A Different Type of Project Video: Stopmotion – Stonemaier Games

A Different Type of Project Video: Stopmotion

If you’ve been reading my daily Tapestry design diary posts, you’re already familiar with the aesthetic of the game.

photo courtesy of Kim Euker

I worked with illustrator Andrew Bosley and sculptor Rom Brown to create this mostly-realistic-yet-slightly-whimsical style, largely inspired from the start by the fact that Rom sculpts miniatures out of clay by hand.

Due to this style, I wanted to try something a little different for the teaser trailer for the game. Usually I work with the very talented Josh McDowell to create an all-digital video, but for Tapestry, I turned to stopmotion animator Ben Doran.

The result is the video below, which I’m really happy with. Ben was a delight to work with. I sent him a script for a previous video and some highlights for Tapestry, as well as a pre-production copy of the game, and he took care of everything else (plus voiceover by Eric Summerer).

I’m sure this isn’t the first stopmotion video used to announce a new game, product, or project, and I’d love to hear about other examples in the comments. If you’re a creator, I think the takeaway here is that there are a variety of techniques that can be used to create a teaser trailer–there isn’t just one right way to do it.

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23 Comments on “A Different Type of Project Video: Stopmotion

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  1. […] process — figuring out what copy to write and which images to include, writing a script and filming the video — can last anywhere between a day and several months. Jean Wu, project creator of the Que Bottle […]

  2. Great video, very excited for this. Looks like number 1 of 25000 limited edition. Pre-selling through the site?

    1. We’ve already made the games, and we’ll accept preorders in early September. All remaining first printing copies will go to distributors/retailers.

    1. More than $500 and less than $2000. :) You can get a quote from Ben if you’re interested in working with him.

  3. Love the stop motion video, it’s somethings a bit different and that always catches my eye and makes me pause to look. Stikfa-mations by Greg Cornell did a similar How to Play for our game Ghostel, and it makes it such an easy and above all entertaining watch.

  4. Super awesome video, and super timely since im gearing up for my Kickstarter video and was considering doing at least a bit of it using stop motion!

  5. Another SM Game that maxes out at 5 players. With a regular group of 6 players, this makes it a hard sell for my group. Unless you’re already planning an expansion.

    1. “Another”? We have 9 games, and 7 of them play 6+. Yes, Wingspan and Tapestry currently only play up to 5 players, but that’s largely because adding a 6th player makes them too long for what they are.

  6. This dovetails nicely with Kickstarter’s recent discouragement of CG renders. I love the concept. I might criticize the lighting a bit in this execution. Seems a touch dim?

  7. Great video, Jamey! I think the video reflects and highlights the artwork and components well. I appreciate how you think through all of the details, challenge the status quo, and then share your knowledge with others regardless of how the outcome affected you.

  8. Gloriously fun, I particularly enjoyed the epic nature of the voice over contrasting with the playful animation. Can’t think of a more apt way to trail a Civ boardgame :D

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