First Experiment: Featuring "Galaga"

SupaMural Stopmotion 1 from StereoMedia.Org on Vimeo.
We worked today at a studio in Erector Square, former site of the A.C. Gilbert Company, for the project to begin pioneering some new techniques.  We're currently troubleshooting some of the issues with paint, because as you can see, every time you paint over the old image to re-locate it to the left or right, it requires the use of more white paint.  After a couple of times doing this, it can get pretty soppy.  These are issues that will be addressed at the next discussion.

Spotlight Camera

During this troubleshooting period, we're using hand-cut stencils on a limited basis.  Learned a bunch about labelling these images.

Stopmotion is the process of taking a series of images with objects on screen in different positions.  This can be done with clay, pen and ink, legomen, and in this case, stencilled spraypaint.

Keep in mind that the complexity of the installation is mainly in the way that the art is applied / re-applied.  This can be prepared for by predicting the challenges, and then more challenges will be discovered when you actually start experimenting with different techniques.

As you can see, in this image, the traces of previous positions of the ship can be seen because the paint wasn't given proper time to dry, perhaps.  Ways this could be avoided / averted are by using a lower-pressure can, or by using a fan to dry the paint before re-applying the image into the next position.  Considered was the use of masking tape, simply painting onto masking tape and then removing it.  But that almost makes sense to paint the object onto something which can be re-positioned...  And that might be a better technique for the video, possibly...  So it's something to consider.  

A storage system of organizing these smaller version 8x10 stencils (where 1px=1cm, in these cases) are held in a 3-ring binder.  The stencils, before they're painted, look quite neat.  Organizing the stencils themselves by layers, and with names (such that the "Fighter" object stencil indicates which way is up, and the chronology of each layer is indicated by a number in the upper left hand corner), does the best way of keeping the project organized if you're working with a team or a group.  

Stay tuned and we'll learn ya more about Supa.