Video & Sound Production: Final Project

MODULE VSP60104: Video & Sound-Production 

Tristan Vaughan Sleep - 0365120

Video & Sound-Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Video & Sound-Production Project III: Final Animation Project - Student Film

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MODULE INSTRUCTIONS:

“SEPT 2024 - JAN 2025: GCD 61104 / ANIM. FUNDAMENTALS MODULE INFORMATION BOOKLET”

Final Project: Student lead Stop-Motion Animation (Weighted 40%)

Stop-Motion Animation: Students of the cohort are required to produce a short, Stop Motion video within a given theme. Students are expected to include Voice-overs, sound effects, music and other audible additions in order to tell a ground and compelling narrative. The short scene should have no more than 2 characters/locations and feature one event. Before students can begin shooting their final project; Students must complete a storyboard and document their principal shoot.

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PARTICIPATED LECTURES:

WEEK I & II: Final Project Preparations - Gathering Materials & Inspiration

Recommended Resources: For this upcoming project, students are expected to collect a series of materials which will aid them in the development of their short film. The lecturer has provided a lengthy purchase list; consisting of tools such as cameras, stands, lighting and headphones to support the project’s production. Furthermore, students are expected to go out and collect inspirational material which they can use to aid in their creation process.

Lead Inspiration I - HIDARI (左): Hidari is a somewhat recent short, stop-motion film which is being developed by Masashi Kawamura. This Short film is a ‘creative re-imagining’ of the story of Craftsman Jingoro Hidari who seeks revenge against his peers following the loss of both his father and right arm. Aided by his companion ‘Sleeping Cat’ and his mechanical prosthetic arm, Hidari faces his adversaries as a means to get even.

“HIDARI by Masashi Kawamura & Iku Ogawa (2023)”

In my personal opinion, this short film is a pinnacle of Stop-Motion animation; utilising creative Wooden Models paired together with striking visuals and camera-work. In discussing its style; I find it interesting that all the figures are carved from wood which not only makes the animation unique, it also supports the narrative as it is loosely based on a (potentially) real sculptor. In addition, I’m fascinated with the camera angles and the film-maker’s willingness to pan sharply between shots which mimics more fast paced action seen in modern Japanese media. At the same time, a majority of the film’s timing and moments instead appear to be inspired by traditional Japanese cinema: a perfect fusion of old and new techniques and angles. The imagery in the film is very limited but plays nicely into the action; the background fades away with a majority of the scenes being lit from one light-source. This helps focus the actions for viewers and creates stylised silhouettes. Another feature I’m quite intrigued by is the inclusion of plastic shapes which have been included to mimic motion blur; making objects feel like they either move enhanced speed or emphasise the supposed heft. While the film does feature some minor visual effects added in post, they’re used to enhance the action in the scene and helps make the transitions between the shots more striking.

Lead Inspiration II - ANIMIST: Animist is an Animator Hobbyist who produces a series of short Stop-Motion films which is then posted online. Although their works have little to no through-line between animations, the animator focuses a majority of their plays on the idea of small figures in a normal-sized office environment. For the Stop-Motion itself, the animator uses their platforms as a means to experiment and improve upon their skills; choosing to focus a majority of their work on realistic human motion which has been altered for more comedic value. 

In my opinion, this is a good example of a passionate individual who wants to explore creative mediums using Stop-Motion. When watching the short videos, it is clear that the animator has a good understanding of Animation Fundamentals and can even use them in such a way to improve action. For example, a majority of the videos are shot in the traditional 24 Frames per second but the animator understands when it may be effective to slow the motion down to ‘twos’ or ‘threes’ to make the motion feel more forceful (watch the clock hands). In relation to this module, the animator has also been required to go back through their scenes and add additional sounds and music to bring more volume to the scene.

Example Works: Street Fighter, Money Theft, Shaolin Kung fu, Animation Speed

Lead Inspiration III - LOST & FOUND: Lost and Found is another somewhat recent short Stop-motion film which was to be used in a film convention. The short film follows a pair of two crocheted Stuffed animals, a Dinosaur and fox; the latter of which has placed itself in danger of drowning while the dinosaur does whatever possible to save their friend. Unfortunately for the pair, the dinosaur’s rescue effort has presented both of them with a difficult decision; needing one to sacrifice themselves to save the other. 

“LOST & FOUND by Andrew Goldsmith & Bradley Slabe (2018)”

In a similar vein to Hidari, I believe this short film to be a great example of what Stop-Motion animation can be especially as both films make the main characteristics of the characters a focal point. It is clear that the animators, Andrew Goldsmith and Bradley Slabe are quite talented as not only is their animation smooth and easily readable but they are able to use their models in creative ways which makes this film stand out. In referencing this, I’m quite impressed how well the animators were able to hide armatures and were able to actively manipulate smaller items such as thread so perfectly.

WEEK VII & IX: Final Project Preparations - Storyboarding & Gathering Materials

Storyboarding & Inspiration: With the conclusion of our previous projects, students were now free to begin working on our final project which would be a short, Stop-Motion animation based on any topic the students wished to follow. Something important to note was that students who were under the ‘Digital Animation Course’ would be expected to work alone within the process which meant they would need to consider all aspects of the production. This would include the direction, cinematography, audio design and editing process. As I had fallen into this category, it was important to begin laying out the production time-line as to be the most effective that I could be. In addition, I would be working under a stricter time-limit as I wanted to complete the project before being dismissed early during Christmas break.

To begin the production, I first started out by developing a short storyboard with the intention to get a rough flow of how I wanted the video to go. This shorter storyboard would cover key events within the narrative and would allow me to create bridging moments in between said events. With the rougher plan established, I would go back through and create a more cohesive storyboard to help me with my cinematography during the physical shooting. The general plot of the narrative would be about two figures meeting one another on a table surface where the two would engage in a fight. After trading blows with one another, one of the figures would be tripped by the other; sent tumbling over the table edge and onto the floor. The fight would continue along the floor and would end with one of the figures surrendering and retreating. The pair of Figures would make-up after their fight and would establish a truce before being startled by the homeowner who would be confused by the moving figure.

PDF

“Leading Storyboard for the animation”

Camera Angles & Considerations: It was this thought of involving a non stop-motion character which influenced some of the decisions with the camera angles and the camera used for the video. As shown in the storyboard, I wanted to emphasise the micro-nature of the figures and how they inhabit a real-world environment. The original Idea was to look at micro photography and other stop-motion projects and look at how they use the perspective of the lens in an effective way. An important photography note which needs to be considered is subject size and scale, often leading to challenges with the shallow depth of field and extreme sensitivity to movement. In this project I would need to choose a lens with better magnification while still being able to capture the most of the light that it can.

Figures & Positioning: As this short film would star a set of small figures, I needed to find a series of models which would be flexible yet strong enough to be constantly manipulated throughout the production. A common issue (which also appeared within the production) is that various small models are made from a plastic that slowly grinds itself down when moved. Although this creates a smooth movement which is good for animating small movements, it can lead to the loss of stability and friction is what holds the shape. With this in mind, I decided to get these small posable figures which not only came with multiple props but they also had a wider range of motion than others. As they were also cheap to purchase, I decided to purchase two of each kind as well as a few floating arms to help them pose while in the air.

“The two posable Figures, props and roles within production”

When looking at the purchase, the main reason why I considered buying two of each figure was to help in the latter stage of shooting. The idea that I had and continued working with was; if I had two similar characters (one on stage and the other behind production) I could set the next pose to the second figure and slowly animate the first one to match. It was a similar thought process as to how digital Animation has Key-Frames in their motion and how the animator creates frames ‘in-between’ said key frames. However, when it came to physically animating the figures, their bodies proved a bit difficult to hold in place during some scenes such as any scene where they were seen standing. To counteract this issue, I had begun using sculptors’ modeling clay to help keep them grounded to the surface as well as putting some near joints to give them added support when animating. This would become crucial towards the end of production as the joints would’ve started to wear out which meant the supports would not be as strong.

WEEK X & XII: Final Project Production - Filming Final & Editing

Production - Shooting Video: With all the necessary preparations made such as gathering the right materials and developing the general narrative + establishing the rough framing, I would finally be able to begin production on the final film. The first major design choice within this production was finding where I wanted to begin shooting the film; this was different from the previous projects as students had to film in a well lit and standard studio. For this project, I had already chosen to shoot in a home environment as it would capture the previously explained theme but this came with its own problems in the form of lighting. During production, I needed the lighting to remain somewhat consistent in between frames so as to not rapidly change the look during the middle of the video which was a problem due to natural lighting. While it provides the best light in terms of look and strength, I would start the production by covering all windows and using the built-in light around the home. Should I want to focus the light to create a front-light or back-light, I would be able to use a common house lamp with a diffuser shade as it would A) not overblow the image and B) was the same temperature as the lights which prevented a weird mess of two-tone lighting.

For the camera positioning, I was unable to effectively use a standard tripod due to the very low-down nature of the film. As a result, I needed to get a bit more creative with developing a stationary platform for the camera, often using either books or small medicine boxes to help slowly raise or lower the camera. This effect can be seen in some shots where the camera needs to be raised to keep the figures in frame. When it came to the placement of the characters within the scene, it was important to consider if the scene would contain a shift in focal length. This is due once again to the filming of small figures and how focal length becomes difficult to discern at smaller distances. This also meant that the background elements would need to be far from the figures to make the process of focusing easier on the lens.

Post Production - Editing the Video: After collecting all the frames needed for the video, I would be able to transfer them to the computer and begin editing in the Adobe Premiere Pro Software. Before Editing, it was recommended by the lecturer to break the frames up into their own scenes which would be useful when editing later. To do this, I broke the video down into five separate folders and arranged the frames to be placed in each folder depending on the change in scenery or flow. This way my work could stay organised and I could easily reference where I was currently working during editing. As for importing the frames themselves, I needed to edit the Premiere Pro settings to format the images correctly. For this project, I had set Premiere Pro to place the image into the time-line and hold for 2 frames (over a 24fps limit) in essence creating a 12 frame per second Stop-Motion Animation. With the images organised, I could root them together and create a video sequence which would allow me to use premiere pro as usual.

Sound Production was the second largest part during the editing process, needing me to consider the use of sound effects, music and other samples of audio as well as determining how loud they need to be within the scene. Once again, I found that the easiest way to see what audio I needed was by creating a sheet where I could write down the sound I needed and where it would be placed within the video. This way, I could save time by collecting the audio all in one go and then returning to the editing process. For the timelines, the First and second timeline was mapped to the sound effects of the characters movement and footsteps; commonly heard as the wooden steps and the plastic creaking noise which is heard in the production. The third timeline was mapped to the sound effects of the props and motion within the scene such as the sword swings and strikes. To capture the sound effect and other audio, I had once again looked online at sites such as Sree-Sound and Muse-Score to help find audio I could not produce myself. Examples include the library of sword sounds and physical performances. As for sounds such as walking and plastic, I was able to produce them by hand. 

“Image of sound timeline”

The fourth and fifth timeline was for the music and transition sounds for the video, because I was able to sample a decent song with built-in transitions; I was able to add additional emphasis on certain scenes to make them feel more impactful. Furthermore, the ‘energy’ of the music would match what was going on during the scene. For the music in this scene, I needed to find a music sample which had moments of calm energy but could spike up to be more energetic in conjunction with the video. Furthermore, it would be best if the audio had built-in transition bridges to help make the editing feel a bit more smoother. For this, I referenced some music from one of the minor inspirations for this project; the video-game ‘Sifu’ created by ‘Slowclap Studios.’ Video-game music was great for this as the soundtrack needs to reflect the dynamic action of the scene and how different players progress at different speeds. For this, I picked the track ‘Blood is on Fire’ as it has a dynamic range in energy and sound plus it also features transitional sounds.

“Final Video”