My research into origami and papercraft has led me to paper-cutting in animation. As paper is such a versatile material, it can be used to create 3D stop-motion animations, because it both holds its shape and can be easily manipulated into new positions/forms. The best examples so far that I've come across are those by Andersen M Studio, who make short promotional animations for books, TV series and websites. My favourites are either the promotional video for the novel, 'The Distant Hours' or the advert for a new Discovery Channel TV show, 'Shackleton: Death or Glory'.
The Distant Hours video was beautiful because it used only basic materials of paper and dirt, but the lighting, sound and camera angles of the film made it into a short drama, filled with tension and intrigue. The juxtaposition of harsh straight edges and the curving lines of flowers also made it a beautiful film to watch, and attests to the wonderful combinations of shapes that can be achieved with just paper.
The Shackleton film appealed to me because of the connection between the materials used and the subject matter. The animators used nautical maps of the southern polar regions to create a ship and waterscape scene based around Shackleton's journey to Antarctica.
After seeing these gorgeous animations, I'd really love to combine paper-cutting into my 2nd film based around mandalas, pattern-making and balance. I think because of time limitations and because I've never done a paper stop-motion before, I will probably keep the film quite simple. Perhaps just spinning mandala patterns overlapping and intertwining for one scene of the film before they fold into an origami shape for example.
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