Evaluation

Throughout this assignment I have taken multiple photographs to show movement. I have then put these pictures into Final Cut Pro and I have made them into stop motion videos. I have been able to add music and text to these videos.

I have used a lot of equipment throughout this assignment such as cameras, tripods, Macs, a fully equipped studio, an Xbox, an Xbox Kinect and a Flip video camcorder. To produce my videos I used Final Cut Pro to put my pictures into a sequence. I dragged the pictures into a timeline then ‘Nested’ the items, I was then able to change the speed of how fast the different pictures came up. I was able to add text by writing what I wanted then dragging it onto the timeline as if it was a picture. Then finally I added music by dragging the track into an audio timeline and rendered the video. I was then able to export the videos as a ‘Quick Time Movie’s’ which allows me to upload them to my blog.

I found it difficult to get good quality pictures while still having the pictures bright, as a lot of the time when I took the pictures it was dark. I also, at first, changed the pictures speed by each individual picture, I didn’t realise you could nest the items to make a sequence then change the speed of how fast the sequence was played.

I would like to try stop motion animation more as when we played the Kinect I liked it and felt that if I had been able to get a more in depth understanding of it I might of want to try something with stop motion animation like Tim Burton does. However my work is a lot more like Walt Disney’s except I had the technology available to me which allowed my to produce my videos in a fraction of the time that he produced his.

I am pleased with my videos as they show I have an understanding of stop motion, and an understanding of how to use Final Cut Pro. As a first attempt at stop motion I am happy however I would like to do more in the future. If I was to do this assignment again I would change the speed of the pictures in the video of the road, I would also cut out the pictures of when you can see I’m in a car before I nest the items. I would also like to add to the video of the star jumps as it is short and I like the idea behind it and I feel I picked the right music to go with the video.

Calke Abbey Stop Motion

I made this video using Final Cut Pro. I like it because the pictures change in time to the music; however if I were to edit this video I would make the pictures go faster and I would cut out the pictures where you can tell I'm in a car taking the pictures. If this altered the video too much I may consider re-shooting.


Unfortunatly I have been unseccessful in uploading this video; I have tried at college and at home, every time I have attempted to upload the video, the computer has either crashed or taken too long, my last attmept at uploading this video took over three and a half hours.

We went into the studio to use the Xbox Kinect. We used the Kinect as it allowed us to use our own animation to interact with the software. The Xbox Kinect allows people to interact with a computer without the need for wires. In effect you are the control, you can play games on the Xbox however, the study of human computer interaction is on going with the possibilities of new technologies and new ways of life available in the near future. The ideas for this kind of technology are endless, this could help in hospitals, sport, sciences, teaching and as it is now it is fun on the Xbox but it will have a significant impact on the future.

We used a Mac computer, Plasma TV, Xbox 360, Kinect System, fully equipped photography studio, Flip video cameras and tripods in this week’s task.

I made this video by using final cut pro and a simple process of drag and dropping photos onto a timeline then adding music and finally fading the music.

We went into the studio to take these pictures, we used a Canon 5D camera and camera sand and batteries / memory cards and the studio was fully equipped with lighting, attachments and accessories (Bowens).

We then used Final Cut Pro to put the pictures together to make a sequence and create a stop motion video.

Tim Burton Research

Tim Burton was born august 25th 1958. He is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. Tim Burton produced stop motion animation films such as

Tim Burton was born august 25th 1958. He is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. Tim Burton produced stop motion animation films such as ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and ‘Corpse Bride’. He started producing work when he studied at the California Institute Of The Arts, studying character animation and he has continued to produce work ever since. The subject matter of his films varies however in a lot of his films there is a dark and quirky theme.

He has said he has been influenced by various people such as Edgar Allen Poe, Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Lee, Ed Wood and Stephan King. I like his work because it is unique and something which can capture your imagination while still having a good story behind the animation. Tim Burton’s work relates to the assignment because he produces stop motion animation films which we have been looking at over the past few weeks, we have looked at stop motion and also when we went on the Xbox Kinect we used our own animation.

http://www.timburton.com/

Walt Disney Research

Walt Disney was born December 5th 1901 and died December 15th 1966. He was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. He was an innovator in animation and theme park design. He was the original voice of Mickey Mouse.  Walt Disney started producing work in 1920 when he formed a short-lived company

Walt Disney was born December 5th 1901 and died December 15th 1966. He was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. He was an innovator in animation and theme park design. He was the original voice of Mickey Mouse.  Walt Disney started producing work in 1920 when he formed a short-lived company ‘Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists’ he continued to produce work until he died. His work was in black and white; as using colour commercially hadn’t been invented (e.g. colour televisions). I like his work because it was new and inventive at the time and has inspired many artists to continue with stop motion ever since. I also like his work because it is something you can watch without getting bored or losing interest. I think Walt Disney’s work is relevant to my research because he was one of the first stop motion artists who is well known and the characters he created are still here forty five years after he died.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIa1Tvbh1qo

Xbox Kinect in the hospital operating room

Kinect Effect

Artist Research - Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge was born 9th April 1830 and died 8th May 1904. He was an English photographer best known for his work which captures motion. The photographs are a series of pictures which show something happening. His work is usually titled, usualy after what is happening. He started producing work about 1861 and continued until he died. His work shows movement and action and the subject is usually and animal or a person. The images haven't been digitally minpulated as when he produced his work the technology needed to manipulate pictures hadn't been invented. In his work the subject is always clear, in the centre of the picture and usually in the foreground. The number of pictures in a series changes but his work shows movement and action well when the photographs are shown in a sequence. His work reminds me of Zoetropes as his work could be viewed on one of them. I like his work and would defiantly want to try taking a series of pictures to show motion and then attempt to make a zoetrope as I think they are clever and imaginative. I think his work relates to the motion pictures we were asked to take because his work was some of the first motion pictures to ever be taken. My work is similar to his work by the fact that something is happening.  However his work was produced on film.

Final Cut Pro

                                                                                To add images to Final Cut Pro select them and drag them into this box. This will allow you to drag the pictures into the timeline.















 This is the timeline, you can drag pictures into this box to create your sequence.

Once you have dragged your pictures into the timeline they will look like this. Now, by selecting the picture you can change how long it will be shown for and drag it to where you want the picture to be shown which means you can change the order of the pictures.

Once you have dragged the pictures into the timeline, you can then click the play button on these screens to view how that video to will look once you have put it together properly.







Once you have got a sequence which you have put together you can then 'Nest' the items by clicking 'Sequence' then by clicking 'Nest' items. This will put the images together. And if like me, your pictures were taken in portrait; you can now change the the video to the way around you want, by selecting the video in the box where you would view the video, go to the corner and rotate the video.

You can now add music. You can do this by dragging a track into the box which you dragged the pictures into, then dragging the music into the bar below the bar which you dragged your pictures into. Once you press play now the video might beep instead of play the video; also you will see a red line on top of the timeline box. This means that the video needs rendering.

 To render a video you click 'Sequence', 'Render All' then click 'Both'.

To add text to a picture go to the first video box. At the bottom of this, there is a box with an 'A' on it. Click this and a set of options will appear click 'Text'  then click 'Text' again.












Once you have selected Text, this box will come up. Here you can choose what you want to write and what it will look like on the video.
Once you have decided this, click back onto Video and drag this onto the timeline like a picture.

Once you have added music, you can add a final touch to make your video, to make fade out. You can do this by clicking 'Effects' then click 'Default - Cross Fade (+3dB)'. This will bring your video to a slow end instead of just stopping and cutting off feeling like it hasn't finished yet.

The video's below show a variety of stop motion. These are created by taking one picture moving the objects sightly and taking another picture. The process continues for as long as you want with whatever you want happening.

Michael Jackson's "Beat It" - In Lego

Lego Creator Apple Tree House 5891 "stop motion"

Angry Birds stop motion movie

Change: The Happiest Stop Motion Video Ever

Rymdreglage - 8-bit trip

Pacman Stop Motion Photography/Claymation

T-SHIRT WAR!! (stop-motion music video)

The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl" Sympathy for the Record I...

I really like this video and I definitely want to use lego in a stop motion video. I think if I use a tripod the process could be quite easy and the final video would be clear and smooth.

Coldplay - Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall

I like this video as it is clear and imaginative. It shows movement happening well without it being jumpy and something moving to far to quickly. I would like to try some stop motion like this as the final piece would last longer, also I would have to take lots of photos and then decide which to use and finally edit into a video which I think would be harder with this many photos.