When I first saw the flyer for the "Veggie Straw Viral Commercial Competition," I knew EXACTLY what it was I wanted to make - A stop-motion adventure featuring a boy made of Veggie Straws. This happened for two reasons:
1. As a child of the marketing age, I loathe people telling me that my life is incomplete without their product, which is what 90% of ads are. People's lives are plenty complete without Veggie Straws. But there is no saying they can't enjoy them. So after tasting a few and very much enjoying them, I decided to present the product in a way that was both engaging and unintrusive.
2. The second reason for this idea was that I had recently seen the music video for "Her Morning Elegance" and felt totally inspired to enter a whimsical stop motion world (apologies to Film Annex, but the video is only available on YouTube).
I asked around, pitched the idea to animators, dangled the idea of prize money in front with a 50/50 split offer, but no one bit. If I was going to make this project, I was going to have to make it myself. When I got home that winter break I spent hours watching YouTube videos of stop motion instruction. Then I set up a 7D on a tripod, a few lamps, a big blue construction paper background, and got to work.
I could delete a photo here or there, but unless I wanted to start over, I was stuck with what I did. The learning happened as I went, and as you may be able to see in the video, my ideas got more elaborate later on. It was tons of fun and I'm proud of the work I did. Even more so when I can back it up with the 1st place pick by a panel of judges. I'm not sure I ever want to dip into stop motion again, but I am very happy I had the experience.
