It's never too late to learn to animate
An Old Woman loses something but doesn’t know what it is. She goes down to the sea with her telescope and is pleased to find the lighthouse. But still – what is lost is lost.
Third episode of my animation made for 2023 Instagram Folktale Week Challenge. The prompt was “Sea”.
Sound effects: Zapsplat
This is the second part of my animation for the Instagram Folktale Week challenge late last year. The prompt was INK – In which the Old Woman decides to write a message about something that is missing but cannot remember what it is….
Music: Zapsplat: Gregor Quendel
Well perhaps it was me that got lost? I am sorry that I have been away for so long. Life took over, and I found myself in caring mode with not much time for anything else. With time creeping back under my control I am continuing these episodes of “Lost and Found” which I made last year. Sadly still not enough time for new stopmotion animating yet.
Every year for a while now there has been an illustration challenge on Instagram called Folktale Week. Organised by a dedicated team of illustrators, artists and storytellers this challenge takes place over seven days with a verbal prompt for each day. Over the week participants post their entries for each prompt; these can be separate folktales or – increasingly popular – the prompts are used to invent a tale of one’s own.
I have always doubted my story skills but love the restrictions of a challenge so I regularly join this challenge in order to tell a story of my own in stopmotion form and to try and improve those narrative skills.
This is part one of Folktale Week 2023 (November) with the first prompt : Lost.
Music is from Gregor Quendel on Zapsplat.
Three clips from my version of Jungle Book. Part of a series of seven made for another Instagram Story Book challenge in 2023. The music was selected from Pixabay – which has a good range of South Asian royalty free music, a music style that I really wanted to use for this project.
I have mixed feelings about the success of this series. I had decided to use paper as part of the puppet construct (wasn’t easy) and I vowed to try using an animation rig for “free” movement of the puppets (see Monkey scene). However the subject includes a lot of animals and my ability to move them well was ….. not good. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I think.
Just to explain “animation rig”. This is a jointed rod contraption on a stand. The puppet fits onto it via a deliberately made “rig point” in the puppet. (Usually a sized piece of brass tubing incorporated into the puppet construction.) In place, the puppet can appear to jump, fly, walk, dance, etc because it is supported by the movable rig. Most animators use a rig in conjunction with digital software which enables them to delete the rig from the image; or “green screening” and imposing their own digital background onto the scene. I don’t have the relevant software for these effects so I am learning from base one and relying on “hiding” the rig from the camera. With me – what you see is what you get – apart from fades and transitions made with standard video editing software.
I am so sorry that I have been away from Sybandme for so long. I got wrapped up with making puppets and animations which takes a long time. But I promise to be back in 2024 to catch you up with what I have made.
Meanwhile, if you celebrate … have wonderful, happy, celebrations.
I’m wishing for much more peace, love and kindness in 2024.
See you then.
syb & me 