Stop motion has been a steep learning curve for sure. The weeks we have had have definitely been a trial by fire, but one i’m glad I have done.
Working in stop motion has forced me to think about creating animations into different ways, particularly in working forwards. Having to plan ahead with little time, work adaptively as mistakes and obstacles come up and work in different mediums has really helped to push me and what I consider myself able to create.
I found clay especially difficult. Making a puppet was hard enough but the concept I really struggled with was basically having to completely reform and almost destroy the character in order to make it do anything. On making my ghost figure, I couldn’t figure out how to make it move in anyway without recreating it entirely. In the end I had to sort of just accept this and in a way worked backwards, I knew I wanted to end up with the puppet i created as a final image, so i instead created new ‘stages’ of the puppet that allowed me to work towards it. I think going forward this sessions taught me the importance of both planning ahead but also ultimately going with the flow and rolling with the punches a bit.
I also learnt the hard way to make sure I keep the camera focussed…
The clay transition video, I came in confident. I had a plan, I had a design, I knew what I wanted out of the day. Almost none of it worked out the way I intended. It was very much a hard lesson in expectation and in taking the time to really explore and understand your medium.
I felt so confident with my plan, I thought I knew exactly how the make and shoot would go, but I didn’t take the time to actually try it with the materials. I know these sessions are only really time enough to have an introduction but it has really hit home how important it is to take the time to understand and explore what it is you intent to make. Being so inexperienced with clay, I went expecting my plan to go off without a hitch, but with no real evidence to think this. I would like to work with clay again in the future, but i don’t think I will do so again without really taking time to research and understand my material and what possibilities and limitations it has.
This project has also instilled the importance of learning about camera settings and how to use premier pro! Being able to make sure shots are consistent and that I am able to edit films correctly is imperative and I need to spend more time doing this to ensure I can execute intentions effectively.