After two and half weeks of non-consecutive filming I have finished my stop motion film. There are some components I would do over again to improve it but overall I am proud of the final product. I must have looked at 100 tutorials about how to make a stop motion film and almost all the tutors said to plan ahead before actually shooting. I did plan ahead by drawing shots before I actually filmed but I still found myself deleting some scenes because it just looked too awkward. I was a little behind on my schedule around Thanksgiving and was not able to continue filming because I had to return the tripod I had on loan from the HCC.
To film my stop motion I used a tripod, a digital camera, and iMovie. And of course I used my childhood barbies to be the stars of the film. Before filming I sketched some scenes to follow which did help but I could have probably planned a little more. Lighting was a huge factor, sometimes I would accidentally cover the light source which made one shot different than the one previous so I would have to redo that shot.
The thing I found the most challenging was figuring out how I was going to get my barbie to walk from one place to another and I did find ways to cheat, like how when she was sneaking out from under the Christmas tree she crawls to remain quiet. When she figures out she does want to be a toy for the girl sleeping on the couch she is anxious so she just rolls back to her box.
The final product came out to be about 1 minute and 30 seconds. It’s amazing to me how much time went into filming and how brief it turned out to be. I wasn’t sure how long I wanted it to be but I know I wanted the message to get across. I had a great time making this short film and I plan on making more and way better stop motion films.