I was only present at the filming of these shots for 2 hours as I had to prep for the BBC 4 live brief pitch happening the next day, Jade and Claire successfully carried out the filming with brilliant results. 

Most of the time I was there, we had one technical difficulty after another; the tripod did not hold the camera securely, the camera was taking zoomed-in shots despite no alteration to the lens, which made capturing images hard as what we were seeing was not what we were taking! We eventually got the tripod sorted when I brought my much simpler one down to the studio and secured the camera on that, and Stan was able to help us with our zoom problem by explaining the changes in AV and TV settings, which alter the amount of focus and light that goes into every shot. 

Once all this was sorted, everything was fine! Jade showed me the shots at the end of the day and I was VERY pleased with what her and Claire had produced. I needed to come back to do certain shots when the mother takes a coin out of the purse, as it has become apparent that I have ‘motherly-looking’ hands!  

Meanwhile, Fitz was out gathering all the coin sounds, we had plenty of arcade ones, and we needed sounds to further animate the coins e.g. clinking.

So now we’ve got all the internal purse shots covered, which is a really big chunk and probably one of the more challenging chunk of shots that we have to do.

- Helen

Today Jade, Claire and I set off to Barry Island with a camera and a tripod to shoot the majority of the arcade scenes. Fitz could not afford the train fare as he was ‘skint’, so he said he’d continue carrying out necessary tests and tutorials on after effects which is vital prep. for the final edit of our film.

We came across a few challenges with both the camera and the machines. We quickly discovered we could not do shots when the coin was moving at a fast speed with pixilation as even the quickest shutter speeds weren’t fast enough to give the illusion of movement – instead we just got a shot when the coin was appearing and disappearing in different parts of the screen.

In the first arcade we went in, the owner was very helpful and even dimmed the lights for us so we could get better arcade machine shots. The next one we went in on the other hand, the guy wasn’t quite so welcoming, but we got some good shots of a roulette machine that took 2p coins, we thought that if we absolutely could not find a coin funnel, then this would be a good substitute. We had a problem with REFLECTIONS as well, the light of the signs in the arcade were reflecting onto the plastic of the machines. To solve this we simply placed someone in the way of the offending light!

We had a problem with the machine in which you inserted the coin then turned a wheel to generate a sweet or small toy, as when we tried to get the toy out, the hand just became a blur! We did shots at a change machine, the initial zooming-into-the-slot shot was great, but the camera played up as we gradually lowered it to the money tray. We also got open shots of the arcade, and also did separate ones concentrating on machines that had changing/flashing lights to gain interesting pixelation effects.

We got lots of the machine shots, the only ones we weren’t able to attain were the penny presser and coin funnel shots, but we’re currently researching on the Internet for places in South Wales that would have such things!

We have done at least 2 shots of each individual scene and we’ve put them together in an AVI file via premiere, as we don’t wish to rule out any shots until right up to the editing stage, just incase.

Overall, today was a successful filming day.

- Helen

HELEN YATES (20305702)

BA (HONS) ANIMATION - YEAR 2

AN5.2 SPECIALIST OPTION: 3D STOP-MOTION

PROJECT REPORT

At the beginning of this project I hoped to significantly improve my craft and animating skills in stop-motion animation, I had previous experience with the medium but my models often looked okay, but didn’t function well at all, and my animation skills weren’t developed that well, so it was a case of wanting building my confidence with this medium too. In the first couple of weeks I felt a little overwhelmed by all the new information we had to digest, but after some reassurance I relaxed and have thoroughly enjoyed this stop-motion experience.

I have achieved these aims to the extent that I now have knowledge of the basic key movements and principles that make the foundations of a good stop-motion performance. My confidence has soared with this form of animation and I feel encouraged to continue pushing myself further with this form of filmmaking. I’ve also learnt how to make a fully functioning armature with K&S tubing, and have noted various ways of making simpler ones that our lecturer informed us of.

I feel my work has fulfilled the assessment criteria, I have showed enthusiasm throughout this module, I worked on given tasks independently outside the weekly sessions, as well as doing a couple with fellow classmates. I have created a show-reel that shows how much my skills have developed in these last 3 months, my skills are not yet polished but with more tries at certain movements there will be more improvement in my work. At first I found the blogging a struggle, I wasn’t sure what to put in it, but now I’m a confident blogger and I like the way I’ve presented my development.

What other positive outcomes have come out of this project?

I had gained a lot of confidence with my creativity. I have a better knowledge of what tools and materials are out there that help create better models. I am much more familiar with the workshop in the university, what machinery/tools I can use there and how to use them. I have also got the hang of blogging!

What I’ve learnt that I can apply t other projects is the various ways of structuring an armature, it doesn’t have to be a high-tech K&S structure; it can be done with as little as twisted wire and Milliput. I was also hoping this module would help me determine what role I’d like to be in a stop-motion studio, I have only come to the conclusion that I don’t wish to make armatures! I have learnt the importance of breaking down dialogue as much as possible, and acting out movement is one of the best ways to plan how the character is going to perform.

I will be able to approach future projects with more confidence. I will take what I’ve learnt and continue to improve on certain animation exercises in order to make full-blown performances much better. I will also continue to push my self with in terms of the type of characters I create and how I make them come to life.