Stop motion evaluation

My original brief was to make a stop motion animation for the first 30 seconds of
a music video. With my idea I had I had to negotiate with the brief because I
couldnt portray my idea in the 30 seconds set, I managed to ask for 10 more
seconds to fulfil my diea.my we could use any material that we liked I chose to
use people because both of my ideas were specific to the human movement and
mind set. I never liked my first idea, it was going to be a stop motion of someone
running on a track. it would have looked like a more dramatic version of Edward
Muybridges work when he examined how horses run. The idea came from a
song by arcade fire called ready to start. Its very upbeat and the song made
me think of the beginning of a race. This idea never clicked with me as a director.
Whenever I have an idea I think of what I would like to watch. To me this idea
was very boring and had no edge to it.
About two weeks later I had the idea of a man who is drowning in self destruction
because society is reflecting his pain on them back on him. He takes drugs, gets
violent and hates himself for it because no is understanding he is crying out for
help. To create this was incredibly strenuous. I had a 2 week space to film it but
the organising that went on was difficult, to get actors and props together. I had
two different styles of tackling the subject and the character. The first idea I had
started with a flash back, it was of a man with a chalk outline on the ground and
numbered evidence cards dotted around him to imply that my character had
killed this man then realizing what he had done. It then goes to a black out (end
of flashback),it then goes to a clip of him taking a drug with a knife/blade against
his wrist. It blacks out again but this time he is fighting with the man who was
seen dead at the beginning. This bit would be shot in a studio with a green
screen and lights.
My second idea which became the finished product came about from one of my
actors. He was ill before we finished shooting the first plan. Looking at what I had
previously shot I realized it was all a bit too much of a contrast between the
scenes and that the message wasnt being show. This was because the scenes
were going too quickly and that I didnt allow the viewer to think about the story
or the message. The fact that it didnt flow in chronological order also messed up
the portrayal of the story. I came to the conclusion screw it all, lets start over.
Same character with the same egotistical path of self-destruction. I decided to
cut out the flashback scene. The basic scene lay out was similar, I kept the part
where he takes the drug and brings the blade up against his wrist except it skips
to each scene by delving into his high eyes. The scene were the two are fighting
was filmed in the studio like beforehand except I did not use the green screen or
the studio lights like i last intended. I used a projector and placed my actors
between the light and the wall so that the video I played would project on to
them. This had a very drug-riddled atmosphere around it .this was hands down
my favourite scene to shoot because aesthetically it is different but when you
watch the scene it hits a spot of nostalgia that you never lived. It looks like
something from an Andy Warhol tribute gallery. Without noticing I took a lot of
inspiration from the 60s art movement in this brief. In the way that art in the 60s
was reaching as high as possible and trying to float away from business and
revolt I can see that in my work there was a definite drift between the surreal

and real. Compared to the 60s art, mine was very much stuck between the real
and surreal and in some ways I think that it could evoke people in this way.
Films and photographs in the 60s were very drug influenced with the focus being
on contrasting characters; from rock stars to drifters. My stop motion animation
is very similar (in the story telling). I came up with my character buy the beat
movement. Lucien Freud was a huge influence on my main character. Lucien
freud was a manic depressive who was hell bent on changing people into the
opposite of what they were. He filled himself up with drugs and alcohol. I tried to
portray this in my character but was very had as I only had forty seconds and
there could be no speech as then you wouldnt be able to hear the music which
is the main focus when making a music video. The last scene is the camera
panning out of his eye into the realisation that the world is greater than the
feeling of getting high and then getting angry.
When I was shooting the stop motion I never realised how much effort went into
creating a piece stop motion. As I wasnt using a material like clay or Lego , I was
using people so I could make a realistic and dramatic narrative. This means to
score a good grade id have to add a lot of detail in to the animation. This detail is
what took so long, the detail that was shown led the viewers to understand the
story and emotions. For example the first two scenes where he takes the drug,
the next scene is of him with a trippy video projected on his face laughing and
crying. Running through all sorts of emotions. This is representing the drug in
action. The video I played I had projected was chosen not because it was the first
one I saw but I looked at many videos and this video I thought represented the
world in which my character lives in. the video shows marching trees in a dark
forest. This symbolises the people are like marching slaves and the dark (which is
covering the majority of the screen) symbolises businesses and money that is
brain washing people to become slaves to the majority. Things like that, the
small things are what adds to the drama and tension.
While shooting the two projection scene I came across a major problem. I
couldnt stop the video every time I needed to take a picture otherwise I would
lose my position because Id be stretching from the screen and model to the
computer. I needed to make the shutter speed a lot quicker, while changing it, I
somehow changed a setting on my camera which stopped light coming through. I
shot three scenes changing the exposure and still the pictures were black. It
came to dead line day and I was running out of time and my camera was still
screwed up, luckily I had a media expert (Sarah X) to fix it. I had an hour and a
half to shoot and edit it all together which I managed. It defiantly taught me that
before filming I should practice with my settings on the set and check if it all
works well with the environment.
I edited the pictures at 24 frames per second and baring in mine my video is 40
seconds long . This meant that in the final video there were 1920 pictures
because I set each picture was set for two frames not one as it would run a lot
smoother and easier to see what was happening. I came to these setting
because when I had edited past animations I set it as 1 picture per frame and it
went way too quickly and even I couldnt see what was happening.

I dont think the animation business is for me because of my lack of

understanding about what needs to go into it. With each different material I
couldnt understand the preparation that goes into it, that is partly why I chose
to use people. I could just direct them with what to do and in that sense I didnt
really develop my skills. I have been on the directing end of my productions for
the best part of a year and a half. Directing people in stop motion felt easy
because there was such little movement and as I was taking the pictures I didnt
need to direct a camera man. I understood what I needed to do. I like to
challenge myself when Im creating a video whether its to do with lighting or
props, as a camera man getting stranger shots or as a director coming up with
ideas that are unique and make people with by test codes and conventions. I
dont think I achieved the goal of testing myself because I just stuck to the
normal codes and conventions of music videos. I did change camera angles and
use varied shots but that was just because it came naturally to me as a camera
man.
If I were to test myself I would have defiantly chosen a material that would have
made me think more about movement and it would have changed the way I look
at how people move when im directing In future videos. In the stop motion, as a
camera man I realised its a lot prettier and effective if the camera moves with
the actor; so the actors leads the camera. I wouldnt use this technique all the
time but I would defiantly use it a lot more because it gives a wider portrayal of
the characters image and emotions. I knew this technique worked but I had
never tried it and I think stop motion taught me how to balance the camera
around the actors body. It was good learning experience on the directing end but
my decisions for my project didnt test me enough and I think that if I were to go
into the animation industry then I would either stick to the camera work side of
the production. As I director I dont think id push an idea to its full potential.

I sent out surveys at the beginning of the pre-production and at the end of the
entire production. In the first survey I asked if my idea was suitable to not only
the song but for the target audience who happened to be fans of cage the
elephant and from the ages of 15 plus. i sent it out to ten people and each one of
them said yes it is suitable to both. In the survey after the entire production
when the same ten people had seen the finished product; same question was
asked but this time the age of the target audience had risen. So much had
changed during the production, it got a lot darker and harder to follow the
narrative. people said it would be targeted at 17plus and id agree. I think is
because the narrative is a lot less abstract but you still need to piece a lot of
things together to create the narrative. The viewer needs to get into the
characters head and life, they need to be able to relate and they need to think
how could he be fixed. 17 is a lot more mature than 15, at 17 and above you
are more likely to be an active thinker. Before-hand where the idea had the crime
scene, the viewer was never forced to get into the head of the character, they
could just understand the narrative, the character killed someone and now he
takes drugs and that was it. That all seems very clich to me, Im glad I
changed it so that the viewers question their interpretations of the story. I didnt
intended on this happening, it just came about when I had to reshoot.

With the first survey I asked if my idea with the crime scene would fit the story of
the song and the majority of people said that it would, as more and more
problems came up like my actor being ill and my camera breaking.it was
increasingly hard to shoot. People said in the improvements box on the survey
that I should focus on the characters battels with himself more than how he is
inflicting it on the world I didnt take this on board until my original actor
couldnt do it anymore. In the reshoot I took on the improvements on board. I
decided to scrap the flashback crime scene because it was the scene that
reflected his anger at the world. I decided to replace this scene with him selfharming, this to me was a bigger expression of anger. It shows how he doesnt
feel excepted and its driving him insane and he doesnt want to be insane. It also
allows the viewer to see his battles with himself because obviously, he is trying
to deal with his insanity alone and its pushing him. The viewers (17 plus) can
relate to this because they will have been through something where they want to
deal with a situation themselves and it not working the way they thought. This
relationship that brews in the first ten seconds or so puts the viewers in his shoes
so that they can my brought down (emotionally) when the animation narrative
slowly gets horrible.it happens around the third scene where he is beating
someone up. This scene is where it matches the narrative of the song. The song
to me talks about a man who cant love and isnt loved but takes it out on who
he wants to love. This scene reflects the songs narrative as you dont know why
the two men are fighting but as the viewers fall out of the main characters shoes
the lyrics start. The viewers start focusing on the lyrics and understanding his
relationship with his emotions.

I also asked the same ten people would you watch the entire music video based
around this character and his life, not just the first forty seconds of the song.
Four people said they would and six said no. looking at the finished product I
would have to go along with the majority even though I came up with the idea.
Its a complex narrative that I would find difficult to pay attention to for four
minutes. It would also distract me from the song which is the main priority of a
music video is not to steal attention away the song. One person said for why
they wouldnt want to watch the whole music video is because I didnt give them
enough of a back story to the character. If I were to make the whole music video
I would defiantly build up to the scenes I did make. I would make sure that
people knew who the character was and I would also put in a relationship
between him and the man him gets into a fight with in the third scene. This way
the audience would know why they were having a fight. There was a severe lack
of structure to the character development that made him seem vague and that
meant it was confusing for the audience. If I were to have made a full video or
redo the animation then I would think again how realistic this person actually is
and make his relationship with the world a lot less surreal and I would try and
show him around people a lot more to see his reactions. That is one more thing I
have taken from this experience, I have learnt how to balance the real and
surreal. Before this I would exaggerate my ideas this experience has taught me
where those ideas belong.

The last question I asked was, how my technical abilities were. I made the
mistake of sending my survey to on of my actors who just so happened to help
me with a lot of the camera work. In terms of creating persistence of vision I was
average at. For my first shoot I under estimated how many photos are needed to
make a ten second animation. On the first shoot I didnt move the camera in
small adjustments so when I edited the pictures together with frame rate of two
pictures per second it look really jumpy. When it came to the second shoot I leant
how big or small the camera adjustments should be. I didnt get any critical feedback for my editing skills or camera work skills.my technical skills that tripped
me up werent visible on camera but only put speed bumps on the road to
animated success on the production path.