The title for my 2nd assignment is “Toothless”.

However, before arriving at my final product, I actually had another idea, which was to do a full stop motion. I wanted to portray dreams in my bed. The idea was inspired from this video I watched a few years back (And I loveee the song too:”))

I thought the idea of portraying my dreams in my bed was very interesting because even though we dream, we are still in our beds. However, after thinking through it, I could foresee some problems:
1) I didn’t have enough pictures to do a full stop motion (90 images is wayyyy too little)

2) My story wasn’t much of a story.

3) I will have static shots (only one camera angle)

Hence, I decided to change my idea and direction.

Something that always occurs in my dreams is the dropping of teeth. I went to google the meaning of this and looked into what it might mean. It was so interesting because it said that I am insecure and I fear growing old (WHICH IS SO TRUE~). Hence, in my dream sequence, I wanted to focus on growing old. I told the story from a POV and portrayed it in different stages of life.

From the beginning where I start out as a baby till kindergarten/primary school, teenager, adult and elderly. The pacing of the photos and heartbeat sound effects corresponded to what I feel each stage of life represents.

As a baby, I thought about how they don’t really form memories and they see things in a close up manner. I tried to portray that in my pictures by taking them extremely close, with a soft touch and memories as fragments.

As I enter kindergarten/ primary school, I start seeing things in a sequence. Here, I introduced the teeth falling too. While thinking about this project, I was also thinking about how dropping teeth as a kid is different from when you lose your teeth as an adult. It is something exciting for children because they are losing their milk teeth and growing up. I also drew in the teeth here just to break out of the rather realistic surroundings.

Entering into the stop motion part, I wanted to portray the childhood leaving and as a teenager, technology and vanity (symbolized with nail polish) fill my life but they are all fleeting and I can’t hold on to them and very quickly transitioning in adulthood (portrayed here in marriage). I wanted to show how cluttered our lives become as adults and even in adulthood there is a change in priorities. There are bills to pay and money to make and once you have children, they will be the priority. The idea of responsibilities piling up and feels suffocating.

Finally, entering into old age. It was a little tricky at first because I was wondering how I can portray this without the audience being confused and I decided to make my pictures for blurry on purpose, to represent the deteriorating of one’s health and sight. The clocks in this part actually had a double meaning, that while time is running out for an elderly person, I also wanted to represent the state of my consciousness, that I am at the point of my dream where I am going to wake up.