iSundae II Trailer from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

You will most definitely want to check out the iSundae II page, where you’ll find links to all the fan sorts of things you can do to get ready for the release.

Combat Mime Video 4 — Faking a Punch from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

This is probably going to be the last video in this series, but stay tuned for more videos on other subjects coming soon.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

Combat Mime Video 3 – Shove from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

We’ll be posting more videos soon, so stick around to learn more fight techniques.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

 
Combat Mime Video 2 – Elbow Jab from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.

We’ll be posting more videos soon, so stick around to learn more fight techniques.

I’m sure that you’ll want to check this book out now, so now is the time for me to mention that it is out of print. There are a few used copies available on Amazon, though.

The Two Big Ones

Let’s start out with the two best transitions you could ever use. The cross dissolve and the fade in/out dissolve. Both of these transitions have certain meanings to movie-goers:

A cross dissolve tells the audience that the scene has changed.

A fade in/out dissolve means that time has passed. It can also be used to show a scene change, but generally a cross dissolve is used for that.

In the early days of film, the goal was to make the movie look as much like a play as possible. So when the scene was over, the film editors would use cross dissolves to replace the curtain. Watch an old movie from the 1930s or early ’40s, and you’ll see what I mean.

What use do these two have today? Considerably less than they did back then. Nowadays, our goal is not to create the feel of a play, but to draw the viewer into the story. Watch a recent movie and notice the difference. Try counting and comparing the number of transitions between a movie made in the 1930s, and a movie made in the 21st century.

Putting these to use is pretty easy. Not! Fight the urge to use them every chance you get. Do hard cuts first, then use a short cross dissolve to soften the cuts that are too hard. Most of the time, you won’t need a transition at all. Part of this is good scripting and shooting. 

The Cheesy Ones

Take a look at the list of available transitions for your editing software. I see things like wipe, stretch, slide, and 3D simulation. Here’s a short video of a few of them:

Cheesy Transitions from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

Pretty awful, aren’t they? “No,” you say, “I think they look cool!” At what price? Your job as a filmmaker is to draw the audience in, not snap them out of their enjoyment to think about that cool transition. Save “cool” for the special effects that drive the story. 

Plain and simple, don’t use those very often, if at all. “But I’ll never get to use them then!” you complain. Hold on, stay with me. They have their place.

Put the Cheesy Ones to Good Use

While cheesy transitions don’t work well in movies, TV shows use them all the time to spice up some of the more boring content. You guessed it, I have an example.

Watch a few episodes of Good Eats on Food Network. Don’t worry, it’s a great show. Notice their fancy use of fun (and cool) transitions, such as the radial effect to show the passing of time. Also, watch for the unseen transitions. I know, that sounds crazy. How can you see something unseen? I’m talking about the transitions that happen when Alton Brown’s frying pan fills the screen, only to be set down again in a different setting. They do all sorts of variations on this one, so keep your eyes open.

I’ll leave you with a repeat of something I said earlier in this post. Make all your cuts hard cuts, and then watch the whole movie. Don’t add any transitions until you’ve seen a cut without one first. Then think about it carefully before you try a transition. Remember, a little goes a long way.

 
iSundae Bloopers Reel from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

“He’s right, Somindeo…”

We did this scene on a stool, because Malfhok had to float down from the ceiling. I’m wearing a green box so that I can’t wave my arms around, and so we can key it out for the floating head effect. Well, it’s really hard to step off of a stool with a box that comes down to your knees! Needless to say, the box got the worst of it.

Clocks

This was one of the worst interruptions we had while filming iSundae. Normally, it’s perfectly lovely to have a clock that chimes every quarter hour. But when you are trying to finish a scene ASAP, a chime every fifteen minutes is quite annoying. We learned our lesson and ran the clock down before we started shooting iSundae II. My advice? Think carefully about what makes noise in a location before you decide to shoot there, and if you can, silence them.

Weather Conditions

Man! We had such a hard time on that day. The place where we were filming was right next to the road and right out in the open. Plus, as you can tell, that day was windy. So we shot in between cars going by and gusts of wind. However, it was fun to watch all the people in their cars turning to look at us while they went by.

Sword Belts

This was a recurring trouble. The belts were made of cardboard covered with fabric, so they tended to spring open a lot. For iSundae II, we used real belts.

The Garage Cave

Yes, we know. That scene was shot in a garage. Shocking, isn’t it? Now you know why we darkened the scene so much.

“Have you seen my DVD collection?”

This is what happens when you tell your actors to have a conversation, and then tell them that the audio won’t be used. Consequently, I’m the one with the remark about the DVDs.

iSundae: The Way of the Wielders (Part 7 of 7) from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch it on YouTube.

Here are some posts on Phantom Moose that are related to part 7:

• Somindeo’s Costumes
• The Chocolate Box of Your Dreams
• Sword Sheaths

And some that are related to the whole film in general:

• Music of iSundae
• Fun on the Set, Part 1
• Fun on the Set, Part 2
• Movie Making Tips

So, what did you think of iSundae? We’d love to hear from you. Just leave us a comment.

 
iSundae: The Way of the Wielders (Part 6 of 7) from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch it on YouTube.

We’ve broken the movie into seven parts for faster download, and we are posting a new part each week. So be sure to check back next week for part 7 and the exciting conclusion.

Here is a post on Phantom Moose that is related to part 6:

• Somindeo’s Costumes

 
Cheese Soufflé from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch it on YouTube.

Now you’ve watched it, and I’m sure that some of you want to try some stop-motion of your own. Read on for some tips.

What software do I need?

We used FrameThief (which hasn’t been updated since 2006) for Cheese Soufflé, but in the past I used iStopMotion for smaller projects. Both are Macintosh only, so if you are on a Windows machine, you may want to comment on this post with what you use. If you expect to line up your animation to some dialogue or music, you’ll need to make sure that your software will display the audio waveforms for you to match with your animation.

So I should have my audio beforehand?

Yes. You should have all audio pre-recorded and edited before you start shooting the animation.

What camera should I use?

If your software supports still cameras and you have one, use it. Still cameras shoot frames at much higher resolution than video cameras, so your resulting video will be better quality.

How do I animate?

Ah, we’ve gotten to the hard and fun part! Here are some of the basics:

• Move your objects/characters in very small increments. The smaller the increments, the smoother the final animation.
• Use a tripod to ensure that the camera does not move. If you become very serious about animation, you will probably start perform animated camera moves. For now, though, don’t move the camera, as this is very difficult to pull off without practice. This does not mean that you cannot cut to different angles.
• Set up your scene in an area that will not be disturbed, and get as far away from the scene as you can before you take the picture.

The world of stop-motion animation is quite broad. For inspiration, watch claymation movies like Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit shorts and movie (my favorite is the short The Wrong Trousers). Just keep practicing and making movies.

 
iSundae: The Way of the Wielders (Part 5 of 7) from Phantom Moose Films on Vimeo.

You can also watch part 5 on YouTube.

We’ve broken the movie into seven parts for faster download, and we are posting a new part each week. So be sure to check back next week for part 6.