Assignment 4: Stop Motion Video

Media: digital camera, FinalCut

-Make a stop motion video using a digital still camera and FinalCut,
suggesting the purpose and how a product or service arising out of your
brand platform theme might function.

This is “denotative” (what it does, its purpose) rather than “connotative”
(its essence, its marketing message, etc.).

-The entire video is one scene. See http://leo.media.mit.edu/?p=89 for
similar examples.

-Start by planning the stop motion video with a simple storyboard using
the provided template.

-Make your stop motion video, then post the video on YouTube and
make a link from your blog.

FINAL CUT / STOP MOTION INSTRUCTIONS

There are 4 palletes in Final cut
1. The Browser (where the jpeg files that make the stop motion video are imported)
2. The Viewer (where you can see each file individually)
3. The Canvas (where you can preview your video)
4. The Timeline (where the files are set up to make the animation)
(They are in different windows, so If accidentally you close or loose one them, go to
Window > Arrange > Standard, and you will get the default view again.)

A) Set the duration of each jpeg file.
The movie has to have an animation effect so the duration of each jpeg on the timeline, has to be very small. Go to: Final Cut Pro (on the top left) > User Preferences > Editing (window). Set the Still/Freeze Duration
to 00:00:00:04. (Now every file imported in the browser will have that duration.)

B) Import your files in the browser.
Go to File > Import > Files. Choose your files. (for a 5 second stop motion video you need about 50 jpeg files).
Make sure that they are in the correct order. To be sure, select all of the files in the browser, go to View > Arrange > by Name.

C) Select All your files from the browser (apart from the "Sequence" icon) and drag them to first slot of the timeline below. Select them on the timeline and go to Sequence > Render All > Video.

D) Play your video on the Canvas (on the top right side).

E) Save the project in Final Cut (File > Save Project)
Then go to File > Export > Using QuickTime Conversion.
Save it as a QuickTime movie.

Upload the video on YouTube, and embed it on your blog.

AUDACITY

1. The controllers are on the top left side.

2. You can record a track or a sound by using the "RECORD" button, or import a track.

3. To import a track:

Go to Project > Import Audio OR go to File > Import Audio (depending on the version of Audacity you have). Select a file from your computer (mp3, aiff, or wav) and hit Open.

  

If your track or sound is too long, you can "cut" it. Select part of it with selector tool (above). Click on the "scissors" button, or hit Delete.

4. You can zoom in or out, to see your tracks better:
Zoom In > command 1 / Zoom Out > command 3

5. Select the first seconds of a track. Go to Effect (> Utility) > Fade In.

(The same with the last seconds, only Effect (> Utility) > Fade Out).

6. Import more sounds or tracks and fade them in and out, like before.

  

Depending on when you want them to be heard, you can drag each track on the timeline with the double sided arrow (above). By fading them in and out, and positioning them on the timeline, they will be mixed more successfully.

7. Once you have imported and arranged your sounds, you can control their volume from their info boxes on the left OR from: Effect > Amplifier > Amplify (depending on the version of Audacity you have). "Mute"(on the left of the bars) makes them silent.

  

If you want to change the volume of one part of your track or sound, select the "star" tool on the top left. Click on the beginning and the end of your selected part, and adjust.

8. When you are finished, save the track as an Audacity file, (File > Save Project). Then export it as wav, aiff or mp3 (File > Export as....).

SOUND ASSIGNMENT

Digital Design, Des 680
Tom Klinkowstein

Klinkows@mediaa.com

Assignment Two, Mixed Soundscape for the Brand Platform
Media: Found and self-recorded sounds

-Using sounds found on the internet and sounds you record, create a mixed “soundscape” – evoking (but not documenting or simulating) the service, product or organization which might be associated with the theme you derived from your book quote.

Also keep in mind the colors or textures you have generated from the first assignment.


-Collect these sounds using the Internet:
*Two selections of “compatible” music, one folkloric; one contemporary; no words; the simpler the better.
*One sound effect
*One Animal Sound

-Collect “live” with your own recording device:
*One Mechanical Sound
*One Electronic Sound


Mix these sounds using Audacity, so they seamlessly make one appropriate mixed sound which helps evoke your short theme and coincidentally starts to suggest the service, product or organization which may evolve from that theme.

Also, keep in mind the results from the Color / Texture Mood Board and have that influence the sound source selections as well as the mix.

-Total length = 5-8 seconds.