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 I returned
to California and some wandering around for awhile as an unemployed, "What the hell do I do now
with my LIFE?" freelancer. Then, a call from Will
Vinton Studios and they wanted me to design & fabricate some
stop motion armatures for their Fox
NFL commercial ads. These were stop motion animated
spots of football
commentators as caricatured puppets, going through all kinds
of wild & crazy stuff promoting Fox's
Football season. Since I constructed the armatures here in
the S.F. Bay Area, I am not sure if Vinton's crew (in
Portland) used my original armatures for all the Stop Mo ads
or if they made addtional armatures modeled after my
prototypes. Years later, thanks to Kevin
MacClean he has been generous to share 'some' of
those cool & zany Stop Mo NFL Fox Ads. Click 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
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For Monk eyBone,
(directed by Henry Selick) I got a call from the production company, to
do a quick job for them. For the main character, Monkeybone, the
animators where already using highly engineered & complex
animation armatures (I did not fabricate those) that had precision
facial feature replacement system. I think, there were about 10 stop
motion animators with about the same number of those "Rolls Royce"
armatures. They needed two more animation armatures but there was no
possible that way I could reproduce the same complicated design in such
a short schedule; so, they gave me all the original molds and I took
detailed measurements, and designed the Monkeybone armatures in a more
"simpler jointing style" that would approximate the joint movements of
the complex armatures. Again, the schedule was rushed. In my visits to
the MonkeyBone studio, I got a few tours of the stages and viewed the
animation set-up & methods......very fascinating....combining
traditional stop motion with motion control, and post digital
compositing & effects. |
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me, working in Stop Motion has not been a full time occupation. Of
course, this is the nature of the arts-entertainment field; it is a
chosen lifestyle. Some in Stop-Motion have been lucky to transition
into computer animation & effects. There seem to be more
opportunities in that market, but it is also very competitive now. Here
in the Francisco Bay Area, it is supposed to be, the mecca of Computer
Effects & Animation. Some studios ( like Tippett ) take into
consideration, your traditional artistic / crafts & animation
skills (sculpting, drawing, modelmaking, cel & stop mo
animation ), and sometimes will train you to cross-over into computer
work, but unfortunately, many studios seem to be primarily interested
in what "computer degrees" you have, and your experience with different
software programs ( just read the "job requirements" ). Hopefully, CG
animation & effects studios will be using more intuitive
software programs ( an easier interface to learn more quickly &
naturally ), so that more traditional artists can enter the CG market.
There is a vast resource of talent from the Traditional Artist's Real
World; the tactile, sensory, & organic environment, that could
contribute much to the CG animation & effects field. So, all
you Stop-Motion aficianados, do not be too disappointed. Even though at
this time, Stop-Motion in the commercial - professional market may not
possibly be sufficient to sustain regular employment, but if you are a
true admirer of the Art, you can always practice and enjoy Stop Motion
Animation as your personal avocation / hobby. UPDATE / 2OO2: Like I just said above, Stop Motion is not full time work. I do have another regular job and although stop motion work might not be plentiful at this time, I would even pursue this animation art & craft even if I was not paid to do it. I can take a guess what I will be doing when I am 85 years old ..... just tinkering away in my attic with Stop Motion ! It looks like the CGI market is just SATURATED and studio's in general do not seem to care if you have traditional animation, modeling, or crafting skills. So much for my fantasy of studio's utilizing the talents of traditional artists. When there was a shortage of CGI computer people, I suppose the studio's might have been willing to train you, but now it's a buyer's market (studio's advantage) ..... they just put out a "cattle call" for CGI people which can now be replaced like "plug and play parts". Just seems like the crafting and artistry is gone and unique talents not appreciated. It's all "mouse clicking" and mass production of a homogenized film product for the almighty cash (but that's show biz). << Back --- |
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In the late 1990's I did a
number of jobs for Will Vinton
on armatures for another stop motion television
pilot / test series, called Gary & Mike.
The stop motion animation was shot digitally (no film camera). Did you
know that about 11 years ago (1989), Vinton Studios pioneered the use
of computer technology for "frame grabbing" in Stop Motion work? This
is a method so animators can capture images "live" for checking the
Stop Motion animation.