Denver Comic Con 2018 Panel Spotlight: Emil Acevedo - Stop Motion Animation

Emil Acevedo - Stop Motion Animation
Saturday, 6/16/18 from 7:30PM - 8:20PM Room 504 - Reel Heroes Filmmakers Series

Local stop motion filmmaker Emiliano Acevedo returns with looks at some of his latest work and a discussion about stop motion in today’s filmmaking environment.
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Panelists: Emiliano Acevedo, Chris Tatum

Emiliano Acevedo (Virgeo Studios) has been making stop motion animation videos on YouTube for about ten years. He mostly uses LEGO minifigures, such as in his ‘Frozen Terror’ series (Apocalypse Lego Episode 1: Frozen Terror - 2009, Lego Submergence (FT2) - 2010, Lego Club Che Boom Boom (FT3) - 2011, Lego Block War (FT4) - 2012, One Shot, Two Kills (FT5) - 2017). However, in the first video that he showed us at this year’s Denver Comic Con, he tried something a little different. Banana Boxing is just what it sounds like. After a brief introduction of a woman placing her newly purchased groceries on her counter, including two fresh, yellow bananas, we see Dole King: Banana Boxing Promoter (a pineapple wearing sunglasses and a gold chain) surrounded by an audience of various fruits and vegetables. After a brief introduction to our contenders, Snoopy (‘The Maimin’ Plantain’) and Prickly Pete (‘No Hammock Can Contain This Banana’), the bell rings and the fight begins! After some realistic-looking boxing, complete with an announcer’s play-by-play, the fight fades out to the following morning, when the woman mysteriously finds her bananas… bruised. For the animation, Emil used fake bananas that he purchased from Michael’s craft store, black wires for the arms and legs, PlayDoh for the gloves, and wooden blocks for the feet, that he taped down to give him more control. He wasn’t as concerned with who won and who lost, he just wanted the fight choreography to look as convincing as possible.

The next clip that Emil showed us was from the upcoming 6th chapter of his Frozen Terror series, 'Secrets of the Hellfire.' An A12 Warhawk is meant to simulate real military test footage of a jet, testing its flight controls and weapons (pay close attention to the detail on the control panel). In addition to LEGO, Secrets of the Hellfire will incorporate real backgrounds, stock footage, trees that are cake topper decorations, as well as visual effects added to the footage. There are some purists who have questioned this because they believe that LEGO should be used for every aspect of the film (background, landscape, etc.). Emil’s main motivation is making a good film, so he’s willing to use whatever medium and/or materials will best help him achieve that goal.

If by now you’re thinking that you might recognize some of Emil’s short films, it could be that you’ve seen his 2016 Denver Comic Con Promo Video. He told us that he didn’t even know that his submission was selected until someone else told him that they’d seen it! You may have also come across his online tutorial series where he answers questions about how he’s able to achieve some of the effects in his films. If you’re a fan of Bob Ross, maybe you’ve seen Emil’s Lego Bob Ross homage which he used as background footage in Frozen Terror 5.

During a question and answer session, Emil discussed some of the specific details that anyone interested in making stop motion films would need to know. One question was about frame rate. Films like Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, etc. use a frame rate of 24 fps (frames per second), but for his LEGO films, Emil uses 15 fps with a ‘motion blur’ effect. LEGO minifigures don’t move as much as a 12” figure, so there isn’t as much ‘motion’ to ‘capture.’ The best way to figure out how much to move a figure in each frame is to practice, but Emil did reveal that when his minifigures are walking, he’ll move their legs at the ratio of 5 frames per step, so that they’ll take 3 steps per second. Anyone interested in trying stop motion animation doesn’t have to make a huge investment up front; instead, try programs such as StikBot, MonkeyJam, and Dragonframe. One word of advice that Emil gave, which he learned from experience, is not to wear a red shirt if you’re going to be up close to your set because it will affect the lighting of your shot. Either stand far enough away, or wear a black shirt. If a film has an extensive amount of dialogue ‘spoken’ by minifigures, Emil recommends Auto Lip-Synch Pro, which he used extensively in Lego Voldemort Vs the Navy Seals (Revenge of the Muggles).

For more Emil Acevedo, check out his website (VirgeoStudios.com), his YouTube channel (Virgeo1228), or email him (emil@virgeostudios.com).

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