Bantam Animation studio

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T07:53:00.000-08:00

So, over Christmas break I put Autumn Leaves up on Youtube!

Here you go:

IlluXCon, Autumn Leaves, and Other Stuff

2011-11-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, I don't have much time, just really quick in and back out, so...

First, we're back from IlluXCon 4 and we had a great time!

I was given the privilege to set up a computer showing my short films. Thanks to the masterminds behind IlluXCon, Pat and Jeannie Wilshire.

This picture is actually from last year, but Ian Miller (left) was unable to attend this year. He was there in spirit.

Me (right of course) and Britt Tolemeo

One of my favorite Thomas Kuebler sculpts, the Geinball Machine (it really works)

I even got to play in the IlluXCon Jam headed up by the great artist/guitarist, Mark Zug!

So, other than IlluXCon news, I'm pleased to inform you that I've completed Autumn Leaves! Actually, everything in this post is old news, I must confess. IlluXCon was back at the beginning of the month and Autumn Leaves was finished the third week of October. I've just been so busy that I haven't really had time to update the blog (plus, I kept forgetting about it too). Either way, that's all the news for now. Except, Autumn Leaves will not be available for viewing for another week or so. It's a really huge file and would probably take 12 or more hours to upload. Until then, I'll try to be more immediate with my posts.

New Show Reel Up

2011-09-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Just here to say that I've updated the "Show Reel Button" on the side of the screen. The latest reel showcases my more recent stuff and a few finished clips of Autumn Leaves! So, feel free to check it out.

Autumn Leaves Now in Full Production

2011-07-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

For the past week I've been animating like crazy for the new Autumn Leaves short and things are going amazingly well. I'm already about a quarter (or possibly a third) of the way through the animation and have completed four whole shots!

I don't have any of said animation available for viewing yet, so in the meantime, I decided to post a few pics of the sets and whatnot.

Some ruins in the background - made of green florist's foam.

The set

A close up of the tree man

In this shot the pink screen was still up. I was going to use it instead of a green screen but the color bled into the shot too much and made everything very pink, and generally hard to key out. So I put up a white screen instead and it works quite well.

Behind the Scenes Pics

2011-06-07T14:59:00.001-07:00

Just a peak behind the scenes at the last short I did.

It's just a 16 second spot for StopMotionAnimation.com
You can see it here.

I'm Still Here

2011-04-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

As usual, I've not posted for some time but that's mostly because I had little to say.... until now that is. I've just recently finished a promotional spot for the IlluXCon 4 art show (which takes place every November in Altoona, Pennsylvania). You can see the spot on the site or here on YouTube.

Also, I'm finally getting around to some of the other shorts that I've been planning: like Autumn Leaves and a 10 second promo for Stopmotionanimation.com.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been gone for some time now, being busy with other junk and such, but I had a bit of free time and decided to do an E-card.

My free time is due mostly to the lack of RAM in my computer which makes the task of rendering HD files out of After Effects virtually impossible. Oh well, I hope to have things up and running again for the music video and Autumn Leaves soon.

Autumn Leaves Returns!!

2010-06-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I've decided to take a little time off the Music Video so that I can try to complete the remake of my first short Autumn Leaves. I was originally intending on using it for the Stop Motion Magazine Film Festival, but, seeing how the deadline is the 15th of this month, I don't really think I'm going to make it. Oh well . . . . I still may be able to use it for some other festival. But I digress . . . . Here are some pics of the new puppet and if you click HERE you'll get to listen to the song itself (note, the version you'll hear isn't the one i'll be using cuz it's too upbeat).

We made him using the Build Up method; liquid latex, cotton, and foam. He has a wire armature and epoxy bones. And those ARE real twigs sticking out of his back and head.

And I spent an hour and a half painting foil leaves.

New Book Out!

2010-05-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

THE ADVANCED ART OF STOP-MOTION ANIMATION by Ken Priebe is due to be released June 16 . . . . . and the best part is . . . . . I'm one of many animators listed in it! There's also a bunch of interviews from great guys like Justin Rasch, Ron Cole, Mark Spess, the guys at Screen Novelties, and MORE! I'm absolutely amazed that Ken was able to pull together enough people and info to make another, but I'm happy he did. You can check out his other book The Art of Stop-motion Animation here.

Another quick "STOP IN"

2010-05-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, I've been really busy with STUFF lately and haven't really had time to say hi. I've done a lot more animation and am about HALF way done.

Also, I've been working on the big outdoor set for the last few shots. We made the ground out of plywood and covered it in GREAT STUFF spray foam which we then carved and painted. It actually worked out quite well.

WELL, GOTTA GO, HOPEFULLY YOU'LL HEAR SOMETHING MORE FROM ME BEFORE THE MONTH'S UP!

Broken moulds and new sets

2010-03-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

So, the original Skimpy's leg broke and I decided to recast. I did, but then the mould broke!

Also, my uncle made the interior set for the 3rd shot in the music video. I put all the finishing touches on it and it's just about ready to shoot.

Close up of door detail.

The first few shots are coming along nicely, and it seems like I might actually get this thing done pretty well. Slight hold up though; my computer was in desperate need of memory. So I had to order some. It seems to be running fine now. Plus, I entered Messin' with Skimpy in the Zeitgeist stop-motion contest. So I'll be finding out what's going on with that soon. And I heard through the Grapevine that good ol' Laika studios is gearing up for another feature. (Boy I'd like to get in on that.)

First Shot in the Bag! - Almost...

2010-02-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

making more grave stones

Hey, just a quick pop-in and back out! I just semi-completed the first shot or so of the Music Video and it turned out ok. The puppets aren't the best for smooth animation, though. They're quite clunky and bouncy and they don't like to stay put. Plus, my first shot was very low light and that made it extremely difficult to see how far I moved it on the frame-grabber. Either way, it's a big step forward and gives me hope that it may actually get done. Mostly I just have to add some extra stuff, such as motion blur and color correction in After Effects and then the shot will be finished. Also, my uncle is making the indoor/outdoor set on which I'll be animating next, so that's some pressure off my shoulders. Other than that, I just have the 10 Second spot for Stopmotionanimation.com to start. So see ya later!

Here's th' video ya' ordered!

2010-01-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here's the eye replacement test I was talking about. Note: in the final version of the film, his eyes will be blue.

Snippets -o- stuff

2010-01-23T10:05:00.001-08:00

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but things have been really CRAZY lately. I've got so many ideas and projects going at once that it's amazing I'm even able to function. And yet, things have been moving at a snail's pace. I know, impossible, right? Still, I decided that even though I don't have enough big news to make a whole post, I still have a bunch of little snippets that would be worth mentioning.

THE MUSIC VIDEO

I still haven't gotten to animate on it yet. This is mostly because I recently bought After Effects CS4 and have been experimenting with it so that I can take full advantage of its powers later on. I did a couple eye replacement tests with the software, you know, real human eyes composited on to a stop-mo puppet. It worked out really well, but I haven't put it on youtube yet. But I will . . . soon. Otherwise, I'm very close to animating. I can feel it.

THE STOP MOTION MAG FESTIVAL

You may remember this from the last post, but you probably don't remember this guy. (if you do, then you obviously pay too much attention to me.)

Yes sir, this is the old Tree Man. And I'm going to use him for the festival. The film will be titled Autumn Leaves, and I will be using the graveyard set from the music video for this short as well. That said, I now have a deadline for the music video; MAY. Because the deadline for the festival is JUNE, and that gives me a whole month to animate the Tree Man. Even so, I'd better get scooting.

STOPMOTIONANIMATION.COM'S 10 SEC. SPOT

I recently learned of this from StopMotionAnimation.com. Anthony Scott, one of the coolest kats in the animation industry, has presented the invitation to all of us at the site, to make a 10 second stop motion spot advertising the forum. I already know what I'm going to do, but I don't know when I can get to it.

CHIMPY'S BROKEN!

And Chimpy broke.

So, as you can see, I've got my hands full for awhile. I'm really looking forward to the day when I can work professionally and let my mind relax.

Animation Contest!

2010-01-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

Stop-motion Magazine has posted their animation contest for August 2010.

Click on the image to check it out.

I might enter something myself, if I feel I've got the time.

Meet the Skull Bunny

2009-12-31T20:50:00.001-08:00

Between the music video and my graphic novel, I had a little down time and decided that it would be cool to make a puppet based on this doodle that always seems to find its way onto my paper.

I made the armature out of a couple Helping Hand rigs, epoxy putty, some armature wire for the arms and a piece of K&S tubing for the neck. I decided that I didn't want to waste time and material, so I went with the build-up method instead of foam latex. (see second image)

The head was made out of Sculpey.

And the ears were made out of wire dipped in liquid latex, then flocked to give a furry look.

I finished it off with a bit of burlap that my uncle (yes the same uncle who found the camera rig) generously donated. He was the only one I knew who had burlap. It seems no one sells it any more.

Maybe you'll see this little guy soon. That is, if I have the time to animate him. Mind you, I made this puppet in three days.

Old Man Puppet Ready for Shoot

2009-12-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

We finished painting both Old Men puppets and I'm pretty happy with the way they came out. The hands molded relatively poorly though.(which is bad because we have multiple close ups of them)

Here is the original sketch of the Old Man compared to how he came out.

Here's the Old Man and the Angel statue.

I painted the body and my dad painted the face and hands. We used equal parts acrylic paint and liquid latex. I then powdered the puppets to cut down on tackiness of the latex. In the days to come, we'll begin constructing the sets and I will hopefully get to start animating by the first week of January.

Music video update

2009-12-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

So we've been really busy casting puppets and doing some animation tests. I uploaded a video of the tests in question, just so you could see how things have been coming along. The first clip is of the stripped down armature in a walk cycle. The next one is a flight test with the crow puppet (which we made out of foam latex and wire).

We made duplicates of the old man puppet, one with a wire armature and one with a Skeletoon ball and socket armature. The one with the wire is for close-ups (mostly because it came out better than the other).

In all, I think we've made about six models. This is one big project!

New music video in progress

2009-12-04T20:37:00.001-08:00

So, my father has a friend who lives in California. And about 4 months ago, he got hired to make a half dozen or more music videos for a certain artist. At that time, I had just finished one of my shorts and sent him the link. He replied, and asked if I would be willing to do one of the videos in stop-motion. Of course, how could I turndown an offer like that?

So, ever since August, I've been working on puppets and props and whatnot. Along the way, I've managed to get a few pictures of the process.

This is Old Man, the main character of the music video. He and all the other puppets are cast in Monster Makers foam latex (animatronic grade).

Here are two of the four crow puppets. There are three small ones (like these) and a big one for close-ups.

This is the mold for Old Man. It's the biggest mold I've ever made. And laying inside it is the Skeletoon armature.

This is the stone Angel. Her purpose is classified.

The whole thing is gonna be about three minutes long and so far, has taken close to four months to get things started. I recently acquired a Canon Powershot G10 camera for shooting in HD and my uncle and I fabricated a camera rig for pans.

We made the head out of wood, all-thread, and aluminum pipe. And my uncle salvaged an old enlarger from the local high school which we used to mount the head.

More pics

2009-11-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

Got off a few pictures of an old puppet I made using a wire armature and the build-up method.

I plan on resurrecting him in a future short(though I'll have to remake him, he's in bad shape at the moment.)

For now, though, I'm still quite busy on a music video.(which you'll find out more about later on.) Till then, click on the image below to see the Chimpy and Skimpy I just finished.

Behind the Scenes on Chimpy

2009-11-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

After my first post, I thought that maybe I should give you a peek at how I accomplished the shorts. So, need thou not be afraid, I shall show you the way:

Chimpy armature in mold.

I cast the puppets in Monster Makers foam latex. I used animatronic grade because it was denser, which meant there would be less wrinkling of the skin.

City set for outside their window was made with cardboard.

I used some crackle paint on the door for the desired look.

Back from trip with new site!

2009-11-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

My family and I just got back from Illuxcon '09 art show and this is the first free time I've had to be able to create this blog. As a Stop-motion animator, I spend lots of money and time on my craft and don't have much of the former to spend on setting up a real website. I figured this would be the best option. So, I'll start things off by posting one of my less recent shorts. It's called Nightmare on Chimp Street. I did it a while ago, using foam latex puppets w/wire armatures.