Stop-motion animation (own production and analysis of example)

Stop-motion animation (own production and analysis of examples)

In my group (me, Phil, Dylan) we made a stop-motion animation using plastersine. We choose to do a footballer (Kyle Lfferty, Norwich City) to kick a ball into a goal. Firstly we had to make the player. We done this by using different colours of plastersine (clay). Then make a football, goal posts and set up a blank background. We had to take a series of photos to make the entire animation up. With the ball flying into the corner of the goal. Later on when sir edited it on a software, we found that we hadn't taken enough photos to combine the whole clip together. Therefore, it was quite short. (2-3 secs)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Examples off youtube and analysis

This video demonstrates the potential of stop-motion animation. The whole video is put together with singular photos. It is very clever, and there is a great effect. It has been used in the successful 'Fantastic mr. Fox' .The benefits of doing this is that gives an alternative to normal filming and general editing. However, stop motion can be very time consuming (moving inures around) and complex at times. (for example, in my one, we had to attach the ball to a piece of string)Taking so many pictures can get boring.

Documentairies + information

Documentaries

Documentaries are using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject. The conventions ( What is used and included to make the genre) are hand-held camera views. This emphasizes the personal perspective. Also, real-life interviews are used to provide a factual and insight. This explain the situation from a local/personal view. (e.g.. local residents reacting to a volcanic eruption) Also, Vox Pops and Interviews with experts / witnesses / participants are used to effect.

pros/cons of short film in this genre
textual analysis of 1 example

What to expect to see in the opening 2 minutes of a feature film? (want to put this at the start of my blog)

In a 2 minute opening important infomation shouldn't be given away. Dependent on the genre, different conventions will be used. For example, in a horror film (using mise-en-scene)the setting of a dark/gloomy environment would be typically used. Sharp/quick shots (3-4 seconds) and not much speech is normally a convention. Normally sound is used instead of dialogue (more non-diegetic) Some that I have seen are very simple and have a music track in the background. The music is relevant to the genre. For example, for a action/thriller fast paced and up beat, maybe rap or R and B. Production idents emerge and occur at the start and sometimes during the 2 minutes.

Student made short film opening anaysis- A Level Media Studies Short Film- Lost (Horror/ mystery)

At the start of the film it is very difficult to establish the genre. It could possibly be adventure, however the genre doesn't become apparent throughout the opening and its hard to understand. It is not clear at all. There are three characters in it. They are very hard to hear and their voices aren't projected or loud. The acting is poor with a lack of enthusiasm. When listening you can hear the sound of the tripod, camera zoom. Also when there are cuts it lags quite a bit. There hasn't been much evidence of skill or ability within the work. Basic camera shots, lengths, narration, and cuts haven't been used. It is hard to classify the genre of this opening. Maybe slight Horror/mystery.

Practice of film indent

Me and Phil made a film indent. We came up with the name LaffertreeProductions. The name cropped up from a Norwich city footballer, Kyle lafferty. (we had previously used him in stop-motion) I used the positioning  and opacity when editing the movement of the text and the fading in effect. Also I found a high resolution picture to fit in well.

Lesson

Today we looked at some previous AS Media Studies student made film openings. There was a mixture of good and bad ones. This was just to give us students an idea of what to avoid and what to include in our own coursework to produce the best level (3-4) and grade. We could assess and analyse the openings using the mark scheme and previous own knowledge gained. This can also spark off  some ideas of  what we may want to do for our coursework.

Some of the best pieces we watched where of basic ability (not complex) simple footage, but done well at perfecting it using film language. For example a boy waking up and going through a morning routine.  This is a simple idea. Background music, filters, variety of camera angles, some dialogue and narration can be used to great effect to the audience. These student tended to get high grades and meet all the criteria for level 4.

We watched some poor low grade ones just to see what they had missed and why.  Some where over complicated and ambiguous. This lead to missing the concepts and mark scheme criteria. Eg. Shot timing, time issues or the actors are inexperienced etc. some fail to establish the genre and used no conventions to show it.

How genre is established in the first 2 minutes, using barthes codes

How genre is established in the first 2 minutes, using bathes codes

Genre	Props and costume	Setting	Sound/dialogue	Camera work	Editing (pace)
Western	Cowboy, horses, hats and natural colours	Forest and countryside	Gun shots, horses making noise, bussing bugs (typical) and western (American) accent	Slow from the start and then turns fast at the end (short shots+ panning)	Long slow build up, then fast/more pace with action
Comedy/ Children’s	Family house, in kitchen, bedroom. Very domestic situation, normal clothes	Family house, domestic environment.	Fast, chaotic music. To show rust non-diagetic simple noise.	Follows boy’s perspective. Weird angles (in side cupboard)	Quick, then stops when the parents come in.
Action/ sci-fi/ thriller	Guns, light, cars, phones, FBI, codes	City or urban area, NY	Lots of natural sound, dialogue is frequent.	Tense and fast with quick shots to express tension	Fast paced mainly.
Romantic drama/ rom-comedy	Basket-ball game, crowd, opponents (individual feelings)	Team element, American school (team drama) typical.	Hip-hop, banging tunes (black America association)	Well-paced shots to suit situation.	Some flash- backs, so may be slowly paced to express emotions mainly
horror	Dark costumes, scary props	Forest  (dark) trees, enclosed.	Very quiet to pick up suspense	Fast and slow, many angles to show setting and what’s happening.	To put emphasis on build up or pace shot length will be fast or slow accordingly
Thriller	Suits, FBI, flash clothes	Typically urban, city , densely populated	Natural noise, sound fx, diagetic sound constantly	Quick and instant movements	normally at a high pace especially in cases