For our stop motion, we focused on movement with shapes. We portrayed two jazz songs, one from the past, Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and one modern, Bag Lady by Eryka Bahdu. The movement of the shapes correlates with the different styles of the song. The first sequence focuses on geometric shapes with jagged movement, while the second shifts to more organic shapes that flow around the screen. The change in style emphasizes the shifts between instrumental jazz music of the past to the present, shifting towards techno-style beats, represented by the soft flow of movement. The section of Bag Lady that we chose to go with is very repetitive and round so we portrayed that through an organic shape that orbs in response to the moving chords, goes in a circular pattern, and returns to its original position. The other shapes appear steadily and repetitively. I chose the colors I did for the shapes to reflect the way they sound to me. For example, the big blue circles that represent the bass rhythm are blue because it is soft yet buoyant, just like a bass instrument. Stop motion was a new technique for both of us so this was a very big learning curve. Learning how to keep a consistent setup and lighting was the most challenging part for us, as well as communicating something complex in a simplified visual. I think music is incredibly interpretive so it’s very challenging to communicate something so specific, but I think we did it well.
View full process here.
