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 I returned to California and more wandering around, then, Will Vinton Studios called me again, and I fabricated some armatures for Fox's Television Sports Network. These were brief animated spots, of football commentator puppets doing wild & crazy stuff, promoting Fox's Football season.
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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. |
| For 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.