Shaping Ideas - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 106

I had wanted a sizeable cast of characters, but the budget allowed for one decent puppet, and
actually that made and focused the i lm. The Channel Four brief for the Lip Synch series was to
play with language, and while the other i lms in the series, Creature Comforts, Ident, War Story
and Going Equipped , all played with verbal language, I was tickled by the conceit of telling
some Shakespeare stories without words, just using body language.
Auditions
Af ording only one puppet reinforced an idea of having Shakespeare himself acting out the
stories, and the idea of an audition developed. Auditions do not come more clichéd that
those for Shakespeare pieces. Auditions have clearly scared me and scarred me, but they were
all good background experience for Next . I once auditioned for Jack Point, my favourite of
all the Gilbert and Sullivan characters. Great acting, I was told, but the singing, erm … next!
Decades ago, I auditioned for Let My People Come , a limp sex musical cashing in on Hair . Being
a student I thought working backstage might get me a theatre career. As I stood naively on
the huge stage, they asked me to sing. I explained that I only wanted to work backstage. 'Sing!'
the voice in the darkness bellowed again. A snippet from Yeomen of the Guard didn't get me
the job (surprisingly), and they had clearly realised that there was no decent physique as
compensation for the lack of a voice. Next! I didn't get a job backstage, but the thrill at standing
on stage peering out over the footlights got i led away. You never know when you'll need this
scrapbook. Shakespeare's actions in Next come from bitter experience.
Auditions are, as for most performers, part of an animator's life, but like everything animation
based, they only amount to a few seconds, and for that reason, auditions can be tough. The
purpose of showreels is to show that you are proi cient and versatile, but auditions are geared
towards being appropriate for a certain project. Usually it can take a considerable period
to know a puppet, the recording technology, the studio etiquette, the story and so on, but
when auditioning, the animator is often thrown in at the deep end and is judged on the
few seconds produced. It is harsh, but even in those few seconds you can tell a lot about an
animator. Auditions can reveal animators' strengths, whether they are comfortable with action,
or character or humour. I will happily audition, but being asked recently to recommend any
good animators rather bluntly put me in my place. I don't envy those who audition, but it is
best to keep it clear, simple and controlled. Do not try to overreach yourself trying to show of .
In a nutshell, let whatever you do read … this is my other mantra, I'm afraid. Like showreels,
producers would rather see something simple done well and completed, rather than
something complex done badly and uni nished.
Creative discipline
At one point in Next 's development, snippets of famous actors each saying a line of Shakespeare
and cobbling that together into a typical speech seemed a good idea. Copyrights killed that.
Using local people for the same idea and 'inspiring' Shakespeare would have been in
keeping with the rest of the Lip Synch series, but was too close to Creature Comforts . I
even looked up the strolling players' cod Shakespeare speech in Huckleberry Finn , but
not enough plays were quoted. I had wanted a lot of sets and mock Shakespearean
backdrops, with homages to every production and actor I had seen and loved, but
the budget forced me into a more disciplined creative direction. A tight budget does
challenge me to be creative, so maybe a lavish budget would allow creative laziness.