Sullivan had a video on his blog over the weekend (which I'm too lazy to go look up): a stop-motion movie about some mean girl Barbies which was created with a Nikon D60 and some software to stitch all the stills together. Inspired, I set out to see if I could make my own.
I did!
My original goal was to write my own software to stitch the hundreds of JPGs together (easy), using my own (to be invented) tweening algorithm to smooth out the between-frame transitions (hubris). Instead, I used a trial version of Adobe Premier.
As far as story goes... there really isn't one. I just grabbed some stuff off a shelf and made it go. The first 2/3s is the last "shoot" I did, in daylight; the last 1/3 was done the night before, in the room's compact fluorescent lighting. I just stuck them together to reach the length of the song I wanted to use.
Technically, it has a lot of problems. But I know what they are: inconsistent lighting, rough camera motion, inattention to detail, etc.. So, in theory, I could do better next time - don't rely on daylight, set the camera's white balance before starting, don't try subtle camera motion with the tripod or its swivel ball head, slow down a lot for slow shots, sweep the floor for low shots, etc.. And maybe I'll try again someday.
But, what I really learned was this: now that I'm 40, I shouldn't spend all day rolling and crawling around on the floor, pushing toy cars and Star Wars figurines like an 8 year old. My legs and back are sore as fuck today.
Fantastic!
I’m really impressed, in spite of your self-criticism. (That’s the trouble with one’s own art. You only see your mistakes.)
Any idea what software the video on Sullivan used?
Also, sorry about your poor decapitated Skywalker.
here’s that Barbie vid: http://vimeo.com/16262803
(this time via Mr Modesto)