principles of animation, and slight adjustments between each photograph, appear as living, things on screen.

Even though stop motion is animation, it has strong links with live action films in a variety of ways. Before computer animation or visual effects, stop motion was often used to create what could not be dont for real on a live action set. For example, in Fritz Langs 1927 science fiction epic 'Metropolis, stop motion was used to create a sense of movement in the scaled down models of the city, using animation to move model cars along model roads. It has also been used to create larger than life creatures and monsters for a range of films, notable in Don Chafey's 1963 film. 'Jason and the Argonauts' where Ray Harryhausen created the famous skeleton fight sequence. 

Below are some animations of my own, where i began to learn the process of this technique.

Character Design and Armatures

The look of a character in stop motion is key to giving an animation an overall look, much like the set. The design and aesthetic help give the film its visual style and can help set the tone of the story.

The kind of animation being used will also play a part in decided not only how the character looks, but also how it is made. To begin with, designs are drawn up and maquettes are made of each character, out of clay and foam. These help determine how much a design will look in reality, and also what size a character should be,  and in regards to other characters and the set.

Modelers then take the maquette and build a puppet, using wires, sculpy and small silicone fixtures.
Often, different faces will be made, to allow for lip syncing, and often these will include mouth shapes for the different phonemes, different brows, eyes, lips, teeth and eyes to help create expressions and give the puppet more life like reactions.

My main character was the fairy Godmother from Cinderella. I looked at various images of fairies and vintage ball gowns to decide upon the look of my character.

This is the design I came up with.

For my fairy godmother, I created a maquette out of clay, and then used modeling tools to give her detail. I used blue foam to give her a large dress, much like wooden frames were used on large ball gowns in the 1800's.

Although I am planning to use a 2D character for the Fairy godmother, iT was still very useful for me to see a 3D version of her. it helped me to imagine her movement capabilities and how her wings and dress would move when I animated her.

Below, is a painted model of my character with costume and wings, which i adapted from the first maquette I made.

The trouble I had with making this model, was that when baking, it can sometimes crack and the model was unable to stand afterwards. my sewing skills are not that good, but even with a simple costume I was able to gain a sense of how the character felt in 3D. I did however revert back to my original design though, as I preferred the madness to her facial expression and the younger looking figure.