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Adventures In Stop-Motion: A self-critique
A self-critique is helpful in improving both skills and creativity. My “Top Dog Enthusiast” video was created for acceptance into the Miami Ad School Creative Track and was of its first attempt at stop motion video.
THE IDEA
The concept was to capture my personality, thought process and reasons for applying to Miami Ad School in 4:30 minute video while showcasing my creativity.
STORYBOARD
Storyboarding is essential to planning out video shots and staying on task with the idea. My video demonstrates sequential order. It opens up with a quick introduction to myself and briefly explains my reason for creating the video. It then takes the viewer back to the time when I first felt passionate about art and the moments in my life that the spark continued to grow. The sequential order of my story makes it easier for the viewer to understand and interpret the video, therefore, it is successfully used.
PHOTOGRAPHS
After storyboarding my idea, I had to make-shift studio in my apartment and had to pose every individual shot. It was a total of about 200 pictures! After this process I realize now how important lighting is. As you can see in the video, the edges around my body have a tint of yellow and when placed with the white paper it stands out more. I am not a professional photographer but hope to learn more about taking stunning pictures so that this can be avoided in future projects.
DESIGN
I love minimalist designs and wanted to take myself into a world that anything can happen, even flying away with balloons! I decided to keep the backgrounds as simple line drawings on white paper and have smaller, more important elements in color. I believe this worked smoothly since the backgrounds were larger than the colored elements and therefore did not compete with each other. It created a balance between the two and does not overwhelm the viewers eyes.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
As this was my first shot at stop-motion it was definitely a challenge, however, it goes without saying that it was definitely an enjoyable and entertaining process. Some improvements could be done in the editing process. The color of the background images should stay consistent throughout and the transitions between scenes should be smoother. Some scenes contain a fade effect, while others just cut to the next scene. Deciding this ahead of time, or perhaps on the basis of the music, would make the video more cohesive.
THE FINAL VERDICT
The overall idea of the video works well and appeals to viewers. Improvement can be made to the photography stages so as to avoid the yellow tints around the images. During video editing stages, there can be smoother transitions and consistent colors; specifically the saturation and desaturation levels. The music compliments the idea and feel of the the video. I wanted the viewer to feel the positivity and enthusiasm of my video application. On a final note, because of this video I have had two opportunities to create small jobs for a friend and a company. I am not a professional photographer or video editor but I have heart, passion and drive and those things helped me execute this video.
