North Stradbroke Island in Time Lapse

One of the things I've been trying to do is find my own style. We all do I guess. I've tried a few styles now and one of them is Time-Lapse which I've experimented with a few times now. Both in a studio with Lego and outside in the real world. It's something that I find quite challenging because I really am not sure going into it, what I'm really going to end up with. When I say that I know what the pictures are because I took them but the end result is always a mystery. It's like opening a present that you've had hints about. "It's a teddy bear - but how big is the bear?" Recently I went to North Stradbroke Island for 4 days for a wedding. During this time I took photos everywhere I walked, every 5 or so steps. I did all the places I went to, sometimes twice, and then went back and edited them all to fit together over 2 videos. I'm quite pleased with the end results, even though they are a bit jerky, it still works well with the great music my friend Jim Stanley aka Anvilheadmusic.com provided. These really turned out quite well. I managed to mix the still photos with live video in places. I didn't expect to get as much footage in the end as I did. I aimed for about 3 minutes but ended up with over 12 minutes. Well that's enough rambling on - here are the 2 videos....

Feral Berryl

Ok so this one is based on a poem I wrote during my "poetry" phase of 1991 - 1995. Most of the stuff I wrote then was the basic A,B,A,B rhyming style. This particular poem was written in 1994 when I was in the midst of my "clubbing/pubbing" era. By this stage I knew a bit about human body language (thanks Alan Pease) and I saw this type of behaviour alot whilst sitting at the bar people-watching. The filming itself had alot of issues, mainly camera related with my lens deciding it didn't want to work properly anymore so I had to repeat a few of the dancing loops which cheapens it a bit but doesn't really detract from it so much. Well, here it is: "Feral Berryl"

Smoked by Salmon

This was a labour of love and time. Neither of which I had time for. Yet, going into it I knew both but still pushed myself to complete it. So yeah - not sure. Was originally intended for the Sydney Tropfest but I just didn't have the time to make the deadline. Luckily enough another film festival on the Gold Coast with a deadline a few weeks later was what I knew I could make and did. I really pushed myself to make this deadline. I was totally drained emotionally by the end. With work and TAFE, sleep came a distant 3rd in this equation; and it showed. I actually got caught sleeping at work. As far as the outcome is concerned. I'm still unsure if I like this. I'd have preferred more shots with the traffic to not repeat the shots I used but overall, I guess those shots were needed to show the fact that this was happening day after day after day.

Star Wars Vs Peer Pressure

This video was one that I made based purely on "well if you're animating Lego - you may as well do a 'Star Wars".... And so I did. This was originally totally scripted but after the shoot (which I wasn't fond of the outcome) - I decided against. I actually scrapped this whole project but then after a month I went back and looked at what I had and realised it had 'musical potential'. And thus it happened.

Lego Stop Motion/Time Lapse Modulars

I previously posted a Stop-Motion/Time-Lapse of the Lego "Fire Brigade" Since then I have continued on and done a further 3 Lego Modular sets, the Grand Emporium, Pet Shop, and the Town Hall. So here are the 3 videos

"The Ball"

So to escape the clutches of LEGO Stop Motion cliche - and the slight chance of either having to actually storyboard - or even having to write a script. I decided the ball I'd been walking past the last few days needed to be a star. "To shine through all the other 'ball' stereotypes!" It did take alot of character building but in the end the ball stepped up (even knocked back a role in Titanic II)and pumped himself up to be the bigger (midget) soccer ball. This was a special day for me, and a special film. I knewI was doing nothing special on this day except what I wanted. It was the 14th anniversary of my brothers untimely death, and as every year I take this day to remember the only brother I lost. We weren't that close after we turned about 18 but regardless, we were still brothers. The day he died is the day I remember like my own birthday. I do the same for the both, I take the day off. This year I took the day off, but prepared. I charged the battery in my camera. On the day of the shoot, I just filmed everywhere I could and it felt so good. I knew it was going to work. It did. This is the result:

"The Deuce"

It's been a while since I made a LEGO Stop Motion. Late September actually but that's not to say I haven't been busy with other animation. This one is probably my best to date in terms of smooth animation, lip-sync and general overall quality. I'm more than quietly proud of this one.