My Setup

This is my scene that i would be using for all my stop motion clips. I have some black board for the background, this will make it easy for me to attach any background props to them. I may use some background cut outs to make the scene not look so bland and to add some character.

This light is very useful because it is fully maneuverable so wherever i need the light to be entering the shot iv got it.   

My Cutout Figures

Here are my cutout figures. I shall use these in a stop motion animation on a mini skate spot that will be created by me. I have left a small amount of excess image on the snapshots that are in mid air, this will recreate the effect that the skateboarder is jumping off the ground just like he would in real life.

I am very pleased with the way these look, and I hope they look just as good when they are put into action.

Camera Angles

Here i am just looking at different camera angles that professional photographers use.

A little secret that skateboarding photographers use is low camera angles, this make the obstacle that the athlete is using look bigger and enhances the look of the photograph. I shall incorporate this technique into my work when i shoot my animation.

I have also been looking at skateboard videos because that is ultimatly what mine is going to be but with animation. I have been concentrating on the way the cameraman follows the athlete, and how alot of single tricks are kept at a still low angle with the skateboarder coming towards the camera. I shall try and encorporate this into my animation. Here are just a few clips i have been looking at.

American

Sean Malto

Mike Mo Capaldi

British

Nick Jensen 

European

Lucas Puig

JB Gillet

After watching a lot of skateboard videos in my time i know a little about camera angles but after watching some examples of new videos i can see that the recipe hasnt changed, its just got crisper , cleaner and sharper. I love the way professional skateboarders are filmed and photographed. I think they all follow the same subtle style and i like that. Although my animation will be quicker and not quite as fluid as a piece of actual footage, i shall try my best to recreate and capture some of the camera angles and hopefully some of the magic.

Snapshot Sequences

Concept

After thinking about my three words i started to link them into an idea for an animation, not only that but i also tried to link that idea with me so that i could already have the best possible knowledge on the subject due to experience.

I came up with the idea to recreate a short skateboard montage, as i have a lot of knowledge on both the physical part of it (such as doing it), and the visual part of it (capturing it through film or photography). I didn't want to just create a stereotypical skateboard animation so i did some research and thought back to times when i have been the filmer or photographer for my fellow skateboarders. 

A big part of skateboard advertising is involved in magazines, and obviously you cant put video in a magazine, so what the photographers do is capture a series of snapshots and arrange them in order to recreate the effect of movement. I am going to use these snapshots and maybe some of my own to create an animation. I shall cut out just the figure of each snapshot and use them accordingly in a stop motion animation. I am hoping all goes well and the trick they were doing in the magazine should be recreated but on a new, real life, mini skate spot. I shall do this with multiple snapshot sequences and create a range of clips ready to put together to create my final Photo Montage Animation.

My Three Words

After listening to my assigned soundtrack, i came up with these 3 words :

- Fluid

- Movement

- Flowing

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