Setting up the Stop-Motion Backgrounds

This week I've been working on setting up the stop-motion background for the panning shot in the forest. First I built up an uneven surface using the wood we had, which would form the terrain.

Then I covered this with wire mesh to smooth out the terrain. Next I worked out the placement of the trees and pond, so they'd look fairly spaced during the panning shot.

Then I attached blue thread to the trees, which will hopefully green-screen out with the blue backdrop. The thread is attached to mechanisms (which I had designed a few weeks ago) under and to the sides of the table.

Afterwards, I put down astro-turf segments to cover the terrain.

Dry moss could fill in the areas between each panel, creating an even layering of foliage on the floor. 

Finally, I tested the scenery with a practise panning shot to pick out if there were any parts that needed green-screening out and I went back and covered these areas with blue paper.

After I'd finished with the set, I prepared the strips of paper (representing palm oil) that will weave through the forest. Of course, this will not happen on set, but on a separate piece of cardboard, and the footage will be composited on in the editing. The only changes I made from the test I did a few weeks back was to have a strip of green paper on either side of the wire so as to hide it. I also put the cardboard on a table with access to the cardboard's underside, so it doesn't move during shooting, whereas previously, the cardboard hung off the edge of a table. 

What Went Well

• With a blue sheet behind, the scenery should green-screen out well
• The moss was a really useful material for filling in the parts the grass panels couldn't
• The thread is strong enough to move the branches but thin enough to not be seen easily
• The pond with water in, stayed completely still during the test shot
• The weaving element is ready for shooting

Criticism

• In hindsight, attaching the trees to the strings after would have been better as it was hard to work around them without catching on them
• Again, the grass panels would have been better to put on before I attached the trees to the terrain
• In the practise panning shot, the camera was too heavy for the springs of the mic stand and snapped them, so I replaced them with a wooden plank, which worked at keeping the stand in place