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Video Sound And Production / Final Project: Stop Motion Video

2024.05.23-2024.07.25 Week 5 - Week 14

Teh Ming En/0364908

Video Sound And Production-Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media--Taylors University

Final Project: Stop Motion Video

Instructions


In the final project, we are required to shoot a stop motion video. It can be works in group or individual. The video length for the group should be around one minute, while the individual should be 30 seconds. We can decide the topic ourselves, but it need to get the lecturer's approval of the storyboard before shooting begins.

Requirements:
  • Screen Resolution 1080p(Full HD), 16:9(Wide Screen)
  • Frame Rate 24/25fps
  • Field Option Progressive Scan
  • Audio Quality 48kHZ, 16-bits stereo
  • Compression H.264
Week 1 Task:

We were required to watch stop motion short and share 3 of our favorites in the blog under the Final Project section before we decided the topic.

Video 01

Fig 1.1 Stop Motion Short - Happier Alone

This short has won multiple awards for its stop motion animation. Its story depicts a different way of life, highlighting the life of introverted people. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the short. Additionally, the short also reveals the behind-the-scenes filming techniques at the end.

Video 02

Fig 1.2 Stop Motion Short - Archie
https://youtu.be/5c9wtTqMT0E?si=7Xnfd7k-F-1bk3lr

This short depicts the protagonist's journey back to a distant home after getting of a relative's death, and they start a new life there. The characters' movements are smooth, and the film is rich in detail.

Video 03

Fig 1.3 Stop Motion Short - Negative Space

This short is talk about the protagonist and his father. He always help his father to pack the suitcase because his father always on the way on business trip. So when he saw his father lying in the coffin, there was only the thought of coffin's space being wasted. I like this short because its quality of sound effects are good and it was sync with the animation

Process

First, I decided to team up with my classmate - Huey Yee to complete the final project. We hit it off right away and decided on the topic and drew out the first storyboard.

Fig 2.1 1st Version of Storyboard

Our story is about the complex relationship of love, and we mainly want to tell people through this story that there will never be a second chance for some things in love. We show the storyboard to Mr. Martin. He pointed out that our storyboard was too complex and had only a single scene, which was too rich in character and too poor in scene setting.

Fig 2.2 Final Storyboard

We learned from our first experience and re-optimized the storyboard. We reduced the number of characters and added different scenes to make the story more interesting. In addition, we changed some of the plot to make the story look smoother. Then, our storyboard was completed.

After completing the storyboard, we started to create the characters and scenes.

Fig 2.3 Making the Truck

For the medium, we decided to use clay to create the characters and use paper cuts to make the scene. The picture above(Fig 2.3) is a truck we made using waste resources- a toothpaste box. This is a process that really tests our manual creativity.

Fig 2.4 Shooting Stop Motion Video

In week 12, we prepared all the shooting materials including the tripod, scene, and characters and started shooting the stop motion video. For shooting, we used a stop-motion animation application on Huey Yee's mobile phone. In the end we took a total of 111 photos.


Video Editing

Moving on, we started editing the raw video. We decided to only include sound effects and ambient sounds in the video, without any music.

Fig 3.1 Importing Sound Effects

Before started to edit the raw video, me and Huey Yee have downloaded the suitable sound effects for our video in Freesound website. After that imported all the sound effects to Adobe PremierePro.

Fig 3.2 Adjusting Sound Effects

At this step, all the sound effects have been added to the track and synchronized with the video.

Fig 3.3 Applying Audio Effects

In the sound effects, we have applied audio effects to them, such as fade-in and fade-out sound effects, to make them better fit with the video.

Fig 3.4 Effect Control

Among the sound effects we downloaded, some of them were too loud and some were too soft. Considering this will affect our video, we applied the effects control to reduce or increase the volume of the sound effects.

Fig 3.5 Exporting the Video

After that, the stop motion video was completed.

Submission

Fig 4.1 Final Stop Motion Video

Feedback

Week 11: The storyline was too complex. We should create more background scenes for the story and reduce the characters. 

Reflection

Through the final project, I have deepen my understand of video, sound and production. This project was an combination of everything I’ve learned in VSP class. It was not only need technical skills but also creativity and effective collaboration. During the process, I have learned that the intricacies of pre-production, and the importance of thorough planning with the storyboard. I also gained a deeper understanding of how to effectively use lighting and camera angles to enhance the storytelling.

One of the observations was the importance of sound in shaping the audience's perception. The ambient sounds and sound effects that I selected carefully will add depth to the visuals of the video. Therefore, I found that sound design is a crucial element that should never be overlooked in production. This final project was a learning experience that shaped my passion for video and sound production. It has sharpened my technical skills and taught me the significance of collaboration and effective communication. Every cut, transition, and audio adjustment had to be rigorous to ensure to produce a seamless and immersive video.



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