Animation inspiration

Pixilation- is a stop motion technique where actors or objects are used as a subject taken frame by frame in an animated film. This is created by; the actor/object posing while one or more frames are taken and the actor or object changes pose slightly before the next frame. This technique is often used to blend live actors with animated ones in a film, e.g. The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb by the Bolex Brothers.

I would like to include a short section of stop motion animation within my music video. The main part will be the animated sunrise at the beginning during the intro to the song with the sun rising above the countryside; the sky changing colour from an inky blue dawn to an amber then sunny yellow morning, and the birds flying in the sky. I have discussed this idea with a professional animator and we think this will work best either using paint on glass or cutting out a drawing and moving it. I also want to do a section of animation using letters cut out from newspapers or magazines and spelling out the main words in the lyrics to illustrate the message of the song. I have already experimented with this technique using wooden blocks with letters on them, and it worked really effectively. Here are some animation videos which I have used for inspiration.

This video was written and directed by Andrey Shushkov, inspired by the legendry animator, Lotte Reiniger and Anthony Lucas's 'Jasper Morello' Film. I like the use of the silhouetted characters and objects which evoke a dark, slightly gothic feel. I think the smooth movement of the animation makes the film very realistic and life-like. I would like to create an animation of a landscape with trees silhouetted by a sun rise at the beginning of my music video, so I will experiment with cutting out trees from black card and maybe painting a sun rising behind the trees.



This Coldplay music video is one of my favourites as it utilises stop frame animation in a creative way which doesn't distract the viewer from the band. Instead not only does it illustrate the lyrics of the song but it amplifies the message of the lyrics in an artistic and (at times) humourous way. The animation is in a spray paint/graffiti style which portrays the quirky conventions of the Indie music genre. I like the way the animation flows seamlessly into the real life shots and the way the editing of the animation - particularly the transitions (cuts) - fits in time with the harsh beat of the music. I would like to use a similar shot of the animated sunrise at the beginning of the video in my own music video using paint or a cut out drawing as I really admire the use of colours and the optimistic connotations that starting a brand new day has.