TITLE:Green Screen Skull and Card Experiment
STATUS/DATE:2006
GENRE: Technical Experiment / Case Study
APPROX LENGTH: 2 min 20 Sec
LOCATION: Filmed in Columbia, South Carolina

WHAT IS:
This recently found (in 2009) footage was from a past experiment. This is more a case study rather than a film. The point of the study was to understand how to use green screening techniques to enhance certain effects in clay mation and stop motion animation.

PRODUCTION:
The experiment consisted of three main tests.

The first test consisted of a playing card on a green pillar of clay mixed to green screen color rotating and moving towards the camera.

The second test was testing to see if I could get cards to march and walk in stop motion a la Alice in Wonderland. Other elements of this phase included jumping, dancing and walking (as close to a walking motion I could get). The end result of the second phase was supposed to be a sort of ballet sequence inspired by both the dream sequence in The Big Lebowski and the Spanish inquisition scene in Mel Brooks History of the World part 1.

The third test involved plastic skulls that hold candy most popularly around Halloween augmented to hold a clay brain instead, and electron like orbiting bits rotating  around the character. I did some stop motion with multiple skulls, and odd positioning. Some of the of the end results of this particular test far exceeded my expectations.  The first two tests were not a total loss, as I learned much about proper use of green screening, they just did not meet my expectation. It is in my nature to experiment to understand how techniques are used, and find the extent of capabilities. This was one of those times. Always experiment as it is a good learning experience.