It’s that time of year where politics are ripe. One thing that is playing a prominent role are videos…whether they are attack ads, satire, funding pleas, or pundits debating the minutiae, I wanted to chime in on this phenomenon. This video is a response to the NY Times invite to produce short videos on why are we going to vote this year.
The film was published in the NY TIMES…
Filed under Independent
This is a teaser for my latest animated film…”My Pal Geo”. This is a portrait of Toronto and my good friend Geo Pal who lives in the Annex. I wanted to paint a seedier side of Toronto, many who do not live there may never experience. I chose the sketchy style to contrast the innocent and naive viewer from the perverse and darker side of this great city.
Filed under 2D, animation, Independent
Here’s a clip of the film. The full version is doing the film festival rounds so I won’t be posting it until next year. I have DVD’s if anyone is interested.
Filed under 3D, animation, Appalachian Dreams, Film Festivals, Independent
This is one of many stories my late grandfather told me in the winter of 2005. I’ll post all of them at one point. He’s not the most “sensitive” or “politically correct” but I still love him and his sense of story. He has a few.
Filed under animation, Independent
My latest animation film is based on the art quilts of two extraordinary quilters, Dixie Haywood and Dottie Moore. I met the artists while attending a gallery opening at the South Carolina Botanical Gardens. This beautiful place housed their quilts and I find inspiration every time I visit. I was very excited about working with Dixie and Dottie, they were so receptive in allowing me to work with their quilts in a digital realm. I was attracted to using a traditional medium such as quilt fabric but in a digital twist.
I used Photoshop to tear apart their quilts and reassmbled them to work with animation. I found myself making virtual patterns and colors with nothing but a mouse and a wacom digital tablet. But don’t be FOOLED, it was tedious work! The computer cannot read minds and so I had to go in sometimes, stitch by stitch to faithfully recreate the illusion of fabric. After such work, I have such great respect for quilters as they apply their crafts in the real physical world.
Dixie and Dottie both take traditional quilting and break the rules subtly and abruptly. They refer to themselves not necessarily as quilters but quilt craftpersons, an interesting coinage. The music is from very talented and established banjo player, Charles Wood, who has performed with Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin on the Late Show with David Letterman. Taking all these great South Carolinians and combining them into a one complete project is what film making and animation is all about. You take the best of ALL medium and I was fortunate enough to work with these great artists. Normally my subject material is all in my head, but there is some kind of liberation when you adapt from others. It’s a huge learning process that I constantly crave. Even though I am an educator by trade, I cannot exist in this world without constantly pursuing my own learning. It drives and feeds me.
The film is currently being submitted to various festivals and I plan on posting a snippet on youtube very soon, so stay tuned!
Filed under 2D, animation, Digital, Education, Film Festivals, Independent, Traditional
