Practicing Stop Motion Animation

This was our very first attempt at filming some stop motion animation. Overall we feel that we have a good camera position, however we need to take more frames for the film to run more smoothly and for a longer period of time.

This was our second attempt at filming some stop motion animation. We took more frames and feel that the overall video runs much more smoothly.

This was our third attempt. We took alot more frames for a smooth effect. We love the use of an object within stop motion to give the feel that the object is 'alive'. We think using animated objects within our video will have a really bold impact o the overall appearance. To improve we must take a larger number of shots to make the running time longer, and move the camera to include different camera shots.

Location shots for scene 1

We have visited our location for the narrative scene and taken some practise shots that we are likely to use in our recording process. We have tried to create a variety of different shots along with sticking to conventions.

Location Shots for Music Video

Analysing our Genre

"Incomplete Lullaby- Lisa Mitchell"

This is an example of a video within our genre. I have chosen to include this because it contains 2 scenes; The narrative is made up with elements of stop motion (video camera and still camera) and the performance is purely filmed with a video camera. I think this is similar to the type of footage that we will aspire to produce.

During the performance scene a female, styled to the genre, appears and mimes the words to the music throughout the entire scene. She glances into the camera on occasions and to emphasize this a number of close ups and mid shots are used. To keep the scene interesting, on occasion the shot changes to a long shot or over the shoulder, but generally the shot variety is simple during this scene.

During the narrative scene there is no miming and the model is oblivious to the camera's presence. The female almost tells a story and her actions are made to fit with the music and lyrics. Stop motion is used within this scene as well as video elements.

The female is styled to represent the genre. Relevant mise en scene is used carefully. Studio lighting, a variety of outfits to suit the style, location, make up, expression and body language all play a big role within this genre.

"Eet-Regina Spektor"

Song choice

We have decided to use the music '1234- by Fiest' to run with our music video. We feel this fits perfectly with our chosen genre. Looking at the resources we have available, we think they will suit the vibe of this song. We believe we have the capability to play with the very suitable lyrics and beat to this song using a still camera to produce some stop motion animation within our video. The lyrics and beat also allow us to make obvious connections between the sound and visual aspects of the final product, for a strong relation between the two to allow a proffessional finish.

This is the official music video to '1234- by Feist'

Narrative vs. Performance scenes

To help us achieve a flawless and professional look to our video we have looked into the conventions of a music video within our genre. We wanted to look at how the scenes change between a narrative to a performance style.

We have analysed the official music video to "Hollywood - by Marina And The Diamonds."

We have grouped shots from the same scenes together and taken note of how many times each scene is repeated/gone back to, along with recording relavant timing.

Analysing scene change of 'Hollywood- Marina and the DIamonds' Music video

Genre

After looking at the available resources we have eg; actors, locations, weather, and other mise en scene we have decided to persue a female singer/hippy/pop style.

We will look at the conventions of various music videos within our chosen genre and try to challenge them by adding various aspects of stop motion animation.

We both feel that elements of animation will suit the style of out video and help to enhance the overall appearance and style.

Jenny & Rhian

Pre-Production

To begin our pre-production we will start by researching into existing music videos. We will use social networking sites on the internet such as YouTube, myspace and Facebook to help influence us on the genre and style of video we hope to produce.

Jenny & Rhian