Muzzle Flash effects tutorial

This tutorial is for a gunshot effect done entirely in final cut express.  Even though it describes a specific result, it explains many different techniques and effects that can be used on their own.

 When browsing the youtubes, most examples of stop motion have little to no story and are made to focus on the animation.  I'm not saying this is a bad thing, in fact it is rather GOOD.  When I look for stop motion videos on youtube, I am almost always looking for something that is short, good quality, and fun to watch.  I enjoy looking at the technical aspects and wondering how things were done.  A good example of that type of video would be the artist/filmmaker/channel "PES".  ANYWAY I am not analyzing those at the moment, so I will stop talking about them.  HERE. this short film is called "Zero."

This is a brilliant example of an animation driven by narrative. There is an interesting Combining of material characters and sets with computer generated environments.  Despite the "virtual interference," the stop motion animation is not detracted from.  The film is so narrative based, that I found myself forgetting about the animation completely at points.  The story is sweet and thought provoking; except for the ending.  I thought that part was a little weird.

The uploader states in the comments that the yarn figures were 20 cm tall.  They were most likely likely shot on their little sets and front of little green screens (for the exteriors and backgrounds).  I think the mouths of the yarn people are animated, since the strands that overlap their mouths do not twitch between frames.  At first I thought that they might have been using construction paper mouths, but then I decided otherwise, as their movement under the string was too clean.

It seems that yarn people are becoming very popular.  A full length movie was release in the past couple of years titled "9."  That movie was based on a 9 minute computer animated short film about yarn people with numbers on their chests (!) in a post-apocalyptic fallout setting.  To me, it seems a little too similar to  "Zero."  Also, as I was searching for a video to share, I came across two other animations about yarn-beings.  Coincidence? I think not.  Youtube is obviously corrupt.

Response to the Response(s)

     After watching and listening to these reports from other sources, I am much more confident in my opinion of the whole "KONY 2012" fiasco.  The address from the Prime Minister of Uganda was the most influential.  Here we are given information directly from the source, with no flashy media styling to distract from the point of the video.  This video is so simple, I think recording is a more fitting word.  This man seems very level headed and looks to be the perfect mediator for the situation: He understands the good will of Jason Russel, his video, and Invisible children, and he knows (or ought to know) what is going on in the country which he represents.  I am glad to know that the topic is being challenged and that it is not just mindlessly accepted by everybody who has seen the documentary.  It has now been proven that the video did in fact have flaws concerning misinformation.   But instead of tearing down the video and everything that it stands for, this may reinforce the meaning of "KONY 2012."  I think that identifying the issues in the video makes it much easier to take it seriously. The way I see it, the problems with the video can now be addressed, and I will be able to stand behind behind the cause with confidence.