Reflective Commentary - Stop Motion
Context
1908 brought with it the first stop-motion film. Created by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith, The Humpty Dumpty Circus used wooden toys and gave them life through frame-by-frame photography. Although this film is now considered lost, it still paved a new way for people to make films.
One of the most famous pieces of stop motion is Aardman Animation’s Wallace and Gromit. It uses clay models which are moved slightly through each frame. The animation runs at 24 frames every second.
Production
The main objective for my animation was to tell a serious message through simple clay models. Through the theme of ‘Division’, my animation shows how families are divided through cruel border control regulations between the USA and Mexico.
I chose to use clay models for this animation since having a 3D environment was pretty much essential for how I wanted the animation to look and how it would finish. However, using 3D models was quite a challenge, since it was difficult to keep them standing. Hence why I gave the boy a stand and the woman a dress so they would both have a flat base.
Evaluation
For me, the most compelling part of the animation was the mix of the upbeat tune of the US National Anthem contrasted with the sound of the two people panting out of breath. This was to try and portray how the US is typically considered ‘great’, yet there is a large amount of suffering for both immigrants and its citizens.
Some feedback I received mentioned that there was too much audio in the background that took away from the character of the animation. Originally, it featured more audio towards the end of the animation which did in fairness make it feel quite heavy. Therefore, I removed the sound and left it as silence.