hoppy day monster zoetrope

so for the past two and a half weeks i've been building this monstrosity in ALMOST complete secrecy. it's kinda hard to build something of this size in secret. so what the hell is it!? well it's a zoetrope... of sorts. most zoetropes are cylindrical shaped and have slits cut in the side and spin to allow for viewing of the images blurring together and giving the illusion of movement. my zoetrope (if i can even call it a zoetrope... i wasn't sure what else to call it) is more like a conveyor belt that needs to be cranked and relies on a strobe light to give the illusion of movement. oh, and it's inside the mouth of a monster.

here's a video of my hoppy day monster in action so you can see what i mean



there are seven bunnies that make up the hop cycle. you turn the crank clockwise to see them in action. turning the crank counter-clockwise shows the cycle in reverse.



i made the hoppy day monster zoetrope for the shadow machine films (the place where i work) art show which took place last saturday night. i can't really remember where i got the idea to make a zoetrope like this, i just really like zoetropes and the whole concept of camera-less (and computer-less) animation. my first introduction to 3-d zoetropes was at cal-arts through a visiting artist named katsushi boda (for reals that is his name). ever since then i have wanted to push the limits of zoetropes and camera-less animation and now that i know this particular style of zoetrope actually works i think i can do that. i have been loosely calling it a tank-wheel style zoetrope (i need to come up with a better name). my first goal is to make the zoetrope belt much longer to accommodate for longer cycles of animation. after that... well you'll just have to wait and see what i have planned ;]

also, there have been many, many other styles of camera-less animation devices but as far as i know this is the first one to utilize a crank wheel mechanism of this sort and display the animation on a belt rather than in a cylinder. let me know if you have seen any others like this!

and now for some retarded pictures of me with my monster :P



me with a co-worker. that is her piece on the right so we had to take a picture. duh! don't let that smile fool you, she is a BIG troublemaker.



me and my two roomies. obviously troublemakers. obviously.




2 le-git 2 quit dis gangstah life

my piece went over really well at the show. it made all that hard work and lack of sleep so totally worth it :] i can't wait until the next one!

and for your information, i am a real gangstah. for reals, yo. for reals.

Frankenhole: other props

found two pictures of some straggling props. i believe these were the last things i made for the show. in the picture above i made the picture frame for that sexy time photo of doctor frankenstein. ooh lala! the skulls below were pre existing resin casts, i made some modifications for the lights to fit in with the wires (i remember getting those tiny wires through being a very tedious task), did some hot glue art for the dripping wax and finished up with some paint.





so this officially concludes my frankenhole postings. the next shadow machine project i'll post stuff from will be the fuel tv commercials i worked on. get ready for some cardboard!

Frankenhole: ghandi's house

this was the third and final set i made for the show. the fun foam stuff was, well, FUN, but this was a nice change of pace for me since i got to get my hands a little dirtier here. the hanging cloth was a great creative challenge, especially on the brick wall that looks like it was cannonballed. i remember research for this set being really fun for some reason :D



and again, my favorite part is the stove... er... adobe oven thing.



the only real glory shot i was able to take of any of my sets. the lighting really brings everything to life!

Frankenhole: independence hall

the second set i made for frankenhole. like the log cabin set this one was pretty much entirely made out of carved fun foam. believe it or not, you will go through a LOT of razors cutting this stuff. fun foam likes a sharp blade. you can see this set in the john thomas jefferson episode (the same episode with the log cabin).

Frankenhole: log cabin

this was the first set i was assigned for frankenhole and can be seen in the john thomas jefferson episode. all of the elements were carved out of soft foam and then glued on to wood. i did the paint job for this set (and the other two i made) as well.




unfortunately this is the only set i took progress pics of. glad i got at least one!






after the set was painted i gave it a dirty wash to give an aged effect.




my favorite part of the set was this little wood burning stove. second favorite would have to be the door which i don't think even got any screen time...? don't quote me on that though, i don't have cable so i can't even watch the show when it airs. but i do know a chunk of the main shot this set was for was cut due to censorship. i'm finding out that happens a lot with these shadow machine shows. just more to look forward to when the dvd comes out! (i hope there will be a dvd!)



final pic is the set on stage. i think the shot was partially animated at this point. production moves so fast i wasn't able to take a glory shot of the set but you get the idea.

props for frankenhole

now that the show is airing i can finally post some of the stuff i worked on! joy! ok, so when i first got to shadow machine i was asked to modify some pre-existing resin casts that would become props for the show. i accomplished that by using a bit of magi-sculpt (a two part sculpting apoxy) and forming it over the pre-existing casts. when the magi-sculpt hardened i went over each piece with some primer and painted them up. so here are a few pictures of that.


the magi-sculpt dries grey so you can tell what parts i sculpted over.











a lot of my time was spent applying this mossy sludge to different forms to be floor covering for swampy sets. we literally went through gallons and gallons of this stuff. i like work where i can get my hands dirty so i had a lot of fun slopping that sludge around. unfortunately i didn't take very many pictures but you see it in just about every outdoor shot in the show.



i also spent a lot of time filling tiny glass jars with colored water...



...painting (SO MANY!) resin cast book spines and little creatures (already sculpted before i got there)...



...that were placed into even more tiny glass jars...



...and then placed on a set. this final picture is kinda crappy but looks kinda cool i think, but it shows a few of those props getting set up. (not my set by the way). there were a lot more props and elements i worked on that i unfortunately didn't manage to take pictures of so this is pretty much all i have for the moment. there were some cool skulls i modified and various other spooky things that went on the walls and shelves (why didn't i take pictures!). but i do have some good pictures of a few sets i made so i'll be posting those soon.

an okay interview

two little clips of animation i did for "an okay place to eat" are up on the okay place blog! there is also a short written interview. check it out here!

thatsright!

another one of these two.

"i'm a bear, bitch!"

surprise!

an okay place to eat

spreading the good word about a new project i'm animating on called "an okay place to eat". the official blog is up so go check it out! okayplace blog

night carnival

a carnival came to the park around the corner from me so i went by one night to take some pictures. i didn't go on any of the rides but it was fun to walk around.


there were a lot of awkward bug themed rides...


mule pouch?


...


ok, so i've seen this ride once before at a carnival in phoenix and i almost peed my pants laughing when i saw it was called "bear affair". so what goes on with bear affair? you sit inside their tummies as they spin around. brilliant!


this funhouse dog mural was the highlight of the carnival for me. it's just so big and ridiculous! you can tell a lot of love and thought went into it.


i mean, just look at it! look!


my new life's goal is to make enough money to purchase this funhouse. i'm not sure what i'll do with it when i have it but i know i want it!

new look

just trying out a new look for my blog. i know white font on black background can get really annoying after a while. orange seemed nice.

no naked poster

so i found out that people just make their own laurels. i was all excited about the philadelphia ones... turns out they were just being nice. mm.

another shirt design

sad and indifferent animals wearing scarves...

my second design (skelepups) is now being featured on the site so i thought i'd throw another one up. the site is so easy to use, it's rather addicting.

i made some shirts!

i made a redbubble account! only two t-shirt designs up so far but it's a start. official no naked shirt to come in the hopefully not too distant future! i'll update when that happens. and i know the redbubble prices are kinda high... the base price for all t-shirts is $20 so i'm making less than $5 on every shirt but they seem to have nice quality stuff. i would have gone with cafe press but they don't offer white on black printing which makes me think all their stuff is iron-on transfer grade. not so hot. also, it seems you can buy my designs as stickers, which is kinda neat.


and in other news no naked will be shown at the san francisco frozen film festival! festival takes place july 1st through the 5th. my little film is gaining some speed, time to submit a few more dvd's!

more film festivals

philadelphia independent film festival and melbourne international animation festival have accepted "no naked!" into their programs. got my first official laurel the other day, just postin it here because i'm super excited and felt like sharing it with the world. although "no naked!" has been in five other festivals so far this is the only laurel i have received. maybe not all festivals are allowed to give out laurels? i have no idea how this all works.

the minotaur seeks a bride

i'm a classy lady

derp.

i think all of these are up on my website but i thought i would derp up my blog a bit. it needed some love. p.s. i'm back at shadow machine, workin on the chicken. good times with he-man and all my other 80's childhood favorites are being had.