Arbitrary Stopframe (2011 - 2014)

ANIMATION SERIES STATS:
Project Status:	Series 2 complete (December 2014)
Episodes:	38
Medium:	Stopmotion animation
Technical Info:	Shot on: Nikon D80 (Series 1 & Episode 14) Nikon D7100 (Series 2) Edited in Sony Vegas HDV 720p25 16:9
Runtime:	Approx 35 sec to 1 min 20 sec per episode
Collaborators:	Timothy Johnston (music, guest writer) Sam Arthur (guest writer) Sarah Johnston (guest writer)
Connections:	Features characters from: Cylinder and Miserable Arthur & the Punk Day-Glo! The Probe Has Succeeded The Murkum Show

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Arbitrary Stopframe was born out of a nagging feeling, which I started to experience in early 2011, that I had somehow lost touch with animation.  I was too busy working on live-action projects, and writing ambitious scripts, and slowly picking away at larger-scale things, and it had been a long time since I made any short, simple (ish) animated clips just for the joy of it.

So I set myself the challenge, at the end of January, to begin producing a clip each week comprising a bare minimum of 15 seconds, preferably 30+, of zero-dialogue, high-definition stopframe animation, to be edited and uploaded to YouTube by the end of Saturday.

I got off to a decent start, but the 'weekly' aspect started going down the pan from Episode 4 onwards.  It's hard to make animations when you're away on holiday without your characters or your production equipment - and sometimes I just got writer's block.  But by the end of November, I'd notched up 13 episodes: 9 created entirely on my own, 2 co-written with Tim (who also supplied the music for the series), one written solo by Tim, and the series finale contributed by Sam Arthur.  I was running out of ideas that could be filmed on my desk at that stage, so I decided to put the show on hold, and to move to a different location if and when I ever resumed production.

That 'if' remained in force for a little over two years, with two episode storylines half-written, before I decided in January 2014 that I was too busy with things like Papercuts and The Murkum Show, and was unlikely to ever finish the kitchen series - it didn't help that those two episodes still hadn't crystallised properly.  So I decided to roll the two into one and scrap the rest the proposed series, leaving Episode 14 Project Coffee as a one-off special, sandwiched in between Papercuts Production Block C and the beginning of work on The Murkum Show Series 2.  I'm glad I decided not to try and do a whole series in the kitchen, as it turned out to be a very awkward working environment for animation.

Shortly after producing Episode 14, I came up with another idea which would extend the lifetime of the series: an Animated Advent Calendar.  What with it being a bit early in the year for that sort of thing, I put the concept on the back burner and got on with some other stuff, but in November - armed with a new camera - I came back to Arbitrary Stopframe and produced 24 new, very short episodes, releasing one each day from the first of December onwards.  The new series is broadly similar to the first, except for the episodes being a bit shorter than before and having a new numerical theme, and they featured a specially-commissioned seasonal remix of the original theme tune.

With the Animated Advent Calendar complete, there are no further plans for Arbitrary Stopframe.  Don't hold your breath for a Series 3, because I really don't think there's going to be one.

Episode Guide

Series:	Episode:	Title:	Intro Version:	Setting:	Character(s):			Writer(s):		Release Date:
--- SERIES 1 ---
1	1	Marker Pen	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Odom the Grud			Matthew Colclough		29 January	2011
	2	Fruit Pastilles	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Zooky the Alien Dog Thing			Matthew Colclough		4 February	2011
	3	Inkjet	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Emily &	Snow Arkley		Matthew Colclough		10 February	2011
	4	Cold Hard Cash	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Doctor Murkum			Matt Colclough	& Tim Johnston	4 March	2011
	5	Webcam	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Arthur			Matthew Colclough		12 March	2011
	6	Remote Control	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	The Medics			Matthew Colclough		19 March	2011
	7	Google Search	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Charles Richard Harrison			Timothy Johnston		26 March	2011
	8	Headphones	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Odom the Grud			Matt Colclough	& Tim Johnston	1 August	2011
	9	Pencil Jar	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Forkley			Matthew Colclough		29 August	2011
	10	Magnet Sculpture	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Doctor Murkum			Matthew Colclough		20 September	2011
	11	Party Poppers	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Cylinder the Cylinder			Matthew Colclough		28 September	2011
	12	Sellotape	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	The Medics			Matthew Colclough		23 November	2011
	13	Monster Movie	v1 (The Phrygian Mode)	My desk	Murkum &	Monster Movie		Sam Arthur		30 November	2011
--- THE 'KITCHEN SPECIAL' ---
n/a	14	Project Coffee	v2 (The Aeolian Mode)	The kitchen	Emily &	Snow Arkley	& Zooky	Matthew Colclough		18 January	2014
--- SERIES 2: THE ANIMATED ADVENT CALENDAR ---
2	2.1	Sharpies to Start	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Odom the Grud			Matthew Colclough		1 December	2014
	2.2	Getting Its Own Back	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Forkley			Matthew Colclough		2 December	2014
	2.3	An Unpreditcable Chocolate	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Cylinder the Cylinder			Matthew Colclough		3 December	2014
	2.4	Precision Steering	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Doctor Murkum			Matthew Colclough		4 December	2014
	2.5	Something Roasted	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	The kitchen	Zooky the Alien Dog Thing			Matthew Colclough		5 December	2014
	2.6	Time to Decorate	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Arthur			Matthew Colclough		6 December	2014
	2.7	Heavy Maths	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	The kitchen	Forkley			Timothy Johnston		7 December	2014
	2.8	Tyre Marks	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	The kitchen	Emily Arkley			Sarah Johnston		8 December	2014
	2.9	The Light Unexpected	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Charles Richard Harrison			Timothy Johnston		9 December	2014
	2.10	A Good Raid	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Doctor Murkum			Sarah Johnston		10 December	2014
	2.11	Flavour Explosion	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Cylinder &	Snow Arkley		Matthew Colclough		11 December	2014
	2.12	Which One Where	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	The Medics			Matt Colclough	& Tim Johnston	12 December	2014
	2.13	Snow	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Snow Arkley			Sarah Johnston		13 December	2014
	2.14	Delete That	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Odom the Grud			Timothy Johnston		14 December	2014
	2.15	Oh No... Not You Again	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Murkum &	Monster Movie		Matthew Colclough		15 December	2014
	2.16	Netbook Rising	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Charles Richard Harrison			Matt Colclough	& S. Johnston	16 December	2014
	2.17	Crackerjack	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Zooky &	Odom the Grud		Sarah Johnston		17 December	2014
	2.18	The Tablecloth Trick	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Emily Arkley			Matt Colclough	& Tim Johnston	18 December	2014
	2.19	Transmogrification	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Cylinder &	Forkley		Matthew Colclough		19 December	2014
	2.20	Dental Procedure	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	The kitchen	Arthur &	Monster Movie		Sam Arthur		20 December	2014
	2.21	Back the Other Way	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	The Medics			Matt Colclough	& Tim Johnston	21 December	2014
	2.22	Harrison, Enlightened	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	The kitchen	Charles Richard Harrison			Matthew Colclough		22 December	2014
	2.23	The Box is Ours Now	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Zooky &	Monster Movie		Sam Arthur &	Matt Colclough	23 December	2014
	2.24	The Finishing Touch	v3 (Phrygian Christmas)	My desk	Emily &	Snow Arkley		Sarah Johnston		24 December	2014

Screening Room