Stop Motion Animation

Now that you have worked your logo, understand a little more about After Effects and how the platform works, I would like you to really push your animation. You have worked on your logo and animated it, some of you have worked harder than others. The people that have really taken the time to understand After Effects will have a leg up on this assignment.


The Nightmare Before Christmas is a brilliant film! The crew that worked on the film was meticulous in their details and it took them full week to shoot one minute of film!

Before we get to shooting a film, I need you to show me that you understand the history of animation.
So, please complete this assignment and post it on your blog.


After you have completed your history assignment, I would like you to please create a stop motion video that follows this outline. If you need ideas for a Stop Motion, use the power of google.

Making Your Logo

You are now your own production company. You may not believe me but here are the main questions you need to ask yourself:

• Are you making movies 
• Are you posting these movies to a site that allows you to showcase your work to others?
• Do you have original ideas that you would like to showcase in and/or out of this class? 

Well, if you answered yes to any of these questions, CONGRATULATIONS you’re officially your own production company. (Pretty snazzy!) 

Since you’re in your own production company, you need to think of a couple of things:

What is your production company called?

What is your logo going to be?

What do you want your logo to look like?

All of these things are very important and should not be taken lightly. 

We will be making our logo in After Effects. This is because we want our logo to look SNAZZY! (It's the word of the module, just go with it!) Video Copilot is a Youtube channel that can help you learn a bunch of snazzy tricks such as Keying & Transparency, Motion Tracking, and much more. Look at a few of their tutorials and then get working on your logo

Gif

Have you ever seen something like this and wondered what it was? Have you ever wondered how to make one yourself?




 Well, luckily today is the day that you're going to learn all about Gif's!

Gif's are made in Photoshop, photoshop uses Raster Graphics. This is an important thing to note for a number of reasons that will become clear later on in the module. For right now, you need to know the difference between Raster and Vector Graphics.

Please have a look at this video to understand the difference between the two.

After you have looked at that video, we need to make a GIF of our own! Luckily for you, a student already made a snazzy video on how to do this. (If the video doesn't work click on the hyperlink)

Also, there are some awesome directions for showing you what to do.


Here is the rocket ship and the flame so you can get going.

After you have made your gif please use this tutorial to learn how to upload your GIF onto your blog.

Wasn't that fun? In fact, I loved it so much I want you to make your own original GIF and upload it to your blog as well!

Three Minutes

Your next assignment you are being asked to create a three minute movie.

This movie can be whatever you would like! A music video, a movie trailer, a story about your love of Nutella. The possibilities are endless.

You will be shooting this project in groups of three. I am looking for a detailed shot list and script. Please refer to our previous post for proper script formatting.

Please refer to this document for more detailed instructions.

Also, anyone you worked with on your last project is not allowed to be in this project.

The Time Has Come... To Make A Video

Yes, it's finally that time! We will be making a video!

We will discuss the video before I write more on this post (Seeing as how none of you read them anyway)


This is the sheet you will need.

Click here if you would like a sample script you can use as a template. (Taken from wikipedia)

Let's Look at Genres

Research & Define Genre... google the word to get ideas.

Find a YouTube clip and define its genre... be able to rationalize your stance.  Talk about life style shots.  What are they?  What is the difference between horror shots & action shots?  What kind of lighting is used?  What is the timing of the shots in seconds or minutes or hours?

Lifestyle shot - A lifestyle shot is a shot that essentially shows the lifestyle of the individual(s) being filmed. They are not shot on a set but take place in a natural setting.

Lighting - I understand that you do not know the types of lighting used in film. That being said I do know that you are able to tell the difference between a brightly lit set and a low key light.

Please choose two genres and type up a definition and provide an example.

What I am looking for: 

Genre: Action Sport/Independent

Online Videos that provide either insight or showcase talent regarding a certain action sport (skiing, skateboarding, surfing, mountain biking, etc) These are usually formatted as promotional videos for an individual athlete or group of athletes, showing back to back clips synced to music. In order to break up the monotony of the constant stream of “tricks,” these short films often include “lifestyle” shots. These clips are designed to give the viewer some insight into either the life or personality of a certain athlete. Often under 10 minutes, these videos usually consist of mainly tracking shots and fast pans.

This video is a perfect example. 

Making A Shot List

Now that we have worked on which shots to use, it is important that we understand the different types of shots.

Today you are required to make a shot list using this link. Remember, every shot needs to be listed in your shot list. 

Once you are done please upload the shot list onto your blog.