stop motion animations.

Ok, so I thought I'd take a wee trip down memory lane and post some animation work I've done over the past few years at university that don't get to see the light of day on my website.

First up is an interpretation of Baz Luhrman's "Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen" film, adapted from Mary Schmich's essay of the same name, created by myself and classmate Amber in our 3rd year (January 2011):

We decided to be ambitious and effectively do triple the required running time and include the entire essay. We used ink and black and white images to form the content, and over 5 rolls of wallpaper to achieve the continuous illustration. Nailing the pace of the visuals to the words was a nightmare, let alone the physicality of making said visuals and trying to keep it as consistent and level as possible. I cringe looking at the mistakes and inconsistencies now, but it was an invaluable learning experience that paid off in the end. Plus, 6,300+ views isn't bad.

This was my first experience with stop-motion animation, made in 2nd year (March 2010):

The brief was to visualise our given 30 second audio clip. I got Tchaikovsky's "Chinese Dance" from The Nutcracker. To me it sounded like tiptoeing, which conjured up a narrative of sneaking back home after a night out. I wanted to contrast the delicate ballet score with dance beats of nightlife, so opted for Owl City's "Hello Seattle [Remix]". Stylistically, inspired by the song title I looked at Chinese shadow puppet theatre which led to the animation taking place on an light-box with paper and assorted other material creating the scenery, props and characters. "Chinese Dance" is also known as "Tea", so there's a playful reference in the characters tea-leaf vomit. Classy.

Again, filled with cringe at the execution now, but I think it was a successful first attempt all things considered.