Stop Motion Short (Final Assignment)

Assignment: (In short) Make a short film.
Full assignment description here (iframe)


My first ever stop motion short, rough with some sweet spots. [Most of the] text below was written during the time of the making. We were required to document weekly progress for the course. Since I poured time and enjoyed most part of it, I babbled a bit more. YAY. I never knew if anyone read my crap brilliant writing.
2012.09.07

"Spring" - Behind The Scenes
I really like it when other people show 'the making' of their work, sometimes even more than the work itself. You get a chance to know more, see stuff that will never get shown, and get a glimpse of their world. So... this part is mainly for self-entertainment (haha), enjoy! :D

FAQ
- 793 photos were used. (About 300 more discarded...)
- Span of 4 weeks (weekends), total time took probably less than 70 hours
- Shot with Canon PowerShotSD980IS, comprised with After Effects (shakiness due to camera, me want SLR...)

Story
"Life of the Easter Bunny" (Working Title)

E.B.'s childhood dream is to become a well-known painter.

Yet life never goes as planned, nobody appreciates his work and he has yet to sell a single painting. In order to make living, he succumbed to stealing and selling Easter eggs.

It's the time of year when all the orders are piling up. As the deadline approaches he receives some unexpected visitors...


Coming up with a story...

I would be lying if I said I'm unaware of the similarities to DOMO.
DOMO is by far my favorite stop motion animation.

Anyhow, it was around April when I started to think about my final.
I wanted to do something with animals and eggs (eggs are cool :P), Easter seemed like a good topic. Starting off with a sketch of a bunny stealing eggs, it became sort of an introduction to my characters also serving as a pilot/birth to my future work(?)


Storyboards
(Click to enlarge)
     

Short walkthrough by shots:
Shot01: [Outdoor shot] Front door
Shot02: [Indoors] Shot of a table and a slide/ramp. Light turns on, a masked bunny hops down.
Shot03: Bunny places a sack on the table. Takes off bandit mask.
Shot04: [CU] Picks up eggs.
Shot05: [Medium shot] Bunny sets eggs on table, takes one.
Shot06: [POV shot/CU] Paint egg.
Shot07: [Medium shot] Inspects. Finishing touches. Place aside.
Shot08: (Same as shot06) Egg cracks and hatches. Chick pops out.
Shot09: [Medium shot] Pokes and place aside. Picks up a larger egg. A cow comes out. Cow jumps on bunny.
Shot10: [POV shot] Shot fixed on cow+chick, background changes.
Shot11: Place down behind table. Chick and cow interacts(pat head/ bite ear). Steak and eggs placed on table.
Shot12: [CU] Chick pokes egg.
Shot13: [Wide shot] Bunny exits, camera follows; returns to see a mess.
Shot14: [Outdoor shot] Get kicked out. Door slams.


[Personal] Production Schedule


Didn't think I would show this, but hey, why not. If I remembered correctly, there were two copies. This one is the neater one. The other one had an extra list of sets/props where I X-ed out all the stuff that was finished. It felt good crossing things out. :D

Shots are grouped mainly by sets. I chose to do the harder/more essential shots first which turned out to be a smart move. More on that later...maybe...


Progress (iframes [With text! Click it!!])

Progress 1 - Cuts06+08 v1.0
Progress 1.1 - Cuts06+08 v2.0
Progress 2 - Cuts 05+06+07+08+09
Final + comments


Photos
YAY, the juicy part. I cut it down to 50 photos. [Click to enlarge.]









Random comment
So I kept most of my props and clay characters all neatly placed within a plastic container and into a box labelled with FRAGILE/Do not shake/^This side up on all sides. Funny thing. It was the ONLY box my movers tossed and threw around and eventually placed upside-down. Sigh.




Send me back up plz...