Fun with Plastic!!!

Super Mega Busy here at the Studio and we've been making all sorts of crazy chaos. One of the things that we've been working on heavily is a series of free how-to videos for the Stop Mo beginner and intermediate builder/animator. One of the reasons for this is that there just is this massive void that separates a beginner builder from an expert. Unless you know someone or interned for a studio, you just end up missing a lot of this information. Hopefully we can bridge the expanse and get more people animating. It would be a shame if the next Leonardo Da Vinci never had a chance to try their hands at Stop Mo.

So here's a video of how to cast plastic puppet heads and custom toys:



We Also had our friend Steve Weintz from Famous Monsters Magazine stop by and pour some plastic "Zombie Dad" puppet heads. We filmed him working and posted it up on YouTube for all to see.

Chairs At Play

Chairs at Play was the result of a morning after a recent rain and the overwhelming drive to animate something. It took 5 hours and was a lot of fun. Check it out.

Gumby Issue of Stop Motion Magazine

If you haven't heard already, the Great Iconic Father of Clay Animation Art Clokey passed away this month. We were very sad to hear this news and we offer our deepest condolences to the Clokey family. Art was more then just a man he was the father of a character that has brought joy and happiness to so many.

We have been planning the February Issue of SMM for sometime now. Infact far before the first issue was released. It's a bazaar irony that the issue is being released right after his passing. Many well known animators have stepped forward to contribute interviews and content in tribute to Art and his legendary character Gumby and we hope that this will make for a wonderful tribute to the man we call the "Father of Clay Animation".

On an the upside, we just made a large Van Aken clay purchase for the children's book we have been planning for release in Summer 2010. We don't want to spoil the surprise. But I can say it will be very fun and full of clay.









Also, Victor Akuna (One of our Puppet builders/Animators) came by this week and poured a ton of plastic puppet heads for the "Zombie Dad" web series we are making. They came out great and we will be posting a tutorial on making them on our YouTube Channel soon.
We also have just finished a timelapse of the Female Puppet mold making process that we will be casting latex bodies for the series as well. Here it is!!!

Stop Motion Film Festival - Los Angeles

We'll, it's official!!! Announcing as of today that Stop Motion Magazine is holding it's first annual Stop Motion Film Festival in Los Angeles. The festival will run sometime in August 2010 and will feature only stop motion related short films (Puppets, Clay, Cutout, Pixilation, Legomation, Dinomation, Sand, etc). There will be prizes and awards along with the Grand Prize of the "Purple Monkey" Trophy. Which will be given to the winner of "Best Film" and picked by the audience. Judges will be kept secret for now but a few of the Stop Motion Professional Animators are already on board for the judging panel.

So do you want to enter??? We'll it's easy. Go to our "Festival" page on www.stopmotionmagazine.com and download the entry form, fill it out and send it to us with your DVD or BlueRay Disc, along with the entry fee. There will be a selection process by a group (Not me) who will pick the official entries. Those that are selected will go on to be shown at the festival and will be eligible for the trophy's and prizes. Those not selected (we're sorry).... But you can always submit again with a newer version or a different film.

Location and Official Festival Date will be announced in July. And the deadline for entering the festival is June 15th 2010. So what are you waiting for? Start Animating!!!

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.