Week 10 - Week 14 / 26/06/24 - 24/07/24
Sheren Princessa Davon / 0362134
Video & Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Final Project
INSTRUCTIONS
PRACTICAL/EXERCISES
3 Favorite Stop Motion (Week 1)
We were tasked to watch and analyze 3 different stop motion videos with different mediums to get an idea of what we want to pursue for our final project.
Fig 1.1 Papercut Stop Motion
The stop motion uses paper cut-outs to show characters playing out in a park/outdoors. The movement is really smooth and I like how the characters have the Mr. Potato vibe to it, with their body parts not being fully connected yet their movement looks cohesive. It has an overall playful vibe to it, with the colorful visuals and upbeat choice of music and sound effects that blend well together.
Fig 1.2 Clay Stop Motion Animation
This animation stood out to me because of its heartwarming yet sad story. The clips were shot beautifully, with a set that matched the story well. The music choice sells the story to create the melancholic atmosphere that I really liked. The claymation of the snowman melting was done well and the rest of the movements effectively told the story. The emotions can be felt through both the visuals and sound design. It has inspired me to try making one of my own.
Fig 1.3 Felt Stop Motion
This one is really creative and I wouldn't have thought of using felt as a medium for stop motion but the outcome is really clean and smooth. The set is really well-designed, the props are really cute and the time and dedication put into this stop motion is really evident. The clips flow well and despite the concept being quite simple, the execution was done flawlessly. The sound design is also very well-thought of and really satisfying. Overall, this is really visually inspiring.
Stop Motion Trial Shoot (Week 10)
Before starting our final project shooting, we had a group exercise of stop motion shooting in class. We were tasked to replicate the videos given by Mr. Martin.
Video 1: Cost of the Call (00:04 - 00:13)
Video 2 (Papercut): Adopt Don't Shop (00:19 - 00:43)
Fig 1.4 Task Distribution
Before class, we decided to meet up beforehand to create the puppets since we were only given 1 hour to do the shooting in class. Afterwards, we did the shooting as a group. We were required to shoot each scene twice, once with our phone (and a stop motion app) and once with the DSLR. We encountered some problems with the DSLR and it caused us to go a bit overtime, and unable to shoot the clay puppet scenes properly with the DSLR.
Fig 1.5 Clay Puppet & Shooting BTS
The final products can be seen in this Google Drive: Trial Shoot
FINAL PROJECT
The final project consists of a minimum 30 second stop motion video of our own story. Voice-over, sound effects, and music can be included to tell a story. Below are more requirements:
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| Fig 2.1 Requirements |
Proposal
Before I started, I came up with the idea beforehand, found visual references and created the storyboard which can be found here:
Fig 2.2 Final Project Proposal. PPT - Week 14 (24/07/24)
Making Puppets & Props
I started off by creating the background of my scene, which is a park setting. I decided to just color white paper with some markers since I didn't have any colored paper on me, then I recycled the box of a cereal packaging since it's more sturdy and glued the colored papers on it so that they can stand and lean against the wall.
Fig 2.3 Background
Then I created the background props. I created the bench out of more recycled cardboard from an item packaging and I colored a sheet of paper with a black marker and wrapped it around a thin skewer stick to make the lamp post. Finally, I used clay and created the two stars of my story.
Fig 2.4 Timelapse of making props
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| Fig 2.5 Props |
Shooting
I shot the clips using my phone and a tripod, using the Stop Motion Studio app. During my first attempt, I placed the lighting over the set, after looking at it I realized I didn't like it, so I decided to move shooting locations and changed the lighting.
Fig 2.6 First Attempt
So I created the final set design and used a make-shift setup and then set up my phone tripod and I was ready to record once again.
After spending quite some time in the shooting process, I ended up with a total of 203 images.
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| Fig 2.8 Stop Motion Studio |
Thankfully, the Stop Motion Studio app helped in compiling the clips into one video, thus I can focus on spending more time and dedication in the post-production editing. I chose 5 frames per second as I felt that was the most fitting.
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| Fig 2.9 FPS |
Fig 2.10 Raw Cut. MP4 - Week 13 (17/07/24)
Editing
After receiving the yes signal to proceed from Mr. Martin, I was able to head towards the final step of this project; editing. I first compiled the sound effects I needed on freesound.org and YouTube. They can be found in this Google Drive.
Sound
Then, I opened up Premiere Pro and imported all the files and began editing. First, I added the necessary sound effects to fully bring the story to life. I added park ambiance noises, shuffling noises while the character is walking, metal falling, and other sound effects.
For the character voices, I edited the pitch of the audios to make it sound more cartoon-ish and silly. I pitched up the helpless character and pitched down (used the Deathly Ill preset on Premiere Pro) for the hero character.
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| Fig 2.11 Premiere Pro Overview of Sound editing |
Color Correction & Color Grading
After I was satisfied with all the sound effects, I did the final step which is to do the color correction and color grading. I edited the white balance, contrast, midtones, etc. I made the colors 'pop' more and look more appealing.
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| Fig 2.12 Color Correction on Premiere Pro |
For the superhero part, I wanted to create a more serious atmosphere, thus I created an adjustment layer and placed it on top of the scene where Glob (blue character) transforms into his #buff version. Then I cut the adjustment layer immediately at the scene after he saves the day for the humoristic effect.
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| Fig 2.13 Premiere Pro Overview of Color Grading |
Finally, I added a dip-to-black transition at the start and added the title card at the end.
Final Project: Stop Motion
Title - GLOB: The Disguised Hero
Glob is a disguised hero, he puts up a front as a silly blob of a character. But once he sees one in trouble, he instantly transforms into the hero he is and saves the day. However shhh, nobody can know this secret.
Fig 2.15 Final Project. MP4 - Week 14 (24/07/24)
Submission slides link: Google Slides
FEEDBACK
Week 13
From Mr. Martin:
- can proceed to do sound already
Week 14
From Mr. Martin:
- no notes, I thinks it is done already
- ensure to include ambient sound
From peers:
- "Funny! I like how the character voices match the animation. The water splash is also creative, very well-crafted"
- "so well-made with good sense of camerawork and details, as well as a solid plot that pairs well with humor. absolutely love the sound design too!!"
REFLECTION
This project was quite fun for me, I liked the process of being able to create with my hands physically as it gave me a break from my other projects where it was all digital and required me to stare at a screen for hours at a time. With the gained knowledge from previous shooting exercises, lectures, and other projects in this module, I had a smooth-sailing journey planning and executing this final project. I was able to create the storyboard first, figure out the art direction of my project and finally start filming. Though the process of moving the puppets was quite tedious the first time, as I wasn't sure what I was doing and if it looked good. However, after a few tries I got the hang of it and started to have some fun. I wanted to create a light-hearted and silly concept for my final project and I hope my final outcome is reflective of this.
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