How it was Made : Coconut Secret Stop Motion
Let's break down a shot - Or in today's case, a stop motion!
I'm sharing a look behind the scenes into how this specific stop motion was made, from idea conception to the final file.
This past spring I was lucky enough to work with Coconut Secret. I was given the opportunity to design and photograph some fun stop motions with their coconut aminos products to help enhance their social media content.
I’ll be honest with you, this specific stop motion was a relatively complicated and intense design, which is why I thought it would be helpful to break down my process and share everything, including my tips and tricks, with you here!
In this blog I'll be breaking down my creative photography process into four separate steps: Idea Conception & Design, Pre-production, Production, and Post-Production.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I will earn a percentage of the purchase at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting me so I can continue to create more content like this!
1. Idea Conception and Design
First of all, the purpose of this stop motion was to feature Coconut Secret’s coconut aminos. After brainstorming together, my client and I decided the stop motion should be some form of a stir fry in a culinary setting. We wanted to use fun and colorful ingredients so the colors of the food would really stand out. My client requested that there would be a specific moment for the coconut aminos to be seen, getting their shining moment.
I had to keep a few things in mind while I was in design mode:
-I needed to figure out how to feature the aminos & make them stand out
-I wanted to focus on fresh ingredients and make them noticeable
-The stir fry would need to be cooked somehow…
-Remember **culinary focus**
-What else can we do to make it unique and exciting?
-Is this design possible?
-Which props would be necessary and how much do they cost?
I began brainstorming the design by sketching out some super basic frame ideas on a page in a lined paper notebook. Eventually I had enough of an idea that I moved over to my computer to begin sketching frames in Adobe Photoshop. I was using my Wacom Intuit Pro tablet as my main drawing tool, which allowed me to work efficiently and easily while I was sketching out this animation design.
Once I finished the animation design in Photoshop, I exported it so I could share it in a shot list with my client. This way my client can see nearly exactly what the final product will be. They can choose to approve it or not before I proceed with the project and move to the next step.
Animated design created in Photoshop
2. Pre-production
The second step in the creation process is pre-production; usually pre-production can include anything from prop sourcing, set designing, prop building, prepping backgrounds, shopping for fresh ingredients, etc.
For this specific stop motion I had to purchase a new background which I sourced from Club Backdrops. I’ve been getting a lot of my backgrounds from Club Backdrops recently and they’ve been durable and overall great products.
In addition, I purchased a set of clear glass cooking bowls, a blue plate, and a cup -all from Target. I found a blue and white linen napkin at my local El Super; I also sourced golden chopsticks from Amazon because I thought it would complement the gold on the product bottle itself.
The day before shoot day I went to my local grocery store to purchase fresh ingredients. Based on the design, I needed to buy two sets of ingredients- one set to have in whole form, and the other set to have prepped and chopped up for the animation.
3. Production - the photoshoot!
My shoot day started with me setting up my work station in my kitchen. I needed to prepare, organize, and chop up one set of the stir fry ingredients. I tried to chop everything as consistently and cleanly as possible. Once I finished prepping the ingredients, I put everything back into the fridge to stay cold until I needed it later.
Next I moved to my studio and began moving equipment around. I used a folding table as my main working surface and I had one of my large white foam cards on the tabletop to add a little more surface space. Then I positioned the backdrop and secured everything to the table using plastic clamps and some gaffer tape.
Next I needed to set up my camera and all of my digital stuff. I shot this stop motion using a Sony a7iii camera with a Sony F2.8/ 24-70mm Lens. I used my Benro Adventure Tripod and a Sirui Horizontal Arm to allow me to securely shoot top down angles. In addition, I secured my camera and tripod with a small sandbag.
Equally important, I used a Tethering Tools Cable to tether my camera to my MacBook Pro; if you’d like to learn how to tether your Sony camera to your computer, click here.
As for lighting, I used a three light setup to photograph this stop motion. I wanted the light to be soft but also bright enough to fill the entire frame so everything would be evenly lit. When I was setting up my lights, I had to factor in leaving enough space so I would be able to easily move around the table without bumping into anything.
Screenshot of the live view with crosshairs so I can make marks with gaffers tape
I used two Godox AD400Pros as my main lights; one light was shooting through a large piece of diffusion from LEE Filters and the other light had an Angler BoomBox Softbox. I also used a Godox AD200 by bouncing off of my ceiling for some soft fill light. I ended up rigging it using a baby pin and a c-stand.
Next, once I had my lighting, camera, and tether set up, it was time to begin styling the scene. Based on the design, the ingredients were going to move into the frame and hit their marks before magically appearing inside the pan.
I needed to find my marks ahead of time. I marked my styling marks by placing tiny pieces of gaffers tape beside anything significant. That way as I was going through the animation I knew where every piece of the ingredients was supposed to land to stay in frame and hit their marks.
The first part of this stop motion design was something like 55 frames, which is a lot, especially because I was planning on only shooting it once. Thanks to all of my pre-visualization and preparation work, I was able to execute this 55 frame-long animation on my first try and in one single go. Yes- it was incredibly terrifying, but it was so satisfying once it was all over with!
Pre-styling and making marks with tape
Timelapse of me executing the stop motion, animating all of the ingredients in the design
After I finished shooting the first part with the ingredients, I removed the pan and everything else from the scene. Then I moved back to the kitchen to start cooking the stir fry for the final scene.
Once I finished cooking the stir fry I grabbed my final props and began to style my final frame. I styled the food on the plate with the bed of rice and I added some acrylic ice cubes and water to the cup. I used the Remote live view on my computer to help me style the plate and everything else in the center of the frame, all without touching the camera or bumping the table.
Next I photographed the final part of the stop motion using my Sony Remote Control. Since I was also the hand model in this shoot, I needed to be able to take the photos while I was crouching down.
Selfie with the setup after I was finished (and very relieved!)
Gaffer's tape markings
4. Post-production
Finally, post-production means editing time! I used my Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet with Adobe Lightroom Classic and Adobe Photoshop to edit my images. I started off by batch editing the photos in Lightroom; this ensures that the images all receive the same edits. If you’d like to learn more about batch editing for stop motions, click here.
The hardest part of this edit was to ensure that the first scene of images matched the brightness of the second scene. Essentially, I needed to make the transition between the two seamless. Once I finished making my edits I moved the images over to Photoshop for the final steps.
To move the images over to Photoshop, I selected them, right clicked, and chose Open as Layers in Photoshop. This opens up the images as layers in one single Photoshop file.
Finally, the last steps were to open up Timeline in Photoshop, click Make Frames from Layers, and start playing with frame speeds. Once I was happy with the frame speeds in Timeline, I exported my stop motion file into an .mp4 file.
The final file!
