A Stop Motion Dance Project
As a student of Motion Design, many different forms of animation are potential components in my upcoming career. While production of digital animation has been continuously on the rise, there is still a place for classic animation means, such as stop-motion, due to its unique style of motion, and hand-made appearance.
When starting the project, there were three general goals in mind. The first of these goals was to capture lifelike movements from an inanimate subject. The second was to present an animated form of a word, presented through 3-dimensional lettering, which would relate to the theme of the animation. The third goal was to tell a basic story, through the use of actions and surroundings, without use of verbal diction.
After purchasing a stop-motion armature, a series of practice animations were made, using Dragonframe, in order to find a basic style of movement to communicate.
Next, the armature was covered with cotton, self adhesive stretch wrapping, and strings resembling wires. The outer pieces were made from silver colored Sculpey clay, which were then baked, and secured to the armature with epoxy.
After the fabrications were complete, a series of dance cycles, as well as an intro scene and closing scene were filmed in front of a green background.
Finally, using Adobe After Effects, the green background was removed, the animation sequences were combined, and music was added to the background
Thank you for viewing!
