Video and Sound Production- Final Project

Week 8 -Week 14

Alfie Koh Chen Fong (0340310)

Video and Sound Production

Final Project

---

INSTRUCTION

---

Final Project

Week 1(17/04/2020)

1. Fish Tears - Lego in Real Life

This is one of my favourite stop motion video, this video was made by 5,400 pictures. Before I understand how stop motion video are made, this video is very magical for me, I can't figure out how he turned these things to lego. This video is just a sushi-making video, but you can feel the glamour of the stop motion.

2. Cream

The second video I choose call "Cream", the content is quite weird and violent, I think the people were made by clay. The story is about the cycle of death and birth and the absurdity of life

3. The Maker

This video is about a creature creating another creature and giving it the most beautiful thing in the world, "life". I kind of like its creepy feeling but I also feel warmth at the same time. I admire how could the author made the violin very real.

For final project, we need to choose a topic from the PSA-topic given by lecturer and create a 30 seconds stop motion video based on the topic. At week 1's class, lecturer asked us to choose not more than 3 topic from the list first.

I ran through the list and decided to choose "Dangerous Driving". I think dangerous driving is one of the most serious things happen everyday, I want to create a video that can remind people the importance of driving carefully.

Week 4(08/05/2020)
We were assigned to create a moodboard for our 30 seconds stop motion final project. Under Mr Martin's instructions, we should include:

1. Ideation: 1-2 paragraphs(The story is about_, The them of the story is_)
2. Art Direction: Clay/paper cut/lego, set buildings, visual reference.
3. 3 Act structure: Describe the story in 3 act structure:

Act 1:
Once upon a time, there was_.
Every day, _.
Until one day, _.

Act 2
Because of that, _.
Because of that, _.
Because of that, _.

Act 3
Until final, _.
And ever since then, _
The Moral of the story is _.

Below is my moodboard.

Week 5(15/05/2020)
After a discussion with Mr Martin, he thinks the story is too complicated, It is not easy to fit these plots into a 30 seconds stop motion. He suggested me to simplify the story, also focus on dangerous driving. No need to explain the unconcerned things. Act 2 should be interesting. Mr Martin also thinks that it is not easy to express accident by using lego. I may need to include some visual effects but it will spend some time.

I decided to change the whole story to a smiliar but more simple story, below is my second attempt of story moodboard.



Week 7(29/06/2020)
Mr Martin suggested me to make the story simple by changing the story a bit different. Below is his suggestion.
1. make it simple 2 cars racing like mad man.
2. act 1 5 sec: car 1 slowly stops in front of traffic light. car 2 breaks and stops next to car 1, and challenges car1.
3. act 2 25 secs: crazy funny reckless chaos dangerous racing begins...and end with ???(you come out with the ending)

I revised the storyboard. Below is the final storyboard.

Final storyboard

We were assigned to create a story breakdown and shot list for our stop motions. Below is the first attempt.



After I submitted the slides, some of the feedback is given by Mr Martin, below is the feedback.

Scene 1:
Car 1 stops in front of the traffic light. Car 2 breaks and stops near the car 1.
Above 2 should be ONE shot, suggestion: sh2 composition from the side. 4 sec
Car 2 challenges car 1 by pressing the accelerator. Two cars start racing when traffic light turns to green light.\ 1-2sec
Printed images should work in photoshop to match the style with your stop motion, cannot just use real photo. However, background can be just outline sketches or animation/carton style.

Scene 2:
2 cars driving speedy. Driver changes the gear before turning a corner. Two cars keep pushing each other.
Props: Car model (2 Cars) Printed images (Buildings, road, ) Hand Gear (Real Photo)
Act 2 is about 20 secs, and is the most interesting part of the video, the story arc goes up and down to give audiences adrenaline rush. For example, car almost runs into the crowd crossing the road, or: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdryabPB3hg  (just the 1st clip, car flying high!)
Car interior if you cant shoot, don’t do. Gear real photo doesn't work.

Scene 3:
2 cars pass a “no racing zone” road sign. There is a truck crossing the road, the drivers try to break the car. The cars are uncontrolled and dash against the truck. The blood is bleeding through the screen.
Same here: car interior if you cant shoot, don’t do. Car breaking real photo doesn't work. Give it a twist, car 2 crash into truck, car 1 get away last moment. But when car 1 thinks he is safe…truck or something turnovers…..fall on top of car 1….

Under Mr Martin's suggestion, I start prepares the animatic video and the slide which needed to present together with the animatic video at week 10. Below is the final animatic video and the slide.

Week 10(19/06/2020)

I showed the animatic video and the slide, Mr Martin and Mr Razif said the visual is almost ok. Mr Razif said it is important to choose a good sound effect for my stop motion. Also, they said I can start to do a trial shot.

Week 11(26/06/2020)

We were tasked to conduct a trial shot. Image aspect ratio should be changed to 16:9, we need to shoot 6 frames for a second, rather than shooting 24 frames for a second which is the profession al standard. If shot 1 is 3 seconds, we are shooting 3x6=18 stills; if shot 2 is 5 seconds long, we shoot 5x6=30 stills. Mr Martin said trial shoot is for us to have first-hand experience on stop motion shooting, discover problems we might face in advance; it is totally fine if the background isn’t ready yet. Below are the trial shots. Mr Martin said the background can use printed image and use photoshop to edit.

Week 12(03/07/2020)

This week Mr Razif had a introduction about different types of sound.

1. Ambience sound (softest in loudness)

2. Typical one

(a) Direct sound

(b) Action sound

(c) Foley sound

3.Special effect

4. Voice, acting, dialogue

5. Narration (loudest in loudness)

Below is the final outcome of stop motion.