A Crab Picnic: The Medium is the Message

 

Above is my first attempt at this scene, the one where the crab first sees the cap. It seemed to work well on its own but when I placed it in the sequence with scene 1 before it and the checkers scene afterwards the cap seemed to be rolling in a variety of directions.

Although I am worried that this could disorient the viewer (example above), it could also be interpreted as the cap having an adventure rolling all through the dunes and that time has gone by in between these scenes.

Regardless, I tried again (above) and switched the direction of the cap so that it would have more continuity with the scenes before and after it.

Although the change in direction in the 2nd attempt seems to work better within the sequence, I prefer the pouring actions and emotive reactions of the crab in the first attempt better.

The Medium is the Message
The purpose of the film is to share with people a positive outcome of cross-cultural exposure, especially between developing and developed nations. An example of this outcome is a new approach incorporating the act of ‘reuse’ into our daily lives. It is interesting to note that the crab’s picnic items are mostly repurposed plastic objects that I have been collecting along with many other household items. As a sub-theme of my film, the concept of ‘reuse’ is emphasized by different examples of metamorphosis that the bottle cap goes through. Beyond this symbolic repurposing, I have reused materials to create the film itself. The cup that the crab drinks out of is a toothpaste cap and the orange juice bottle is a soya sauce container. I have repurposed as much material as I could while creating the film including water bottles, tin cans, metal jar lids (which will be detailed in an upcoming post) and of course bottle caps.

Planning for the Next Scene
The next scene I need to film according to the new storyboard is the crab running excitedly with the cap over a hill towards a fence which leads to a Crab Castle. I am worried about the walk / run cycle with 8 legs and wondering if I can hide his body behind some hills and give the illusion he is running, perhaps I should try a run cycle before I try to avoid it.

 

 

Amending, Editing & Refining

For this scene I needed to make durable eyelids for the crab character that would keep their form while animating. I combined 2 shades of brown Fimo to achieve a colour similar to the crab. I sculpted the lids on the crab’s eyes, gently removed them and baked them in the oven. This process worked quite well.

I made several versions to see which ones would work best and also to have a variety of eyelid positions.  The smaller separate lids were difficult to stick on the crab even with sticky tack. Although I went with unbaked Fimo for the lower lids, the bigger closed eyelids that are one piece attached to the eyes securely and stayed in place very well. This was a good improvement from the first attempt at eyelids I made during one of the earlier modules. I used a poor quality plasticine which was somewhat spongy in consistency which made it extremely difficult to sculpt and resulted in a sloppy blink sequence. Fimo baked and even unbaked works much better.

Above is a sequence just after the bottle cap flies out of the mask. The cap rolls through the sand until it bumps into the leg of a sleeping crab. This seems to be working in general but I see things that could be better..

When I zoomed out, I may have gone too far (above left) because the actions at this distance are less visible. Perhaps I could zoom out less (above right) and make sure to refocus before taking the next shot.

When I zoom in at this point in the sequence I should make sure the crab is in the same position in the frame just closer up. This will minimize any unnecessary camera movement.

The bottom eyelids are good for showing that the crab is squinting to analyze the bottle cap but maybe not when he is turning towards the viewer because he looks a bit angry. This action could also be smoother by adding more frames.

Above is the second version of this scene with all amendments attempted. It is smoother but I’m not sure I like it better. It’s possible there is more emotive qualities in the first attempt.

I created a version (above) by combining shots from both attempts. I replaced the zoom sequence and and a couple others. This version of the scene seems to be working the best out of the 3 attempts.

 

 

 

 

 

Time constraints: Making adjustments to realize the goal

In considering I am a bit behind schedule, I looked at my story boards again today, adjusted them and made a new filming schedule. Below is the story board version I will follow for now, and reassess when I reach the last frame.    

This version of the story board (above) does not include scene 8 (Joy ride). It was taken out for now in case there is not enough time to complete the film with it included. Below is another version of the story board with scene 8 included. The transitions have been ordered so that they match up easily regardless of scene 8 being included or not.  

Although it would be a shame for scene 8 to be cut after all the work I did, the message of the film will not be compromised by this adjustment. At this point it is important to consider the logistics of realizing a complete film within the allotted time frame which communicates the intended message. I have organized the frames in a way that makes it easier to add the scene back in if time permits so this adjustment is not concrete rather, it is a buffer put in place to avoid an incomplete project.