The Battle of the Children of Hydra's Teeth
It was cruddy day outside, Kung Fu theater was over, and my brothers and sisters were brother and sister-ing and there was no way I was walking the three feet to change the station. That is when the movie that would freak my imagination came on next. Thirty-five minutes in, the hero and his men (on a journey to find the mythical Golden fleece) approach a Greek arcade only to be confronted by its guardian and that's when it happens. From the ground, one by one, skeletons emerge. Sword and shield in hand, these soldiers were brought back to life to kill anyone who tried to steal the fleece. Now, I had never seen anything like this in a movie. Real people, in a real world, with real trees and grass and sunshine then...BAM, skeletons are walkin' around like they were Pinnochio'd to life! These were WAY to close to being real. How, in the world, is this happening!?! Maybe it's because as children we always imagined our toys and stuffed animals coming to life to play with us but when 10yr old me saw that, a whole new world opened up in my mind. "Jason and the Argonauts" ...inspiration, aspiration, motivation for the love of animation.
These animations are proudly, my F.A.I.L(s)...first attempts in learning.
In the beginning...
Stop Motion Animation : Motoi Yamamoto - Return to the Sea : Salt Works | 2012
My first attempt at animation, created for Motoi Yamamoto's 2012 Spoleto exhibit.
Using a film noir theme, I chose to approach this project by challenging the viewer to answer the question, can a condiment be considered art? In some settings, art exhibitions can have an air of classism or leave participants feeling "out of place".
This is that struggle for Salt.
2D Animation : Ninja Squirrel - Origin Story | 2012
Ninja Squirrel - Origin Story was my introduction to After Effects.
In 2008 I had a coworker who was really into the anime Ninja Scroll. For years I thought she was saying "Ninja Squirrel".
2D Animation : Jabberwocky | 2012
Jabberwocky introduced the element of sound in After Effects.
Like many tales of "monsters" they are borne out of fear of the unknown. This was my jumping off point for this animation. In this story a little girl, unafraid and a misfit herself, befriends the beast who (after his capture) has become nothing more than a sideshow. I chose to approach this as if it were a living children's book, using "cut paper" as the animation style and jump cuts to mimic pages turning.
