Weekly Journal
Regular evaluation updates are required with every unit. Please remember to
take photos and get behind the scenes footage as you film. You might find it
easier if you note down a record of what you did each day in a diary form.
Please use the following guidance to help you with each week.
Week 1
What research have you
completed this week and what
have you learned?
What materials did you consider
using and why?
This week you researched stop motion animation
This week I researched how to do stop motion, the
early pioneers of stop motion, and examples of
different types of films using various animation
techniques. I learnt that most stop motion films are
done at 24 fps to appear as smooth as unanimated
films. I also learnt that some films, such as the new
Spiderman film, choose to animate on ones or twos,
meaning holding a character for two frames, or
having it move on every frame. This can make it look
slow and clumsy in a unique way, compared to other
films which are more seamless. I also learnt Walt
Disney’s Steamboat Willie was one of the first stop
motion animation short films, and it lead to the
development of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I considered using Clay as it can hold fairly well and
be a good way of showing clear characters,
emotions and narrative. But, I decided against it as
there is a lot of elements to control when working with
clay, and I struggled to finish my 5 second animation
in under 2 hours, meaning it would be unreasonable
to create a 30 second piece in suitable time. I also
considered wooden figures, as these are easy to
control, can show emotions if needed, and they
cannot move without touching them (which is a big
positive). This was my close second option as although
it has many positives, the audience may get a bit
confused with lots of arms and legs moving around
the screen. I settled on drawing on a whiteboard, as I
have full control of what the audience sees. I can
make the images as detailed or simplistic as I feel
depending on the desired effect. Whiteboard
drawings can be done with a variety of colours
showing clear differences between emotions, and I
can easily erase something If I make a mistake.
How did the test animations help
you to choose the most suitable
material for your animation?
(provide screenshots that show
your practice methods)
What did you learn from your
planning? How has it helped you
to progress your idea?
Are you on track for this week? If
not, how far behind are you?
What work do you need to
complete outside of lessons to
stay on track?
Week 2
How helpful did you find your
planning whilst photographing
your animation?
What challenges did you face
with your chosen material? How
did you overcome these?
How did you ensure you met the
required frame rate?
How happy are you with your final
product? Provide analysis of the
successes and failures you feel
you had
Testing helped me get a good idea of how much
time I spent on each material, and how much that
would equate to if I needed to make a 30 second
animation. It also showed me unexpected challenges
when working on those materials. For example I was
using playdoh as a substitute for clay, and I found that
the figures struggled to stand up without support. So, I
decided to do some shots of just the feet, some quick
shots full length, and for the upper body shots, I was
able to support the figures by adding lots of playdoh
to fill their legs.
Planning using a storyboard helped me to think of
how the animation would extend to 30 seconds, and
it also helped me think of a clearer storyline. Planning
my location helped me with preparing lighting and
organising a time I can film. The sound list was also
important as it helped me clear up the story as well.
I’m currently on track.
I will add my behind the scenes photos for the
animations.
This week you produced your stop motion animation
Planning the storyboard beforehand was helpful as it
helped me work efficiently when on set. I was able to
remember the entire storyline and I also knew how
many frames I needed for each scene as I wrote
down the amount of seconds each shot would last,
and what that would equate to if I was shooting at 16
fps. Planning my location helped me make sure the
room was available at the office.
I quickly learnt that whiteboard pens don’t rub out as
easily as expected, so there is a clear difference in
clarity between the beginning and end of the
animation. By the middle, the background was
covered in red pen despite trying for ages to remove
it all.
To ensure I met the required frame rate I wrote down
on a copy of my story board the amount of seconds
each shot would last, and subsequently how many
frames that would be. E.g a 3 second shot at 16 fps
would be 48 frames. I made sure I took the right
amount of photos by adding to a tally chart after
every shot.
The final product looks simplistic which is what I was
trying to achieve as it helps clear up the complicated
topic. However, my drawing skills aren’t great, so I
had to do a lot of rubbing-out which messed up the
background a lot. I think that this affected the overall
quality quite a lot, but despite this everything went
fairly smoothly.
How much work did you
complete outside of the lessons?
Are you on track for this week? If
not, how far behind are you?
What work do you need to
complete outside of lessons to
stay on track?
I filmed my entire project outside of lessons as I had
setup the scene at a different location. The animation
took roughly 10 hours to photograph. Editing the
images, sequence and audio took about an hour and
this was completed inside of class.
I am on track for this week.
Although I’m on track, I can do a location recce of
the office space, but I need an image so this will have
to be done outside of lesson time.