Week 6: Pixillation

As we have quite a bit of super 8 footage left over from last week's animation shoot, there is an opportunity experiment with pixillation, a stop motion technique where live actors are used as frame-by-frame subjects in an animated film. The actors repeatedly pose while one or more frames are taken and then change poses slightly before the next frame or frames are clicked off. These actors become living stop motion puppets.

Also, this week, we watched the finished cameraless filmmaking assignment, "the Four Elements." See below, a compilation of excerpts from each of the 8 projects.

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Week 5: Super 8 multi-plane animation shoot

This week, our class met for four hours for the super 8 animation shoot. The first hour was spent setting up the multiplane environment and the next three were spent animating.

Below are the completed multi-plane animation projects:

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And below are some pix from the shoot.









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AND BELOW ARE SOME SHORT VIDEOS OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS:
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One of the components of the animation project was for one or more of the group members to collect random objects while blindfolded and led by another group member and then to animate blindfolded (as seen in the video, below).

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And below is the film that made it all possible:

Week 4: Putting it all together

(thanks to Lvx Lvcis for the photo)

This week, our class split into two. Half went into "the darkroom" (aka Blackbox) to create Rayograms & experiment with contact printing and half stayed in the classroom to paint/scratch etc. It was an in-class work-day, dedicated to working on the 4-elements projects and applying all the cameraless filmmaking techniques, we've learned thus far.

WEEK 3: More film-manipulation techniques

Thus far in class, we've talked about scratching, painting and bleaching film, creating magazine transfers and rayograms in addition to contact printing.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

There is so much we can do in the realm of cameraless filmmaking that a semester (much less, six weeks) couldn't possibly cover the territory.

But to arouse your imaginations further, below is another example of film manipuation, inspired by Roger Beebe's TBTX Dance .

This example shows how we can print images (using a standard desktop printer) directly onto clear leader.

First, it helps to have a template that perfectly represents the dimensions of the clear leader on which we will print (in this case 16mm leader).



Print out the template and tape 16mm clear leader, so that the sprocket holes of the film match up with the black sprocket holes on the template.



Then, take the template FILE into Photoshop or some other digital image creating program and superimpose a series of images (I have used vector shapes) within the sprocket holes. Save this as a SECOND file.



Next, take your template with the clear leader filmstrips taped to it and print the second file (the one with the repetative images) onto the template with the filmstrips.



Splice those clear leader strips together, load them into the projector and you're ready to go. See example of projected image, below:

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Another movie example:

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And a bit of the filmstrip from which the film was created:



To get a filmstrip animation template, CLICK HERE. This pdf document can be printed out and also opened in Photoshop.