Of late I have been trying my hand at Stop Motion animation and found it very interesting and challenging. This morning I saw this crocheted Unicorn that wifey just completed and was wondering "how can I animate this?"
I almost gave up the idea when I found that the tail was touching the ground and that gave me the idea of how to make the tail swing.
I have been using the toys and items used by my grandchild and every item has a potential of being in the stop motion video. For example this auto rickshaw can go very well with the lego toys.
One of the soft drinks that comes in the tetra pack is another item that you can play with. If the drink was in a darker colour like red or orange, the visual appeal would have been greater. To make it more appealing I stuck Mr Buster moon on the backdrop.
I wanted some heavy weight that would go into the M&M's container (so that it would not shift its position every time I rotated it). After searching high and low in the house, I found my cylindrical power bank which fitted perfectly in it.
Keeping the object back in its original position is very critical and that was a tough call for me to snip off a section of the tetra pack and keep it back after every shot.
The usual practice for any movie is to write the story line and then animate accordingly. But for me I keep changing the story as I shoot. For example this station master was waving the green flag as the engine was approaching but as the engine passed him, his flag fell down.
As I had fixed the flag delicately with a toothpick in his hand, I was in no position to refix it, as the slightest disturbance to any of the items in the scene would require reshooting the whole story from start. So I changed the story wherein he goes to his cabin to get a new flag.
Another example of changing the story was that I overlooked the blue bowl on the left side of the screen while making the M&M's video. So I included it at the end of the story by adding it in the right side of the frame.
Shooting a stop motion video is easy and any one can do it provided you have the patience. (yes patience is the key word)
You don't need any high end camera. It can be captured even with your mobile camera and with the help of the light from a reading lamp.
Some basic tips:
All non moving parts should be fixed/taped down.
If using a mobile camera, keep it on Airplane mode and the Auto lock to 'Never'
Adding the right sound effects makes a lot of difference, like the steam engine approaching or the popping sound of the lid of the M&Ms container.
I used the Stop Motion App to make these videos
I have not used any props / armature for these videos and plan to proceed this way. It is the idea that matters.
Had the opportunity to observe an Osprey nest from far. In fact the nest was on a man made platform out in the sea. While watching and capturing them on camera, I observed a few things, like the head bobbing before they made a dive for the fish.
These head bobs are done to triangulate their prey. Very rarely do they miss the prey. After catching a fish they don't straight away take it to the nest. They fly around for some time to ensure that the fish is dead (or half dead) Most of the time, the adult eats a part of the fish before dropping them in the nest. (they too require nourishment)
After a fish is caught, it arranges its feet to turn the fish so it faces head first. This reduces aerodynamic drag making the fish easier to carry.
Once I noticed the male breaking off a branch from a nearby tree and placing it in the nest. Does this amount to "periodic maintenance of the house"?
The rate of growth of the young one is pretty fast after a month as can be seen in this illustration. (courtesy) The body size is almost the same as an adult.
Here you can see an Adult and juvenile Osprey.
Before they fly out, the young ones try flapping the wings in the nest to get the hang of it.
Once they are sure about it, they fly off to nearby structures to practice perching, like this weather wane
Or to a nearby tree to sit next to the parent.
Often smaller bird species like starlings or house sparrows live in the underside of the nest (basement apartment can be seen at 5:40 in the video)
Eagles and Blue Herons are the enemies of the young ones. They try to snatch away the young ones when adults are not around. I saw a Blue Heron being chased away who tried to get too close to the nest.
I captured some of their movements over a period of eight days and compiled it to a five minute video.
The whole episode was captured at Chesapeake Bay near the boardwalk, (which was described in the previous blog.)
Lately blogspot does not allow replies to be sent to individual comments (or is it that something is wrong with my settings)
The Chesapeake Bay was formed over 11000 years ago. Native American tribes centered their world around Chesepoic - the country of the great rivers.
The Boardwalk existed as early as 1930 which was just two blocks long in those days. It was rebuilt many times after being destroyed by hurricanes. The present one is about half a mile long and is a meeting place for the local residents.
I found the best time to click pictures was during sunrise.
People having their morning walk, some jog while others take their dogs for a morning walk.
Fishing enthusiasts would turn up early in the hope of making a catch.
There was a band (The Winstons) playing in the evening and I captured a part of their performance.
The young (and the young at heart) were shaking a leg to the wonderful music.
I found the energy level of the performers quite high as can be seen in the video.
Found a peculiar type of tree opposite the boardwalk. Was it a creeper or was it some sort of parasite on the tree?
Earlier we had dinner at the Vaughan Cheese, run by Megan and Tyler. It was an experience in itself especially regarding the different forms of cheese.
Found a few birds along the bay like the Royal tern.
Trying to identify this bird
There were man made platforms specially erected for the Ospreys for their nesting season.
More on the Ospreys and its nesting habits in the next blog.
Earlier we had been to Annapolis and spent half a day there.
The memorial that I saw at the city dock is the only memorial in the United States that commemorates the actual name and place of an enslaved African, Kunta Kinte.
It reminded me of all that I read (about four decades ago) in the book "Roots" by Alex Haley.
Did some window shopping there.
Here were some recycled articles made from old cans in Madagascar, Africa, for sale.
Last evening I had the opportunity to spend some time watching Hawaiin dance by
The Barefeet Hawaiian Inc.
Time well spent I must say. Steve did a good job of anchoring the show using the
right words at the right time.
It was fun to watch the swaying movements of the participating dancers with
their smiling faces.
Among the Hula Dance implements they used, I liked the Puili for the rhythmic
sound it made in sync with the beat of the song.
Other implements used were Uli uli, Poi Balls, and ii
The addition of Elvis Presley's song was a good touch as Elvis had a good
connection with Hawaii including his movie Blue Hawaii. Some young girls came
forward when Steve mentioned learning the basic steps.
The men were equally eager and some stepped forward (barefeet of course) to try
out the steps.
I was a bit worried that some kid would spin the Poi Ball in the wrong direction
and injure someone but care was taken and no one was injured.
I captured what I could (from where I was seated) and put it together to form a
short video.
The first two minutes of the video is Kaluva Pepe, the song featuring Hula from
Hawaii, Otea from Tahiti, Haka from New Zealand and Sasa from Samoan.
As Steve mentioned, he was giving us a taste of Polynesian dance and music. Polynesian
means many islands. I just looked it up on the internet and learned that the
largest country in Polynesia is New Zealand. Here is a picture from
Wikipedia.
As mentioned earlier, it was time well spent. I am sure all those who were
present there, went home with positive vibes.
