Widening the Scope - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 318

animated wallpaper, but with a single actor in front of you, you are rewardingly forced to join in
and concentrate. By totally throwing the emphasis onto the puppets I've tried similarly to break
down the barrier between performer and audience, even if I cannot help throwing in some
telling visuals.

I strive to make a moment in stop motion that matches the sheer emotion of Smike's death,
or the i nale of Swan Lake . Risible drawn versions of both Nickleby and Swan Lake , found on
markets next to DVDs hoodwinking innocent parents that they are buying a premature release
of the latest Disney or Pixar, do not help my case.

Name ten of your greatest cultural experiences, or creative artists,
alive or dead.

JD - Willis O'Brien; John Singer Sergeant; Albert Whitlock; Ray Harryhausen; Frank Frazetta; N.C. Wyeth;
Art Clokey; Rimsky Korsakov; Ivan Bilibin; Victor Herbert; Rudolph Friml - okay, it's eleven, sue me.

Probably the most infl uential cultural experience was my father taking me to the theatre arts department
at Michigan State University when I was fi ve and I saw marionettes up close for the fi rst time. There was
no performance; no-one else was there, only the behind-the-stage sets and the marionettes hanging
motionless. It wasn't even a fantasy subject, just uniformed WWII soldiers and their sweethearts, plus
a large troop train set, but I never forgot the 'magic' of it all. Strange that my dad would have even been
aware of the puppet theatre, since he was involved with the sciences and was teaching aerial terrain
recognition to air corps cadets.

TB - John Huston; John Singer Sargent; Frederick Remington; Augustus Rodin; Igor Stravinsky; Bernard
Herrmann; Dante; Michelango Bounarotti; Jan Van Meer; Ray Harryhausen.

KD -

1. Paul Berry - after seeing Sandman , the next day I made the tutor play it in the large lecture theatre

and everyone was speechless.

2. Audrey Hepburn - pure style and beauty.

3. Dick Van Dyke - for my childhood.

4. Paul Weller - guidance.

5. Tim Burton - for biting.

6. Baz Lurhmann - for making everything sparkle.

7. Paul Wells - for making me believe and suggesting I cross the bridge.

8. Barry Purves - Screen Play - repeated watching and tears at the end.

9. Suzie Templeton - I can remember exactly where I was when I fi rst saw Stanley and being told it was

a student fi lm. Kept me going through my degree!