Stop Motion & Creative Process

After evaluating my process moving forward with Jason Wu and MP2, I decided I wanted to be a bit more experimental for this project and give animation and stop motion a go. I have never done anything like this before and initially knew I would somehow be able to do it using my iPad. I began with a google search 'how to animate with procreate', where I found this helpful video uploaded by procreate themselves.

After watching this video and gaining some inspiration, I realised that something that seemed so unachievable was in fact quite simple with animation assist. I began by opening the software on my iPad and creating a simple sequence of a ball bouncing, just so I could see how it works and how to use it. I found it surprisingly easy and with the play button this was able to watch this back. Alongside this I realised you could change the frame rate which is essentially how fast the sequence plays.

Now that I knew that I could use animation assist to create my one minute project I began visualising how I wanted this sequence to look and play out. I wanted a lifecycle sort of animation to emphasise the importance of craftsmanship for the brand and how natural dye is used. From when the seed is planted to when the garment is made, this will communicate how the brand takes caution, time and patience with it's pieces.

I began by making a rough storyboard so I could begin visualising the concept. I rushed this through as I was eager to start now I knew how the animation assist works. Although I did not complete a full storyboard, this was still immensely helpful and I will definitely be making a detailed one for the final project. I wanted to have this to give me a small guide with getting started and to help me establish a simplistic animation style.

The first sequence started with a seed falling from the sky and into the soil, in which this grows and develops into a blooming flower where the petals fly away. The 'camera' will follow the petal and it will clash with other colours and somehow print colour on a garment. The end will finalise with the final garment, one inspired or an exact copy of one of the Jason Wu s/s2022 collection.

Having begun this process I've realised it is extremely time consuming. On procreate you can only add 20 frames per animation which limits me in my sequences. This means I have to animate in small sections and import them to premier and make them line up perfectly in post. I enjoy making the frames however, repeating drawings to show gradual movement is quite draining on creativity. I will still look forward to the final outcome.

I wanted the flower in this animation to mimic these red flowers that Jason Wu posted on his Instagram therefore helping my video stay on brand.

I used this video to help me gain a better understanding of how flowers bloom.