Pixilation case study

In class we watched Norman McLaren's animation "Neighbours" which uses pixilation animation. It's about two men having a very petty, unnecessary fight over a flower. they video has some very ridiculous outcomes and the characters are silly. The main message of the video is to make peace and not conlict; it is reflective of society and war. The pixilation technique was suitable because it allowed them to do unrealistic things such and flying or kicking a baby which would be difficult to do by videoing. It also gives the animation a humorous sense as the characters are over the top and impracticable. https://youtu.be/e_aSowDUUaY  

Image result for pixilation animation
Pixilation animation is  form of stop motion animation which includes people. It works by using live actors and repeatedly taking photos of them in a position that changes slightly in each photo so that when all the photos are played back quickly it creates the illusion of movement.
For my own pixilation project we made use of the effect by making our character have powers. We made a objects slide into her hands, she could turn on the lights with her hands and she could move in her chair without touching anything. When she was in position we took a photo and moved the objects towards her slightly before taking the next photo- we used this technique for the rest of videos. once we had finished shooting we imported the photos into premier pro and chose a frame rate that worked best. This worked well for how we wanted the animation to look but it took a long time adjusting the scene every few seconds.
After looking at back at the film I am pleased with how it turned out however I did have some regrets. If I were to do it again I would pick a more exciting setting. We made it in a small room so the lighting was not to great standard and we didn't have much room to work with. Also I would choose a more exciting narrative as the possibilities in pixilation are endless but I feel like we didn't explore it very much and stuck with an average story line. I now feel like I have a better understanding of pxilaition animation and would like to explore further with it.

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