No Longer Project Pending

This took some time to figure out, so I apologize for the delay. Now I can finally present to you the end result of Project Pending, not to mention a good day and a half's work plus two SIMs cards worth of memory: (Note: there's a mistake in the title--it's supposed to be, 'Around Sophie's Room in 2 Minutes, 25 Seconds')

I've done this before. It started years ago, when my brother was into collecting little Star Wars action figures, and I'd recently acquired a new digital camera that I was itching to try out. I haven't a clue how I got into stop-motion, but that's exactly what I did--I took my brother's Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi toys out to the stairs (makes for a wonderful stage--I don't have to crouch to see the camera) and had them fight one another, frame by frame. The best part of that film was that Jango Fett's head was magnetized to his shoulders, so I was able to bring the story to a climactic end with Obi-Wan lopping off his head and sending it spinning off stage. 

'Around Sophie's Room in 2 Minutes, 25 Seconds' started when the local library announced that it would be hosting a short film festival this summer, with a competition for homemade movies from kids. I set to work with a will--digging out my old Mega Block monsters and my brother's Star Wars action figures.

I didn't really make any sort of plot--I simply sent one of the clones on an adventure around my room. The various scenes were determined by how easily I could train a camera on the set and where I could hide monsters to jump out at the clone. The biggest challenge I encountered was getting the stupid actors to stay upright; if you look closely, you'll note that everyone in the film has little clay slippers underneath their feet, which will ooze and shift around as the film progresses and I struggle to keep the figures from falling over. (The dragon at the end was the worst). 

The music was all classical--Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Puccini's Madame Butterfly, plus the first few bars of Cirque du Soleil's Entre' Act--which I find works best since the music has so many dramatic rising and falling to go along with the film. Splicing the music into the film was most amusing.

All in all, a good project for a lazy summer weekend. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for something to do--it requires a great deal of patience, but otherwise, it's not that hard. For those of you still reading it, the next chapter in Centaur Ranch is up, and I encourage you to keep watch for the next post from Flying Cat Circus.