Blog
.
Doug Ransdell
My Stop-Motion Experience
March 8th, 2010
It’s been almost three months since we completed our stop-motion holiday card, and I’m just now coming around to M&M’s again. It’s amazing to think that for just 50 seconds of video, we had to manipulate thousands of those little chocolate-coated candies and take over 700 photos, and since this was the first time any of us had ever made a stop-motion video, we had to hit the ground running and learn as we went. So here’s what I learned:
- Stop-motion video take a lot of planning
- Stop-motion video take a lot of planning and patience
- M&M’s don’t melt in your hand (but it’s best not to leave your lighting source on for too long because it will melt them)
This whole idea of doing a stop-motion holiday card came about in November, right around the time that the first Santas started taking up their posts in malls across America. After tossing around a bunch of ideas (and tossing out a bunch more) we narrowed down the choices and finally decided to go forward with a stop-motion video about the process here at NavigationArts with a wintry theme.
Before we started moving M&M’s around, we mapped out the animation sequences. After storyboarding the video and figuring out how the first couple of transitions would work, we began to set up a studio in an empty office. We gathered supplies, taped everything down, framed our shot, adjusted the lighting until everything was just right and then taped down some things again just for good measure.
We spent the better part of the next week locked in our “studio” moving M&M’s around, one at a time. As a web designer, I work mostly with digital media, so it was a nice break from the pixel pushing we’re used to doing. Starting out at a relatively mild pace, the project came together really quickly thanks to all of our prior planning. Before we knew it, we were almost done.
After wrapping up the photography portion, we handed everything over to Cory Pampalone at Strange Red Films to complete the video editing. Over the next couple days we worked together to add music to the video and get the pacing just right. Cory also threw in some scratches and pops to help give it a vintage feel.
Working on this project was a rewarding experience and it would have never happened without the group effort that included Yfat Eyal, Salve Pascual, Kristin Hodgson, Patricia Reyna-Wright, Cory Pampalone, and Tim Stephens.
So, I just sat back with some M&Ms (new ones) and took a look back at my first stop-motion experience. Check it out but don’t blame me if you have a strong craving for chocolate afterwards.
.
