Creating Stop Motion Videos with Powerpoint
The Bollywood Bounce is a Stop Motion Choreography video produced using 30 dance move photos from the Maharaja Palcace in Mysore India, which were then imported into Powerpoint and used to create a stop motion choreography sequence to the song Paper Planes by M.I.A.
The Making of The Bollywood Bounce
1. My photographer shot 30 photos of poses at the palace. We tried to vary the photos by being polar opposites. Like if one photo I stretched right, the other one I would stretch left.
2. I imported all of these photos, and then loaded the song Paper Planes into Camtasia for Mac.
3. I took key parts of the song and broke them down into 8-16 beat measures, then sequenced 4 or so photos in Powerpoint, to repeat in a pattern that matched the lyrics.
4. Using 86 BPM for the song (which I found by googling it), I set up each slide in Powerpoint to advance for either 0.35 seconds (for 8th notes) or 0.69 seconds (for longer quarter notes or pauses).
5. After exporting the movie from Powerpoint and syncing it to the song in Camtasia, I then copied and pasted it in other similar song segments.
6. I repeated this process over and over until the song was complete, and for reference, I did delete a whole verse and chorus from this version of the track so that the video would be more concise and easy to watch.
Below is an example of how I used Powerpoint to sequence 8 beats of the song “The Bollywood Bounce”, a stop motion animation video filmed at the Maharaja Palace in Mysore India, just outside of Bangalore, during the Bangalore Boon.
The 80-20 of Online Video – IABC Triangle – January 2012
Thanks again everyone for your participation in The 80-20 of Creating Online Video today!
You may want to Bookmark this Page by hitting CTRL+D (PC) or Command+D (Mac) or save the link somewhere so you can access this information when you’re planning your video projects.
This is the the link to the Resources List I mentioned in the session.
Useful tools for ideation, production, distribution and sharing, including links to the online tools and software we didn’t get to discuss in the workshop.
Here is the presentation you saw
The List of Safe-for-Work Memes is Below
Think of these as popular Techniques that you can use to draw inspiration when you’re thinking of how to present your video.
Parisian Love Parodies (Search Stories)
Recut Movie Trailers / Movie Trailer Remix
Popping Popcorns with Cellphones
wdydwyd? aka Why Do You Do What You Do?
The Philippine Cebu Dancing Inmates/Prisoners
Vince Shlomi (ShamWow, Slap Chop)
Paying Bills with Spider Drawings (Seven-Legged Spider)
Read MoreStocking is the New Planking
Step 1: Find a stock photo on iStockPhoto.com.
Step 2: Make your own version of that photo and post it to StockingIsTheNewPlanking.com
Follow that simple two-step process and you’ve joined the latest participatory photo meme: Stocking.
Here’s an example that I thought was particularly funny from the site.
Meme-tracking is one of my favorite past times. I love seeing what the collective global consciousness can produce, and am always amazed when people willingly spend their precious time to submit user-generated content in the spirit of crowdsourced entertainment. Think of the effort marketers put in to trying to get people to do things like upload a photo of themselves with a product, or submit a comment. And then think about how all it takes for the guy above to upload his photo is a simple concept and social proof that other people are doing it.
Some co-workers and I were rattling off all the crazy photo memes that have come and gone recently: planking, owling, horse maning, leisure dives… and thankfully there’s a good post here with pictures and descriptions of all these photo memes and more.
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Google Doodle Les Paul Songs
Google’s Doodle for Les Paul has inspired songs from aspiring interactive musicians all over the world for the last 12 hours. When Google updated their homepage Doodle with an interactive interpretation of a Les Paul guitar people started creating any and every song they could think of in a standard major chord – like Redemption Song by Bob Marley, Ode to Joy by Beethoven, Paparazzi by Lady Gaga, Here Come the Sun and Hey Jude by the Beatles, and who knows what else hasn’t been discovered to play yet.
Here’s my contribution, a Google Doodle cover of Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.
Read MoreRandy Savage Died to Save Us from the Rapture
The phrase he died to save us wouldn’t normally bring to mind Macho Man Randy Savage, yet odds are you’re seeing the image below of recently deceased wrestler Randy Savage, with Jesus on judgment day, saving us from the Rapture. All over Facebook, the image below is being shared with the phrase “And lo, it came to pass that Randy Savage did prevent the Rapture. Amen.”
Image is from Rad-Dudes.com
One of the things I teach students in my Going Viral class is how to quickly respond to topical trends in the world by mashing up ideas that create contrast and tension. Using a simple formula like “topic” caused “other unrelated topic”, can often be a recipe for comedic viral success. What Rad-Dudes.com found and shared from the underground meme hotbed 4chan.org in the image below is a perfect example. In a bizarro world where marketers are less conservative and more in tune with how the internet really works, WWE would have been the one immortalizing Randy Savage as a world-saver. Instead it’s a little known blog via a subversive group of internet trolls.
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The Art of Living Virally with Mark Malkoff
According to Comedian and Filmmaker Mark Malkoff, all the world is truly a stage.
To get over his fear of flying, he spent 30 days living on an AirTran plane.
To prove that New Yorkers really are nice people, he was physically carried by 155 city-dwellers over 9 miles through the island of Manhattan.
He’s lived for a week in an IKEA, visited every Starbuck’s in Manhattan in 24 hours, and convinced 95 mayors across the US to grant him the keys to their respective cities.
And incredibly, he’s built an audience of millions for his unique hybrid of guerrilla marketing and viral videos through media coverage and appearances on Jay Leno, ABC, Fox and CBS, The Today Show, Huffington Post and the LA Times, to name a few.
Brands clamor for stage time in his wildly popular one-man productions, yet he manages to stay down to earth, doing it all for the love of the creative process, and making time for fans, friends and family along the way. I caught up with Mark recently for a phone interview to learn what makes him tick and how you might go about achieving similar results.
Read on below for the interview and samples of his viral life-as-artwork projects.
Why do you do the things you do?
Mark's MyDamnChannel Page
I’ve been doing comedy for years, and I’ve always been more into big concepts, huge, grandiose ideas. I love falling in love with an idea that excites me, and then, the challenge of pulling it off. People saying to me, “there’s no way you can do that,” and then launching into this process; sometimes it’s a week, sometimes a month, but it’s always a real whirlwind journey.
Once it became easy to post videos online, I realized video was the perfect platform for expressing kind of thinking, this kind of artform. It’s a bonus too that with video, I don’t really have to answer to anybody. I do like collaborating, but I like working on my own stuff. Standup I enjoy, but only somewhat, and with sketch comedy, I’ve seen a lot of people that don’t get along. My projects just suit my creative personality really well.
What are the most memorable moments from your various projects?
I love people’s response to what I do, especially kids. It’s funny, parents will email and say “my kid really loves your videos,” and I’m kind of proud to know my stuff’s clean, its universal.
Markonairtran.com Microsite
After I lived on the AirTran plane a lot of parents told me their kids were trying to imitate me on plane trips. I did a Guns and Roses project, playing at CBGBs, a lot of kids came out with their parents – so unexpected, and just from one small magazine mention. Since then it’s just been growing: mentions by Jimmy Kimmel, Rolling Stone, Esquire – one of my projects was the #1 most remarkable thing in culture that week by Esquire.
What is your relationship like with the brands you choose to highlight in your projects?
I have a good relationships with the brands, the vast majority get what I do, and give me a lot of creative freedom. They understand the video has to be entertaining and feel like a natural fit. If not, it looks like a commercial, and people aren’t going to pay attention. Sometimes brands come and bring an idea, and if I need to be honest and say that’s not going to work, that’s what I’ll do. I’ve had plenty of projects come my way and the people behind them ask me “will this get TV coverage?”, and I’ve said no and had to turn them down.
Truth is, though, my ideas never start with a brand in mind – I just want to do something entertaining. Something that would make me and my friends laugh. My video ideas are not driven by money, and I’m not driven by doing this for money, it’s really about the artistic process.
Who/what are your creative inspirations?
There’s really not many that do anything similar to what I do – these types of videos. I love comedians and other creative people that take risks, really think out of the box. I love David Letterman, he was a real innovator of comedy in the 80s. If you look at the last 20-30 years, I think he influenced comedy more than anyone. Also a huge fan of Fred Rogers, from the kids’ show Mr. Rogers. Garry Shandling, Woody Allen, and the Saturday Night Live writer Robert Smigel. [Side note: Smigel is known for sketches like The Ambiguously Gay Duo and TV Funhouse, as well as the iconic Triumph the Insult Comic Dog of Conan O'Brien fame] – yet he’s amazingly humble. I’ve had the chance to meet him several times, and that’s an incredible feeling when you get to know your idol and they turn out to be a really great person.
What would you say to someone who wants to do what you do – what are the steps, what is the right approach?
It took me a long time to get here. I had day jobs in TV for ten years and was doing my comedy at night – probably a total of 20-30 jobs to support me before my passion could pay the bills. For a while I was a doorman at a comedy club and there were so many people trying to make it, really going on this emotional rollercoaster. One I specifically remember was Dane Cook – people don’t see what went into this success, how much time and energy he put into his comedy. Dave Chappelle used to be in the club until 3 am and never wanted to leave, doing multiple sets throughout the night. For most of the people you admire, you’ve gotta realize it didn’t happen overnight.
Look at Adam Sandler, and what he’s doing with his Happy Madison crew – his high school and college friends. Look how far he’s come with this tight knit group of people that believe in him. I recommend getting a trusted group of advisors, it can take you in amazing directions and save you when you’re blinded by an idea you think is good that really isn’t. I made a list of everyone I knew and approached people about helping me out, then weeded out the people that weren’t serious. In the end I found a group of people that really believed in me. At the same time, it’s really important to be nurturing those friendships and giving back. I love helping people out when I can, I think it really pays off in the long run.
Then, try to pick projects you really care about. Its so obvious when you watch something that’s not inspired, like you’re just trying to get noticed, or make a career move. I have no problem coming up with 50 – 100 ideas, but then you have to wait a day or two and see what 1 or 2 ideas really feel strong. My criteria is pretty simple. Does this really make me laugh? Is this really entertaining video content I would want to watch? If so, I write up the premise and get feedback from that group of comedy friends on what would work.
Also, if you want to be successful with this kind of entertainment, you have to build up your social media profile. I’m fortunate because my videos stand out, that’s the reason for a lot of media coverage, but in general you have to set yourself apart from what others are doing. And your reach is what helps get brands on board. I had to get a few videos picking up media coverage before any brands wanted to work with me. I’m much better with traditional media, getting TV or newspaper, but everyone’s a little different in terms of what kind of coverage they’re looking for.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, you have to put a pen to paper and write out goals. You have to have a clear vision of where you want to be and how you’re going to get there. If you don’t there’s just a lot of hoping and waiting. Most of the people I admire had strong visions and set huge goals. Its good to have a 3-5 year plan, and then be flexible with how it might turn out.
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For more about Mark and his work visit his website markmalkoff.com
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