Pixilation (Non-Traditional Animation Techniques) Part 3

The Moving Camera

It would be a mistake not to talk about the ability of the camera to be animated. So far, I stressed the importance of "locking down" your camera so there are no unnecessary bumps or jarring movements. Yet, we discovered that artists like Blu intentionally move the camera every frame for certain aesthetic and often practical reasons. Until recent years, most filmmakers shot in film and the film cameras were heavy and cumbersome. This was especially true of 35 mm cameras, like the Mitchell, that can weigh over 40 pounds.

To produce animated shots with camera moves that simulate live-action camera movements, these heavy Mitchells require large, heavy motion-control units controlled by a computer and power drivers. Many of these units are custom-made and many are produced, but all are very expensive and difficult to maintain. Some of the lighter units can be used in the field but might not have the accuracy achieved on a hard studio floor with a heavy machine.

 a 35 mm Mitchell camera used for animation and live-action filmmaking.


FIG 3.17 a 35 mm Mitchell camera used for animation and live-action filmmaking.

Heavy Milo motion-control system for studio shooting.

FIG 3.18 Heavy Milo motion-control system for studio shooting.

Lightweight motion-control unit for outdoor shooting, designed by Joe Lewis.

FIG 3.19 Lightweight motion-control unit for outdoor shooting, designed by Joe Lewis.

These days, most filmmakers that work in stop motion and pixilation shoot with digital single-lens reflex (dslr) cameras, which are small and lightweight. As a result, the large, heavy motion-control units are no longer necessary. Newer, more affordable lightweight systems are constructed from off-the-shelf parts. We explore these in the following topic about time-lapse photography. The other advantage of these dslrs is that they can be animated directly with no motion control. In my recent film OffLine, I took my Nikon D-100 and placed it right on my set. By focusing on a particular object in the frame and utilizing my frame-grabbing capture software, I was able to move the camera through the set in a relatively smooth moving point-of-view (POV) shot. I held the camera to the set using "Blu-tack," a soft putty material, as I shot each frame from the computer. You can even use a simple wooden guide to help control the placement of the camera for each frame. There are many ways to be creative with the camera now that they are small and light; and this kind of filmmaking becomes even more accessible to anyone with a good idea and the desire to make a pixilated film and do the work involved.

Camera mounted on the Off-Line set.

FIG 3.20 Camera mounted on the Off-Line set.

One other fun and relatively simple way to get a moving camera/point-of-view shot is to mount a dslr camera to the dashboard of your car and take a drive. If you set your shutter to a longer exposure, you get a streaking effect along the sides of the frame, but the objects in front of you do not streak or smear quite as much. This can be very effective on a nighttime drive, when lights (which streak with a longer exposure, like 1 second) are everywhere. It is critical to make sure that your camera is firmly mounted on the dashboard with tape or some sort of stabilizing base.

By now, you can start to see the possibilities and variations using the singleframe camera and the pixilation technique. I am certain that some variations have not been exploited yet, and there many more that I have not mentioned in this topic. Ultimately, you will need a camera that has single-frame capability, some capture software, a tripod, and most important, a great idea; then you can start experimenting in this technique, building up a vocabulary of information that will feed into a finished film.

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