Merry Christmas from SMM

Hi Everyone,

We want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years. Now is the time to kick back, drink some EggNog, and Eat till you explode. But in our case it's time to make PUPPETS!!!

Our little guy to the left of this text is our Camera Buddy for the Stop Motion Magazine Film Festival Ad Scheduled to be announced in January. Ooops... Did I let the cat out early.....

The Festival is planned for August 2010 and we will start taking entry in the beginning of January. There will be an entry fee and the festival is strictly Stop Motion and all it's sub genre's (Pixilation, SandAnimation, Clay Animation, Puppet Animation, Toy Animation, and Cutout Animation). There will also be prizes which will be announce sometime in March 2010.


Our Dino Buddy that you see to the Right has been an ongoing Stop Motion Magazine Logo Puppet for our title card and other promotions when we release the Feature Length Documentary "In The Shadows of Light". We hope to have all film production completed by June 2010 and the release date is yet to be determined. The Documentary focuses on Stop Motion Animators and the worlds they create in their Garages or Basements.


The Dino is a Brontosaurs that's a build up puppet using wood, wire, epoxy, mattress foam, Super Sculpey, Glass Beads, and Liquid Latex. The skins are sitting in front of the puppet in the picture above. There is also a Caveman and Cavewoman puppet that are already completed but aren't shown here in this entry. There's a ton of other stuff we would like to announce but have to hold off until a future date after the Holidays. But stay tuned, it's going to get exciting!!!

SMM Issue #3 Decemeber 2009 Is Out!!!

The Decemeber 2009 Issue #3 of Stop Motion Magazine is now available for download. You can download it here: http://www.stopmotionmagazine.com/StopMotionWebsite/Issues.html

In this issue:

Featured Article: Meet the Buddies of BuddySystem Studios

Also:
-Interview with Master Sculptor John Brown
-Harryhausen Exibit in Spain
-A look at "A Town Called Panic" the Movie
-Barry Purves new commercial with Loose Moose
-How to make a Foam Latex Oven

It was a lot of work and a lot of fun.

So can I play with puppets now mommy?

"Christmas is Creepy" Music Video on the Disney Channel and YouTube

The Music Video is final available for public viewing. It premiered on the Disney Channel over the weekend and now can be seen on YouTube.

One thing I did notice about the video is that all the timing for the Stop Motion is off. I believe this is due to the editor changing the frame rate and speed of the original clips. Also, NONE of the DIGITAL MOUTHS sync!!! Ahhhhh..... This has to be from editor not syncing the stop motion to the timecode of the storyboards and playing with timing to match. This could be the result of a clip that for some reason didn't make it into the final edit.

Since I'm so used to editing most of the work that is done in the studio I rarely have these issues, and if I do I fix them fast. It's often easy to forget that Animation Editors and Live Action Editors are two different animals.

I would like to add the Andy Signore is a great director and did a wonderful job on directing his first Animated Music Video. He's done lots of work in the past with big names and his talent always shines through.

If you want to see the behind the scenes you can checkout the video below.