Frame by Frame Stop Motion

Exercise 63, 2, 1—Countdown

This next exercise takes inspiration from frame-by-frame artists like PES. We use objects to visually create an opening countdown for your films and other visual mediums. Traditionally, these countdowns were used to help sync up a sound track and picture but they have become part of the filmic language that we know. Each number on a countdown (which can start at 10) should represent a full second including any movement and the number itself. In our countdown, we go with the NTSC video frame count of 30 frames per second. This gives us enough frames to animate any object we choose on single-frame shots and enough time to see the actual number on a hold of 10 frames (or a third of a second). For the sake of ease and ...