Video and Sound Production - Final Project
5/06/20 - 17/07/20 (Week 8 - Week 14)
Atiqah Farzana Binti Syalleh Karimyee (0336740)
Video and Sound Production
Final Project
INSTRUCTION
Assignment brief:
EXERCISE
Act 1:
Once upon a time there was a ___.
Everyday ___.
Until one day ___.
Act 2:
Because of that ___.
Because of that ___.
Because of that ___.
Act 3:
Until finally, ___.
Feedback:
Mr. Razif said that the sound is okay for a first draft, but needs to be refined better in the final outcome. The sounds shouldn't be abrupt and should blend into the next sound smoothly. He emphasised that the sound is to create the mood of the story, so it must be balanced with the visuals. He likes the transitions (of smoke between different scenes)! However, both Mr. Martin and Mr. Razif suggested that it would be much better to use a papercut method instead of a flipbook style. It is easier, has more flexibility, and overall better in terms of efficiency. I was sort of looking forward to doing a flipbook but I understood their concern in my time management, also with all of my other assignments I figured I had to spread my time evenly.
I immediately started drawing and painting my background/characters because I knew it was going to be a lot of work. Here are some progress pictures:
Feedback:
Mr. Martin suggested that I make the flowers move/sway a bit because it seems like it's stuck onto the background. Other than that, he was fine with this trial shoot and I can continue with the rest.
More progress pictures:
Here is my final stop-motion video!
I think I could have done a better job if I had more time, but nonetheless, I like how it turned out and I also had fun incorporating painting with my work. Of course the main purpose of this project is the message behind this video which is a PSA for smoking. In the end, my PSA topic kind of includes air pollution with smoking but the two are very similar.
Atiqah Farzana Binti Syalleh Karimyee (0336740)
Video and Sound Production
Final Project
INSTRUCTION
Assignment brief:
EXERCISE
Week 1 (17/04/20)
Mr. Martin told us to choose 3 of our favourite stop-motion animations and here are mine:
1. Wallace and Gromit
When I hear the words "stop-motion animation" the first thing that comes to mind would be Wallace and Gromit. Their movies were an iconic and memorable part of my childhood and I absolutely love the art style of the characters. This scene, in particular, is my favourite- Gromit pulls a lever to transport Wallace from his bed to the kitchen, and several mechanical hands help him to get dressed. I also love how the jam catapults onto the toast just as it flies out and lands perfectly on his plate.
When I hear the words "stop-motion animation" the first thing that comes to mind would be Wallace and Gromit. Their movies were an iconic and memorable part of my childhood and I absolutely love the art style of the characters. This scene, in particular, is my favourite- Gromit pulls a lever to transport Wallace from his bed to the kitchen, and several mechanical hands help him to get dressed. I also love how the jam catapults onto the toast just as it flies out and lands perfectly on his plate.
2. Pingu
I think Pingu is a bit different than other stop-motion animations because it doesn't have any dialogue in it. Nonetheless, still a childhood classic. I love the exaggerated movements especially when he's goofing around, such as crawling under the table or falling completely flat on the ground to catch a ball. Because the medium used is clay, the flexibility for movement has no limit.
3. Coraline
When I first watched this movie, it traumatized me. However, I still had a lot of respect for the creators who painstakingly made the film. As this was created quite recently compared to the other two animations, the quality and standard of stop-motion animations had improved tremendously. The movements were very smooth and seamless, down to the way their hair moves and their facial features. They even needed a drawer full of different faces just for a single dialogue, and their clothes were hand-sewn despite being extremely meticulous and tiny.
All 3 of these are stop-motion animations that I watched during my childhood and have a lot of good memories attached to them. I think the art of stop-motion has been fading in this digital day and age, but a normal cartoon animation is nothing compared to the whole feeling and vibe that a stop-motion video holds.
We were also asked to choose 3 shortlisted PSA topics for our 30-second stop-motion project. Mr. Martin gave us this source with a lot of choices to choose from:
My shortlisted PSA topics for final project:
- Bullying (what goes around comes around)
- Smoking
After thinking of potential storylines, I ended up choosing 'smoking' for my final project topic.
We were asked to write down a brief story plot and structure for our story using this format:
Topic: Smoking
1. Ideation: 1-2 paragraphs (The story is about ___. The theme of the story is ___).
2. Art Direction: Clay/ Paper cut/ Lego, Set building, Visual references
3. 3 Act Structure: Describe the story in a 3 act structure:
Once upon a time there was a ___.
Everyday ___.
Until one day ___.
Act 2:
Because of that ___.
Because of that ___.
Because of that ___.
Act 3:
Until finally, ___.
And ever since then, ___.
Feedback: Mr. Martin wanted a twist at the end. He suggested that I could show the empty city streets filled with cigarette butts, then one of them turns into a lifeform that will become a new species of life on earth. This was just a suggestion but sir said I should think about it further and add my own twist at the ending.
I added a twist to the ending, and here are the updated slides:
Feedback: In the Google Sheets, Mr. Martin commented this:
1. smoking is not the cause of extinction, fossil fuel burning is
2. suggestion: A man smoking, getting worse and worse, and lost his life. in the end twist into a bigger problem, the earth problem. reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpjw9cNxwew&feature=youtu.be)
Mr. Martin said that this was just a suggestion and not an instruction, so we did not have to follow it exactly. With that in mind, I adjusted my story while still trying to keep the original idea, as well as try to shorten it a bit as the project is only 30 seconds.
To find inspiration and open up my mind a little bit, I watched more stop-motion animations and went on to Pinterest and social media. I found this one stop-motion in particular which shows the effects of smoking to the environment. I really liked the overall aesthetic of it so I wanted to include it as one of my references/inspirations.
This is the post:
Final updated slides:
Here is my storyboard:
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| Fig. 1.1 Storyboard Page 1 |
 |
| Fig. 1.2 Storyboard Page 2 |
Here is my animatics:
Mr. Razif said that the sound is okay for a first draft, but needs to be refined better in the final outcome. The sounds shouldn't be abrupt and should blend into the next sound smoothly. He emphasised that the sound is to create the mood of the story, so it must be balanced with the visuals. He likes the transitions (of smoke between different scenes)! However, both Mr. Martin and Mr. Razif suggested that it would be much better to use a papercut method instead of a flipbook style. It is easier, has more flexibility, and overall better in terms of efficiency. I was sort of looking forward to doing a flipbook but I understood their concern in my time management, also with all of my other assignments I figured I had to spread my time evenly.
I immediately started drawing and painting my background/characters because I knew it was going to be a lot of work. Here are some progress pictures:
 |
| Fig. 1.3 Flowers: Sketch |
 |
| Fig. 1.4 Flowers: Painted |
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| Fig. 1.5 Flowers with background |
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| Fig. 1.6 Full canvas for scene 1 |
In my first scene, my butterfly flies upwards, so I planned my canvas to be very long and narrow so that I can just move my camera upwards. Starting from the bottom, the butterfly moved upwards to the smoke (orange/green glass paper) and to the smokestacks, then again to the smoke.
Here is my trial shoot of the first scene (just the beginning):
Feedback:
Mr. Martin suggested that I make the flowers move/sway a bit because it seems like it's stuck onto the background. Other than that, he was fine with this trial shoot and I can continue with the rest.
More progress pictures:
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| Fig. 1.7 Leaves |
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| Fig. 1.8 Shooting |
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| Fig. 1.9 Shooting |
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| Fig. 1.10 Lungs background |
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| Fig. 1.11 Father and Daughter bodies |
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| Fig. 1.11 Father and Daughter bodies: cut up |
Here is my final stop-motion video!
I think I could have done a better job if I had more time, but nonetheless, I like how it turned out and I also had fun incorporating painting with my work. Of course the main purpose of this project is the message behind this video which is a PSA for smoking. In the end, my PSA topic kind of includes air pollution with smoking but the two are very similar.
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