Skip to main content

SMG's Next Project


So, no doubt you've wondered when you will be able to see some work from Stop Motion Geek.  Well, the answer is soon.

The project that I am working on is currently being call by my self The Cardboard Arcade.  It's a short piece full of senseless violence, none the less awesome, and is fueled by my love for outdated arcade games, you know the ones that you would have to jam down on the joystick to get PAC-Man to move.

I've been thinking about you guys and thought that you may enjoy so BTS pictures, well I don't want to spoil the plot but if you look under this type you may find the first few storyboard frames...


My process with storyboarding is simple.  I try to retain it's home-made feel and tend to say clear of storyboarding software.  You can see that my operation is simplicity it's self, all I use is a legal pad, pencil, eraser, and my brain.  Similar to Cartoon Network Studios, I don't write a script and go straight to storyboarding, simple and to the point.  Any story problems can be cleared-up later.

Since the only material I use in this project is cardboard, the next step to take is to design and produce the characters and prop that will be scene in the film.  Below, is an arcade game made entirely out of cardboard.  I'm trying to get an original taste with this film which is the reason I'm only using cardboard  and a designed box-like realism. 

Now looking at this picture over again I can quite distinctly see Gromits figure in the background, ans as always the wonderful book The World Of Wasington Irving.

So now you may have a brief look of my creative process in making a film.  I hesitate to show you more because it might give away the plot of this 2 minute piece.

I planned for this to be out by Halloween, but as I'm finding it difficult to find time to work on this it might be delayed.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CGI/ Stop Motion "The Little Prince" Trailer is Here

Mark Osborne's ( Kung Fu Panda ) has released the first trailer for his next movie The Little Prince.  The trailer is spectacular.  The film is a mix of 2D hand drawn, paper cut-out Stop Motion, puppet Stop Motion, and CGI.  Which is pretty risky in this day and age.  Now, anything with 2D or Stop Motion is an immediate red-flag; needless to say, this film (the Stop Motion side of it) will be beautiful.  Although in the trailer we see a CGI little girl imagine a hand drawn plane, which turns into a paper cut-out plane, and then morphs into a Stop Motion puppet that becomes The Little Prince.  CGI, in my opinion, was not the way to go with this project -- or so I thought.  Now that I see the fusion process in realtime my view has shifted a little.  Although my rule still stands, if you don't have a huge budget for CGI then don't do it !  The Little Prince trailer, though, did still pull it off; yes, it could be tweaked, but I have confidence ...
Post a Comment
Read full article »

Phil Tippett Launches "Mad God (Part 2)" Kickstarter

In 2012, Phil Tippett ( Empire Strikes Back , Indiana Jones , and is ILM veteran), along side of a small group of dedicated volunteers Kickstartered, storyboarded, shot, and edited, his passion project  Mad God .  Now, comes the 2 part in this four part epic.  In the Kickstarter video for Mad God Part 2 , Phil announces that there will be four parts in this epic.  I find it very funny the way he puts this though, "I got four parts.  Four parts, and I know what I'm doing!  I'm not making it up as I go along, (laughs), honestly! His goal for the sequel is to raise $60,000.  Though there is a number of stretch goals he has incorporated, for instance, if Mad God Part 2 raise $70,000, all backers receive a 'family photo' of Phil and his crew.  Today is day 29 of the total 30 day campaign, and they have raised $1,500 so far.  I recommend supporting this project.  If you haven't yet watched the first part of Mad God , you can do so by g...
Post a Comment
Read full article »

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
Post a Comment
Read full article »

Best Book for Stop Motion Enthusiasts?

So help me, I can not figure out why I'm not putting this post in the FAQs page.  Still, here it goes. A question that I probably get asked the most is: "I don't have a ton of money to put to Stop Motion, but I need to know exactly what to do.  Is there a good website or book that can help me?" Dear (Joe, maybe) [Stop Motion enthusiast], The book you should look into getting is
Post a Comment
Read full article »

A Trip to the Moon!!

Today, on Stopmotion geek we are going old school, and I really mean old school.  Why this is so old is that were discovering, well, your discovering, I'm giving you info that I already know, so, you know, not really discovering... so what, I can rediscover, mmmhun!  Georges Melies, was the first-ever Stop Motion animator, in fact, he invented Stop Motion; therefore, we'll
Post a Comment
Read full article »

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. “...
Post a Comment
Read full article »

Short Flicks: Bent Image Lab's "Fruity Pebbles"

What could be better than starting your day off with part of a whole breakfast, Fred Flintstone, and Stop Motion?  We couldn't think of anything either.  Nevertheless, these awesome commercials/BTS will bring out the kid, and nerd, in all of us.  Directed by Rob Shaw for the incredible Bent Image Lab (a studio that just moved to Manhattan , by the way), these TV spots encapsulates everything we know and love about the modern stone-age Flintstone family who establish how we now think of Prehistoric times. Fire House :  http://vimeo.com/45991027 Cocoa Pebbles "Fire Hose" from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo . Cop Rock :  http://vimeo.com/42010097 Cocoa Pebbles "Cop Rock" from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo .
Post a Comment
Read full article »

Interview with Mark Smith, Director and Writer of Stop Motion Short Film, "Two Balloons"

A still from Two Balloons featuring the character of Elba. Photo courtesy of Mark Smith. As I sit, listening to Peter Broderick’s moving composition for piano  More Of A Composition , I close my eyes and envisage an enormous funnel cloud skimming across the crystalline face of an ocean – the skies are murky and unusually dark, lightning crackles, spider-webbing across the darkened skies before then vanishing, and still, after its gone, an electricity continues to hum in the air and I simply  know  that it’s going to soon strike again. And as the scene presents itself to me, I suddenly feel something similar to what director Mark C. Smith felt when he saw the same image as he sailed to a small island called Grenada along with his wife in a timeworn sailboat. For him, in that moment inspiration struck, and the idea suddenly came to him for his heartfelt stop motion film,  Two Balloons . For me, I open my eyes and feel as I did the instant  Two Balloons  ...
Post a Comment
Read full article »

Interview with Lucy J. Hayes, Producer of Stop Motion Love Story, "Lost & Found"

Knitsune in Lost & Found . Photo courtesy of Andrew Goldsmith. Ever since her childhood, Lucy J. Hayes – the producer of Lost & Found , an extraordinarily beautiful short film that make for a profound mediation on the impermanence and imperfection of life and beauty – she’s wanted to play some part in the creative industry, in some way, shape, or form. For Hayes, that dream went unquestioned. However, the challenge turned out to be figuring out quite where she belonged in the creative industry. “I dabbled in acting and directing, however, I was terrible!” Hayes tells Stop Motion Geek. It wasn’t until she began to put on plays with her friends in her adolescence and early adulthood that the answer to her search dawned upon her: All that Hayes found came innately to her – everything from her ardor for creative work to her love for working with creatives to bring an idea, the kernel of a story, to fruition – she found in the title of “producer.” Knotjira (left) and...
Post a Comment
Read full article »

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!
Post a Comment
Read full article »