Part 2 of my Motion Design course at University was to create a 5 second Stop Motion animation in my own time to accompany a sound clip that I was given. To help set my video apart from everyone else in the class, I decided to build my own set to give more freedom of composition than the top mounted camera setups provided at University.
As a result, my next video involved interaction in 3D space, rather than being shot from above and restricted to only 2D.
I used foam board, black card, and hot glue to make a simple box which I lit from above at the sides. The construction isn't perfect, but it just goes to show that you don't have to buy purpose made equipment. It only took an afternoon to build from bits I had laying around.
Through experimenting with the process I took some pictures that ended up having some motion blur in them, caused by a long shutter speed while capturing a moving object,
It turns out that this is a called Go Motion, and was developed by Phil Tippett who used it in Star Wars and Robocop, and a whole bunch of other things, you can check out some of the work from his studio at http://bit.ly/2j2nEMM. Go Motion gives the illusion of something moving with speed by adding motion blur, rather than keeping every frame really sharp.
I'm not saying my stumble into Go Motion is even a great example of the technique - it was a happy accident, and lead me into being aware of it, and researching the process in more detail.
I was also advised to leave the cocktail sticks that I used as makeshift armatures in the final video because the idea of this exercise was experimentation and being aware of the process, and that the later stages of the course would work with it.
By changing things up, stumbling across techniques I didn't know existed, and keeping my work rough and ready, I learned a lot and have started to see my work from a new perspective. Seeking perfection may have lead my to overrun the deadline, but by just having a go and settling for something that I consider to be an excellent effort; I have surpassed my original abilities, and probably grown more.
Anyway, see what you think...