Stop Frame Animation

What is Stop Motion?

Stop motion is an animation technique that physically manipulates an object that appears to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using plasticine is called clay animation or "clay-mation". Not all stop motion requires figures or models; many stop motion films can involve using humans, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_motion

I will be trying out stop frame animation for myself. But before I go into the technique I'll be looking at some stop frame animation videos, and researching how to create a good piece of stop frame. 

The point of animation is to break the rules, its a playful technique which breaks the rules of reality.

There's a video I watched by Norman Mclaren from 1952 which uses stop frame and video combined. The video is called neighbours which came about in the 1950's. 

Sound for this particular animation is the most important thing. The animation goes along with the animation the sounds add to the piece and make it have a more atmospheric mood to it. 

The animation is both deep and funny together with an underlining message within it. They initially forgot about what they were fighting over (the flower), that became unimportant to them. Their main focus was to keep harming each other, throughout the animation their face gets painted in black face paint this is resemble the evil within coming out. The darkness from in their soul coming to surface the more they inflict pain and misery on one another. The colour from the actual animation drains away becomes more saturated as the story unfolds this also goes with their mood and action, as they become more darker within themselves the colour of the animation is less vibrant and happy. 

The irony actually is that the same flower they argue and fight over grows on top of their graves in the end. 

Below is another animation I looked at by Jan Svankmajer he done a series of animations called Food, the one I selected is Breakfast!

Food is a 1992 Czech animated short film directed by Jan Švankmajer that uses claymation and pixilation. It examines the human relationship with food by showing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_(film) 15.12.2015

In this animation Jan challenges the ideas of communism, things we take for granted in a time when things were massively controlled. The people are portrayed as machines they become the state. People feeding people where everyone has the same everything even same meal no exceptions. In the end of the animation you see a long line queuing up for the next one to go in for the same meal, again representing the control over these people. 

Combing animation and video together - Peter Gabriel Sledgehammer 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWJE0x7T4Q 

This is another video I looked at it has a wide range of techniques going off in the video, including pixel, clay and video. The piece is truly outstanding in which he has created this piece. 

This has excited me to try out facial expression animations with the kids at home, I was thinking of some sour sweets and then photograph them to put into an animation. With the sour sweets I will get some really weird and fast changing expressions which should make some interesting pieces. 

First attempt at stop frame animation was a self decorating tree, I worked on this with Shannon. Firstly we had the lights creeping up the branches taking two photographs at each step only moving the lights bit by bit. Once the lights reached the top we then did the same with the tinsel taking the images bit by bit again. After all the images were taken I used After Effects to put the animation together. 

By Shannon & Leonie

I attempted another go at stop frame animation giving sour sweets to my son and watching his facial expressions.

Alain Laboile

Born on May 1, 1968 in Bordeaux, France, Alain Laboile is a photographer and father of six.

In 2004, as he needed to put together a portfolio of his work as a sculptor, he acquired a camera, and thus developed a taste for macro photography, spurred by his passion for entomology.

Later on, he pointed his lens towards his growing family which became his major subject, be it in a realistic depiction of their atypical lifestyle in “La Famille”, or in bizarre stagings around a pond in “Réflexion autour du bassin”.

Alain Laboile's work has since been exhibited around the world and he is scheduled to publish a book with Steidl Verlag.

https://www.lensculture.com/alain-laboile  11/12/15

These images are really exciting to how hes created them, as when you normally take reflections you catch yourself in the images. So to create the images in reflections it gives a sort of dream land image it would be interesting to create images like this. Subject matter in his images is like everyday scenes from a kids/family life. 

Dan Mountford

Dan Mountford is a freelance graphic designer and photographer residing in Brighton, England. He is most well known for his stunning double exposure photography, which he describes as “a visual journey through our minds by calm and tidy means which the reality of everyday life does not show”. Mountford captures his dual subjects beautifully, giving life to new composite images that take on unique, surreal forms. Even more impressive, the exposures themselves are created entirely by camera

http://youmeandcharlie.com/see/dan-mountford/#&panel1-1  11/12/15

Dan's double exposure images are really interesting and how he composes these images in camera is really cool, to be able to create these in camera would save time in doing it in photoshop. I like how he brings in the landscapes, city scapes, nature and buildings to look as if they are one with the model. I want to create more multiple exposures some more creative images. 

I created this double exposure in photoshop, the images were taken on a 5x4 camera. I chose which images i wanted to use and simply overlayed one over another while changing the opacity on the top image to just bring the flower image through over the models face. 

Nancy Lee

  

https://www.lensculture.com/articles/nancy-lee-global-village

Nancy Lee was born in Hong Kong but has lived around the world, she first started taking these images of around Hong Kong then was encouraged to go and photograph Holland from the same perspective. As Holland is really quite flat she had to use a plane to get the height in the images. 

The image swimming about was taken in Budapest at a spa, she didn't intentionally go to photograph the spa but the opportunity presented itself as she walked out onto a balcony. She ended up stood there for 45 minutes taking over a 1000 photograph to create 'swimming about'.

These images that Nancy Lee has produced are really eye catching and abstract, this technique looks so exciting to try out. Her images mainly explore subjects such as pedestrians, traffic and market life. The one of the open umbrellas she turns into an abstract image of coloured dots all over. There taken really high up to get the view from above birds eye view, then to cut and stitch the images together must of taken her some time to get them to look pleasing together. Its almost a puzzle what you are trying to put together in your mind from the fragmented pieces of the images. 

Chris Cunningham

http://www.clashmusic.com/news/chris-cunningham-for-the-big-chill
13th November 

Chris Cunningham is a British video artist he primarily directs music videos but has also created art installations and directed short movies. People often say his work is dark but Cunningham himself don't see his works as dark but edgy and dynamic. He bases his videos around sound, he spent his childhood with ear pressed up against speakers listening to different sounds so he has a lot of connotations connected with particular sounds which in turn helps him create his videos. He works best with limitations and restrictions, given complete freedom he struggles to hit the ground with a starting point. Given his background in special effects before actually directing videos you can understand why his videos are compelling, he also worked on comic drawings. With comics you need things to jump out at you so this looks like it also paid off for his step into music videos and short movies. 

Sam Taylor Wood

Samantha Louise "Sam" Taylor-Johnson OBE (born Taylor-Wood; 4 March 1967) is an English filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. Her directorial feature film debut came in 2009 with Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of the Beatles songwriter and singer John Lennon. She is one of a group of artists known as the Young British Artists. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Taylor-Johnson

I looked at Sam Taylor Woods work the video I selected was Still Life showing the life of fruit. The images are light as if a classical painting. She does this as a time lapse video which is really interesting, along with the video he plays a piece of mellow classical music. The sound that goes along with the video initiates feelings to accompany you throughout the video. To see the decay of the fruit and how it happens lets you reflect on life and death, it gives insight to how we don't actually see or notice someone or something changing until the time draws near to an end. Once the process comes near to an end, whether that's the death of a person, animal or decaying fruit you suddenly see the raid acceleration of death! Everyday there had been change which the eye failed to see happening until its right in front of you and too late. I  appreciate this work by Wood as it lets you go through the video and really reflect about life itself while still acknowledging the work of the still life. I would like to try and recreate a video with this deep meaningful underlying message throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJQYSPFo7hk  13th November 2015

Bill Viola

Bill Viola (b.1951) is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading artists. He has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art, and in so doing has helped to greatly expand its scope in terms of technology, content, and historical reach. For 40 years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces, and works for television broadcast. Viola’s video installations—total environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound—employ state-of-the-art technologies and are distinguished by their precision and direct simplicity. They are shown in museums and galleries worldwide and are found in many distinguished collections. His single channel videotapes have been widely broadcast and presented cinematically, while his writings have been extensively published, and translated for international readers. Viola uses video to explore the phenomena of sense perception as an avenue to self-knowledge. His works focus on universal human experiences—birth, death, the unfolding of consciousness—and have roots in both Eastern and Western art as well as spiritual traditions, including Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism. Using the inner language of subjective thoughts and collective memories, his videos communicate to a wide audience, allowing viewers to experience the work directly, and in their own personal way.

http://www.billviola.com/biograph.htm

I looked into Bill Viola's work he has some really powerful deep meaning images. I didn't just look at this particular artist for his work but also the way he presents his work. He presents his images and work on large high definition screens as video installation, this is one way I can keep in mind in which I can present my own work. Video installation is an excellent way to present pieces of work. Audiences can engage and feel the way you desire them too with them also feeling strong emotions towards the subject your show casing. For instance Bill Viola did images called Martyrs, with the four images named Earth, Air, Fire and Water with these images shown on huge screens or projected onto large spaces of building you cant help but feel an influential and forceful power towards these. For me they bring me to religion although I don't believe in any particular religion, but I get the connotations the go to religion. Religion is a powerful and complicated subject that is associated with strong beliefs and strong emotions and if I could even try to emulate them certain emotions and feelings into my work to interact with audiences then I will achieve and be greatly honored with the chosen subjects I present. 


Bill Viola, Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), 2014
Executive Producer: Kira Perovhttp://www.billviola.com/http://www.billviola.com/http://www.billviola.com/

Image Compositing

Image composting is a technique done on software such as Photoshop. The general idea is to select your subject erase the background and then place them on an alternative background. For my example above I chose to do a theme around Poppy day I turned my image black and white then used an adjustment layer and selected the pen tool to cut around the poppy's in the boys hands. After I made a path I cut and the colour appears through the black and white. I then used the quick selection tool to select around the poppy's and dragged them into black and white image. I re sized them and added more until I was happy with them dotted around the children.

For this image I put my son in the clouds. I photographed him sat on a wall and photographed the clouds separately using the pen tool I had to cut around the model I then copied and pasted the selection I made so the model was on a separate layer. I then dragged them on to the background layer of the clouds. For these images compositing or image manipulation your pen tool will be your best friend you use it a lot!

The images I used for the top image.

HDR

High Dynamic Range:

HDR is a technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present the human eye with a similar range of luminance as that which, through the visual system, is familiar in everyday life. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris (and other methods) adjusts constantly to the broad dynamic changes ubiquitous in our environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that most of us can see in a wide range of light conditions. Most cameras, on the other hand, cannot.

HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae. This is often achieved by capturing and then combining several different narrower range exposures of the same subject matter. Non-HDR cameras take photographs with a limited exposure range, resulting in the loss of detail in highlights or shadows.

The two primary types of HDR images are computer renderings and images resulting from merging multiple low-dynamic-range (LDR) or standard-dynamic-range (SDR) photographs. HDR images can also be acquired using special image sensors, like an oversampled binary image sensor.

Due to the limitations of printing and display contrast, acquiring an HDR image is only half the story; one must also develop methods of displaying the results. The method of rendering an HDR image to a standard monitor or printing device is called tone mapping. This method reduces the overall contrast of an HDR image to facilitate display on devices or printouts with lower dynamic range, and can be applied to produce images with preserved or exaggerated local contrast for artistic effect.

High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard exposure images, often using exposure bracketing, and then later, merging them (usually within a photo manipulation program) into a single HDR image. Digital images are often encoded in a camera's raw image format, because 8 bit JPEG encoding doesn't offer a great enough range of values to allow fine transitions (and regarding HDR, later introduces undesirable effects due to lossy compression).

Any camera that allows manual exposure control can make images for HDR work, although one equipped with auto exposure bracketing (AEB) is far better suited.

  

hdrguide.com                                  www.unframedworld.com

HDR images are more like a dream world vibrant colour image, I'm not very keen on the HDR technique with the landscapes and city scapes it reminds me of cartoon like images. But the portrait images in HDR look quite effective on the particular image below it really brings his eyes out the image its the first thing you are drawn to his piercing blue eyes. I found a short video on youtube which shows you how the image started off to the end result. (Although it doesn't tell you what to do or how he done it). His portrait looks like its done in a studio using controlled light. 

https://youtu.be/N53IaahYRIY  

I attempted to do the HDR technique myself on some portraits using natural and controlled lighting. We also decided to try adding movement into the images to see what outcomes it would bring. I did the technique manually by taking a correctly exposed image then going 2 stops up and 2 stops down  to take 2 underexposed and 2 over exposed images, so in total I had 5 images to put together in Photoshop to create the HDR. By doing it manually you have to make sure the subject doesn't move while your changing the stops up and down. In the Pentax camera a setting within the camera actually does this for you without having to take 5 separate images and putting them together in Photoshop. 

Multiple exposure

Multiple exposure:

In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be identical to each other. Digital technology enables images to be superimposed over each other by using a software photo editor, such as Adobe photoshop or GIMP. These enable the opacity of the images to be altered and for an image to be overlaid over another. They also can set the layers to multiply mode, which 'adds' the colors together rather than making the colors of either image pale and translucent. Many digital SLR cameras allow multiple exposures to be made on the same image within the camera without the need for any external software. And some bridge cameras can take successive multiple exposures (sometimes up to nine) in one frame and in one shot. 

Traditionally multiple exposure had only 2 images, but there's noting to say you cant have more. Traditionally you would take an image on film then rewind the film back then take another on top of the first. You notice that multiple exposures works best with one busy image and one less busy. Its good to have an idea of what you want to photograph before actually going out and looking for something.

Ideas of multiple exposures:

• Auntum leaves
• models face/head & shoulders
• Clouds/sky
• City scape within the models face
• black & white mixed with a colour image (like Julia Wang)

Images found for multiple exposure:

These black and white images are really effective and eye catching incorporating city scapes and buildings within the human body. I think this adds more to just a standard portrait I could take this and adapt it to my own portraits using things my model really likes or enjoys or hobbies i.e: If she enjoyed knitting I could photograph yarns of wool and knitting needles and incorporate these into her portrait or use the leaves to fill in her face with just the outline of her. The possibilities are endless with this kind of technique and I'm excited to create some pieces. 

My first attempt at multiple exposure, this was a quick rough go using the quick selection tool to go around the models head I then laid the image of the tree's over the top and decreased the opacity of the leaves to see some of Shannon's features coming through. On the second image I used the pen tool to select around her head then cut her out and dragged the image onto a plain background. I then used the pen tool to select the section of leaves I wanted, dragged the image over the first and resized it to fit. I then changed opacity, selected around the head using the magic wand tool select inverse then deleted the background to leave the leaves overlayed over the face.

Oliver Morris

Oliver creates some lovely multiple exposures he has an eye for lining up the models with the trees and nature. It creates an idea of the model is one with nature, shes growing from the earth or the earth comes within her. He is only 18 studying A levels which photography is included, to capture these stunning images he using a canon A1, Lubitel and also uses Holga 120 and Diana mini. The tones of his images are quite washed out and a subtle palette of colours, you tend to focus more on the image itself rather than looking at colours of vibrancy.

Cameron Russell

Cameron Russell's multiple exposure images take on a different approach, he has colourful textured images. I like these images and instead of creating them post production Russell does these all in camera using a Lomo camera. The images he creates look exceptional and the idea and style behind these create a lot of paths to create my own images. The textures in the images take the more dominant first thing you look at. 

Julia Wang

Julie wang is only a teenager and her multiple exposures have caught the attention world wide. She creates these beautiful images my best ones being the black and white self portraits, bringing in the colourful city scenes. These are really simple but striking images they give the images life. The city images aren't in focus in the last image she brings in the technique Bokeh which is a personal favourite of mine. 

These are some more of the multiple exposures, with creating multiples you can be as creative as you like. I done these in photoshop with two seperate images. I duplicated the young boy and lined him eye o9n eye and changed the image to black and white. I then chose the zoom burst of lights and overlayed the image over the model, changing the opacity down and selecting a blending mode to bring the brightness out of the lights. Some modern day portraits would look effective and could be an option to give clients for future work projects. 

Image Manipulation

Image Manipulation:

Alma Haser

Born into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in London and the East coast. Specialising in carefully constructed portraiture influenced by her creativity and background in fine art, Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind.

Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further, using inventive paper-folding techniques to create layers of intrigue around her subjects, manipulating their portraits into futuristic flattened-paper sculptures. Her paper-craft skills have also led her to move into creating delicate models of small animals.

Shortlisted for the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012 for her piece 'The Ventriloquist', a portrait of two childhood friends, Alma has gone on to win third place at the 2012 Foto8 Summer Show and then the Magenta Foundation's Bright Spark Award in 2013 for her 'Cosmic Surgery; series. Her work has been exhibited worldwide.

Since Haser leaving university in 2010 she spent time working on self potraits. With her fine art background she's always been one to make things with her hands, which she tried to incorporate with photography. For this series of images she uses origami as the focus point of the 'Cosmetic Surgery' series.

The way in which she produces them is to take an image of the model and then print multiple shots off of the models face. She then makes her origami places it over the models face on the portrait and re photographs the whole image.

"There is something quite alien about the manipulated faces, as if they belong to some futuristic next generation. In these portraits the children become uncanny, while their parents are seen in a more familiar moment. With the simple act of folding an image Alma can transform each face and make a sort of flattened sculpture. By de-facing her models she has made their portraits into her own creation." http://www.haser.org/cosmicsurgery/

 

 

http://www.haser.org/cosmicsurgery/  02.11.2015

Her images are brilliant a simple tradition style portrait but then changed completely to something abnormal. The tonal ranges she has chosen are quite muted tunes almost a washed out colour range, by this I think you focus more on the people themselves instead of vibrant colours in the image and focus on the main point of the origami structures within the image. I really like this technique and how she has created these, at first I thought she might have done these in photoshop. Again photo manipulation at its best you can do anything with the imagination to get results like these.

Image manipulation is a process to transform a photograph into a desired image. There are currently many different software applications to choose from ranging from professional applications to basic imaging software for the casual user. Before computers, photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double-exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching polaroids. Airbrushes were also used, whence the term airbrushing for manipulation . Darkroom manipulations are sometimes regarded as traditional art rather than job related skill. In the early days of photography, the use of technology was not as advanced and efficient as it is now. Results are similar to digital manipulation but they are harder to create. An early example of tampering was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham Lincoln was altered using the body from a portrait of John C Calhoun and the head of Lincoln from a famous seated portrait by Mathew Brady– the same portrait which was the basis for the original Lincoln five dollar bill.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_manipulation
Photo with the gentleman taken completely out the image.

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_manipulation
The skin features shown in Portrait of Minnie Driver by Justin Hoch (left) have been manipulated to create the image on the right.

I like image manipulation as you can create anything within your imagination there really are no boundaries on what you can create, then there's also the the more subtle aspects of using image manipulation like erasing someones spots off there portrait if they don't want them on their image or removing someones scar if they ask you too. Being a photographer you can do slight adjustments to your images but going ahead and erasing someones mole for instance is not the way to go, its fine if they ask you to that but not everyone would want things removing from their image. 

I attempted to create a made up image manipulation by sourcing images from the net and putting the together to create a scene. The tools I used for this particular scene were pen tool, quick mask mode, quick selection tool, layers and gradient map. Using the pen tool gives you more smarter neater line around the things you cant to cut out or select. rather than the quick selection tool which as it says in the name is quick so you don't get the more defined neat lines.


This image is a working progress at the minute.





I decided to create a baby cherub asleep in the clouds with the sunset theme behind.