Week 1 - Week 14 : 1 Apr 2022 - 1 July 2022
Tan Yi Yun 0345559Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Project
Week 1
Stop Motion Shorts
We are asked to watch stop motion shorts and shortlist three of them and
explain the reasons we choose them (style, art direction, character design,
etc).
#1
Lego Japanese Breakfast - Lego In Real Life 11 / Stop Motion Cooking &
ASMR, Week 1 (1/4/2022)
I'm impressed by the attention to tiny details like steam overflowing,
fluidity of water/egg and the slight wibbly texture of tamagoyaki. I like
the part where the miso sauce sticks on the spoon (because most of the
people will not notice it). The animation looks seamless. Definitely one
of the best stop motion I have ever seen!
#2
Coffee break cat show, Week 1 (1/4/2022)
A very cute video clip which already caught my attention by looking at its
thumbnail. Although the dance movement may look simple, there is still a lot
of effort in arranging the animal figures and the use the camera angles that
make the stop motion even more interesting.
#3
Paper cut stop motion, Week 1 (1/4/2022)
It is creative to use paper cuts to make a stop motion. Since the paper
cuts are moving and arranged based on the rhythm, it is also very relaxing
to watch.
Visual Effects Shorts
We are asked to watch Zach King's shorts and listed down three of our
favourite visual effects he has done.
#1
Why you should never play video games in class, Week 1 (1/4/2022)
I love the seamless transition of turning the tablet into real book. The
action of Zach himself is continuous, as well as the other students in the
background. The last scene is unexpected because I thought it will turn into
a real tablet again xD.
#2
She had no idea what was coming, Week 1 (1/4/2022)
The storyline of this shooting is hilarious. I think it is even more
challenging for outdoor filming because the conditions are always
changing. Respect all the efforts behind the scene!
#3
Do this next time you need to get out of the class, Week 1
(1/4/2022)
Is this a bad influence to the kids? Probably not, because we are not that
professional to make things look soooo real xD But definitely a cool
concept.
Film Study (Independent Learning)
Munich 2005, directed by Steven Spielberg
Summary:
The film begins with a depiction of the events of the Munich Massacre
in 1972. After the killings, the Israeli government devises "an eye for
an eye" retaliation. A target list of eleven names are drawn up in
retaliation for the eleven Israeli men murdered. Under orders from
Israel's Prime Minister, Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen), Operation "Wrath of
God" is given the green light.
Soundtrack:
The film score was composed and conducted by John Williams.
The film score was composed and conducted by John Williams.
The soundtrack album was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score but lost to the score of the film Brokeback Mountain. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media but lost to the score of Memoirs of a Geisha (also scored by Williams). AllMusic rated the soundtrack three and a half stars out of five.[41] Filmtracks.com rated it four out of five. SoundtrackNet rated it four and a half out of five. ScoreNotes graded it "A-".
Main Character:
Avner (Eric Bana), an Israeli-born Mossad agent of German descent, is
hand-picked by Meir to lead the assassination squad because he is not
well-known in the field and he knows his way around Europe. Avner had also
done some brief protection work for Meir and she had known his father. To
give the Israeli government plausible deniability, Avner officially resigns
from Mossad, and the squad operates with no official ties to Mossad or the
Government of Israel. Avner is given a team of four men: Steve (Daniel
Craig), a South African driver; Hans (Hanns Zischler), a document forger
from Frankfurt; Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), a Belgian toy-maker trained in
explosives; and Carl (Ciarán Hinds), a former Israeli soldier who "cleans
up" after the assassinations. Since the Mossad is "not connected" to the
mission, Avner and his team set about tracking down the eleven targets with
the help of a French informant, Louis, who is introduced to Avner by an old
friend. Funding for the mission comes in the form of U.S. cash deposited in
a Swiss bank in several safety deposit boxes in Zurich that Avner alone has
access to.
FINAL PROJECT : STOP MOTION
In Week 6, we are to decide on the type of video (visual effects and stop
motion) we want to do for our final project. But for those who choose
animation as our specialisation, we are advised to go for stop
motion.
Proposal
I choose mental illness as the theme of my stop motion because it is a
topic that could never be stressed enough.
Pre-production
Storyboard
The storyboard is developed based on the proposed idea.
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| Figure 1.1, Storyboard #1, Week 10 (3/6/2022) |
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Figure 1.2, Storyboard #2, Week 10 (3/6/2022) |
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Figure 1.3, Storyboard #3, Week 10 (3/6/2022) |
Design sets
I am keen to design sets for stop motion by making an abstract background
from crumpled papers and clay. There are total of two scenes for my stop
motion : cave and mirror. I used masking tape to tie the papers together and form a cave. The paper clay is applied at the base to add weight so that the structure is stable.
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Figure 1.4, Texture of crumpled paper, Week 12 (17/6/2022) |
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Figure 1.5, Cave (before spray), Week 12 (17/6/2022) |
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Figure 1.6, Cave (after spray), Week 12 (17/6/2022) |
Characters
Initially, I used wire to form the basic structure of the human figure. Then, I wrapped a layer of aluminum foil to add thickness. However, I realised an issue is that the figure is unable to stand although it is easier to form different action. So, I decided to add another layer of clay so that it can stand stably.
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| Figure 1.8, Character (clay), Week 12 (17/6/2022) |
Production
I filmed my stop motion at my dorm during day time but using a white artificial
light. The only assets I have : an iPhone 8, a cheap tripod and a lamp I bought at Mr. DIY.
One of the challenges I faced is the hardening of clay. The problem of air dried paper clay is the difficulty to mold when it is starting to dry. I think I spent most of the time to soak the model in the water to keep it moisturise and reshape its posture. The process is repeated after every 2-3 shots.
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I used Stop Motion Studio to film my stop motion so that I can quickly review the results and make use of the onion skin function.
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| Figure 2.3, Stop Motion Studio, Week 14 (29/6/2022) |
My model is completely dead after filming.
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Figure 2.4, R.I.P, Week 14 (29/6/2022) |
Post-production
Now it is time to export all footages from the software to Premiere Pro. I make color adjustments on Lumetri Color because some scenes appear warmer/cooler.
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"Lost", Week 15 (5/7/2022)
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| Figure 2.7, Lovely comments, Week 15 (8/7/2022) |
Aww these are the unexpected comments when I set the video as public.
Since there is some noise at the background of a certain part of the stop motion, I reduced the exposure and added de-noise and median and played with the mask to reduce the noise as much as I can.
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| Figure 2.8, Denoise, Week 15 (8/7/2022) |
Final Submission
Final Submission - "Lost", Week 15 (8/5/2022)
FEEDBACK
Week 10 :
It is good to step out from your comfort zone to try to go for something challenging.
Week 11 :
The story would be make sense if there is a scene of the character getting lost by adding some body movement/ going through somewhere and ended up at the same place to show that he is lost.
Week 15 :
Sir noticed some of the clips are grainy. I was advised to add a layer of color adjustment and hopefully it would cover the grains.
REFLECTION
I knew this final project was going to be tedious but fun. The process of getting a “proper” storyline wasn’t easy. Even though I had a lot of ideas, I wasn’t sure how to translate them into actual shooting. Do I need a camera? How do I make the object move seamlessly? Many uncertain questions were raised in my mind before I really started doing the work. After I reconstructed my storyline and redraw the storyboard, I then got my hands dirty to make the design sets using papers, clay, foil and spray. I enjoyed the process of making them. The hardest part I think was to keep the motion of the character smooth as it keeps hardening and cracking and so, I had no choice but to replace its body parts with new clay and soak it in water to keep it soft and mosturise. I am pretty proud of the final outcome although there were several parts I think I could do better.
The key takeaway of this project is I have learnt the actual
process in executing stop motion (specifically Claymation). I always wanted to
create my stop motion and I have tried different apps to film before choosing
the right app. However, I realized a huge mistake, which was the exported video
wasn’t in 1920x1080 pixels, and it resulted in the poor quality when I enlarged
the original clip. Although the process was never easy, the results would be surprising
and satisfying.