For this infinite video, I created a stop-motion animation which addresses repetition and distress. A character is found sleeping in an eery bedroom, but another character disrupts its sleep and forces it out of bed, taking its place. The original sleeping character then leaves the room in search of a new place of slumber, and forces another sleeping character out of its bed. This continues infinitely and there is always one character in need of somewhere to sleep. This stop-motion animation focuses on composition, light, repetition, and texture. I built a set for the video in order to create a fantasy environment which could set the mood for the actions, which are secondary to the visuals. I chose to use cotton balls as my characters because of their anonymity, flexibility, and interesting texture. Because the cotton balls are repeatedly taking the place of one another in the video loop, the viewer must suspend disbelief and accept each cotton ball as a new character. Distinct, recognizable forms would therefore not work in this narrative. Cotton balls are easily formed and shaped, so human qualities were imposed onto the characters through the stretching and twisting of the cotton. The video was filmed to be very dark and bare, with the viewer's focus on the flickering spotlight. This reflects the mood of the characters, who are disturbed, tired, and desperate. I feel that as a small, looping video, these somber themes are not received very seriously, and the inclusion of cotton balls--objects that are reminscent of a child's crafts--created an appropriate feeling for the video. |