Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
“For cut paper animation, we don't use any hinges. It's a bit more
frustrating and time consuming to work this way but it allows a lot more
flexibility in the poses and keeps the animators from tightening up. If
we are working with paper puppets we'll use anything we can twist into
a circle as a hinge. Sometimes it's wire, sometimes it's a paperclip. It's
typically whatever is lying closest on the desk.”
A final piece of advice from director and animator Terry Gilliam regarding
cutouts:
“The most important equipment was a sharp scalpel” and “Make sure you
blacken the edges” of the cutouts.
Cutouts can be shot vertically as opposed to in a downshooting mode.
Pictures can be mounted on glass or mounted sliders that hold the cardboard-
backed cutouts upright. The camera is mounted on a tripod in this case.
The lighting arrangement is a little more flexible, and tracking the cutouts
becomes very manageable. Jim Blashfield, a comtemporary independent
artist and American Animation Master from Portland, Oregon, was a pioneer
inthisarea.Herehedescribeshisapproachtoamusicvideohedirected,
And
She Was
,forDaveByrneandtheTalkingHeadsin1986.Themusicvideowas
produced for Jim Blashfield by Melissa Marsland.
“All scenes were animated to the frame-by-frame log we had made of
the song. That log was the backbone to the video, whether scenes were
preplanned or improvised. Also central were the boxes of color Xeroxes
that resulted from our guerrilla photo shoots all over Portland. We
drove around looking for garage sales, secondhand stores, interesting
neighborhoody things, and photographing them on site, along with
personal items that seemed to fit in: a mailbox that looked just the right
way,etc.Foroneoverheadscene,Don[Merkt]sentMelissa[Marsland]off
to snatch a couple of pairs of my underwear from our house, the patterns
of which appeared floating across the scene. We chose ordinary things
that either we thought would be amusing, or/and which seemed to have
embedded metaphorical power, or which we otherwise thought should
be honored for their long and unappreciated contribution to our lives.
Spatula, reclining chair, purse, party hat—icons from the less appreciated
heights of our culture. We also carefully photographed our pixilated
moving leg sequences, and others, one frame at a time, onto color slides,
and these were cut out by a herd of our friends with Xacto knives, and
putintotheboxesinfolders.TheliveactionofDavidsingingwas16mm
footagewhichweshotinDallasinourveryminimallive-actionshoot—
camerabalancedonsomevideotapeboxesinDavid'sofficeintheback
of an old house they were renting—which we then turned into paper
prints at the Portland State Library microfiche department.
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