Stop Motion Video Project
For this project, I decided to make a little video of a person working out. My idea ws to have a little person moving around and lifting weights. I ended up using a box because the weights I had built would fall so I switched the idea to have the character trying to lift a heavy box but fails in the end. The main challenge I faced while making this video was that my person kept falling apart and I ended up having to shoot multiple times. I used a green screen for the background to create a brick wall. I added many sounds to try and emphasize the character’s struggles but added a happy background song to make the video less serious.
Story Board
Paranormal activity is a belief that there are phenomena “due to the powers of the mind that go beyond the normal” (Blackburn, 2016, as cited in Tidelius, 2020). These can include extra-sensory perception. In this project, I am exploring these phenomena, in a scenario of events occurring in a typical apartment where things begin to happen seemingly by a ghost, or “visitor”. The images will tell the story of several unexplainable events, such as the candle relighting on its own, the cupboards opening, the piano playing, items moving out of place and in the end a ghostly image appearing and the candle flickering and then it extinguishes. The video will be around 2.5 minutes long. It will be accompanied by sounds and scary music to create atmosphere. The project is named the visitor in order to draw mystery as to what or who is causing these disruptions in the apartment.
Tidelius, C. (2020). The paranormal: Conceptualizations in previous research. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 29, 216-38.
Independent Project Proposal
The Visitor
CONCEPT + FORMAT
Paranormal activity is a belief that there are phenomena “due to the powers of the mind that go beyond the normal” (Blackburn, 2016, as cited in Tidelius, 2020). These can include extra-sensory perception from sounds, sights, smells, and touch. In many Canadian Indigenous cultures, there is a belief in paranormal activities, including spirits and little people that visit to do mischief to the people living in a home. In the area where I grew up, there is the legend that exists of nearby caves where the little people live. There are also many stories about people from the other side visiting loved ones and their energy is often felt.
In this project, I am exploring these phenomena in a scenario of events occurring in a typical apartment where things begin to happen seemingly by a ghost, little person, or “visitor”. When things happen outside of the normal, the senses can be heightened, and people experience the idea that there may be someone or something else in the room. I want to use a safe place, such as someone’s home and have it disrupted by things happening that cannot be easily explained. The images in the video will tell the story of several unexplainable events, such as the candle relighting on its own, the cupboards opening, the piano playing, items moving out of place and in the end an image appears and the candle flickering and then it extinguishes. The video is meant to cause the viewer to question what is happening. Is it a ghost? Is the visitor being mischievous or trying to cause harm? I chose to do this project to explore this concept as I thought it would be an interesting idea to explore video using scenes that would be both surreal, menacing, and intriguing depending on the beliefs of the viewer.
The video will be around 2 minutes long. It will be accompanied by sounds and scary music to create atmosphere. The project is named The Visitor to draw mystery as to what or who is causing these disruptions in the apartment. The name itself is very harmless, yet the video questions the intent of this visitor. There will be a use of everyday normal objects moved by an abnormal source. The structure of the video will be disjointed scenes, accompanied by sound effects and music that will lend to the atmosphere. It will use close ups, wide angle shots, split screens, and use of a green screen to project a surreal image in the end. The mood set will be that of suspense and curiosity as the viewer is unsure of the exact cause of these events.
Sources:
Tidelius, C. (2020). The paranormal: Conceptualizations in previous research. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 29, 216-38.
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TECHNICAL RESOURCES
| Item | Source | Note |
| Production (Capturing of footage) | ||
| HD video-capable camera with 2-3 batteries | Personal | Nikon D5600, charger included |
| SD card 16+ GB for camera | Personal | |
| Tripod with pan/tilt head | Personal | Bring ball head |
| Zoom Sound recorder | Personal | |
| SD card 16 GB for sound recorder | Personal | |
| Props: candle, lighter, piano keyboard, cupboard doors, variety of common items (plates, cups, keys, etc) | Personal | |
| Location | Apartment | Kitchen, living room area, piano by window |
| Post Production (Editing) | ||
| Computer with SD card slot/adapter | Personal | |
| Headphones | Personal | |
| Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects software | Personal | |
| Portable hard drive | Personal | File storage backup |
| Exhibition (online Exhibition) | ||
| FIN 201 Media Gallery | NIC platform | |
| WordPress site | Personal | Add 10 sentences about the creative process to develop the work. |
TIMELINE
| March 17-29 | Develop Storyboard |
| Get instructor feedback on project development | |
| Write Concept + Format + Timeline | |
| March 26 – April 1 | Access shooting site, gather props, Gather footage |
| Gather props, Gather footage | |
| Gather footage | |
| April 1 – April 7 | First rough edit |
| Gather sound effects/music | |
| April 7 | Submit to Instructor for 1-on-1 feedback |
| April 7-14 | Final Edit |
| April 14 | Submit for Final Critique by 1pm |
Independent Project
For this project, I chose to explore making a video as art. This video is about a visitor who is unknown to the viewer. My idea was to create an eerie atmosphere and to make the viewer question about who or what is the visitor. With the scenes and sounds I used, I tried to create an overall feeling of mystery and suspense.
For this video, I used a green screen effect for the candle scenes and added stock video footage for the background of those scenes. I also used stop motion footage for the kitchen scenes.