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Their Story FRAME BY FRAME

Final passion project proposal by Julian Groves

Image Source: http://www.trinityfilmreview.com/the-evolution-of-stopmotion-animation RESEARCH QUESTION How can I preserve a verbal story told to me by using stop-motion ?

EXPLANATION MOTIVATION & ASPIRATION

I have a love of listening to, reading, and writing stories, When I I love and movies, especially animation and stop-motion. I think was younger I wanted to be a Journalist and even wrote some stories stop-motion is a fascinating art form that incorporates many artistic for a small local newspaper. I like photography and animation and skills beyond using a computer and software. I love the work of Anna stop-motion seems to be a good way to combine the two. I love 3D Mantzaris, Adam Pesapane (PES), Antony Elworthy , Tim Burton, Wes animation but would like to broaden my skills so that I have more Anderson, Travis Night and studios like Fish, Watermark, Flux, Yukfoo, diversity when it comes to my abilities as a motion designer. I like Cirkus, The Rig, Mukpuddy, Passion, and Aardman. As a motion how stop-motion requires other physical craft skills. I know for a fact designer any technique that deals with movement interests me. I have the art of face to face verbal storytelling is disappearing and would done some stop-motion experiments in the past and found it a fun and like to explore how these valuable personal and cultural stories can be creative technique to use and would like to explore the subject further. retained and transformed into modern media. ANOTATED BILIOGRAPHY Media Type – Academic Paper. Intended Audience - or general public, non-jargon text For my passion project I will need to explore techniques and presented in a clear, easy to understand format. concepts associated with stop-motion animation and animation in general. I will need to identify the equipment I will need to use, This academic papers deals with a lot of animation principles and the including lighting, prop and set design, making, software, authors interpretation of them. It investigates the difference between camera, and lens selection. I will need to decide if I’m going to use seeing and perceiving in animation. A lot of what is introduced is made or found objects or a combination of both. I will also need to common knowledge but through her analysis of this knowledge she find a interesting verbal story by interviewing people and recording introduces a different perspective and gives a broader insight into how their stories. This story should be meaningful, delivering some something can be perceived. She explains how images are perceived important message or cultural history. In order to do this I have and compares 2d images against 3d images. She examines how realistic created the following annotated bibliography to aid in my research. can get to the point that it makes the audience uncomfortable. She talks about how when we see incomplete patterns MacGillivray, C. (2007). How Psychophysical Perception that it is inbuilt into us to use our perception and complete those of Motion and Image relates to Animation Practice. patterns and says this may have come from earlier times when we Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/7179945/ wanted to identify predators hiding in the bushes. She says that babies How_Psychophysical_Perception_of_Motion_and_ can identify their mothers faces from the very first day they are born. Image_relates_to_Animation_Practice. She quotes Norman McClaren for famously saying “Animation is not about image alone, it is also significantly about movement.” and she continues by saying ‘It is not important what goes on each frame of Author background - Following 20 years as an and film film, it’s the spaces between frames that are important. Her intriguing editor working across documentary, drama, music videos, and analysis helps to provide understanding and links into how we perceive commercials, Carol won an AHRC award to study MA Digital animation. It will be worth reading this paper thoroughly so as to be Moving Image at London Guildhall. She then went on to publish able to extract potential insights into how animation is perceived by the her first book ‘3D for the Web’ (Elsevier) in 2005. Gaining her general public. PhD in 2014, Carol’s research is practice-based, producing and interrogating a trans-disciplinary model of kinetic aesthetics that takes place without a screen. As artist Trope, she is co-inventor of the D-Scope® (a system of screen less animation) and now works predominantly as a sculptor under the name Coral Woods. Currently teaching PT as Associate Lecturer at UAL on the MA Academic Practice in Arts, Design and Communication, Research Methods for Arts Higher Education and MA Dissertations. He talks about out biases and attraction to specific forms, shapes and patterns. He talks about how comparison affects perception. He talks Cycleback, D. (2014). Art Perception. Retrieved from https:// about imagination and aesthetic reactions. It is a well written book www.academia.edu/22678285/ Art_Perception_David_ which covers a lot of ground but it’s concepts are clearly explained. A Cycleback_Art_Perception very intriguing book in which I found the more I read, the more I want- ed to read. I think it will be a valuable resource for my research.

Author background - David Cycleback is an internationally known scholar working in cognitive science, philosophy and artifacts history, Kenny, C. (2016, December 6). A Lack of Cultural Impact is and is author of the standard university textbooks Understanding Hu- What Holds Animated Back. man Minds and Their Limits, Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, and Retrieved from http://www.animationscoop.com/ Cogntive Science of Religion and Belief Systems. a-lack-of-cultural-impact-is-what-holds-animated-films-back/

Media Type – Book. Author background – Charles Kenny is a civil engineer. He posts daily Intended Audience - General Public. Clear, easy to understand format. on his blog site (The Animation Anomaly) on a wide variety of anima- Anyone interested in how we perceive art and our strange human idio- tion topics that often include a visionary theme reflecting on the future syncrasies. A very thought provoking book. of the industry and its place in the developing digital media world. Blogging has enabled Charles to be connected to the animation com- The book is written in a frank and humorous style while conveying in- munity and helped him become an authority on many matters con- teresting facts and insights into the way we perceive art. He looks at cerning art and commerce within it. how humans think and perceive in the physical and mental world. He talks about conceits which are ingenious or fanciful comparisons or Media Type – Blog Post. metaphors. A new terminology I have not come across before and very interesting. He talks about biases, learning from experience, and de- Intended Audience - General Public, Animators and Studios. veloping habits. He show pictures of optical illusions which illustrate how our perception can be tricked and our eyes deceived. He explores This blog post delivers a very insightful message as how animated emotions. He then continues to talk more about conceits, elaborat- movies and media can be made so that it attracts and is more interest- ing and describing them in great detail and explaining how they have ing to adults. The post is short, concise and to the point. It is thought a profound effect on how we live our lives. He then starts to analyze provoking in that it questions the trivial storytelling that the majority artistic conceits which is very interesting indeed. He gives example of of animation delivers. The author asks you to think of filmed movies how artists use conceits to their advantage. He talks about symbols. He that have provoked a measurable shift in popular culture and made an describes how humans like to speculate. He explains how dreams can audience take notice. Take movies like ‘Saving private Ryan’ or ‘Schin- affect our lives. dler’s List’ as examples of films which have jolted the audience and created more awareness of the real world. Now try to think of an animated movie that has done this. Quite hard isn’t it. Animation is often based on fairy tales and colorful warm im- Elworthy, A. (2018, March 25). The stop-motion world of Antony aginary worlds in which there is little violence or sexual content and Elworthy. Retrieved from https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/ characters are kind to each other. After reading this post it is apparent programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018637708/ more hard hitting animation with reality based storytelling needs to the-stop-motion-world-of-antony-elworthy be made that adults can relate to. Note, the comments on this post are very insightful too and worth reading. These comments balance out the argument and make reference to some more adult orient animation Author background - Antony Elworthy is a stop-motion animator, an- that has had an impact on society. imation director and illustrator. He lives in Christchurch with his wife and four boys, but his career has taken the family to Europe and America for extended periods, where he has worked among the very best in the field. His credits include ‘’, ‘Cor- Mantzaris, A. (2019, March 12). Nicer Tuesdays: Anna Malin Man- aline’, ‘Tim Burton’s ’, and ‘Frankenweenie’. His most recent tzaris. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT78L- role was Lead Animator on Wes Anderson’s ‘Isle Of Dogs’. Antony is hIOOgA currently directing the animation on ‘Kiri and Lou’ in a studio located in Ferrymead, Christchurch. Author background - Anna Mantzaris is a Swedish stop-motion di- Media Type – Website and audio interview with Antony Elworthy. rector and animator based in London. She has worked on commer- cials and feature films including Wes Anderson’s critically acclaimed Intended Audience - General Public and Aspiring Animators ‘Isle of Dogs’. On this website he talks about being flown to the Berlin Media Type – Video Presentation. for the premiere of ‘Isle of Dogs’ and how exciting it was. He comments on the process of stop-motion animation. He reflects on his favourite Intended Audience - General Public and aspiring animators stop-motion films to work on. The website presents details of his back- story and the beginnings of where he came from. He talks about his This video starts with Anna showing a stop-motion film she made experiences and how he climbed the ladder to where he is today. He during her first year at the Royal College of Art. The film is called now has returned to Christchurch, his home town, and has setup an ‘Enough’. She then talks about her story development process and . He is currently working on a children’s stop-motion how she was inspired by the work of Roy Andersson. She contin- animation called ‘Kiri and Lou’. I started listening to the full length au- ues with describing her set design and puppet making process. She dio interview of him which promises to reveal some more insights into finally explains how this very successfully received and acclaimed stop-motion animation and help me in my research. His projects include stop-motion film called ‘Enough’ helped her get other opportunities, many stop-motion films that are targeted towards the adult audience. such as the film she did for Greenpeace called ‘The Hand Made Gift’. All her stop-motion film making deals with adult themes. I think have come a long way since I last watched them a few years ago. Even Hollywood has made a couple of Movies. I never Heinrich, P. (2016). Bricks In Motion. Retrieved from https:// was that in to them but after watching this documentary it has renewed vimeo.com/ondemand/bricksinmotion my interest. There is a large number of Brickfilms on You-tube. It has become a new for the film maker. I’m only interested in the bet- ter quality ones. You-tube has a ton of mediore to down right rubbish Brickfilms, but there are high quality films made and You-Tube channels who’s work is more professional. I especially like how skilled these ani- Author background - Phillip Heinrich is an American Film Maker who mators are at using different camera angles and shot types, just like in a also goes by the aliases Sméagol and Ergo Possum. Since 2009, he has Hollywood movie. been the owner of the website Bricks in Motion. He directed the film Bricks in Motion, a feature length documentary about brickfilmers. thefourmonkeys. (2016). BFG Podcast #018 - Steffen Troeger. Media Type – Feature length (1 hour, 28 minute) . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uBJsl1Jc3OU Intended Audience - Lego and fans, Aspiring Animators.

I purchased the ‘Bricks In Motion’ documentary while on Vimeo. Author background - Interview by ‘thefourmonkeys’ Youtube Blog chan- ‘Bricks In Motion’ is a feature length (88 minute) documentary about nel with Steffen Troeger, an acomplished leading edge professional brick- people who make Brickfilms. A Brickfilm is a film made using Lego film maker and authourity on the genre. Steffen Troeger is a German bricks, or other similar plastic construction toys. They are usually cre- brickfilmer. He is known for many films including Totentanz, 802.701, ated with stop-motion animation. The documentary opens with var- Bricks in Love II and Found. Some of his films were made in collabora- ies well known Brickfilm creators talking about and reflecting on how tion and co-production with other members of the German brickfilming they grew up, family life, and their early experiences and influences community. and how they started on the path to doing stop-motion animation with Lego. They talk about the process of stop-motion animation highlight- Media Type – Podcast (2 hours, 23 minutes) ing it’s pros and cons. They are a diverse group of people, each per- son coming from a completely different background. They talk about Intended Audience - Brickfilm fans, Aspiring Animators. the versatility of Lego and how anything can be made with it. How it can be changed from one thing to another and reused. How in Lego Two interviewers from the podcast You-Tube channel ‘thefourmonkeys’ everything is to scale. They say it’s the perfect medium for a film mak- talk to Steffen Troeger, an prominent and respected animator in the er who wants to tell a story. brickfilm genre. He talks about his past experiences when growing up and what lead him to stopmotion animation and Lego. He started as a journalist and also worked as sound designer. He talks about his process. He talks about his future brickfilm direction and aspirations. He is a re- ally interesting guy and this interview is well worth listening to. Shadburne, S. (1978, May 15). Claymation: Three Dimensional CookeOpticsTV. (2016, August 8). Lighting stop-motion at . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ Aardman || Masterclass - Dave Alex Riddett. watch?time_continue=68&v=hAFSu8rUiHI Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?time_continue=449&v=eQSgbHzw3Rk

Author background - Susan Shadburne is writer/director/producer of Author background - Dave Alex Riddett became professionally associated a number of short educational and films and four full- with and Dave Sproxton at in the mid length theatrical features distributed world-wide to the entertainment 1980’s, working on projects as Principle Cameraman on Peter Gabriels market. They include the Claymation ‘Adventures of Mark Twain’ and award winning Music Promo “Sledgehammer”, Lighting countless TV ‘Claymation: Three Dimensional Clay Animation’. These films were also Commercials and Many of the early award winning short films includ- aired on Showtime and HBO after their theatrical run. Two short films ing ‘Ident’, ‘Next’, ‘Going Equipped’ and Nick Parks’ Original Academy she has written were nominated for Academy Awards, and her produc- Award winning “”. He has also worked on Nick Parks tions have won most major festivals. She is the owner of Su- ‘’, ‘’ and remained a regular Direc- san Shadburne Productions, LLC, specializing in short dramatic and tor of Photography on the subsequent short films edu-tainment productions ‘’ and ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’. He was also responsibe for the lighting on other Aardman films such as‘’, ‘Wallace Media Type – Documentary & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ and‘The Wrong Trousers’ .

Intended Audience - Animators or general public interested in Media Type – You-Tube Video (Interview) Clay Animation. Intended Audience - Animators, Cinematographers. This is 1978 documentary on the early years of Productions and their Clay Animation. Susan Shadburne is the Producer, Screenplay This video is done an interview/documentary type style withDave Alex Writer, and Cast (Does Narration). Will Vinton is the Director. Very Riddett, a Cinematographer for Aardmand Studios, as the interviewee. informative documentary on the technique and history of Claymation. Aardman Animations is famous for producing films such as Wallace and Gromit, and Creature Comforts. Cinematographer Dave Alex Riddett shows us how he lights various productions. This vid- eo is very insightful and highlights the importance and role lighting plays in stop-motion animated films. ROOS MATTAAR – ANIMATOR – MODEL MAKER Mattaar, R. (2019). Roos Mattaar. Retrieved from http://www.roosmattaar.com/

Excellent website with tons of information on model making, set design, and animation. Roos Mattaar, is a professional artist working both as model maker and animator. She also takes on commissions as an director. She is based at Hangar Puppet Animation Studio in Bristol, UK. A shared workshop and studio of independent stop motion artists. She has been involved in various roles with projects ranging from feature films (Early Man, Isle of Dogs), Children’s TV series (Postman Pat, Twirlywoos), TV Image Source: http://www.roosmattaar.com/puppet- fabrication/ adverts (Harrods, Sainsbury, Wacom) music videos (Father John Misty, Sparks), award winning NFTS short film Fulfilament and a 4D film for ().

Image Source: http://www.roosmattaar.com/miniature-sets-props/ ADAM PESAPANE ‘PES’ ANIMATION DIRECTOR – ANIMATOR Pesapane, A. (2019). PES. Retrieved from https://pesfilm.com/

PES is the creator of some of the most widely viewed stop-motion films of all-time including Deep Sea, Spaghetti, Fresh Gua- camole, Submarine Sandwich, Game Over, Human Skateboard, Ka- Boom! and Roof Sex. On his YouTube Channel alone, PES’s films have been viewed over 575,000,000 times PES’s special talent for using everyday found objects and people in his stop-motion anima- tion has earned him global recognition and dozens of honors. In Image Source: https://www.wired.com/2012/11/stop-motion- addition to his original content, PES has also directed over 75 com- -pes/ mercials for major international brands.

Excellent website giving an insight into this animators process and thoughts, and show casing his many short films and commericals. I especially like how he uses every day objects in new and creative ways.

Image Source: https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/pes-earth-day-corona- parley-for-the-oceans-animation-230419 MOGU & PEROL Tsuneo G. (2019). Mogu & Perol. Retrieved from https://www.shor- toftheweek.com/2019/08/30/mogu-perol/

A story of two , a young Bigfoot (Mogu) and a spoiled little girl Raccoon (Perol). Mogu has a talent for cooking and gathering food. Perol is always visiting Mogu when he has prepared a meal and eating most of his food, leaving very little for Mogu. One day Perol eats some sour Berrys and blames Mogu for tricking her. They’re friendship suf- fers and they part their ways. Eventually the make up and enjoy each other company once again. Character voices spoken in Japenese with English subtitles. Image Source: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/mogu-perol In this short movie I love the characters with their tactile fabrics and the detailed set design with it’s awsome textures. It’s full of humor, especially when Perol eat the sour brr brr berrys and accuses Mogu of tricking her. I like how it delivers a message about accepting friends for who they are, even when they have faults. ISLE OF DOGS Anderson W. (2018 March). Isle of Dogs. Retrieved fromhttp:// www.foxsearchlight.com/isleofdogs/

‘Isle Of Dogs’ tells the story of Atari, a young boy whose father May- or Kobayashi, due to the spread of canine flu and fear of it crossing over to the human population, has banished all the pet dogs from the city to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island. Atari sets off in a miniature plane and flies to Trash Island in search of his dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of dog friends, he begins a jour- ney that will decide the fate and future of many.

A full length box office movie by Wes Anderson and a follow up from Image Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wes-anderson-interview-isle-of-dogs-bill-murray- ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’, another favourite of mine. The narration in this greta-gerwig-bryan-cranston-s2kg2rmkk movie is excellent and the quality of workmanship in the character design an sets is brilliant. I love the dogs with their tactile fur and ex- pressive eyes and movements. A high quality production with a star studded cast doing voice overs. A step above other single person pro- duced animated movies. But then there was a hugh amount of skilled animators and crafts people from all over the world that worked on this movie. LOST & FOUND Goldsmith A., Slabe B. (2018). Lost & Found. Retrieved from https:// www.lostandfound.film/

A simple story of a crochet dinosaur who must sacrifice himself to save his beloved girlfriend. It’s a heartfelt story, wonderful animated. I really like the tactial material used for the characters and the set de- sign. I also like how the shots have been skilfully edited together and the different camera angles and techniques used.

Image Source: https://www.lostandfound.film/ BIRDLIME Derushie E. (2017). Birdlime. Retrieved from http://evanderushie. com/birdlime.php

Birdlime is the name for a sticky substance which is spread on branches to trap wild exotic birds intended for the pet market. This film tells the story of one bird trapped this way, it’s put into a crate and on it’s way to market manages to escape, damages it’s wing and is knocked out in doing so. It is then found by a kind person who bandages it’s wing and puts it in a cage until it recuperates, then sets it free.

I like the materal and textures used for the characters, though not as well made as in other short movies, they still are compelling Image Source: https://filmfreeway.com/birdlime props. The storyline is quite strong with a nice humourous twist at the end. I especially like the soundtrack and the singing of the birds. EXPERIMENTS

Flicker - Flicker or a strobing effect can be a problem in stop-motion animation. The below information from ‘Dragonframe’ and ‘Adobe’ describes the problem and recommends solutions.

The Dragonframe website strongly recommends using a manual ap- erture lens (such as a Nikon lens) with a Canon body. With a digital lens, the aperture will close down to slightly different positions for each shot. This is not a problem for still photography, but for stop motion or time-lapse it creates “flicker”. For Canon cameras, use a Nikon manual aperture lens with a Nikon to Canon lens adapter. For Nikon cameras, use a Nikon manual aperture lens and put mask- ing tape over the lens’ electrical contacts. A manual aperture lens has a physical ring for controlling aperture. Do not get a ‘G’ series lens, which has no aperture ring. Get the D ‘Series’ Lens

Here is a link to an adobe blog post which explains the issue in more detail. https://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/reducing-flick- er-for-stop-motion-animation-and-time-lapse-photography/

I have been trialing different types of lighting including LED and Fluorescent lighting, to see if I can eliminate this problem entire- ly without having to resort to getting special D series Nikon lens or having to use deflicker software in post production.

I have been experimenting with using lighting from 2 x 20 watt LED workshop lights on a floor stand directed towards the stop-motion stage, and the ambient light from my rooms Fluorescent Tube ceiling light. In this lighting experiment, I used the timelapse feature in ‘Drag- Green Screen Color Spill – As I am considering using a green onFrame’ installed on my computer, to trigger my camera to take a screen in my stop-motion film I have discovered a problem of color sequence of 30 frames. I could have done this manually but it’s eas- spill from the green screen material I am using. The green color is ier to automate this part of the experiment. I then exported these getting reflected off the green card and on to the subject creating frames as a movie and examined them for presents of flicker while in problems when trying to remove the background later in production. a looped playback on the screen. I have done an experiment using different backgroundmaterials in an attempt to find the least reflective material. I created three (1 second) movies using the above method, each hav- ing a variation of light setup. The first movie has lighting supplied I have used each material on the stop-motion stage and taken a pic- from LEDs only. The second has lighting supplied by a combination ture, as presented here, to test how light reflective they are. Blue and of LED and Fluorescent and the third is Fluorescent only. dark green seem the best option with the least light reflection and color spill. Surprisingly, they all did not present any signs of flicker. I was confi- dent that the LEDs would not create flicker. I was expecting the Flu- Obviously part of the problem comes from the green screen being orescent light to be a problem and generate flicker but it did not. I under the subject instead of in the background and distanced from don’t know if I trust the Fluorescent ceiling light though. If I use it I the subject. Using green screen only as a background is something will have to make sure it has been switched on for a good amount of that I should consider. Drawback of this is it will create a seam time, warmed up and at full brightness. I would only use the ceiling where wall meets floor. Fluorescent in combination with the LEDs.

I have included the three experimental movies with this Proposal. I also will continue with light experimentation as I need to use a addi- tional key light aimed at the subject to eliminate some shadow cast present on the stage. I have previously tried a E27 LED light bulb in a cheap bedside lamp which being LED I thought would have worked but didn’t and created lots of flicker. This may have been due to cheap components in the lamp but I am unsure. The current LED Lamp I are considering is the ‘Verve White LED Aren Task Touch Lamp’ . It puts out 800 lumens of light and has brightness control. FUTURE EXPERIMENTS

Puppet and set Design - I intend to trial different puppet and set creation methods.

I will trial different clays including Sculpey polymer clay, Monster Clay which is oil/waxed based, and . Testing them for flexi- bility and durability when used and sculpted for objects and puppets.

I will trial and experiment with wooden ice blocks sticks for prop creation and set building such as buildings and building interiors. Purchasing a glue gun to aid in sticking them together.

I like tactile and textured materials such as felt, wool, cotton, cotton wool, buttons etc and will experiment with these materials in puppet creation. I may even teach myself to sew in order to combine these materials together.

Armature experimentation. I intend to trial different types of arma- tures which will include armature wire in various thicknesses. Also the use of electrical wire connector blocks in the creation of wire armatures interests me. Although I really like professional quality mechanical armatures this will not be part of my experimentation as they are very expensive.

Lego is another product I will trial. I will test if for how well it can be articulated. I will also test it for how suitable it is for making props and useablity in set design. I will explore Lego for puppet making. In the process of creating this bibliography the concept of Lego in animation has become intriguing and of great interest to me. Articulate Learning – In the future, anything I find interesting but ir- relevant to the topic I am researching, I will add links to it on my trello board so that it is easy to locate this material again when in my mind I WHAT’S THE BIG.....DEAL can see a connection to it and my current research material. DESCRIBE, EXAMINE, ARTICULATE, LEARN In light of this learning - I will read irrelevant material again and more Describe a an experience (objectively and in some detail) in-depth and take from it the insight that I can now see due to previous Examine that experience (academic learning) research. I will search for new material based on the material I have just Articulate Learning (and set goals) read.

“I learned that”.. “I learned this when” …. PRIORITY “This learning matters because” … “In light of this learning” Narrative - This is currently my top priority. If I don’t have a entertain- ing interesting story, I have nothing. After all this is what my stopmo- tion short film will be based on. I will need to record a number of ver- Experience – searching for reading material for annotated bibliography bal stories from as many people as possible. So I have a good selection of material to chose from. I will need to consider how I will solicit peo- Description – Thinking of relevant topics, then entering them into ple for their stories. Will I just ask them to tell me a story about some- google and searching. Sifting through the results, reading lots of inter- thing that happened in their life which they have never forgotten? I will esting material but often finding much of it is not relevant. Thinking borrow a good quality microphone and audio recorder from MDS. of more topics or changing the wording of topics and google searching again. Repeating the sifting process. For relevant material, creating an APA reference in my annotated bibliography document, searching for material on authors background, adding this to document, describing ARTEFACT text type and intended audience, then describing the resource in my What might my final artefact look like? It will be a short stop-motion own words. film using a either a combination of materials such as clay and Lego or either of these material by themselves. It has possibilities of including Examine – While the irrelevant material I come across, while doing this some popsical models and handcrafted puppets, if time allows. It will process, does not seem useful, I have found that later on in the process incorporate a verbal story as told to me by someone else. My current it often does have value and discover connections between it and the thinking is it will have similarities to Aardman Studio’s ‘Creature Com- current information I have. forts’ series of animations. I’m thinking that I can put a spin on this by using Kiwi culture when sourciing verbal stories and using different materials for the animation, instead of soley clay. Schedule PROJECT PLAN Week (Saturday 12/10/2019 - Friday 18/10/2019) Saturday- To Do Lists (In order of priority) Formulate interview questions and interview and record my flatmates interesting stories. I have four flat mates that I can talk to. Write suitable interview questions to ask people when soliciting verbal Buy LED Lamp light and test for flicker. story. Buy new macro lens for camera.

Audio record as many stories from as many people as possible. Sunday - Create a storyboard. Moodboard visual style and visual direction I intend to go for. Buy and experiment with clay and armature wire, document results. Create a shot and scene list. Buy and experiment with Lego, document results.

Are my characters going to be animals like in ‘Creature Comforts’ or are Monday - they going to be something else. Need to think about this more. Interview class mates and record stories. Carry out further proposed experimentation/prototyping. Buy hot glue gun, glue and popsicle sticks, experiment, document results. Think about are my characters going to be animals like in ‘Creature Comforts’ Document experimentation including photos, analysis, reflection, and or are they going to be something else. consideration for further experimentation.

Do more research on camera lenses. Buy suitable macro lens for camera Tuesday - and test. The current lens I have works but I don’t think it is ideal. Create storyboard. Create shot and scene list. Do more research on lighting. Buy suitable light that can be used overhead as fill lightening to prevent casting of shadows. Investigate Wednesday - reflector as a way of controlling light. Create prototype of main character including expresson elements such as mouth, eyes, eyebrows, leg and arm articualtion. Moodboard the style and visual direction I want to go for in to illustrate more the current visual direction I already have. Thursday - Buy armature wire, clay, hot glue gun, glue, wooden ice block sticks, felt, Create prototype of set/stage and variations of set/stage for each scene. buttons, material, sewing thread, needles and some craft supplies. Create prototypes of props for set/stage. Start building props, puppets, buildings, sets. Friday - Learn how to sew. Create prototype of finished Artefact (short animated film) CONCLUSION During the research I have done so far I have discovered that humans can be tricked into perceiving or believing things that haven’t actually happened or are not true. For example we can see a semi formed shape and perceive what it looks like complete even though are eyes have not seen this or confirmed it. We can be shown a sequence of events in a film or movie and piece them together into a story, even though we have not been shown every single step in that sequence. Like when we see someone shot or killed in a film, did we really see them die? This technique is frequently used in the movies and I would like to fully exploit it in my stop-motion animation. I can see value of this technique in that it would help simplify, reduce work, and circumnavigate and eliminate difficult to animate parts in my animation, like walk cycles and scenes when a charactor needs to be shown to travel from one place from another.

But I digress. In conclusion, I have much more prototyping and experimentation to carry out. I need to source and record a verbal story and create a storyboard and shot list, this is a priority. I need to formulate suitable questions to be used to solicite a worthy story. I need to start making physical assests to be used in the stop-motion animation. The final outcome will more than likely be a ‘Crea- ture Comforts’ style animation with a twist.

Possible future applications, design fields, communities, creators, design studio’s that my work could connect to?

Maori have a wealth of stories that could be told. The elderly in rest-homes with years of experiences would be a rich source of material. School teachers who want to pass on life lessons. Video displays in Muesems like Tepapa could be used enabling important Maori stories to be told through a different medium. Art Galleries, enableing Artists to communicate their process in a novel way.

Are there any directions that you would like your work to take you in, beyond the scope of this research project.

Yes. Commerical product advertising using stop-motion animation. Image Source: https://www.laika.com