Laced Stop Motion Animation

Above, is my stop motion piece "Laced."  Going into this project, I thought it would take me hours and hours to accomplish.  It ended up only taking about one hour and forty-five minutes.  Once, I got the ball rolling, or rather the shoe moving, the process went very quickly and smoothly.

During the project, I only encountered a few minor challenges.  One was propping the shoe up when I wanted to show it resisting.  I managed to prop it up, though, with a tube of lip gloss and and eraser.  Also, there were certain times when I needed to have the lace tips in places where they couldn't hold themselves up.  I achieved this effect with a little help from some masking tape rolled onto the back the tip out of sight.  There were also just a few times when I bumped the tripod.  Fortunately, I had taped off where the feet went onto the floor and at what level "Lace" should appear on my camera screen.

At first, I planned on this piece simply being a shoe that gets laced without any human help.  Then, as I began to take pictures, I decided I would have the lace drag in the shoe against its will.  Next, I had the shoe escape the bondage of the lace and run away.  Unfortunately for the shoe, the lace slithers its way back into the scene and recaptures the shoe.  The shoe fights back, but is ultimately no match for the constricting lace.  The shoe, now "Laced", falls in defeat.

I had figured that the piece would be comical.  I still think there is a funny, round up sort of quality to it.  Now, though, I also see a sad, oppressed tone to the piece.  I think the muted gray tones add to the somber mood as well.  The shoe, an object that we typically associate with aiding in walking or running away, is unable to run away from the object that is intended to help hold it together.  The lace becomes oppressive and takes away the shoe's freedom.  The shoe falls in defeat, losing all hope of escaping bondage.

There are a few questions that come to my mind after watching the video.  What happens when a human decides to wear the shoe?  Does this slight unlacing tease the boot with its longing for freedom? Does the shoe get its hopes up only to be let down time and time again?