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A Tiny Stop-Motion Experiment

Along with about a ka-gillion other fun things, trying my hand at stop-motion animation has been on my list of crafty things to try for a long, long time. Recently, I've been nudged into giving it a go by the work of artist blu (check this out), and the intro credits to the awesome documentary Handmade Nation.

I knew I had to start small, so I just set up my little digital camera on a tiny tripod in my studio and made a few of my things "come alive." Following this tutorial, I used iPhoto to download the photos (all 56 of them) from the camera, then imported them into iMovie (the older and better version) where I strung them together and sped up the "slideshow" to create my first teeny tiny animated movie.

The quality is low, the sound is off, and it doesn't exactly tell a story, but it's a start, and it's got me eager to try something with more substance next time.

I'll sheepishly admit that that's me doing the lame "beat boxing" in the background. It's hard to find a decent little sound effect that covers a mere 5 seconds of video, so I recorded one myself.

I should also note that the three stylin' little mini moo business cards are from my dear friend, Kendra Zvonik. Do sneak a peek at more of her expressive art here.

So what do you think? Too short to tell? Have any of you tried this? Any ideas for the next one? Anyone think I have a chance to make a record deal out of my mad mouth skills? kidding.

Comments4

you crack me up. LOVED the beat-boxing. :) isn't it amazing how MANY photos you need for a 5 second film? After doing several animation programs at the library, I have a high appreciation for the difficulties of this art form. I think yours had more of a storyline than most of the ones created at my library! Can't wait to see your next cinematic masterpiece!

:)

no shame in beat-boxing, my friend! it was great! i'm really impressed with all the work and i can't wait to see more! i can't believe i only now found your blog. it's terrific for sure. yay!

Awesome!! The kids were all dancing to the beat box. Never be ashamed of your inner beat box, girl.

That's AWESOME!!! I love the beat boxing too- pretty darn brave ;) Can't wait to see what you do next!
You are too kind to use my moo cards for your first project & to link to my shop. I just got through blogging & I was thinking about you too. . . take a peek, if you get a sec.
That was really fun, Marnie. And you made me laugh and smile, as always. You ROCK.
xoxo love to the family :)