On the Subject of Animation

Chapter One WIP

I stumbled on these old books at work. They’ve been removed from circulation, and I found this whole scene to be inspiring. I took a few – they called out to be repurposed. Objects like Altoids tins and spoons sometimes do that to me.

The audio for this piece is a collection of clips I’ve accumulated from field recordings, old tapes and found sound (literally sounds that I found somewhere and edited).

I hear each different section as though it’s a visual background to a comic panel, and that’s where the inspiration for the animation comes from.

The audio below will likely change and evolve, especially around the rhythm component. But here’s the working draft so far:

Posted in Animation

Scientifically Sound Questions

While hiking this weekend, Lily proposed some interesting questions, which lead to this particular inquiry.

Scroll of paper with the words "If you look young."
Paper scroll with a painting, for animation
Posted in Animation

BIRBS

This one features the character Red Ibis Cowboy that I created a few months back…

Posted in Animation

WIP: Opening scene, Roshambos

This is the opening scene of a short called the Benefits of Radiation. I’ve already prepped most of the sounds/foley. I wanted to share this today.

Posted in Animation

Working Title? Oil

I’m enjoying this so very much.

This animation is on a scroll of paper that I purchased from IKEA. I’ve been making scrolls on this stuff since 2008. I really love working this way – on scrolls, I mean. I’ve always thought animation and scrolls are intertwined.

This was my first attempt, but I chanced my mind and decided to work in the opposite direction (to go down instead of up, from this point of view). I got to seven seconds of footage, which is 168 frames, before I abandoned this one.

The above photo shows me wrapping up this scene. It was about 8 hours of work, with a lunch break and dog walks.

Below, the final scroll.

It’s worth mentioning – and, really essential that I explain – that the music in this was the starting point of this animation. In fact, every animation that I’ve produced this year (12? 14?) began with some audio that I authored. This was recorded with a Moog, and I love it. I hope you do, too!

Posted in Animation