Research and Planning: Designing an esting

For my original idea for an Esting I wanted to use paint on a canvass whilst incorporating a Lego figurine to appear as if he was painting the E4 logo. I would do this by using stop motion animation to hopefully produce a humorous short. The idea behind this came from practical experience after having made short films using live action and Lego. I realised I liked how the Lego characters moved encouraging me to implement them in my Esting as they we easier to control compared to plasticine characters. The idea for using paint on canvass came from having seen it used before in stop motion animation and really being impressed with how it looked, and I feel it may make the sting stand out. I also thought the paint would be good for forming the E4 logo that must be shown at the end of of the sting as required to meet the brief. It is also important that the story isn't too complex or long as there is a ten second limit on the E-sting. I believe the narrative of my planned sting will be simple enough to fit within this limit.

There are terms and conditions that apply to the Esting competition which can be seen here: Terms and conditions

Here is a print screen of some of the most important terms and conditions.

Here we see rules of using music and it is stipulated that you are only allowed to use music from a selection of already chosen songs.
Also stipulated is the formats which they accept which can be seen above.

We also see some more below:

We see here stipulated age which you have to be to enter the competition as well a rule stating you cannot use anyone else's material within the sting you create.

(State how this sting abides by channel 4's requirements)
Questions.

The format we will use to create our stop motion animation utilising acrylic paint on a canvass to create our E4 sting.  We have chosen to use stop motion and paint because after doing research we have seen how amazing it can look and that it really captures the audiences attention.  We have produced our recce stop motion films we realised that Lego was also another great and simple way to create a good stop motion film. Therefore we have decided to also use a Lego figurine in unison with the canvass and paint. We also felt that this method of animation would suit the channel which is a less serious and light hearted one, and we felt this fit the brief as it was stipulated that we make the sting appeal to the audience of the channel

The brief narrative of our E-sting focuses on a Lego character as an artist standing on a ladder leaning on a canvass. We see him meticulously placing masking tape on the canvass to make the E4 logo, however at the time this will be unknown to the audience. The Lego character after completing his masterpiece and then suddenly sneezing resulting in the ladder falling and his paint bucket flying in the air splatting all over the canvass. To produce this bucket flying effect we will use blue tac to keep it in position. the splat effect from the paint will be made by flicking paint off of a brush. After seeing the destruction his sneeze has caused the Lego man will frantically kick the canvass out of frustration causing it to fall over. We will then cut to a birds eye view of the canvass flat on the floor, the masking tap will peel off due to the momentum of the fall revealing the E4 logo. I feel this narrative will fit within the allocated time limit of ten seconds stipulated within the requirements of the brief

Our animation will be set on the canvass which in effect will be the entire diegesis of the short. We will also see the a small part of the floor which his ladder will be placed on whilst leaning on the canvass. The Lego man will

A potential limitation will be producing fluid movement in regards to the figurine climbing up the ladder, as well as creating the movement of the bucket flying and covering the canvass in paint. The filming will also be very time consuming an will possibly require multiple days of filming. This will mean we will have to maintain our scenes over night as to not produce any continuity errors. We also have a 10 second length which may be hard to stick to because of the complex movement that are involved. Lastly as we are using Lego pieces we will have to make sure we use an unmarked character as to not breach any copyright laws. This will be easily done and we will be able to create a distinctive character using paint to create facial expressions.

It is stipulated in the terms and conditions that we must use a sound track that is part of a selection Channel 4 have chosen. This is so no copyright infringement occurs and also that all the stings have a similar feel to those channel 4 have created. We of course abided by these rules as to make our sting valid.

Target audience
Taking into consideration our research into E4's target demographic we will accommodate to their use of humor as to match the target audience. This will mean our target audience will be the 16-24 year old range .This audience will also be familiar with Lego as most would have had experience with it in their childhood. Also the use of paint on a canvas inserts a creative flare into the sting which may appeal to the younger and more creative members of the target audience. A large portion of 16-24 year olds will be students and so it could be argued the use of paint may strike a chord with Art/Media subjects students.