I have always had a special fondness for the technique of stop motion animation. Movies like the Nightmare Before Christmas, and more recently Fantastic Mr. Fox really piqued my imagination with their whimsy and creativity. In our master’s program Sara and I got to try our hands at stop motion animating during a brief workshop last year. I made a little paper puppet of a harpy that failed to catch a fish and consequently tumbled tragically into the sea. I tirelessly spent two days moving the little pieces around ever so slightly for what resulted in less than 30 seconds worth of actual footage. Animation is not for the impatient!
I recalled what we had learned from the workshop when we decided to make a stop motion video for our Kickstarter campaign. I made a paper portrait of myself with movable eyes, eyelids, eyebrows, and mouth. The details proved to be important in this project. The eyebrows were my favorite part. The portrait did not resemble me without my hearty, expressive brows. I painted my portrait in my personal, detailed illustration style. You may notice the rabbit brooch on my sweater. That is an homage to my pet rabbit; Blanche DuBun.
Overall I had a swell time animating and would love to try it again!
