About Life in Plastic

Life in Plastic is a short animation by Corey and Charyl. Life in Plastic is set out as a music video and explores and experiments on the concepts of anthropomorphism, the relationship between 2D and 3D animated space, the relationship between musical composition/soundscape and animated image, and kinesthesis.

Influences/Inspiration

There were a few things that influenced our animation - the most obvious being the music video by Aqua.

This was influential mainly because of the relationship between the musical composition and the animated image (our animation is set to the music rather then the music set to the animation) and the lyrics ('Barbie Girl') inspired the whole plot line.

The movie Small Soldiers was also influential - specifically the scenes with the Barbies (4:00 - 5:30)

This was mainly influential when considering how to manoeuvre the Barbies within our animation - how their bodies moved.

Toy Story 3 was also inspirational in the sense that it inspired a story.

This clip showed a clear example of character (Barbie and Ken) and story (instant attraction/love) which inspired us to develop a story along with the performance aspect of our music video.

Lastly, the influence for our 2D animation came from the Stop Motion Pro website.

http://www.stopmotionpro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=91

This was inspirational because it showed us that we could make a simple yet effective moving background (the sun, trees etc).

Images - Main Characters

Plot Synopsis

The project will be filmed in stop motion. Because Life in Plastic is an animated music video we developed the plot to abide by music video conventions. This means that our animation is a mixture of performance - band characters playing directly to the camera, and narrative – a story to go along with the song. Due to the fact the music is such a dominant part of our animation we will be matching the animation to the music rather than the music to the animation. Therefore, our basic plot is also set to the music – each new verse is a new scene and the chorus is used as a devise to bring these scenes together. This is managed through the narrative - two main characters (Barbie and Ken) - driving around to different parties. Each verse is a different party and each chorus is like a segue into these parties – Barbie and Ken driving in their car on the way to the parties. The narrative is broken up throughout the animation by another repetitive part of the song in which the characters perform directly to the camera (as the music video convention demands). To add another dimension to our animated music video we decided to incorporate cut out 2D animation into the background. This enables us to add depth to our animation, as well as make it more visually dynamic.

Plot Breakdown

Each scene correlates to each verse of the song Barbie Girl

Scene 1: Ken drives up to Barbie’s house and invites her (who is standing outside watering her garden) to go for a ride. She agrees too.

Scene 2: Barbie and Ken driving in car. Barbie is singing to the camera, moving her arms and head, while ken turns the wheel and moves his head.

Scene 3: Barbie and Ken pull up to their first party and start walking towards it (beach party).

Scene 4: Barbie, Ken and friends at a beach party doing beach related tasks – jet skiing, sun bathing etc.

Scene 5: Barbie and Ken back in car – costume change. Barbie is singing to the camera, moving her arms and head, while ken turns the wheel and moves his head.

Scene 6: Barbie Ken and Friends performance (singing directly at the camera)

Scene 7: Barbie and Ken pull up to new party (horse riding/salon) and do things relating to that.

Scene 8: Barbie Ken and Friends performance (singing directly at the camera)

Scene 9: Barbie and Ken back in car – costume change. Barbie is singing to the camera, moving her arms and head, while ken turns the wheel and moves his head.

Scene 10: Barbie and Ken pull up outside Barbie’s house for a house party. Start walking towards front door.

Scene 11: Barbie Ken and Friends performance (singing directly at the camera)

Scene 12: Final scene – talking last lines to each other.

Storyboard

Music

Aqua, Barbie Girl:

"Barbie Girl"

Verse 1:

Hi Barbie
Hi Ken!
Do you wanna go for a ride?
Sure Ken!
Jump In...

Verse 2:

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party!

Verse 3:

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Verse 4:

I'm a blond bimbo girl, in the fantasy world
Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly
You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour in pink,
kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky...
You can touch; you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"
(uu-oooh-u)

Verse 5:

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Verse 6:

Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)

Verse 7:

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees
Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again,
hit the town, fool around, let's go party
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"
You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

Verse 8:

Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)

Verse 9:

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Verse 10:

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Verse 11:

Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
(uu-oooh-u)

Verse 12:

Oh, I'm having so much fun!
Well Barbie, we're just getting started
Oh, I love you Ken!