Multiplane Camera for Cell Phone

At CMU, I took a lovely class on anime called Anime - Visual Interplay Between Japan and the World taught by Dr. Christopher Lowy. For my final project, I made a low-tech multiplane camera for my cell phone and used it to animate a short gif of Sailor Moon overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline at Schenley Park.

Initial Creation and Test Run

I built the wooden frame out of scrap wood found in the TechSpark woodshop and cut some clear acrylic sheets using the bandsaw to serve as shelves. The shelves provide depth in an otherwise flat drawing and allow for lateral movement. A top shelf is used to rest the phone, and frames were captured using a stop motion app.

Final Version

For the final version, I borrowed frames from a gif of Sailor Moon found here. I traced her main body and cut out different pigtail shapes to create the hair blowing effect. Then I layered the background and Sailor Moon to create the images I needed for my short clip.