Short Flicks: "Guitar Hero Spec Ad"

A Nintendo DS commercial by the former Buddy System Studios, (now Stoopid Buddy Stoodios), directed and animated by Ethan Marak.

Link: http://youtu.be/RIRiek2Dft4

Marak, on the 'hot set' peeping animation

Marak, animating the Guitar Hero puppet

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Interview with Bram Meindersma, Composer and Sound Designer of Oscar® Nominated Stop Motion Short Film, "Negative Space"

Sam and his father, from Negative Space . Source: Vimeo. Unlike practically every other medium, film has the unique aesthetic of being composed of the elements of sound and image, and, curiously, whenever watching a film, the two blend together into something of an impeccably hybridized concoction. With as much influence as sound has over the audience’s final experience of any given film, composer and sound designer Bram Meindersma’s work on the Oscar-nominated stop motion short film Negative Space – directed by Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter – proves an endlessly fascinating and extraordinary case study, as it uses sound – both its soundtrack as well as every other element of sound design – only sparingly and in subtle ways, one that could almost be called conservative. Yet it is perhaps just that component of its sound design that, at least in part, makes the film such a powerful one. Perhaps the reason why Meindersma’s delicate work on Negative Space is so powerful is i

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Vincent & Puppet Scales

Tim Burton's Vincent is a masterpiece; the short was animated by the brilliant Stephen Chiodo . I do love that the short was shot in black and white film, ask any true film-lover and

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"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2" End Credits

A few nights ago I sat down and watched the sequel to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs ; correctly titled Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 . And, I must say... it was enjoyable and entertaining. Though the first film was comedic brilliance animated, dubbed, and packed in a box we like to call a movie. Cloudy 2 wasn't any where near as good as the first one but on the other hand the original directors/writers of the first film, Phil Lord and Chris Miller didn't direct the sequel. But they are the creative team behind the recently released The Lego Movie . Which looks great and is getting incredibly positive reviews from the critics. So, i am excited to partake in that movie experience. All the 'end credits' work was done by the amazing people over a Screen Novelties. Lots of cool stuff here in the end credits including grown men in strawberry suits, puppets, and of course, Stop Motion. So grab a snack and enjoy! Link: http://vimeo.com/85201368 End C

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Interview with Samuel Lewis - Animator, Character Designer, and Sculptor on Stop Motion Short Film, "Lost & Found"

Knotjira, a clumsy dinosaur made of wool, as seen in Lost & Found . Photo courtesy of Andrew Goldsmith. “If I had to pick a starting point for my career as a stop motion animator I would have to say it was my obsession as a six year old with a book called ‘Playing with Plasticine’ by Barbara Reid,” Samuel Lewis – a London-based stop motion and 2D animator and director, whose most recent labor of love can be seen in his contribution to the Australian stop motion short film, Lost & Found – tells Stop Motion Geek. Upon reflection, Lewis explains that his love for the medium of stop motion began very early in life, and has merely managed to burn ever brighter in his fervor to master the craft. “I would spend countless hours fixated on sculpting tiny snails, fruit bowls and dinosaurs to the point where I would stay inside on family holidays sculpting a surfer in a beach scene rather than going to the actual beach that was only a short walk away,” Lewis recalls wistfully. “

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Interview with Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Director, Writer, and Animator of Stop Motion Short Film "Bath House"

In art as in life, when in the thick of something – a chain of, at times, loosely connected actions and consequences – it can be easy to miss “the point.” It’s often only in retrospect – the moment when one can contemplate, assessing and reassessing an event, whether mundane or abnormal – when one can discover meaning and a “point” to events in life as in art. When in the thick of something, things often feel commonplace, moments of actual weight sporadic, chaotic, and adrift, lost in the moment. Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s Bath House – a 15-minutes-long short film – perfectly captures these feelings of disorder and inconsequential consequence in the midst of the mundane and seemingly aimless. This mood is further accentuated in the film by a disquieting lack of a soundtrack, using dialogue only sparingly which perfectly accompanies Bahr’s incredibly lifelike puppets and animation, together harmonizing and bringing to life moments and an atmosphere that are rarely (if ever) ca

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MAD - Spy vs. Spy

We all love the brilliant original comic strip Spy vs. Spy, that's has been around, who knows how long, is in stopmo!

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Interview with Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, Directors of Oscar® Nominated Stop Motion Short Film, "Negative Space"

Sam walks to his car in Negative Space . Source: Vimeo. Across the Baltimore-based director-duo Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter’s Oscar® nominated short film Negative Space ’s 5 minute runtime, rooted in the profoundly emotional soil of the film’s essence , an extraordinary spectrum of deep themes are explored – death, grief, what one’s childhood means once one has “grown up” – yet perhaps none are as front-and-center than that which binds all of the film’s themes together: that of the relationship between father and son. Negative Space , a film inspired by a 150-word poem of the same by Ron Koertge , is, at its heart, the story of Sam, a young man, as he internally processes his relationship with his father throughout his life as well as the grief and emotion that come with the loss of his father as he travels to his recently-passed father’s funeral. Sam looks upon a toy taxicab in Negative Space . Source: Vimeo. Undoubtedly the primary visual motif as well as the crux of t

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Behind the Scenes of "Robocop 2" at Tippett Studios and how "Jurassic Park" Changed Special Effects Forever

A depressingly large percentage of Hollywood movies boast a gratuitous amount of potential and possibility and yet, for one reason or another, often fall far, far too short to live up to the films they seem to have the potential of being. Although it’s a shame that many of these films have a stupendous level of production value and talent but are often often overlooked, as production value and talent are seen as secondary and supplementary to a quality story – the special effects work done on such second-rate films sadly go unrecognized the most often. An immutable fact stands strong – mediocre films, no matter the level of talent and amount of time poured into producing their special effects, are seen and remembered as nothing but wasted potential…or worse. Yet few box office bombs have had special practical effects work as groundbreaking, especially in the stop motion realm, and yet unfortunately remains unrecognized in every respect than the 1990 film Robocop 2 , both an irrefutabl

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"Preetha's Poem" - Stop Motion Trailer for Netflix Documentary, "Daughters of Destiny"

“I am who I am because of her,” – begins the narration of the short film Preetha's Poem – the trailer for the recently released, four-part Netflix documentary, Daughters of Destiny . The New York Times describes the documentary as “a celebration of a pioneering school for the children of Dalits, members of the lowest group in the oppressive caste system that still shapes Indian society.” Preetha’s Poem features a glimpse of this struggle as the author of the poem and one of the documentary’s protagonists, a girl named Preetha, describes the pain and struggle in and throughout her and her mother’s lives. “I come from the dull brown of my mother’s eyes watching over me while my eyes see darkness, Her warmth throwing me back into reality.” The stop motion visual accompaniment for the poem is just as eloquent and touching as the poem itself. It features the central characters in the poem – Preetha and her mother – as well as several sets, all of which are beautiful

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Interview with Renowned Stop Motion Director and Animator Barry Purves

Barry Purves holding the Tchaikovsky puppet for his film Tchaikovsky – An Elegy . Source: http://puppetsandclay.blogspot.com/2011/08/lo-ultmo-de-barry-purves-plume-y.html “I worry that animators strive to recreate reality, whereas I think animation should liberate us from reality,” Barry Purves—critically renowned film and theatre director, scriptwriter, stop motion animator, and author of celebrated books about and lecturer on the art and craft of the medium—tells Stop Motion Geek, in a snapshot articulating a philosophy that’s colored his approach to performance in theatre and animation, embodying a theme recurring throughout our interview: of finding himself in a unique season of reflection upon his career thus far, and the legacy in the wake of which he’s already left behind. “Not just in the movement,” he goes on, “but in the storytelling, the use of colour, and sound, and so forth. I find ballet and opera and theatre to sometimes be so painfully honest and truthful—and, y

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