Objects At Rest

explorations in audio and moving imagery

Category: Music

Lighting With Clamp Lights

The lighting that I have been using for my films so far consists of incandescent bulbs and inexpensive Clamp Lights that you can get at hardware stores. I believe Karl at Between the Frames may be using the same lighting system.

I modify them by putting 4 holes around the rim which allow me to bolt armature wire onto the edge. The four arms of wire hold sheets of tracing paper in front of the bulb and housing which diffuses the light. By combining various bulbs and types of paper (printer paper, tracing paper, etc…) I can get different levels of light. I’m using 25, 40, and 60 watt bulbs and usually work with one main light to the side, one fill light on the other side, and sometimes one back light from behind.

To attach the 8.5″ x 11″ paper, I fold over the edges to make a seam and tape it closed. That makes a pocket for the armature wire, which has a bend at the tip to prevent tearing the paper, to hold the paper in place. Doing it this way makes it easy for me to remove the paper if I need full light or to switch to a thicker paper.

Clamp Lights have a tightening bolt that attaches them to a clip so they can be used and positioned in many places. In my experience, the spring clip that comes with the light isn’t stable enough and loses its grip over time. Therefore, I remove the metal spring clip that comes with the light in favor of using a wooden bead that is glued to a dowel rod or fixed to some other structure that is more stable.

In the photo below you can see one bead is fixed to the top of an old drum kit stand with epoxy putty and the other is a dowel rod with a bead and the rod is inserted into a wood frame. The light housing can be tightened to the bead which then provides an adequate balance between grip strength and the ability to rotate and position. It can easily be knocked out of place though so I have to be cautious when working near one of the lights during a shot.

I haven’t tried using color paper or cutting designs in the paper to see what effects that might provide but so far the system has worked out pretty well for a quick and dirty and inexpensive lighting system.

2007-01-20
Sword of Damocles Production Notes
The Sword of Damocles is a short stop motion animation that was made in response to the StopMoShorts December 2006 contest. The contest provided three words (sword, cave, and fear) to inspire animators. I focused on the sword with the idea of doing something related to the legend of the Sword of Damocles. I would also embed the other two words in some fashion within the film.

When I first learned of the legend I envisioned it in a medieval setting. However, the legend appears to be Greek in origin and much older. The premise I chose would keep a medieval setting while also referencing the legend. By using a referential approach I took the opportunity with this film to explore how it could become a veiled criticism of conventional film formulas (including film techniques, story formulas, three-act structures, etc.).

The list that follows contains the conceptual ideas that I was working with when creating the storyboards, the script, and during filming. The whole process was very much stream of consciousness and experimental to see what I would come up with quickly. I may have succeeded in some places and failed in others. In either case, I did have fun making it quickly and learned several things that I can apply in the Vitruvius production process.
1. What quote by a literary figure is being referenced in the opening tale by the Jester? What is the context and meaning of said quote?
2. At what points do the harp strings sound?
3. Is the Jester ever seen in the same frame as any other character?
4. At what point does the Jester directly address you the viewer?
5. Why was the Jester dismissed by the King?
6. The King and Damocles toast each other? Who is the other party that the Jester is toasting at the end of the film?
7. There are multiple films presented, which one is the real film?
8. There are five characters and each are symbolic of participants in the film making process.
9. The sword is hanging behind the window at the end of the film but the Jester’s words are future tense and speculative.
10. The voice of the sword in the last act says: “I am the Sword of Damocles. Pay no heed to the tale being told by the fool jester. I was recorded by Cicero as being invoked by the King Dionysus to inform Damocles of the perils of being King. I am the one true Sword of Damocles.”
Character and Set Design Photos

The characters are aluminum armature wire with epoxy putty at the hips and chests. The wire is wrapped in jute string and painted. I used thin craft foam for the clothes and hot glue to hold it all together. I painted raw umber acrylic paint on the clothes to dirty them up a bit. The hands and heads are carved from basswood. The arms of the puppets are single strands of wire and the hands have a small hole in them so they are easy to put on and spin around. The feet are epoxy putty with a slot cut through to use tie downs. I also used some epoxy putty for hair. The eyes are wooden beads and the eyelids are Sculpey clay. Eye blinks are made by pressing the clay over the eyes for for one, two, or three frames as needed.

The sets are made out of pink insulation foam and covered with plaster wrap and then painted for texture. The chairs and table props are basswood and epoxy putty.

The film was shot on a Nikon D50 and edited in Sony Vegas. The vocals were recorded and edited in Audacity and the music was made with Sony Acid Loop samples.
2007-01-04
Sword of Damocles Now Showing

My short film “The Sword of Damocles” is now showing along with several other stop motion films at the StopMoShorts.com web site.

Here is a sketch of the character designs that I used when building my puppets.

I plan to post more info about the making of my film later.

2007-01-01
That’s A Wrap – 24 Days, 4 Puppets, and 3 Sets Equals a 6 Minute Short

My second stopmotion film, “The Sword of Damocles”, is now complete. The date on my three page draft outline for Damocles reads November 25, 2006. I posted my intention of doing the Damocles project for StopMoShorts on November 28th (see previous post). It is now midnight December 19th and I have finished encoding the QuickTime file for submission to the StopMoShorts site. [Although, I am having a bit of a problem uploading it to StopMoShorts tonight which kind of concerns me.]

It was quite an exercise and I learned a lot of little things that should help me with other projects including Vitruvius. I also, think I got a little carried away as the film ended up being just over 6 minutes long. I plan to post more info about the production of the film after the holidays and new year’s activities. I also plan to revisit the footage to render a DVD resolution and HD resolution version for future use.

2006-12-19
We Interrupt This Project…

…to work on my StopMoShorts.com entry for December. The three items are sword, fear, and cave.

I’m stretching it a bit but hopefully it will work out. I’ll be spending every free hour shooting “Damocles” until the last week in December. The plan is to move quickly and ignore mistakes and imperfections which should make for an interesting exercise. As far as Vitruvius goes, I finished some shots last week and progress continues on the music score. Vitruvius postings will resume in January.

2006-11-28