In her final chapter of Animated Storytelling Liz Blazer focuses in on getting your work out there for the world to see. The chapter starts with discussing the various festivals available and the best way to get your story seen. She suggests submitting to the smaller festivals because those like CANNS has thousands of submissions and similar to a large university you’ll just be a number. Going through and getting recognition at smaller ones builds your credibility and your network. Another route is to self-publish on YouTube or a similar type platform and skip the festivals all together. Liz says if your story starts going viral, those bigger festivals will take notice and ask for your story.
Another important point Ms. Blazer pointed out was if you do want to submit to a festival, to be strategic about it. To do this you should first package your film or animation. Liz goes onto state packaging your film means uploading a password protected version online and providing the working link with your submission. That is it should include certain assets the judges are looking for such as the Title Logoand Still, Synopsis with a Hook, the Tag, Directors Bio, and the Story of the film.
While that’s all good, at this point in my life the stories I’m writing are for my organization and as such don’t follow the outline described above. Additionally, the motion or animated storytelling we do are usually part of a larger learner experience (LX) design. However, I do find the author’s words helpful should I ever right a documentary or other story for which I would like to “get it out there” (Animated Storytelling, Blazer, p193).
How Far I’ve Come
This course on Motion Across Media has been an eye opener. I always try to go into a new learning with an open mind. While I have some experience, I try to couple that with learning and gaining new experiences. Before attending this class I would say my animation or motion graphic skills were average or just below that.
Photoshop – My skill level at the start was average. I could, with some quick research, complete common tasks and work within layers. However, after this class I would say I was able to move to just below being a Super User. Between learning how to create cinemographs and prepare 2D images for 3D use in After Effects are what helped me get there.
Illustrator – My skill level was and remains a Super User. I use this regularly at work. Mostly I’m branding an already created vector graphic or sometimes I’m creating a simple graphic to use in our learning. I would say, I stayed the same as I did mostly what I do at in my current role.
After Effects – My skill level was a beginner. This is where I learned to push myself and use what I’ve learned in the class. Before I would use and manipulate curated MOGRTs but now I’m able to do more with Comps, Pre-Comps, 3D space and Keyframing. At this point I believe I’ve moved to becoming a Super User. I will continue to hone the skills I learned here and there are already plans at my company to make me the MOGRT Champion.
DragonFrame – My skill level was and is a beginner. This was a new software that I became interested in while completing the stop-motion project. DragonFrame is the industry standard for stop-motion animation and I plan to continue to hone this skill and software. It was fun (and frustrating) to make a stop-motion. I can’t wait to see what I create next. Stay-tuned for an original Clay animation…
Research to Inform
First up on my finds of cool effects was when Marvel took it’s Marketing to the next level. In the clip below camera’s were setup in both London and Los Angeles at a Doctor Strange kiosk. Folks were able to interact with the kiosk through motion. What was even cooler was some figured out how to make the iconic Portal seen in the movie! Folks in each area were able to see each other. Now that’s next level COOL!
Next up is a look at how the special effects were done on the various Marvel movies. I’ve always been interested how CGI and animation are done in my favorite movies. This for me does not detract from the movies but allows for admiration for how much has to go into all the work we see for a two hour film.
Finally, probably the most famous special effect is the animated Star Wars lightsaber. In this tutorial from FXhome provides hints on how to motion track and change the glow using their HitFlim Pro product. I have HitFilm Pro myself but haven’t really used it. Essentially, it’s just like After Effects. What’s important here is that it’s another example of cool effects being created digitally.
Create
Prologue
This is where the fun begins. For my final project I had a lot of choices to pull from. Should I do a longer stop-motion and get more familiar with DragonFrame? Or maybe do a motion graphic for a faux product line for a commercial? Maybe I create my own visual effects and explore the effects and presets channel more. The ideas were limitless but alas I could only select one focus (sorta, more on that in a moment) for this project. While looking over the requirements and the request to consider one or more advanced techniques, there it was slapping me in the face!
What is it? What is it you excitedly ask. Well, I love watching documentaries and I’ve had the chance to see BTS (Behind The Scenes) with Ken Burns. They would ask him all sorts of questions “What are the techniques you use that make up what is now known as the “Ken Burns effect?”” or “How do you choose your subject?” or even “Why do you move the camera the way you do?” Mr. Burns would come back in some form or fashion to “it’s about bringing the photos to life. Because in the moment the photo was taken there was life.” Because of this I’ve decided to do a small Documentary style snippet called “Ancestors – The Untold Story” with the focus of the piece on my Grandfather.
Creative Process
First step was realizing I only had a week to produce the project and to be careful not to go down the rabbit hole of trying to produce a full-length documentary. Quite frankly that’s impossible as Mr. Burns said he had dozens of people and a project could typically take 3-10 years to produce. With that in mind, I decided to focus on telling the facts I did have about my Grandfather without extensive research. Also, I’m focused in on just his travel and his naturalization. I’m lucky enough to have previously done research on ancestry.com and have a really good starting point.
Before I could start gathering all my assets, I needed to storyboard (SB) my idea to flush out initial thoughts. I did a very crude SB for the first few seconds of the project. By then the creative juices were flowing and I had an idea of how the project was going to take shape. My vision as I stated is to do a documentary type project. Tony we already know that. Ah but wait, it gets better I promise! So, to pull this off on such a small project I plan to incorporate the following techniques to capture your heart and want to come back for more. They include an animated map showing my Grandfather’s travels, floating text to give context, the Ken Burns effect throughout to bring the piece to life, and even 2D images in a 3D space!
Next step was to gather all my assets. But Tony what kind of things did you find on the ancestry website that you’re going to include? I’m glad you asked. I actually found 3 separate passenger lists showing each time he came to the US. I also found his petition for naturalization, and even his required draft card for WWII! Of course I’ll include those! I then began to use my Envato Elements account to procure all the additional assets such as background images, music, sound effects, and a 3D ship png for the animated map. I was able to get a world map at Veemap where I could adjust in AI to fit my old time theme. I also downloaded images of the 3 passenger ships my Grandfather took on each of his travels. Additionally, I moved my newly created short logo stinger into my project folder for easy import in the next phase of the workflow.
Now that all the assets were in place, I needed to adjust various images, music, etc., before even touching After Effects (AE). For this I used a combination of the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, and Audition). Once I was satisfied with my assets, I went into AE, created a specific folder structure to keep myself organized. Then I imported each of the assets into their respective folders (e.g., sound effects into Audio>sfx, or the ancestry images into Images>Ancestry Finds).
AE project folder structure examples of the Audio & Images folders
At this point, I was able to easily create various smaller comps and pre-comps to use. This would prove very useful for animation as it keeps the main comp clean. This process is not unsimilar to using nesting in Premiere Pro. This way any major updates on the individual comp will pull through to the main comp.
The overall process of this project was challenging but at the same gratifying. Challenging because of all the different elements and techniques used. Gratifying because in the end I had a great start to a documentary I can share with my family and continue to work on well after this course is done. Thanks for hanging in there during my in-depth look at my process. Now, onto the show! I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed developing it!
Chapter 10 of Animated Storytelling dives into the final step which are really a series of tips about the animate phase. As referenced in earlier chapters, organization is key in animating. Maintaining organization and following some general tips Ms. Blazer offers in the book will ensure you can deliver on time. Let’s take a look a few of them.
Production Calendar& File Naming However, in this step you want to ensure you take the time to physically write out a production calendar. Start from the delivery date and work backwards. This is no different than project management when your “no-later-than date” is known. Another point Ms. Blazer makes is to reward and punish (or at least treat the punishment as being real) when you meet or miss a deadline. Another important organizational skill to practice is meaningful and consistent file names. For instance if it’s a storyboard perhaps the file name is sb-MyGreatestStory.doc or audio files for narration, sound effects, and background music might be nar-MainCharacter-scn10-discussing-moral.mp3, sfx-floor_creek-scn4-walking down the hallway.mp3, and bkm-soundgarden-outshined.mp3 respectively. If nothing else the more organized you and your files are, the easier the animation process.
Gaining Confidence & Being Honest Ms. Blazer offers the advice of starting with the low-hanging fruit pieces of the animation and working to leave the more challenging scenes for later. One reason you’ll build your confidence by accomplishing and getting smaller wins by completing the easier scenes. Another is with the new found confidence you will realize you can break the challenging scenes that are left into smaller more manageable ones. During the process another tip is to take a long hard look at what your shots and be brutally honest. If you remove the shot, can the story still work? Perhaps think of it as when you use double commas. If you remove what’s between the two commas, the sentence makes sense. Same idea here. Don’t keep it because of it just because it was a cool shot.
What’s that Sound? Sound can make or break an animation. Sound is important and has it’s place but sometimes silence at the right moment is also needed. Ms. Blazer suggests that you toggle a scene between sound on and sound off. She states that if the story is dependent on the sound, your story won’t work as well. Remember, sound should not overshadow the story but rather it should support the story. For sound to work in a story, you have to keep an open mind because that background music you were set on using may or may not work once you’ve looked at the story wholistically.
There are a several more tips in the chapter but those are the ones which stood out to me. In the end there’s a lot to consider and as an animator, motion graphics artist, or videographer these are all the things you need to consider when adding any animation or special effect to story.
Animators reviewing Storyboards
Research to Inform
This week was all about UI/UX animation. It’s important to ensure good design and functionality whether your designing an app to order food, books, or concert tickets. UI/UX animation is equally important on websites and even in gaming. Below are several animations that make good use of both design and animation in the UI/UX space.
This first one is Diablo IV. The UI built in this is slick and has been since the original Diablo game. The gamer can quickly see and/or access spells, weapons, skills, the map, and quest. The interface animates smoothly as an overlay allowing a player to quickly interact, if needed, and get back to the action.
This is another game by the makers of Diablo called StarCraft. Again the UI/UX design and animation are phenomenal! Their use of animation along with sound effects sells the player on what resources they are trying to gather (mining crystals, training units, or researching a new skill). The use of colors visual effects, and interaction ensure you understand what is going on in your game. Although both of the games are probably using Unity or Unreal Engines to generate animations, it’s the UI/UX design and execution that cannot be denied here.
The next 3 are apps on my iPhone which I feel are very well designed. The animation though slight is very well done. The first is from Chic-fil-A. At various times when you receive an award, the confetti pops and takes you to your rewards page. The interface is well done and you can get in and get out quickly.
Next up is Starbucks. Not much more to say that I didn’t say with Chic-fil-A. However, they make use of creating fun games you can play at various times of the year like there holiday game. Again, quick to get in and get out unless you get sucked into playing their games!
The last one is for a pieces of health equipment I have called Stealth. What’s nice about this app is you’re working out your core all while playing interactive games. The animation is smooth. Here you see a screen as you enter the app. From here you pick you app and then move forward. As you can tell the tiles are nice and big and the animation between screens are smooth as butter. And there you have it, my favorite UI/UX design and animations. Next onto create.
Create
This weeks assignment, if I excepted (nope pretty much had to do it…lol), was to create a looping UI/UX animation for an app where the original button or image would change into another button or image and back. I had it all planned out to do a cool surfing scene for the Fisker Ocean display screen when in Hollywood mode (landscape). The idea is that we have a button (it looks more like a PlayStation icon) that allows us to stream shows and surf the internet while parked. The theme of the surfer was chosen because those are the Easter Eggs all throughout the car and the designer lives in Manhattan Beach, CA. I had all the cool icons, surfing music and sound effects. However, this proved to be an overambitious undertaking for such a short timeframe.
Okay, with the cool surfer idea abandoned, onto the second idea, morph a water drop into a water bottle and allow you to keep track of what you drank. Again, had the assets, but experienced trouble getting the icons to work properly and time was fleeting. Frustrated I abandoned the second idea.
Finally, the third one was sure to work. Afterall, it was taking the idea of a simple hamburger menu and morphing it into the close icon. The difference was I coupled it with the water intake app idea but simplified the process as time was against me and frustration was quickly approaching. Alas, I was able to complete (although not to my liking) the assignment. I will revisit my car display idea when I have more time. For now, enjoy the water intake animation.
Chapter 9 of Liz Blazer’s Animated Storytelling is short but tackles the idea of technique. In the chapter she discusses finding and choosing a style that fits your story. During your find Blazer encourages you to consider the format that will best showcase your story. Will the audience view it on the big screen? Or will they consume it on a portable device, like a mobile phone or tablet? Is your story designed for the small screen? Once you know how your audience will view the story then it’s onto technique and style.
Technique and Style consists of hand drawn and handmade animations or motion graphics, 2D or 3D, fluid, vector, etc. If your story lends itself to 2D or 3D will you employ stop-motion or computer-generated-imagery (CGI)? How do you want your story to be felt and viewed? All of these according to Blazer are important decisions when deciding your technique and style. However, you’re not stuck with just one form. According to Blazer, if there’s a technique and style that would work better that aren’t in the traditional use…go for it. She says when done well, sometimes adapting multiple techniques and styles can produce some award winning results.
Research to Inform
In this weeks “research to inform” we’re looking at examples of animation which employ some aspect of the 12 principles of animation described legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Finding examples for me was easy…it’s animation after all. However, not so easy is whether or not I have the right principle assigned. Well here’s my attempt. Enjoy!
1. Follow Through & Overlapping Action
Movie: Tangled, Scene: Flynn Ryder using a frying pan in a fight
I chose this movie and scene because it’s a great example of follow through action. During the fight scene at time stamp 00:41 you can see Flynn Ryder swinging the frying pan which hits one of the guards and knocks them out. You see the frying pan and Flynn’s arms are extended making the action more believable. One could also say this is an example of exaggeration.
2. Staging
Movie: Moana, Scene: Moana meets Maui
I chose this scene as it demonstrates staging. In the opening part of the scene where Maui “Demi-God” thinks the God’s have found favor on him and sent him a boat, we see his surprised look when we hear Moana clear her throat to get his attention. This sets us as the audience up for how they will interact with each other.
3. Anticipation
Show: Looney Tunes – Speedy Gonzales
The next example I’ll share is from one of my favorite shows growing up. Looney Tunes had plenty of animations that followed the 12 principles of animation. However, Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester the cat had great use of anticipation. In the scene below at about 00:55 Speedy leans all the way back to get ready to run as fast as he can to get past Sylvester and get the cheese for the waiting spectator mice.
4. Appeal
Show: Animaniacs
I chose this one…well…because you can’t have a discussion of animation without the Warner Brothers and their sister Dot! Seriously though, this animation series makes use of the principle appeal. The appeal to each of the characters used is that different shapes are applied thus even Dr. Otto is likeable.
5. Arcs
Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
I chose this last example to demonstrate the arc principle. The “How to Train Your Dragon” movies and TV series are all about riding or “flying” their dragons. During flight whether in an airplane or glider or any other flying contraption there are natural arcs. A plane doesn’t go straight up to it’s flying altitude or abruptly turn at a 90-degree angle. Instead the movements are steady arc movements. In the scene below Hiccup is learning how to fly a dragon he named “Toothless.” At around 00:23 seconds into the clip is a beautiful demonstration of the arc principle as Toothless, with Hiccup on his back, make a banked turn.
Create
I’ve had my RoseMarc Stuidos logo for about 10 years now. I’ve been using an After Effects template which I modified to work until I could get a chance to spend time and do my logo the way I have seen so many years ago. The logo below is more of what I envisioned so many years ago.
The animation was all done in After Effects (AE). The only assets I brought in were the projector movie in the beginning, projector sound effect, filmstrip image(s), wax stamp, and the music. They were gotten from Envato Elements. The parchment paper and wax seal were created as compositions in AE. This project was time consuming but fun.
During the development of this logo stinger I experimented with using 3D cameras and Null Objects to control the 3D space. I even used multiple Null Objects on the camera to allow more precise control of the X, Y, and Z axis. Another method I used was applying Outline stroke to the RoseMarc Studios text to give the text animation and then wipe text center for the tag line. After viewing several YouTube tutorials and playing around I landed on something I’m proud to use.
Stories today are not only visually appealing but also play on our auditory skills to advance a story. One could say that films of the early 20th century were well…silent. However, if we stop to think about it, most of those “silent” films of the 1920’s had sound. While they did not have dialogue or sound effects, they used music to help tell the story. Take for instance Charlie Chaplin’s 1915 classic The Champion. Through the use of on screen text, action on screen, and music you were able to understand what the story was. Why do I mention this you might ask. Well, Chapter 7 Sound Ideas of Animated Storytelling is all about the use of sound. In it, Baker challenges us to consider writing our soundtrack at the same we’re writing our design and “lead with sound” and to use sound as our “primary compass.” (Baker, 2020, p129).
Probably the biggest use of sound today in animation, film, and TV are sound effects (sfx) and music. Think of any blockbuster film or your favorite animation and you have a mixture of both. What about a very well know movie like Star Wars. Let’s look at a particular scene in Episode IV (1977). The scene is Obi-Wan Kenobi’s death scene. In that now most famous scene you have sound effects (light sabers), dialogue (between good and evil), and music (as Obi-Wan is struck down by Darth Vader). All this was carefully thought out. This is what Baker is referring to in her chapter on “Sound Ideas.”
Below is a challenge for you. The left animation has no sound. The right one has music, sound, and sound effects added. Both are the same length. Your challenge is to actually watch the “silent” version in it’s entirety before watching the one with sound. Can you do it? Was it hard? Did the “silent” version feel like forever and a day? So, I leave it to you to decide. How much does sound play in an animation, a full-length feature movie.
A video scene WITHOUT sound (00:49)
Now a video scene with sound (00:49)
In her next chapter, Blazer talks about the idea of world building. That is once you have your story you need to build a believable world. However, how can you do this? What do I need? Simple, study the world around you, “be influenced”(Blazer, 2020, p146) by other worlds, mythology, etc. This is where you start. Don’t underestimate the power of your experiences! Once you have your influence, you need to apply a set of design rules. According to Blazer these rules include, Time & Place, Natural Order, Social Order, Day-to-Day Life, Family & Community, and Technology. Applying specificities to each of these areas in your world will help to give meaning and realness to it. For instance, for Time & Place is your world in the early 1800’s in a secluded mining area of Pennsylvania or is it the year 2530 on a water planet in the Nebulous system? This will help to build upon the remaining design rules and build a believable world. Think about the movie Lord of the Rings. The time spans thousands of years, but the place is Middle-Earth where their are several races living among each other and the technology is that reminiscent of the 1500’s.
Research to Inform
Sound as I’ve written earlier is prevalent in any good story. You can have music, ambient sound, or even sound effects. Sometimes accompanying sound is the use of well placed animated text. Below are several examples where sound and text are purposeful and meaningful. I chose to use either movie trailers or scenes from classic movies. Enjoy!
In A Galaxy Really Far Away
This goes without saying as having one of the best sound effects, music scores, and animated text of all time. The sound effects of the light sabers, laser guns, star ships, hologram messages, even the beeps of R2D2. Under all that is a music score that helps to carry the story at poignant times throughout the film from the opening credits to the closing credits and throughout the film.
The Sound of Heroes
The ambient sound of the planes overhead, motor of the boats, or the English Channel churning as the boats are travelling through it really make you stop and think about the sacrifice of the men and women of WWII. Especially, those who used their own personal small boats. Additionally, this trailer’s use of animated text with clipping masks, size variations, and shocking statistic draw you in to want to see this movie.
All Alone
The sound effects of the debris hitting the Explorer, the music hitting the crescendo when the debris knocks the arm Dr. Stone is attached to is compelling and makes you feel that she will be lost. At the end of the trailer a simple title text appears in front of the now shrinking Dr. Stone emphasizing the seriousness of her situation.
Run for your life!
This movie had a lot of sound effects with the different dinosaurs, ambient sound of a vehicle traveling over the terrain while being chased. The title itself using the color of red and yellow beckoning the viewer to beware something isn’t right here. The music beats were deliberate and loud whenever a dinosaur was near or chasing (and eating) a human. This movie was the land-based version of the classic Jaws!
You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat!
Speaking of Jaws. This movie used a lot of ambient sounds. Like in the scene below were Chief Brody, Quint, and Matt Hooper are hunting the terrifying great white shark. There’s the splash of the chum as it hit’s the water, the water itself, or the boat engine. There’s also the locking of the spear head to the harpoon. As Jaws starts to play with his prey, the music takes over along with the dialogue. Then there’s the moments when Jaws brushes against the boat and finally we he starts to eat the boat until the moment Quint finally shoots the harpoon. You hear the pull of the barrel and then the splash in the water and even the barrel traveling through the water. All this sound added to the movie and made it the iconic horror film it is.
Create
This week’s project was tedious, humbling, rewarding, and eye-opening. I’ve always been a fan of stop-motion creations and getting a chance to finally attempt, key word “attempt” one for our project found me stumbling to get my “actors” (aka action figures – not dolls) to hit their mark. They were constantly trying to lay down on the job. However, we came to a compromise and told them they would only have to do 270 frames instead of the original 720 frames. I tried Chroma Keying for the first time. Not so good, but I’ll continue to hone that skill. All joking aside, I have even more respect for those who do this for a living. I will be attempting more stop-motion on my own but for now I’ll take a break.
This weeks reading finds us looking at color and experimentation to bring life to your animated story. Let’s take a moment to breakdown Chapter 5: Color Sense and Chapter 6: Weird Science in Liz Baker’s Animated Storytelling.
Chapter 5: Color Sense Baker level sets the chapter with a grounding in basic color terminology. Hue, saturation, value, and tone are the foundations for using color in any film but especially in animated stories. Akin to using music to set the feel and mood of a piece, so does color. By incorporating key color choices into your story you can move the story fluidly and get your audience to follow along. What those key colors are depend on what “YOUR” story has to tell and can only be determined by you. This leads into the next topic, which I was surprised to hear about and that is the idea of creating a color script which aligns with the story beats. By taking your beats, creating a physical (or digital) color script you can align it with your story and set the mood. I could see this working hand-in-hand aligning the music in the story (e.g., where to transition from calm music to more intense music). Another interesting point made was to limit your palette so that the focus is on the subject in your story. By limiting your palette to a few color choices you won’t distract your audience.
Chapter 6: Weird Science This chapter was well…a bit weird even for me. Up to this point you were following some sort of structure, some symphony of storytelling. However, in this chapter we’re told to experiment and “think outside the box” to help release our creative minds. In the chapter the ideas of creating “bad art” for instance frees yourself from the shackles of the color police for instance. Another interesting point made is to avoid getting pigeonholed into being the “go to” person for that one thing, that while you may be good at doing, doesn’t excite you. One example is to challenge yourself to create things outside your normal “expected” creations to help keep your creative juices flowing. This reminds me of something I do every once in a while. As a eLearning Creation Developer, we use Articulate Storyline 360 to create engaging learnings. The company Articulate has a community called eLearning Heroes to help collaborate and encourage creativity based on weekly challenges. The submitted challenges are submitted for the community to gain insight into multiple creative ideas on the same challenge. Another piece I found interesting was the idea of experimenting with transitions and movements. As in Chapter 4: Storyboarding I find yet another common thread and that is being strategic with the use of transitions and movements.
Research to Inform
In order to understand Stop-motion one must view examples. The ones here contain both classic examples and some that have influenced my project.
The Adventures of Gumby and Pokey
Claymation Genius
Probably the earliest forms of stop-motion in the TV era would be Gumby & Pokey’s adventures series debuting in 1956. I remember watching these growing up. Not in 1956 mind you, but as a young lad in the 1970’s. By today’s standards they seem crude and very choppy. However, I would venture to guess the frame rate was 10-12 fps and using malleable clay available at the time. There is an interesting read in Stop Motion Magazine on the creator of Gumby Art Clokey.
Snow Miser/Heat Miser Song “The Year Without A Santa Claus” (1974) -Rankin/Bass Productions
Christmas Classics
One of my top picks are anything by Rankin/Bass Productions. Although they started in 1964 with bringing the classic story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to life through “Animagic,” my favorite is “The Year Without A Santa Claus.” In particular the Snow Miser/Heat Miser song was particularly interesting because not only did they have the Claymation sing but also dance while singing. The use of transitions was also done well. Looking at the movement and knowing what we’ve learned thus far, I would guess the framerate to be 10-12 fps. This would be similar to the Claymation of the time of “Gumby.” For more about Rankin/Bass Productions there is a great article in Stop Motion Magazine about what was then referred to as “Animagic.” They are not the “Grandfathers” stop-motion, but they certainly were early pioneers of it. Back then to have Claymation that not only move but also had lip synching was a head of it’s time. There were no computers the way we have now.
Commercial compilation of various stop-motion TV ads in 2020
Commercially Speaking
In this reel we see various uses of stop motion in the advertisement industry. If we “stop” pun intended and look for a moment at television (TV) ads, we probably see more stop-motion use than we realize. This was a good compilation of only a few created in 2020.
This tutorial I came across changed my direction for this project. Instead of creating a Claymation stop motion, I decided to take a simpler approach for this project and use action figures instead. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to do a Claymation but when I have more time to dedicate to the project. Now, back to why I chose this tutorial. One, I liked the approach of using a clear action stand that can be rotoscoped or “erased” out in post. Plus who wouldn’t want to see a character flying through the air. This technique was very interesting and hopefully will prove fruitful.
Create
As mentioned above, I was originally thinking about doing a Claymation stop motion. However, realizing the timing and the amount of extra work required to make the clay figures along with just the stop motion filming, I decided to use my action figures.
Pre-production Ideas Below are two action figure ideas I had for my stop motion project. Both revolve around Ant-man and Ultraman. The process of writing the pre-production plan and storyboards was definitely a stretch for me. While I’m used to writing, its usually technical in nature and as for the drawings…well let’s just say I’ve seen kindergarteners do better. However, it’s a skill I’m sure I’ll hone as I do more. My test shot follows after the pdfs.
Idea 1: Linear
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Idea 2: Non-linear
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Test Shot
This process has been frustrating for me personally, because I’m attempting to use my DSLR with remote connect.
I was able to setup my lighting and green screen along with a steady table for the characters. While the setup isn’t perfect, I do think it’s pretty close. However, all the stop motion software for Windows does not work well. Either I get no camera live view or the camera stops operating in the middle of the shoot, or I just couldn’t get Cloudfare to “verify I’m human” to get the trial software or buy. I’ve tried 3 software packages; Eclipse Studio Motion Pro, Stop Motion Studio, and DragonFrame. The other point is besides the frame-by-frame shooting, the other tedious part is getting the lighting, camera, and green screen setup but should be worth it in the end.
Like I said above, each software had a quirk. To think this is only the test shoot. What I’ve learned is to be meticulous with your setup. This way, when you go to shoot the actual footage, you’ll be prepared. My test animation is being shot at 12 fps using a Canon EOS Rebel T5, Neewer LED lighting, and Stop Motion Pro’s Eclipse. After export, I pulled it into Premiere Pro added background music and sound effects (Sfx). I chose to leave the green screen for now. I will practice removing that in the action figure project.
Liz Blazer discusses in depth the topics of storytelling and storyboarding. One might think, “What you just need to have a beginning, middle, and end. What’s so hard about that?” The same person may say “Yeah, storyboarding. you just draw a bunch of pictures like Walt Disney did.” However, Liz dives deeper into storytelling and storyboarding. Let’s take a quick look!
Storytelling (Traditional)
Chapter 2 of Animated Storytelling talks about beats, structured and nonlinear storytelling. Beats deals with getting your big idea down and following through. Then once you’ve done that decide if you’re going to use a structured “three act story.” That is define the problem, attempt to solve it, and then, finally solve the problem. Or will you take the nonlinear approach? With the nonlinear approach you are still using a structure but to drive inspiration. What’s interesting here is that anyway you slice it, your stories have a structure to them.
Storytelling (Unlocking Potential)
Chapter 3 dives deeper into unlocking what your story is all about. To do this Blazer suggests two possible approaches. One is through narrative exercises and the other is using an experimental form. In the narrative exercise approach you have to decide how you’re going to initially use the narrative. Is there a conflict? Then make it clear and reveal what that conflict is early or take a look at maybe your character has a big secret. The other approach is to experiment by anchoring your story to a specific form type. Does music drive the story, like a music video? Or is is just as easy to cut out what you need and film it. Interesting point here is that Blazer specifically call out Terry Gilliam, of Monty Python hall of fame, as the “Cutout aficionado.” (Blazer, 2020, p71).
Storyboarding
Chapter 4 takes what you learned about getting your story formalized to now visualizing how your story will come to life before reaching it’s final medium. Right off the bat a nod is given to none other than Walt Disney for the innovation of storyboarding. Once past this nod, Blazer points to eight areas to make sure you include when you’re storyboarding. We won’t go into each one. You can pickup a copy of Animated Storytelling and read chapter 4 yourself. No, instead, you want to make sure you have the following when storyboarding; varying shots, framing and using the rule of thirds, staging the story, have continuity in the areas of spatial, temporal, and directional, keep timing in check, and laying out your storyboard on a timeline with dialogue and sound.
And Now for Something Somewhat Related
For those unaware, the topic subtitle is a nod to Monty Python’s movie titled “And Now for Something Completely Different!” (Python, 1974). Why do I have this BBC archive on Terry Gilliam and cutout animation you might ask. Well, to be frank about it, I’m a huge Monty Python fan and their animator Terry Gilliam was fantastic at storyteller. However, as mentioned earlier, he is quite the expert in cutout animation. While he is a “classically trained” artist, he explains why and shows viewers how to do cutout animations. Yes, I could save this for under stop motion animation, but Terry’s use of both traditional and cutout animation was just brilliant. I didn’t want to have you miss out on some good retro fun! Also, check out Dr. Michael Gheraz’s short but to the point blog titled Monty Python’s Animations which includes the video below.
Resources
Archive, B. (2022, March 25). 1974: Terry Gilliam on cutout animation | The DIY Film Animation Show | Classic Clips | BBC Archive. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaG_EiFX7a0
Blazer, L. (2020). Animated storytelling: Simple steps for creating Animation & Motion Graphics. Peachpit Press.
Motion graphics are used all around us. The art of live action mixed with animated text and even animation itself all mixed together to provide a brief story to visually connect, tell a story, change a behaviour, or just be entertaining. This mixture of motion and text along with background music and sound effects calls out to my creative side. Below, I’ve found a few motion graphics which help drive home what motion graphics is all about.
Artistic Motion (Stella Artois)
Thinking about inspiration for this weeks assignment on motion graphics, I came across this really neat Stella Artois video. The video seems to pan across various drawings of folks indulging in some libations. What’s neat is how the motion graphic artist uses their medium. As the video plays the camera zooms out and you find out these are actual paintings. Layered into the video are very well done motion. The video moves back and forth between zooming in and intersecting animated graphic elements to tell the story as the narrator fills in the gap. This is what I aspire to do with my job in visually telling stories that keep you engaged.
Call to Action Motion
Next up I found this video on cinematic trailers. For me, I’ve always been captivated by great cinematic trailers and game cut scenes. Probably the foremost authority in this area of the film industry has been Marvel (for me at least). While this video only shows movie trailers, some of my favorite games (Star Citizen, Diablo series, etc.) also employ great motion graphics. The way animation, live action, and text are seamlessly stitched together into a fluid 30 seconds to 3:00 minutes is truly amazing.
Smart Polar Bears
My last motion graphic example is the classic Coca-Cola Polar Bear commercials. These advertisements usually appeared around Christmas time each year. They even did a special version for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. Each version of the commercial had cute animations, a story, graphic overlays, and a final call to action. I can only imagine the number of layers, special effects, and text animation that was put into a 30 second spot. This is yet another reminder of how a motion graphic can move people depending on your message.
Create
Person of Interest
For my project on Personal Introduction, I decided to take a slightly different approach. While the “Hello, I’m…” approach is straight forward, I wanted to stretch myself. The personal introduction video below was done in After Effects. While I have used After Effects in the past, my experience is limited. Most of the time I would download a AE motion graphic template and play with the settings. However, this time I created the main part of the video from scratch and only imported elements from two templates to use.
All of my assets, minus my personal images and videos, were downloaded from my Envato Elements account. Assets downloaded included stock videos and templates, stock photos and illustrations, along with music and sound effects. Additionally, I used Audition to record my voice as the main narrator and the voice of Darla was generated in the Vyond animation software. I used Illustrator and Premiere Pro for asset touch ups before importing them into After Effects. With my general story idea, I employed Chat GPT 4.0 for the initial script and then rewrote the final script to fit the visual narrative. In After Effects, I was able to explore using pre-comps, easing, and replacing. Also, I experimented with using the glyph and colorize effects.
The timeline had a total of 39 assets of which 11 were pre-comps. After rendering in Media Encoder, I was able to bring it into Premiere Pro where I used the two-pass method to decrease the video file size from 157MB to 34MB without sacrificing quality. Below the video are a couple of my motion graphic in After Effects. Enjoy!
