workflow
Photomatic: a physical, in-camera bridge from storyboard to stop-motion fabrication
Storyboard and animatic / Digital previsualization before a physical stop-motion build / Stop-motion production map
Definition
A photomatic is a physical, in-camera stop-motion pre-production stage -- developed and named at Montreal's See Creature Animation -- in which the crew shoots a frame or two of every scene through the production's actual camera and lenses using in-progress or cardboard stand-in puppets and rough sets, after the 2D storyboard/animatic has locked story timing but before full puppet and set fabrication begins, so the director, client and producers can see and approve how a shot will actually look in stop motion while changes are still cheap.
Overview
A photomatic sits in a different place in the pipeline than either of the two previs tools it looks similar to. A 2D storyboard or animatic (see Storyboard and animatic) locks story timing using drawings that never touch a camera. Digital previsualization (see Digital previsualization before a physical stop-motion build) proves scale, blocking and rig clearance inside CAD or a 3D package, entirely on screen. A photomatic instead answers a third question -- what will this actually look like, photographed, in stop motion -- by photographing something, even a rough one, through the real production camera and lens before committing to finished puppets and sets.
See Creature Animation co-director Dale Hayward describes the practice, as developed on the studio's CNESST workplace-safety commercial “Hanging by a Thread,” as “a phase that we've refined over the years that helps bridge the gap between drawings of a storyboard and reality (in stop motion).” The crew brings “(in progress or cardboard stand-ins) puppets and sets into the studio for a day or two,” together with the client and team leads, and shoots on “the actual camera and lenses” that the production will use. Hayward's own summary of the method: “We take a frame or two of every scene with the actual camera and lenses and edit them immediately.”
The point is not polish -- a photomatic is deliberately rough, built from stand-ins rather than finished work -- it is decision-making under real photographic conditions while those decisions are still cheap to change. Hayward frames the payoff in production terms: “It's a fantastic opportunity to involve the client and producers into the film making process. They get to understand the limitations and advantages of shooting in stop motion and make decisions on the spot,” before the production goes, in his words, “too far down the fabrication road.” That is the same problem digital previs solves for scale and rig geometry, solved here instead for photographic look, lensing and shot design -- the two techniques are complementary, not substitutes, and a production may use a 2D animatic, a digital previs and a photomatic in sequence on the same shot.
Workflow
- 1. Lock story timing first with a 2D storyboard or animatic (see Storyboard and animatic) -- a photomatic tests photographic look, not story structure.
- 2. Build or gather rough stand-ins for every scene: in-progress puppets or simple cardboard cutouts, and rough set pieces, rather than finished fabrication.
- 3. Bring the stand-ins into the studio for a day or two together with the actual production camera and lenses, and invite the client and key department leads to attend.
- 4. Shoot a frame or two of every scene through the real camera/lens combination -- exactly the equipment the finished production will use.
- 5. Edit the captured frames into a sequence immediately, on the same day, so the group is reviewing photographic reality rather than a memory of the shoot.
- 6. Use the group's on-the-spot decisions to greenlight or revise shots before committing budget to full puppet and set fabrication.