Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
the chorus as statues brought to life. The potential was there for something exciting that
blurred the line between the inanimate and the animate, making the audience unsure of
what they were watching. The i lm has Dick Van Dyke seeming to dance with drawn penguins,
in the same space, and beautifully directed to react with each other. With the stage statues
there is little magic or surprise as the ef ect is so straightforward. Act One ends with Jane and
Michael attacked by the toys and dolls they have mistreated. Again these are actors in ef ective
costumes, and some are designed to look as if a limb is missing. Again, blurring the line
between actors and puppets might have intrigued the audience more.
That puppets, dolls and objects with life feature in so many cultures should not be surprising
as, basically, storytelling and drama are about bringing inanimate characters to life. Animation,
and particularly stop motion, is an extreme version of this, but the tools we use are not singers,
dancers or actors, but are literally inanimate objects. The popularity of video games shows not
just a need for exciting role playing, albeit from a safe distance, but also that the players enjoying
manipulating other characters in far more exhilarating situations. The puppet and the puppeteer.
Did imagining your toys coming to life kickstart all this?
JD
- Several educational fi lms using puppets by Bill Baird and others were shown in my school. My father
made 8 mm home movies and had a topic that mentioned animation of toys, etc. Aged fi ve, I found a
jointed wooden doll belonging to my aunts and mother. It could be posed like a stop motion puppet.
Very intriguing, but I didn't give it adventures. I was more interested in how it worked.
TB
- My friend Kent and I made stop motion fi lms of anything we could get our hands on: GI Joe dolls,
Johnny West dolls, model cars, airplanes, action fi gures, and so on.
RC
- I used the family 16 mm camera for my fi rst animation. I took two toy horses sculpted in two
poses ... running and rearing up. I slid the running one along frame by frame until he got to a fence,
then replaced him with the rearing one that I manipulated over and down in a few frames, and then
back to the running one. When I got the fi lm back, I was hooked.
DC
- Star Wars fi gures were my thing! Adventures all the time!!!
RH
- I had many He-Man, Ghostbusters and Thundercats toys with which my brother and I acted out
our own adventures. My fi rst piece of animation was with He-Man fi gures and a camcorder - in the
garden, using a table-lamp for lighting and a watering can for rain!
TA
- I was mad on playing with toys and creating adventures - usually a big fi ght. I choreographed fi ght
scenes with macho dialogue; 'I'll get you'. 'No, I'll get you'. 'Well I'll get you fi rst'. Playing with toys until
I was far too old, my eyes lit up when learning I could do this for a living. Making toys come alive felt
magical. We use 'magical' too much to describe stop motion, yet that felt true for this excited art student
who'd found his niche. I actively try to keep that feeling going.
JC
- I had an active imagination with teddies, dolls and 'Sindys' to play with. With my three brothers
we put character into our toys, sometimes being a little cruel. My toys would often be kidnapped and
tortured.
FL
- I had He-Man action fi gures, and I did many stories with them.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search