In this rotation, I worked together with 2 other students (Christine and Valentina) to create a stop motion short film. This was an analogue exploration of creating a movie using stop motion.
The aim of this rotation was to be introduced to stop motion animation using the software Dragon Frame. We were asked to create a puppet and explore how to manipulate puppets to create movement. Overall, the aim was to learn basic stop motion techniques.
The main theme of the stop motion project was metamorphosis or transformation.
We also learned about replacement animation, which is a stop motion technique where different parts of a character are replaced frame by frame instead of moving one single puppet. This includes swapping parts like heads, faces, or limbs using materials and sometimes magnets to allow precise changes in movement.
WEEK 1:
In week one, the focus was on exploring materiality, which means using and experimenting with different materials to create characters.
We built a puppet and then practiced how to manipulate and move it for stop motion. This helped us understand physical movement and how transformation can be shown through materials and puppet animation. The idea was to create a puppet that could be manipulated by 2-3 people.
We designed and built our puppet using cardboard, and we chose a dog as a concept. We only used recycled cardboard for making the puppet, which is in line with creating art in a sustainable way, rather than using new products.
The dog was made entirely out of cardboard. We peeled the skin of the cardboard to create texture and fur. The cardboard was torn, cut, folded, and crumpled to make it more flexible and easier to move. Folding and crumpling helped the limbs move without being stiff. The legs were designed so fingers could fit through them, allowing movement during animation.
I was responsible for creating the front legs for the puppet, the other two made the head and the main body of the puppet. Once we had everything, we began experimenting with Dragonframe, to explore and practice how to manipulate and create a narrative.
Video:
Reflection: At the start of week one, working in a group felt confusing and awkward, and I was quite shy. After some time, I became a bit more confident. I think working in a group is good for stop motion because it allows people to share ideas and collaborate on character design. Instead of one person deciding everything, everyone can suggest ideas about how a character should look, such as its shape, colour, or features, and give feedback to improve the concept.
Working in a group also helped with sharing responsibilities. Different people could work on separate parts of the puppet, which made the process easier. I enjoyed making parts that could actually move, especially the legs with joints. Even though they were not fully used in the animation because they broke, I still enjoyed designing and building them.
I also learned about sustainability and really enjoyed using recycled materials. I prefer using found or old materials instead of new ones, such as things from a toolbox or around the house, and then manipulating them to create characters. I like materials that feel unusual or slightly uncanny. In my past work, I have often used metal because it makes characters feel dangerous or like they should not be touched. However, depending on the character, different materials are needed, such as paper or cotton for something softer.
I found replacement animation interesting, especially as part of mixed media work. It can be useful for difficult movements like mouths, fingers, or hair, which are hard to animate in stop motion. In the future, I could use replacement animation together with digital animation to make these movements easier and more effective.
Video: Righteous Robot
Righteous Robot, is a stop motion animator that uses frame by frame replacement for mouth motion. For example, he made a dialogue video that explains how he made video and how he used the replacement technique.
WEEK 2:
Our task was to design and create a 30 second stop motion animation, using our puppet and include a transformation or metamorphosis sequence.
The animation is about a dog that starts off falling apart. Each body part acts on its own, like they don’t want to be part of the same body anymore. The legs try to walk off and play, the head gets frustrated trying to lick a bottle, and the body wanders around bumping into things. In the end, the body parts find each other again and rebuild themselves, becoming whole once more. The transformation shows the idea of wanting to be together instead of being separated.
How we made it:
A hot glue gun was used to hold the joints together. The fur was added gradually during the animation instead of all at once, using small amounts each frame. Only half of the dog was fully covered, and the puppet was angled so the unfinished side was less visible. The focus of the project was material transformation, and the story developed naturally while making it.
We made the background fully black so we could hide our hands using dark clothing. The puppet was kept light, so it stood out from the background. Two people moved the puppet while one person operated the camera, which was connected to a computer. Some of us used black gloves, and others covered their hands with dark materials like tape or sleeves.
The puppet could not stand still, so we had to move it very slowly while the camera took photos. The camera was timed to take one photo every second, instead of moving the puppet and taking photos separately. There were a lot of frames, too many to count.
We used Dragonframe to control the camera and capture each frame. It is mainly used for stop motion and helps the camera take photos smoothly. For editing, we used Premiere Pro, but only for sound. We did not change the movement because it would make the animation look choppy or slow. There was no detailed storyboard. Ideas came up during the process and were decided together, like using the bottle. The animation was done in one go for each scene, but we had to stop and continue on different days because it took a long time. Each scene was animated separately and then put together in the edit.
Final video & screenshots:
Reflection: For week two, I feel happy with how the final video turned out. Making it was silly but very long and tiring because stop motion takes a lot of time. We had to stop constantly, move small pieces, and take photos frame by frame. Holding the puppet in place was painful sometimes, especially since parts were not supported and had to be held by hand. Even though it was frustrating, we managed to make it work in the end by gluing everything together, which was fun.
The editing part was difficult, mainly because we struggled to find sounds that worked well with the animation. I still enjoyed the process, but it was rushed due to the lack of time. Working in a group helped a lot because it sped up the process. Doing this alone would not have worked, and the animation would have been much shorter or unfinished.
Timing was one of the hardest parts. If we moved the puppet too fast, the animation looked wrong and unnatural. We had to slow everything down so movements lasted a few seconds instead of happening instantly. This helped the animation feel more readable, even though some movements still looked a bit jerky.
The concept was simple because we had very little time. We chose one idea and stuck with it: a dog made of separate pieces trying to come back together. I am happy with the concept, and I think it worked well for the short time limit.
Sustainability was very important in this project. We only used recycled materials like cardboard and old pieces, instead of buying new materials. This is something I already enjoy, as I like collecting found objects and using them to build characters and backgrounds.
Overall, the experience was confusing and frustrating at the start, but also funny at times. I still do not enjoy doing stop motion because it takes too long, but I like working in a group and making puppets. In the future, I would prefer to collaborate by contributing digital or 2D elements or using replacement animation alongside stop motion rather than animating everything physically.