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Previous News
 05.26.07
* 'Model
Magic ®' from Crayola .... Some years ago brought up at message board. I thought it would inspire
some thinking-out-of-the box Stop
Motionists or beginners to experiment with, but mostly,
as far as I know, NO ONE has exploited
its use as a material medium to
use for one-off, puppet build-ups fabrication.
In past, I have only done some minimal sculpting
& handling of Model Magic,
to get the feel of
it and not yet, for actual Stop Mo use. Most of
message board inquiries usually about all clay
puppets (as in, for Clay Animation), the
standard build up puppet methods and
then the foam  latex casting methods.
Not criticizing those, but one should sometimes, break
tradition & trailblaze experiment with
new or different methods & materials.
At this time, I do not even want to
TOUCH 'Silicone' for Stop Mo
puppet skins-bodies. IMO, too much effort, time,
labor & not user-friendly to repair/patch silicone. I
want to 'animate' and not
spend my LIFE pre-occupied with
armatures/puppets (they do not
need to be overkill built). Stop Motion should be;
sort-of, kind-of .... 'Fun' ?
Model
Magic 'air dries' to a lightweight
styrofoam-like material but has a slight
spongey flex (will not crack). Check-out Crayola Model Magic ®; ubiquitously available almost
everywhere; especially online 1 & 2 and other sites-retailers-stores. Worth
experimenting with or are 'you', a lazy
slacker and just going to wait for me
to show you?
Get off your BUTTS and exercise
your brain cells and creativity, and then
share & reciprocate with us. Geeeez
.... I just do not understand you closeted Stop
Motion people! I know, there are 'exceptions' and I am not
tar & feathering everyone; but just the many guilty
ones 
P.S. I take back only 'some' of what I
just said: There is someone, Trevor Elliot
who recently submitted to StopMoShorts Visual Haiku, and he used Model
Magic on his Popeye puppet;
in addition to other materials. Pop Lobster (animated short) & behind the scenes. IMO, this is only the beginning
potential of Model Magic
material and can possibly be used for more complex puppet
build-ups in combination with other
materials; liquid latex, fiberfill, bake-able polymer
clays (also Superflex ), etc. etc.. Also, at this website , someone who creates some figure puppet models (photos too small) for his own Stop
Motion (info details are minimal-sketchy) with Model
Magic. Edit 05.26.07
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05.19.07
* Rápido
(en Español) Takes: Rabaudi @
DreamWorks, Fast StopMo Flying shots, DIY Camera Crane .... An article
spotlighting someone at Dreamworks who
creates hard reference models for the CGI
mouse-clickers. His background was also as a Stop
Motion modelmaker. Years ago, our paths may have
crossed on some projects, Cundo Rabaudi DreamWorks Animation
employee; also at
article, scroll down &
read the 4th comment
(by Baxter) about CGI.
Recent topic at
message board about fast way to stop motion fly
objects. SMM
demonstrated one, then Eric did one and this one which sure has similar look to this test I did many years ago when Eric was maybe
still in diapers?  I guess, imitation
is sincerest form of flattery?
Also, another topic
there about camera cranes for Stop Motion. From an old CineMagic mag article I found an online article
reprint of a DIY Camera Crane. Although, for Stop Motion,
you need to modify the crane so it can
be incrementally & accurately moved
then locked down, for frame by
frame animation of the crane. I should contact Miles & Jules for tips how they engineered their DIY Wombok Camera Crane Edit 05.20.07
* Experiment
at Message board .... and you do
not even know it! Proof to me, that in
the past,  only a few have
taken on the Stop Motion conversating load. Recently, Strider not posting too much and also, Nick Hilligoss seems to be lessening his
comments. As for myself, for now, I am lurking
with many of you. Actually,
'interrupting stuff' in my 'Life' and hence,
I am on an internet diet &
not even checked my backed up email
for a few weeks (only uploaded this
news/blog and then going offline). I feel, kind
of sleazy, lurking
 . How can you do it
and not contribute
just a little bit?  You indirectly put the pressure
on just the few
contributors to entertain you?
What a bunch of info sponges! IMO, it is
a 'Community' to interact,
reciprocrate, share, or
just say 'hi', whassup, etc.. Perhaps, many need to get
some fighting attitude spirit to help you come out of
your closets and transform
into die-hard 'Stop Motion
Cheerleaders'  Edit 05.20.07
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05.12.07
* Travis Knight, Robot
Chicken/StarWars, Uncle Ray @ MySpace, New Robocop DVD
.... Looks
like Ryan Ball (of Animation
Magazine), is 'On the Ball', doing
a little taste of Stop Mo focusing. He
did a short interview with Travis Knight
(son of Laika
Studio owner, Phil Knight) Coraline Animator Travis Knight of
LAIKA Travis seems
kind of cool and no big
ego. A creative artist that genuinely digs
animation.
Last week, our cracker jack (or this one) SMW News team  , reported about the Stop Mo
Robo-Chicken StarWars trailer.
Here are some already shot/aired episodes that looks like
it will be included in that special Robot Chicken: Star Wars Details
Revealed
Check out the MySpace Ray Harryhausen Museum by a  die-hard fan. Many comments
by posters there (new generation of young) that 'dig'
Uncle Ray's classic works. Ahhh .... the
power of Stop Motion. You
usually do not hear similar praises about CGI (animation
by committee).
Soon to be released: A
Collectors Edition of the original
Robocop directed by Paul
Verhoeven, and cool traditional
Special FX and also Stop Motion by
the Tippett Meister & his crew,
before Phil mainstreamed into
the gray fog of CGI. 20th Anniversary Edition of Robocop (2 Dvd set), will be available in August
Edit 05.13.07
* Secret New Beta Stop
Motion Software? .... Shelley Noble recently posted at Mike Brent's site/blog, stating that she knows of a beta frame-grabber software
but she did not provide the name of the
product, a link, or if
it's for Macs or PCs? No sharing
of info? I waited to see if later, she
would follow-up; but, nothing, nada, zero, zilch  . In general, the more that people know about
beta programs, the more feedback
the software author will
receive. That is the usual protocol for software
developers. Anyway, just putting the word out here and
hopefully we can persuade Shelley to reveal this mysterious
new Stop Motion program that is in
development. Your 'secret' will be safe with us  Edit 05.13.07
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05.05.07
* George
Lucas feels
the Robot Chicken FORCE .... A special RC parody of Star
 Wars will be aired
on June 17. Read this article and you
will also see a teaser clip link there, Robot Chicken & Seth Green at
Celebration IV . Or if you are in a hurry, see trailer here. Edit 05.06.07
* Meet 'Chad
Vader'
....The following is not Stop Mo
but sort-of staying with the Star Wars theme
here. I bet you never knew about
Darth Vader's much lesser
known, younger brother? Check out Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager. For best enjoyment &
storyline sense, watch the Episodes in order.
After viewing, read this Sun Times article, about these upstart
creative guerilla movie-maker artists.
IMO, they have done equal to or better
than pro comedy writers. Also, I like
the Chad Vader website; good promoting & marketing
and fun to visit, look at. Edit 05.06.07
* 'Chicks'
who Skin Animals .... This too, is somewhat
related to Stop Motion; the art & skill of Taxidermy, in which some methods can
be crossed-over into Stop Motion puppet
fabrication to produce the "realm
of realism" (remember Kong
& Joe Young puppets?). Well, if I
was starving, I could probably take a
knife to birds, furry things, snakes, etc, to
survive (food), but I do not know about gutting
& stuffing them  , as a hobby or
business. Here is a taxidermy gal, Serena who specializes in doing 'it' as kind of "Dark
& Creepy Art".
Then, Tamu from FPS dropped me a note about a young Canadian
woman by the name of Carla Coma. She is starting to learn
the ropes of Stop Motion and
combining her taxidermy creativity
to animation. Tamu met Carla and says that she
is "awesome, eclectic and frenetic".
It looks like Carla also digs
'Bugs' (entomology).
Another of the
feminine persuasion that are fearless
and also applies her craft on small critters; mice
mostly, it seems. She is Christy Canida. Would you be curious to see a demo,
of gutting & stuffing a small mice? Here are
few of her tutorials, Duck Mouse & Mouse Mouse. Not for squeamish but it's not
that bad. Hmmm .... these lady practioners
of taxidermy (& bug luvers too); verrrrry
interesting . Addendum: If I research, probably more
 exploring
the unique craft of Taxidermy; here, there and everywhere. Edit 05.06.07
* The Eyes
have it: Stop Motion Puppets .... If you are "into" dark
Euro Stop Mo or of the Brothers Quay'esque style, here is one, however, more slick
& finessed and not grungy looking (as Quay's stuff)
but still surreal & stylized. The eyes
of the main puppet character use
real human eyes. You do not understand? If you
read their website and watch the interview clips, they
give a hint, but do not fully reveal how. Okay for
beginners, I willl tell you. In high probability, after
the hands-on animation is completed, they used motion
tracking software to composite
the pair of human eyes
(performed by actor or mime) onto the puppet
heads. It is not a new concept. Cuppa Coffee does animated cgi mouths
on some of their cartoon style Stop Motion. Back to the
"eyes"; here is the website promoting Madame Tutli-Putli (thanks Tamu,
for the info). Verry interesting & unique
look what the Stop Motionist/Film-makers
have done. Pay attention you "Suits"
....Think Out of the Box. CGI is
not the supposed panacea. Perhaps getting homogenized
and audiences maybe getting bored of the
'same'? Addendum: 'Eyes' on the Prize Edit 05.07.07
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