Courtney Payton - Stop Motion; Winter 2018

Art 106C - Stop Motion; Intructor: Elliot Anderson;Portfolio, Bio, and CV Website (expanded portfolio): http://courtney.paytonplay.com/#portfolio.html

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Stop Motion – Claymation Script

Script Assignment by Courtney Payton

Characters A and B are baking cookies together. A is showing B how to put the pan into the oven, and closes it. Camera cuts over to Character C (a robot of the same character type as A and B, who are visibly organic). C is standing casually – include casual actions such as foot swinging back and forth, checking hands, etc. C places hand over his chest. When hand pulls back, reveals a heart, accompanied by heartbeat sound, which is then covered and disappears again. C turns to look over at A and B – camera zoom in on B, play heartbeat noise in the background. Cut back to C, who turns around, looking visibly discouraged before sitting down on ground, facing away from A and B. Camera cut to over-the-shoulder of C, A is approaching and offers a cookie. C does not respond, so A taps against A’s head to get his attention. C explains predicament (done in pantomime with sound effects, no dialogue), A gets an idea (with accompanying DING noise). A gives C the cookie and a flower, which he takes and examines. C walks over toward B, and offers the flower. C shows B his heart, B also reveals her own. The two smile and celebrate. End scene.

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Assignment- Storyboards by Courtney Payton Originally created for refinement of my pre-existing clay animation for the final project, the story depicted in these storyboards was scrapped for the final in order to pursue a new storyline. Due to time crunch and technical problems with my computer and tablet, I was not able to make new storyboards befitting the new script, but these were still implemented as part of the process towards creating my final.

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Multi-plane 3D setup By Courtney Payton I had to go very simple with my construction, due to lack of materials on-hand, but it functioned just fine for my shooting! My phone was mounted onto the tripod visible in the setup, which I moved around for various desired angles and shots.

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Article Response – Why Do Cartoon Villains Speak in Foreign Accents?

by Courtney Payton

                 In particular, I find it rather fascinating that the most common villain accent is British. On the surface level, I already understood why German and Russian were also very popular ‘evil’ dialects in American media, mostly due to the World and Cold Wars. Having seen the original cartoons of “Rocky & Bullwinkle”- which were created as a direct response to the Red Scare and Cold War, the prominent villains being Communist Russian spies- it seemed like a premade thoroughfare for Russian to be the primary villain accent. At least, for a time, as the Red Scare faded out and neutral relations with Russia returned. This could be one of the reasons British took the main stage as the villain dialect – in order to maintain those healing international relations, it became frowned upon to create mass propaganda that depicted Russian villains. Another interesting point the article made was that using alternative accents to one’s native tongue is the most effective way to mark an “outsider”, and I find there’s truth in that. With some minor experience producing, and consuming such media, accents and altering one’s voice for storytelling makes telling a story that distinguishes between characters easier for the audience to absorb without confusion. However, it’s equally important to understand that such conventions can be harmful to the people the different dialectical usage emulates, and that care should be taken so that equal representation in media is achieved without nepotism for one national identity over another.

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Stop Motion Group Project 2 Chroma-Keying and Green Screen by Courtney Payton (with others)

Unfortunately, the refined version of this video with improved chroma-keying was lost when the computer used to repair the digital file was removed from the classroom. The classmate responsible for that particular step was unable to recover it, so I will be submitting the unrefined alpha version in its stead.

We used coins, clay, and electrical scissors with alligator clips to try to emulate different bugs building things, finding them, and then bigger bugs eating them, but this could be up to interpretation.

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Stop Motion FINAL PROJECT by Courtney Payton I really wanted to use my clay models again, so I made a sort-of-sequel to the first claymation! This time I added a new character, and combined the claymation with some paper animation because I really enjoyed that segment of the class instruction.

Will be uploading the second group project soon, once I get the refined version from my peers!

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Courtney Payton Group Project 1 Found Object In-Class Animation

I was in charge of frame capture during this projet, and uploaded the images to photoshop to be made into an animation. I also provided the umbrella and the glasses case which functioned as the tree prop and the boat. Our goal was a rom-com/comedy type mini-plot of two people meeting by the side of the water, and hugging. The individuals are of unknown relationship - either familial, or romantic. (We never chose a clear relationship).

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Assignment 4 - Claymation by Courtney Payton

Finally found a suitable tripod, so the shaky cam is almost entirely gone! There were a few moments where the models were kind of shaky and clunky, simply because of how they were constructed (a bit too heavy, oops). However, I had loads of fun making the puppets, and posing them was an interesting challenge. Constant repairs to the hands of the models were needed.

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Assignment 3 - Paper Animation by Courtney Payton Now with sound!

I wanted to make some paper dolls, specifically aquatic-themed ones! I was finally able to white-balance my camera, but unfortunately I had to momentarily return the tripod I borrowed for previous work (as it wasn’t functioning properly), so the shaky film camera is momentarily back. Hopefully this should be remedied soon!

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Intro to Stop Motion Animation - Assignment 2; Found Object Project by Courtney Payton

The most challenging part was getting several angles correctly, as the tripod I used wasn’t built for phones and had to be retrofitted with tape, and was in some cases too large to film perfectly the way I wanted. Some areas are a bit shaky due to the phone jiggling in the tape as the pictures were taken. I attempted to white-balance the media, but for some reason, it would only take to one layer at a time? This was done in Photoshop, so I’ll try After Effects next to see if that works better.

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Artist: Courtney Payton Assignment 1 - Self Portrait GIF

This is my GIF animation for assignment 1. I chose to photograph my drawing tablet using frames from an animation I handmade for this, because I recently learned how to animate digitally, and sketching is a passion of mine. I used my own stuffed animals as props and ‘characters’ because they hold a special place in my heart, and are representative of my varying interests - from sea life to games.