For this project, I created a "behind the scenes" style video with a Barbie rock band that is brainstorming ideas for new songs.  I used actual Barbie dolls to film a combination of stop motion and puppetry (moving the dolls off camera while filming).  This was my first time trying out stop motion.  I also wrote the script and recorded all the voices.  I was really excited about this idea because I was inspired by the recent Barbie movie, and I wanted to depict Barbie as a multi dimensional character with my own twist on it.  I have a music background (I have a degree in music and served as a  U.S. Navy Musician), and I wanted to use some of my personal experience to inform this project.  Some of the challenges were figuring out how to capture the stop motion.  I decided taking still images would be too tedious, so I ended up recording everything, including myself moving the Barbies, then cutting the parts that I wanted.  Because I was filming by myself, it was difficult to act out the group shots, so I will probably ask someone to help me in the future. Recording the voices was a little tricky too, because I wanted them all to sound different even though I voiced them all.  I had to plan out and practice each character a few times and be really aware of my pacing and diction.  I think for this being my first try at stop motion, the timing of the video and recording matched pretty well.  The animatic was really helpful for timing purposes.  In addition to what is in the animatic, I also added an intro and outro with text, graphics, and music to give the video a sense of beginning and ending.  I also chose bright warm light with a shallow depth of field (see pictures below, featuring my Production Assistant, Tobey), which I think flows fairly consistently throughout the video. I also think the sassy, intellectual, yet still girly vibe I was going for came through nicely as well.  

Animatic:

Storyboard: 

Lighting & Camera Setup (ft. Production Assistant Tobey):