So I’ve always been fascinated by stop motions…
There’s something about them.
I’d never shot or edited a stop motion before, but I had been watching a few on Instagram and Pinterest and I was feeling really inspired to try one myself.
This was around the time that the new iPhone X was being released.
I was one of the lucky ones who pre-ordered it.
I was going to get the iPhone X on the day of its release.
I had never seen a decent flatlay unboxing before and thought that being the first to do an iPhone X unboxing stop-motion was the perfect opportunity!
But I had never done a stop motion before.
I knew I needed to get the post up on release day. That was the opportunity.
It was a race against the clock.
I had to figure out a lot.
It turned out that a lot of what I had to do were things I didn’t prep for.
I did them on the spot and in the moment (thanks YouTube!).
I had to film the shot backwards.
Keep consistent lighting.
Learn how to edit it together and make a perfect loop in Final Cut.
It took me 4 hours to shoot and edit.
I was proud of it.
I had only been posting on Instagram for 8 weeks so I didn’t expect much of it.
I only had 3,000 followers.
Then, it went took off.
It hit 1,000 views, 5,000 views.
In the end, it hit over 22,000 views, which was insane for someone new to Instagram.
Not bad for a first attempt!
Darren is a content creator and photographer.
You can find more of his work on his Instagram: @mrdrowlands
