Interview with Roos Mattaar, Director of Stop Motion Short Film "Nieuwstad (New City)," A Film About the Birth of a City

A Dutch family as seen in Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

In the twelfth century, a Dutch peasant family of three – mother, father, and son, each clad in rough-spun wool tunics, the mother in a broad-brimmed white bonnet and apron ­– living on wetlands of the small peasant village of Paveien in Netherlands, just outside of the town of Culenborch (modern-day “Culemborg”) and the village of Lanxmeer, are themselves a strange distillation of their surroundings. To our twenty-first century eyes, their lives – from birth to death – are shaped so starkly by the world in which they live – a world of toil and soil, with the stuff plagued by uncertain flooding patterns and gray, gray weather.

With the benefit of hindsight and an eye looking back from the twenty-first century, everything from their clothes to their very way of life – one of mere survival, of settling wild lands by building house and barn and then cultivating the land remaining – has a look and feel total alien to most inhabitants of the earth today, a look and feel that is entirely unique to the aesthetic of their physical environment.

A family traveling in Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

Yet, it’s not a phenomenon unique to twelfth-century Dutch family. If one stops to think on it, we – denizens of the twenty-first century, even, to be more specific, Dutch inhabitants of modern-day city of Nieuwstad (New City) (which is the name the village of Lanxmeer eventually adopted once it was ultimately incorporated into Culenborch after many emigrated to its higher, drier land than that of the area around it) – are just as much products of our world and time as they were products of theirs – a world and time which undoubtedly seemed absolutely ordinary to them. Through their eyes, our reality is the one actually strange. The only true, discernible difference between us and them is that we are products that come in twenty-first century packaging – an end result determined by culture, something which only forms by building upon what’s come before the now, the present.

A family in Nieuwstad (New City) building a house. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

For Culemborg-born stop motion auteur Roos Mattaar, this very shift in Dutch culture – and the gears which turned it – is exactly what she was interested in exploring in her most recent film, fittingly titled Nieuwstad (New City), which she was commissioned to make as part of an interactive historic walk for primary school children in Nieuwstad. Although the film only stocks up to a one minute and forty-eight second total runtime, the snapshot of life dictating life from the twelfth century to modern today is incredibly fascinating and deftly executed.

A man cutting down a tree in Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

“A big part of the film is actually taking place in a village near the town (Paveien) which doesn’t exist anymore,” Mattaar tells Stop Motion Geek concerning the process of reconstructing in miniature for stop motion the village and land which once comprised what ultimately became the city of her birthplace. “Because the film is taking place in the 12th century at this time most houses were either wooden or like the farms made with clay and straw roofs. So the only shot that is really recognisably my hometown is the time lapse of the map. This I based directly on a historical map of the town from 1621. Many streets and buildings are still in the same place. For the historical details I discussed with the client who was passing on my questions to a local history expert. This way I made sure I had the right references for the type of houses and layout of the land plots in the village. It did help to be familiar with the landscape to add details such as the pollard willows which are still very typical in the landscape today.”

A woman tilling a field as seen in Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

“I wanted the film to look and feel handcrafted and took inspiration from medieval illustrations, wooden carved figures and 17th century Dutch oil paintings,” says Mattaar. “For wide shots I made use of forced perspective using different scales and all sky backdrops are hand painted on canvas and repainted between the shots. To achieve the right textures for the landscapes and props I used materials such as real wood, sheep wool, scouring pads, rubber kneeling pads and the coco fibre bundles of a deconstructed broomstick.”

Mattaar’s meticulous attention to detail and to getting the history of the film’s titular city accurate undeniably shine through in the final film, with almost all of that which is seen having been fabricated and filmed in-camera, amounting in an expertly crafted and fascinating portrait of life in the land now occupied by Nieuwstad spanning several centuries.

The farmer character looking over the flooded village of Paveien. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

In our interview, Mattaar gives us an in-depth look at the origin, development, and final realization of Nieuwstad (New City), discussing at everything from the process of pitching for the commissioned project to doing the historical research for the film to how she decided on which details to implement into her film’s sets, characters, and props as she designed, built, and ultimately animated the piece. Coming from a background primarily in the design and construction of puppets and sets, Mattaar also tells us about the criteria she adheres to for how to design and build sets, props, and puppets, sending a warning of the pitfall of implementing too much detail into a film’s physical elements. She also walks us through the challenges unique to directing, and how a director can best eliminate unnecessary stress. Mattaar also discusses her work as an armature engineer on the recent and highly acclaimed stop motion features Aardman’s Early Man and Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs. Furthermore, Mattaar tells us about her plans and goals for the future, as well as about the dynamic of her partnership with several other animators in forming the grassroots animation studio Hangar Puppet Animation Studio. You can read our interview below in full.

A.H. Uriah: Hello, Roos! It’s great to have you back and to again feature your work on the blog! Can you start by telling us about how you came to work on your newest film – Nieuwstad (New City), a “historical educational video for primary school children in the Netherlands as part of a historic walk in a Dutch town for project Verborgen Verleden (Hidden History)” – which you created entirely on your own?

Roos Mattaar: The video is made for my hometown in the Netherlands. This year it has been 700 years since the town received ‘city rights’ and there have been several events throughout the year related to the town’s history. I had actually been discussing and pitching for another possible commission with one of the organisers. He initially found my work through the Sparks music video I worked on (directed by Joseph Wallace) as a fan of their music, which I’d done an interview about for a local newspaper.

Roos Mattaar with a group of primary school children for whom she created Nieuwstad (New City). Press photo by William Hoogteyling.

It proved more difficult to get the funding together for this first proposed animation. At the same time this educational project was already happening, requiring a shorter animation, and there was some budget available.

A.H.: As a related question to my first, you mentioned to me prior to this interview that you’re aiming to work on more commissioned films as a director. For those who are unfamiliar with the procedure, can you tell us about the process of how one gets commissioned work? Furthermore, how do you as a single entity – an artist working without a team at your disposal – manage your time and your tasks to ensure that you deliver a satisfactory end result on schedule?

RM: I am still fairly new to this myself. I am hoping that having this example as first commissioned film as an animation director might help to find more opportunities.

Roos Mattaar animating on the set of Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

Previously I have found that it is important to have relevant examples of work in the field you want to find more work in. For example, when I made the armature for my graduation film Moonbird and approached studios for work, there weren’t many people learning the skills to build ball and socket armatures, so this led to opportunities in work in that field. When I wanted to find more work in other areas I figured that I would need relevant examples showing other skills.

How you present yourself – online and through your work and portfolio – is very important, I think. I have found that the work I spent on getting my website together seems to be paying off. I have been approached for several potential puppet making and miniature set building commissions, simply through someone finding me and my work through my website. Unfortunately it often happens that these jobs fall through in the end for various reasons.

Several puppets from Nieuwstad (New City) as seen next to a pole on location in the neighborhood of "Nieuwstad," where children doing the historic Verborgen Verleden (Hidden History) walk can stop and scan the QR code which leads to a page online where can be watched Mattaar's video about this part of the town. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

Managing time and tasks on a project like this is always a challenge. I am still learning… I had a fairly long time frame to work within, but of course I had to be realistic with the available budget and the time I could and/or should spend on it. I will always try to break the project down in the different stages: puppet making, set building, production (set dressing, cinematography and animation) and, finally, editing. However, often some of these overlap, as well. For this project I started to build the puppets, made the main props and established the kinds of materials I would use for the main landscape elements. But then I started animation as soon as possible which meant I still had to do more set building between animating shots. I think this worked quite well and helped in keeping the process efficient. I could re-use a lot of elements and was building each set in front of the camera, straight away seeing it on the screen and under the correct lighting. This meant that I could see exactly what I needed and make new props and background elements as and when I needed them.

Roos Mattaar creating the puppets for Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

A.H.: I’m sure designing the physical landscape of Nieuwstad (New City) was an unique experience, as it’s a model of your hometown...just as seen in the 12th century. How did you go about developing the story and aesthetic of Nieuwstad (New City) and how, if at all, did your familiarity with your hometown play into designing the film?

RM: A big part of the film is actually taking place in a village near the town (Paveien) which doesn’t exist anymore. Because the film is taking place in the 12th century at this time most houses were either wooden or like the farms made with clay and straw roofs. So the only shot that is really recognisably my hometown is the time lapse of the map. This I based directly on a historical map of the town from 1621. Many streets and buildings are still in the same place. For the historical details I discussed with the client who was passing on my questions to a local history expert. This way I made sure I had the right references for the type of houses and layout of the land plots in the village. It did help to be familiar with the landscape to add details such as the pollard willows which are still very typical in the landscape today.

Roos Mattaar putting the final touches on set dress on the set of Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

For the story I had a very clear brief of what needed to be told through the film, so the main challenge was HOW to tell it in the best way, in such a short film. Initially the brief was a 50 second film. Later on it was decided that this particular video could be a little longer. It would have been really hard otherwise to tell the story properly. So I was still making changes halfway through the production, adding in extra necessary shots.

For the designs I was inspired by medieval illustrations as well as Dutch oil paintings and old wooden carved puppets. I initially planned for the aesthetics to be more stylised to the medieval illustrations, but I didn’t have a very clear plan on how I wanted to execute this. Eventually I decided to let the style and aesthetic grow dynamically, using references I had collected as inspiration but also allowing the materials and textures I was finding and testing bring about the final look. The possibilities of using textures and qualities of real materials are something I love about the stop motion medium, and it seemed the right style for a historical film.

Roos Mattaar animating on the set of Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

A.H.: With Nieuwstad (New City) being the first film you directed since your award-winning graduation film, Moonbird, what did you learn in terms of taking on the responsibilities of a director (as well as that of cinematographer) that you wouldn’t have learned if you had only been an animator and/or modelmaker?

RM: That it is more stressful! Haha. But also exciting.

As an animator or model maker I will try to work to someone else’s vision. As a director I am creating this myself and need to manage all the other roles as well. Some important lessons I think were about how much style choices early on impact the rest of the production.

Armatures of the puppets in Nieuwstad (New City) created by Roos Mattaar. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

Allowing the style to develop instead of making a very clear plan at the start meant that because I started adding quite a lot of detail, I had to carry this on for the entire production. I am happy with the result, but when it comes to managing time and budget, it will be important to sometimes also make fitting style choices.

Having the control over the final edit allowed me to see straight away whether something was working or not. When I knew I could make the edit a little longer I added in some changes and extra shots which I think have improved the flow of the story a lot.

A puppet created by Roos Mattaar in the midst of fabrication. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

I am not a professional cinematographer, but as with everything I try to learn more each project. There is a lot of trying and experimenting and sometimes finding I cannot quite get what I’m trying to achieve. But next time I will hopefully know a little better how to set up the lights to get what I want, which lenses to choose and which I might need to invest in for the next project.

A.H.: You mentioned on your Instagram that you went “a little overboard with the details” when it came to designing the sets and characters of Nieuwstad (New City). Can you elaborate on what you mean by going “overboard”? How does one, as a model maker or as a director, know when to stop adding detail into their sets and characters?

RM: Haha! Well yes. I do like to put detail into what I make. It can be a style choice and not necessarily right or wrong. This was an opportunity for me to make a new film so I wanted to put effort into it and make it something I could be proud of. However, I also knew that the video would be made for a project where it would be mainly watched from a smartphone screen, and as mentioned in reply to the previous question, taking time and budget into account is important too.

A house set in the midst of being built. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

I like how the video has turned out aesthetically but the more realistic and detailed style did make the process very laborious. I had to re-paint the sky between almost every shot and when I was making the roof of the farm house bundle by bundle by deconstructing a broom head I definitely doubted my decisions and my sanity... I could have simplified this and made it in a much quicker way, but this way I could make the shot where you see the roof in progress and showcase this part of the build. Hopefully it is a nice detail, even if you only see it for a few seconds…

I think it was helpful that I was mostly building the sets in front of the camera. In this way I could see exactly what I needed and also how detailed it needed to be. By looking at it through the camera, how it would be seen in the final video, it was easier to know when to stop and when something looked good or when it needed something extra.

A cow puppet in the midst of being painted. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

A.H.: Can you tell us a little bit about Hangar Puppet Animation Studio and how you, Joseph Wallace, and Heather Colbert came to establish it?

RM: Whilst working with Joseph Wallace on the Sparks music video he already mentioned to be looking for a bigger studio space and suggested the option of sharing a space. Initially I was hesitant since I did have a space in the attic that I was using as a workshop at the time. However, when a big industrial unit located at a new artist studio complex in Bristol came available the possibilities were exciting. We had to decide quickly but we also knew that we would need a bigger group of people to make it work and to be able to afford it.

A set for Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

We were looking for people as passionate about stop motion animation and wanting and needing a space to create their work. Early on we were joined by Katie Hood and Mary Murphy, later on followed by Marie Lechavellier and Marnik Loysen and finally Heather Colbert joined to make the Hangar Puppet Animation Studio complete.

A lot of work had to be done in doing the place up and making it suitable. This has taken a lot of time as we are doing it all ourselves and not everyone has had equal availability and time to dedicate to it, besides that we had to navigate this around producing the first three projects in the space already. I am really grateful that we are able to make this happen together and excited to the outlook of sharing a space with such talented individuals. It will be amazing to have a space inspire each other whilst sharing resources and knowledge.

A cow puppet for Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

This is the main idea behind having this space: instead of everyone making films alone in their bedrooms – or attics – together we can pull resources together and create a space where we can share passion and ideas as well as tools, equipment and space. If it works out we will also have a space we can occasionally rent out to others or for example host workshops in.

A.H.: The last time we talked, Isle of Dogs and Early Man – both films you worked on – had yet to be released. Now that they’re both available to the public, can you tell us about your work on them, as well as the lessons you learned from working on them?

RM: I was working at John Wright Modelmaking, a small company in Bristol specialized in high quality models, puppets, props and ball and socket armatures. They have worked together with Aardman for decades providing many armatures and models. I was asked to join them to work on the ball and socket armatures for Early Man. Other incoming jobs included additional armatures for Isle of Dogs, which I made some parts for.

Roos Mattaar animating on the set of Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

My experience in working on these films has been a bit different since I never was in the studios where the actual films were being created during the time of their production.

For Early Man we would be given the prototype of the armature of each character after this had already been through the complete design and approval stage. With the example armature as a guide we would be asked to make all the copies required for the shooting of the film. For Isle of Dogs most of the armatures were designed and built at the studio in London, but because there were so many characters John Wright was asked to provide additional armatures and armature parts.

Roos Mattaar painting the sky backdrop on the set of Nieuwstad (New City). Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

Whilst working on these films I have mostly learned a lot of metal fabrication skills; operating the lathe and milling machine, complex silver soldering, and many other technical skills needed for the precision engineering that goes into making these armatures.

In terms of being involved from an early stage in these productions, I really did not know much about the story or the development of the creative side of the film until I saw the final film in the cinema, since I was not involved in this part of the process. I am grateful to have had this opportunity and to work and learn from people with so much experience and many skills.

Wheel props in the midst of being fabricated. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

A.H.: You’ve mentioned that next to commissions, you are also working on a few personal projects. How would you like to see yourself grow as an artist – both in terms of the actual craft of stop motion and in terms of communication and collaboration – and how are your current projects getting you to that place of mastery?

RM: I love many of the different roles that go into creating films and have always been keen to learn more about specific fabrication processes as much as about understanding visual storytelling and cinematography or character performance in animation. I would love to get more opportunities to direct as well as to take on roles in fabrication or animation on commissioned projects. I enjoy taking on commissions where there are interesting technical and creative challenges to take on. I hope that taking on roles with more responsibilities will also help me to grow not only as an artist but also as a creative professional and all the business side of things, decision making, communicating, collaborating, etc. that is part of that too. I have worked on my own and together with others, but I have not had much experience where I have had to communicate my vision to others within a team as a director. I’d like to get better at getting a strong pitch together at the early stage of a project, both for personal and commissioned projects.

The projects I would really like to make often end up being quite ambitious. I hope that I can grow enough in all areas, from improving my own skills to knowing where and when to delegate tasks and finding the resources to make it possible to realize new films in the best possible way. I don’t believe I could ever get to a certain place that would mean I have mastered any of these skills though. I just hope I can always keep learning new things.

Photo of Roos Mattaar. Photo courtesy of Roos Mattaar.

To explore more of Roos Mattaar’s work, you can visit her website, Instagram, Vimeo, and LinkedIn.

You can also read more about Mattaar’s work on Nieuwstad (New City) by reading the articles written about it on the news site AD, Culemborgklopt, Skwigly, and Zippy Frames.

In our interview, Mattaar mentions the names of several collaborators who she now shares a studio with, including those of Joseph Wallace, Marie Lechevallier, Katrina Hood, and Heather Colbert, each of whom Stop Motion Geek has had the incredible opportunity to interview.

Stop Motion Geek has, in fact, conducted two interviews with animation director Joseph Wallace – the first of which concerning his work as an animator and director on the award-winning 2017 music video for American pop/rock band Spark’s Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me), which you can read by going here. Our second – and very recent – interview with Wallace focuses on his work on the surrealist, psychedelic music video for Canadian alternative/indie artist Parker Bossley’s debut single, Chemicals, which you can read by going here.

Our interview with Marie Lechevallier focuses on her work as an animator, collage constructor, and Wallace’s sole collaborator on Chemicals, and you can read it by going here.

You can read our interview with Mattaar’s collaborator Katrina Hood – the focus of which is her work as a prop and set builder on Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me) – by going here.

Stop Motion Geek has also conducted two interview with Heather Colbert, the first of which fixated on her work as the auteur behind the music video for jazz singer/songwriter Ori Dagan’s Bibimbap – the Toronto-based musician’s homage to Nat King Cole – which you can read by going here. Our second interview with Colbert focused as her work as the director of the music video for pop artist Mark Nevin’s Dolly Said No To Elvis, which tells the incredible true tale of how country music icon Dolly Parton refused to turn the rights of her song “I Will Always Love You” over to Elvis Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker, which she would have had to do in order for the rock n’ roll music legend to perform her song. You can read that interview by going here.

Furthermore, Stop Motion Geek has also interviewed several individuals involved with the feature films Early Man and Isle of Dogs, both of which Mattaar contributed to.

First to be mentioned concerning Stop Motion Geek’s Early Man interviews are those with model makers Frank Harper and Marika Aakala. The former of which can be read here and the latter here. Furthermore, as has been previously mentioned, Stop Motion Geek has also interviewed Marie Lechevallier, who worked as an animator on Early Man, which can be read here.

The first to be mentioned concerning Stop Motion Geek’s interviews relating to Isle of Dogs is our interview with Tim Allen, who served as a key animator on the film and whose interview can be read here. Stop Motion Geek has also interviewed three other individuals who worked on the film concerning other projects of theirs: Andy Biddle, an animator on the film whose interview can be read here, Quetin Haberham, who also worked as an animator on the film, whose interview can be read here, as well as Gerald Thompson, whose motion control software powered the film, whose interview can be read here.

You can watch Nieuwstad (New City) by going here.

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