Maya was inspired by a water and oil toy, the kind in which drops of colored oil float through water and turn little wheels as they do. She story boarded her idea, showing how the wheel would turn as the drops fell down. Then Maya cut out her wheel and punched out many dots of different colors.
Maya lines up a dot for another shot.
Maya and Olivia compare where the new dot should go in reference to the last position. You can see her hand being displayed in the window on the screen. You cannot see, however, that Maya can look at the image already shot and the image the camera is projecting, to better guide her movement of the wheel.
Maya takes the single frame shot. And takes a second shot. We use two shots for each image to make a smooth movie. You can see the camera just past Olivia's hair to the left of the picture. The Animators had to hang the camera up to get a clean and steady shot down onto the surface of the table. In the small window on the computer screen you can see the wheel.
Grace looks on as Tao and Maya position the next dot and move the wheel. Each shot had at least two elements moving. Behind grace is a light that shines toward the umbrella screen to shed a diffuse light onto the shooting surface. The Animators had to use the soda maker (the red thing) to tie part of the camera too.
Grace helps Maya lay out her last shots to see how they look, in preparation for shooting them. Each letter had to be cut out and then Maya had to figure out how to arrange them. The Final arrangement of the letters varied from this to add one last bit of humor to the movie. But you will have to see the movie to find out what Maya changed.
