MiniPuppet_ClayBalls.mov

Part of performing with a stop motion puppet is knowing how to direct your audiences' eyes so that they are watching specifically what you WANT them to be watching, and nothing else. In this video, after the puppet SMASHES its foot down on the clay, I stopped animating the puppet. In a few frames, the giant ball of clay enters, frame right. Your attention is IMMEDIATELY drawn to that ball of clay. You no longer are watching the puppet. So why animate that puppet if no one is watching it! Leave it nicely posed, and put all your animation effort into what the audience WILL be watching- the giant ball of clay that's entering the shot.

Watch the clip again, and see how long I leave the puppet without animating it, after it smashes the clay. A very long time! Don't animate something if you don't need to, and ALWAYS be directing your audiences' eyes to where YOU (as the animator) want those eyes to go. Don't do extra animation that makes your life more difficult and in the end only distracts your audience from where you want it to be looking.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• stop
• motion
• animation
• Sheridan
• College
• clay
• puppet

[AvantGardeGuy2]

Very fluid. How did you stand the puppet up?