Advanced Motion

Reading

You've turned your little corner of the world into a full-fledged (possibly quirky) film. What's next? Well, the best part about your story is that even though you are the only person who can tell it, you aren't alone. People everywhere share the same thoughts or have faced the same circumstances. They are dying to hear from someone just like them. So share your story with the world.

Now, you have to figure out how to get your film out there. First, you have to start packaging the story of your film. Create a functional link to your video online as well as a presentation (via link or print) that includes your title logo, still image, synopsis, biographies, and the story of how your film came to be.

Next, network. You will constantly hear the phrase "know people who know people." You need to know people - or people who know people. Participate in online communities, local organizations, or reach out to make new connections. If you stay active, people will be more interested in what you share (and you need to know people).

Research

This example is featured on the Museum of Modern Art by Stuxnet. The animation is elegant and elaborate.

This animation simply features text animation with Adobe After Effects. The text fits so perfectly with the video, you can barely tell the text shouldn't be there.

Owl_kitty records his cat in front of a green screen, then puts the video into Hollywood films. They are all hilarious, but here is just one example.

Create

This week, I wanted to create a stop motion animation about a cat who is abandoned at an old house. A pumpkin comforts the stray cat and brings him inside for warmth and shelter, where he meets more cats curled around a roaring fireplace. A witch comes downstairs to feed the cats but notices the new stray. She gives the stray his own food and sits in a rocking chair to embroider his new name, "Binx," on a blanket. He feels welcomed and safe with his new family, so he curls up on the witch's lap as she rocks back and forth. Then, they hear a car screech to a stop outside and speed off. Knowing another cat has been abandoned at her doorstep, the witch embroiders another blanket with the name "Kit."

I spent a lot of time in pre-production for this animation. With the basic storyline, I started storyboarding. Later, I decided paper cut-outs were my best option, given my current lack of resources. However, paper cut-outs would likely hinder my characters' movement. I would need the main cat, Binx, the witch, the pumpkin, and the other cats for my characters. Since the witch embroiders the cats' names on blankets, I chose pop culture cat names like Binx (from Hocus Pocus), Salem and Esmeralda (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Grimalkin (from the play that shan't be named because I'm a superstitious thespian), and Kit (from Charmed).

Then, I started researching for my sets and designed them with Adobe Illustrator before sketching them out. (I didn't have access to a printer and knew they would be large). The house needed to be an early 1900s architectural style and gloomy to give off a spooky vibe in the beginning scene. The interior featured a mahogany chair railing and a brick fireplace. Each "set" was created with letter-size sheets of cardstock taped together. I sketched out the general outlines of each set, then painted them with kid's watercolor paint. The gate for the exterior was created separately to manipulate the gate for a creaky gate effect. The sets took about 10 hours each to fully sketch out and paint, which was much longer than anticipated. The puppets also took quite a bit of time, since I wanted each of them to move.

To start filming, I used the exterior set, the pumpkin, Binx, and the car. I put the backdrop on the floor with a glass table over it. I covered the overhead lights with cardstock to prevent reflections on the glass but added lamps closer to the floor. I realized I hadn't inverted my tripod to hold the camera over the table and that I hadn't packed my remote shutter. In trying to invert the tripod, I managed to break off two of the leg hinges so then I tied a string around the legs to keep them from falling while holding the camera. Murphy's law, of course, stated that my camera SD card was nearly full so I had to delete old images.

In an attempt to capture the opening scene, I had about 75 images (five of which had my fingers in the corner). I chose to pause this woeful attempt until I have the appropriate tools to continue. Alas, here are the ill-fated first three seconds: