Video and Sound Production - Final Project
29.3.2021 - 11.7.2021 (Week 1 - Week 15)
Jocelin Agustia (0345436)
Video and Sound Production - Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Final Project - Social Awareness Stop Motion
Exercises
INSTRUCTIONS
INSTRUCTIONS
Module Information Booklet
Week 1
We need to start thinking of how we want our final project to be like and so we need to watch a stop motion short and explain the reason why the videos were chosen based on the style, art direction, character, and etc.
figure 1.1 Negative Space Stop Motion
There is a lot of meanings behind the word negative space, and in this short, it was about the emptiness in our hearts or lives. This short is about a story of a son and father and it all started with packing luggage. At first, I don't really understand what is the relation between packing and the relationship between a son and his father, but as the film goes on I started to understand. This short really has a deep meaning to it especially with how it ended, when the father left the world and the son uttered a word: "Look at all that empty space". In my opinion, the reason why the son said that is because of how both father and son didn't spend time with each other a lot because the father is always busy on a business trip and so the time spent with his son is also lost. They didn't really spend time with each other and that is what makes him feel sad and empty.
The other perspective I realized when watching this short is that this could even touch the topic of obsessiveness. The reason is that the only bond between the father and son is packing luggage leaving none of the empty space and this caused the son to be quite obsessed with empty space, thus why he spoke: "Look at all that empty space" when he saw his father lying in the coffin.
For the production side, I really appreciate their hard work. All of the movements are done smoothly without rigging. The narration for this short is also really well-done, the intonation for each sentence is said accordingly it fits the atmosphere. For sound production, they did it precisely, every movement that needs sound effects are added and that makes the short even more alive. The style for this film is really satisfying because I found this kind of style really matches the story. The camera angle is also very well-done in every scene. I don't think there are any inappropriate angles and it really shows the characters' movements well.
figure 1,2 Good Intention Short
The meaning behind this short hits really hard, it is about guilt. I am sure every one of us has guilt and sometimes it drives us crazy thinking about it. In this short, the character really depicts guilt perfectly because she turned invisible after thinking a lot about her mistake and there are times when we want to be invisible not caring about our guilt. Although there is nobody talking, the movements, atmosphere, and emotions of the characters are depicted very well.
The way the camera angle is at the beginning of the story really gives the view of the car's movement and this short introduced to us first about how the accident happened rather than directly introducing us to the title and that is why the title made a big impact in this film too although I don't really like how they used the colors and typeface for the title because I don't feel that they match.
The lightings are done perfectly, there is really no unnecessary lighting and I'm glad it has no bright scene (bright lighting) because the dark atmosphere really depicts the story and characters well.
figure 1.3 Lost and Found Short
A story about a couple that wants to save each other. Although the character was crocheted, they really are no different with real-life characters. The story started off as if its a happy ending but really I think it is a sad ending. The emotions shown through the film were really amazing, the production team really pulled me in. I liked how they use cute stuffies making it seems as if the story is going to be sweet but actually not. The story really showed me the strong bond of people that loved each other.
The sound effects used in this film are also precise, at the scene where they blow their love to each other, although we can't see a heart being blown, the sound effect gave us the image of it. I also like the sound when they got in trouble, it's very dynamic and depicts the situation very well.
The scene where the fox picked up the dino's yarn is very heart-breaking and the camera angle captured the fox's emotion really well, we can feel the emotion.
figure 1.4 The Wrong Rock Animation
When searching for stop motion shorts in the search bar, this one animation caught my eyes and I directly watched it but then at the end of the video I suddenly realized whether this animation is considered as a stop motion or not. But this animation is worth the watch they really depict the condition of the world right now.
Week 5 - 15
For this final project, I decided to use the paper cut-out style for the animation. I have been interested in this style of stop-motion since long ago, there was once this type of stop-motion went booming in my area, however, I was still don't have any knowledge of how to do it, So now I'll do it while I have the chance.
The theme for the stop-motion would be an environmental issue & other social awareness issues. I was hesitating between the theme of Climate change (Yourself) or smoking. But then, after thinking for a while I think it would be better to go with smoking because it'll be more interesting. The more specific theme was found in the link given: 39. If you smoke, statistically your story will end 15% before it should. I think this would make a very good story.
Below is my final proposal for the final project.
figure 1.5 Final Project Proposal
After my proposal got accepted, I can now start making the props. Below are the props I made.
figure 1.6 Props for Stop Motion
After cutting them, I sewed the parts that need movements together, especially in hands. Next, I did my trial shoot. The trial shoot was recorded before I colored the props.
figure 1.7 Trial Shoot
The trial shoot was just for me to test out how paper-cut stop motion works because I've never done them before. After the trial shoot, I shoot my draft 1, but there are some scenes that haven't been shot.
figure 1.8 Stop Motion - Draft 1
On draft 1, since it's not completed yet there are no edits to it. After I finished shooting all the scenes, I started to edit them, and here is the result.
figure 1.8 Stop Motion - Draft 2
After showing draft 2 to Sir Martin, I was told to do a few changes. Thus, here is my final stop motion.
figure 1.9 Final Stop Motion
FEEDBACKS
Proposal
- (Before revise) It's a bit hard to give marks on the stop motion because it's only movements of hands swiping the screen. Try thinking of a new one.
- (After revise) Instead of having the main character sitting on the sofa, just directly have him stand in front of the wardrobe.
- Since you have a ghost scene, remember what we used back in the Lalin exercise
Stop Motion
- (Draft 1) It's good, but make sure to provide sound effects
- (Draft 2) When the girl coughs cut into the boy smoking again so we can hear the girl coughing in the background, also when cutting into the girl coughing make sure to zoom in slowly.
- (Draft 2) Do a slow zoom in on the bloodstain
- (Draft 2) The ending where the boy cries is too fast
REFLECTION
At first, I mentioned that stop motion is interesting, well it's still interesting to me but I find that stop motions need a lot of hard work. Looking back at my stop motion, there are lots of stuff that needs to be drawn since mine was paper-cut style, and the result of my stop motion is only a minute. Imagine, making a whole movie with stop motion, the amount of work that needs to be done is crazy. What I find harder when making stop motion is lightings, my tripod is a bit tall so I can't shoot with a tripod, instead, I had to stack books and used rulers to support my phone, and since the phone is on top, there are a few shadows, so I had to retry and retry. Nevertheless, editing is the fun part, because it makes the stop motion complete!
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