Stop Motion Photoshoot Contact Sheet.

This is the contact sheet for the shoot and all of the images can be found on here.

Evaluation of the Stop Motion Photoshoot.

     I think that the photoshoot went really well as our group worked really well together and someone took charge to help organize where everyone was and who was doing what so as we didn't get confused or move something that we weren't meant to. I also think that although our idea was fairly simple, it was executed very well by all of the group and the outcome looked very good. I also like the set that we created out of material and stones as it added character to out idea and looked good on the photos.
     I think that we could have come up with a more complex idea had we have had more time like the other group did however our idea was simple and rushed as we weren't sure of what to do. I also think that we should have tried harder to keep out of the shots as in some of the images you can see some of us as well as getting in the way of the flash which resulted in some of the images coming out darker than others.
     If we were to do this again, I think we would come up with a more complex idea and execute it better by keeping people out of the way when the shots were taken. I think we would also use different materials on the set so as to make it look more realistic and have less of a cartoon feel to it. We would keep the same person to lead us though as they knew what to do and did that very well by telling us what to do and helping us throughout the shoot.

Studio Equipment List.

Canon EOS 5D.

Canon 24-105mm Zoom Lens.

Cambo Camera Stand.

Soft Box Wafers / Strip Light Wafters.

Sync Lead.

Bowens Pulsar Radio Triggers.

Bowens 500W Lighting.

Final Group Stop Motion.

This is the final Stop Motion movie that was exported from Final Cut Pro and converted through QuickTime so as to change it to MPEG-4 format that would play on most computer programmes.

Adding Music to a Video.

This is the Sequence bar where I have dragged and dropped an MP3 file in to the window which is indicated by the different icon on the left hand side of the file name. We don't need all of the song, only a select bit so to edit it, we double click on the music file.

This window is then shown where the entire song is shown in noise bars so as it is easier to tell what section of the song that you are on.

To select the section of music that you want, you choose the time on the scale where you want to start the section of music and click on the arrow button below the scale that indicates where the music will stop. You can see the little blue arrow on the timing section that shows this. To end the section, you do the same but with the inverted arrow which also shows up as blue on the timing section.

You can then drag and drop the music on to the sequence below the movie itself, however, the piece of music is too long for the length of the movie so we need to use the 'Razor' tool to cut off the piece of music that we don't need.

By using the 'Razor' tool, you can see that there is a line in the music that is of equal length to the movie section. That is where the cut in the music is and we can use the arrow tool to both move it away from the rest and then delete it as we don't need it. 

Both the music and movie are now in line so the music will start and finish when the movie does. All that's left to do is render the whole project.

To do this we do the same process as last time by choosing the 'Sequence' bar and then 'Render All' however, we then choose to render both so as they both work together.

This is how the final rendered project should look like, making sure that both the movie and music work together.

Putting Pictures in to Final Cut Pro.

To edit your pictures in to a movie, you first have to open Final Cut Pro.

You then open the images in the folder where they are located on the Hard Drive or computer and select them all by pressing the 'Apple sign' (on a Mac) and 'a'.

You can then drag and drop them in to the sequence box in Final Cut and they will all appear as separate images ready to be put in to the timeline. Select all of the images again the same as before and drag them to th beginning of the timeline for images and drop them in to place.

This is then what the images will look like however they are too big and slow to make it appear as though it is a movie, so we will have to group all of them together by clicking on one of the images and then pressing 'Apple' + 'a' which will change all of the image icons to brown.

You can then choose 'Sequence' and then 'Nest Item(s)' so as all of the images will be nested in to one sequence. 

This is how the photo sequence will appear on the timeline now that all of the images have been nested together to make one sequence. The images will still be played slowly though so we will have to speed it up to make it look like a proper movie.

To do this we go on the the 'Modify' tab and then choose 'Speed' to alter how fast it will be played.

This is the option you get when the speed box comes up and I have changed the speed too 3000 Percent so as it plays fast enough to merge the photos together.

By altering the video speed, it brings up a red line above the sequence box that indicates the photo sequence needs to be rendered so as it will be able to ply smoothly. You go in to the 'Sequence' tab and then choose 'Render All' and 'Video'. This will then remove the red line and the image sequence will run smoothly.

This is the window where you can see what the video looks like and what you have to change to make it better or to change any errors that have happened during the making of the stop motion.

Research - Anthony J Stewart

Anthony J Stewart is a British photographer and I.T. Consultant who has moved to Wiltshire after a period of living overseas. He has a particular passion for taking the style of a building or object and portraying it in a different way; possibly capturing something new or different about that building. Some of the buildings you will be able to recognise immediately others not, which makes his images all the more striking. He works in both colour and black & white and he is continually striving to create unique images out of both ordinary and landmark buildings.
     Stewart also specialises in time lapse movies that are separate photographs all merged together by using a programme such as Final Cut Pro for example to make the photos into a movie where you can add music and change the speed that the movie will play at. 
     I like Stewarts work as the photos are taken from a good perspective where he can get a lot of detail in his photos as well as them being clear and also has a clear theme throughout the whole of the movies which is good as you can see his ideas through what he is doing in his photographs and overall movie.

Chicago St Patrick's Day - Dyeing the river Green.

This 60 second stop motion video was taken from the landmark Wrigley Building in Chicago. It shows the very famous greening of the Chicago river to celebrate St Patricks Day.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 TRAILER in LEGO!

This is fab, yep.

"The Decision" (Foo Fighters- Rope [Stop Motion Photography Project])

The Blackout - It's High Tide Baby feat. Ian Watkins