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The works of Jan Svankmajer are strange in their ability to tell a story through sound and puzzling visuals. While I have lots to say on his works, I'll keep this entry short and concise; primarily to avoid dumping a lengthy essay onto the unsuspecting reader. The films of Jan Svankmajer are primarily puppets done either in camera or using stop motion. His strange ability to relay a story mixed with the, at times, confusing characters create this sense of discomfort onto the viewer. Something done deliberate, weather known to the viewer or not, to evoke a sense of melancholy that'll leave one bewildered; yet also enthralled by its deceptively nuanced concepts.

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I was very vague with this powerpoint intentionally as I personally dislike planning creative concepts prior to when I do it. Sometimes being there with the material makes me get a better idea. It may also be due to me forgetting the idea on the day, too.

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Very happy with this!

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Here is the reference I used. Micheal Jackson is really slick with his movements. It's impressive how still he can hold his body and the anticipation behind his moves is inspiring. The spin he does looked fun to animate, which is why I picked this particular clip.

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Multi-pane is a very fun technique to use and allows for a greater degree of control in a rather flat medium. This test utilises the different panes to scale objects to add impact to the gorilla's movements.

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This is my final paper stop-motion, and I decided to focus on a more abstract use of the gorilla's parts. Multi-pane was used yet again for its scaling effects. Not much more can be said about this work.

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Very happy with this. I believe this is my best stop-motion out of everything I've done so far. I used the multi-pane setup to have more control over things like the carpet on the ground. It was only 2 layers but having that extra layer helped control the workflow better.

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Not much to be said for this week. All sound design has been completed, and all work has been done. I enjoyed stop-motion and found it oddly relaxing to work with. 2D Animation is still a passion of mine, but my interest in stop-motion has increased substantially to the point where I may prefer it over 2D Animation.

I tried to explore the medium in unique ways, focusing less on themes and more on what can be done with the materials I had at hand. For example, in my claymation work, the residue left over created what I believed was an undesirable effect—which it may be for many—yet it strangely added to my work. The uneasy oil spots appeared distressed, something that may benefit a more surreal method of storytelling. For my work, however, it created an unintentional sludgey feel.

These aspects of stop-motion interest me, and I wish to pursue it on a more complex level where I can push these bizarre and abstract methods I found by mistake into something new and interesting.

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I had difficulty coming up with an idea for puppet stop-motion. Despite having hours to think of something this week, I could only think of this one idea. However, it focused too much on camera work and not on animation itself. While the walk I did—to me—is very impressive and looks natural, I wish I had focused more on the task at hand than something random.

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This is my final pixilation work, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I thought of a simple sequence of events that attempted to fully utilise the movement on the hand to create interesting curves and motions. The setup is simple, there is a table with a chair atop it and a hand. The chair is alive and appears to have done something to upset the hand, as we see the hand angrily slam and then abuse the chair.

A major aspect of this work that I enjoy is the shake effect I did in camera, which gives the hand that extra bit of weight when it bangs against the table. I feel if that wasn't there, it'd make the hand less threatening.

My only major critique of this is the last frame not being the same/similar to the first frame, as I realised it could've looped seamlessly after the fact. However, everything else is good, so it's only a mild annoyance at best.

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This is my final animation for puppet stop-motion. While the concept itself isn't much, I wanted to do something a bit comedic and focus on how sound design can change the feel of an animation. The set is the same as the previous animation from this week, you may notice. I made both shorts back to back since I had the sticky bones figure on me at the time.

In general, I'm really happy with this animation and enjoyed working with it. You may notice my hand appears for a frame, but that was an intentional choice I kept in, as it gave the animation a rather meta (meta referring to self-referential: stop-motion by hand). I won't be editing out the hand in the final product shown in the showreel.

My only critique for the short is the walking at the beginning, I should've been using the support from the start to allow the feet to be lifted off the ground.