Check out our very first episode & our OG contributors:
Animation Wild Card presents @_Threadwood ⠀
(individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros):⠀
⠀
We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (CT specifically) and currently located in Los Angeles, CA. We've been collaborating and working together for over 10 years!⠀
⠀
We've been a part of many stop-motion projects, big and small, and various studios here in the city. Scott has won an individual achievement Emmy for his animation skills, and we've both had team wins on 2 different Robot Chicken episodes as Animation Director and Art Director. Even with those freelance commitments, we've always prioritized working at home on personal projects that make us laugh.⠀
⠀
We spend a lot of our down time making weird faces/voices/dance moves at each other to try and make the other laugh - and sometimes they make for good shorts. This short series "Magical Cat" was inspired by a dumb song we sing to our cat when we get home from work (or if he emerges from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
⠀
We'd like to make it back to the North East and continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial.⠀
(individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros):⠀
⠀
We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (CT specifically) and currently located in Los Angeles, CA. We've been collaborating and working together for over 10 years!⠀
⠀
We've been a part of many stop-motion projects, big and small, and various studios here in the city. Scott has won an individual achievement Emmy for his animation skills, and we've both had team wins on 2 different Robot Chicken episodes as Animation Director and Art Director. Even with those freelance commitments, we've always prioritized working at home on personal projects that make us laugh.⠀
⠀
We spend a lot of our down time making weird faces/voices/dance moves at each other to try and make the other laugh - and sometimes they make for good shorts. This short series "Magical Cat" was inspired by a dumb song we sing to our cat when we get home from work (or if he emerges from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
⠀
We'd like to make it back to the North East and continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial.⠀
@_Threadwood Co-Creators @alexiseved & @sdaros shared a bit about the process of making their short, Magical Cat: ⠀⠀
⠀
Scott and I always like things that feel very handmade. We like to take a crisp design sensibility and craft it by hand and welcome any irregularities in patterns or textures that emerge. Our aim is to make it feel relaxed and a little spontaneous.⠀
⠀
Scott first planned his animation in 2D on the iPad, then sculpted 2 different cats so he'd have his end pose predetermined and would only have to fill the in-betweens. He also made a bunch of spare hard parts out of baked Sculpey - eyeballs, teeth, and noses (they're all easy to lose and break). The pupils are electrical tape, and the sheen on the eyeballs is old nail polish! ⠀
⠀
I built everything with scrap MDF, wood and left over paint from other projects found around our garage. I knew it'd be most effective if I relied on my illustration background and a muted palette to really highlight and support Scott's sculpting. (I also really like a 2D/3D mixed media approach and have been dying to have a reason to do it)!⠀
⠀
We like to try out our musical/sound effects "skills" whenever the time/budget (or no budget lol) allows. This time we recorded the song with our silly voices and Scott's sequencer synth skills. We supplemented our backyard sounds, our cat's purrs, my mouth sounds, Scott's retching sounds, and used a Barbie butt for the paw swipes (it had good textures). Swipe to see what we mean ;)⠀
⠀
Scott and I always like things that feel very handmade. We like to take a crisp design sensibility and craft it by hand and welcome any irregularities in patterns or textures that emerge. Our aim is to make it feel relaxed and a little spontaneous.⠀
⠀
Scott first planned his animation in 2D on the iPad, then sculpted 2 different cats so he'd have his end pose predetermined and would only have to fill the in-betweens. He also made a bunch of spare hard parts out of baked Sculpey - eyeballs, teeth, and noses (they're all easy to lose and break). The pupils are electrical tape, and the sheen on the eyeballs is old nail polish! ⠀
⠀
I built everything with scrap MDF, wood and left over paint from other projects found around our garage. I knew it'd be most effective if I relied on my illustration background and a muted palette to really highlight and support Scott's sculpting. (I also really like a 2D/3D mixed media approach and have been dying to have a reason to do it)!⠀
⠀
We like to try out our musical/sound effects "skills" whenever the time/budget (or no budget lol) allows. This time we recorded the song with our silly voices and Scott's sequencer synth skills. We supplemented our backyard sounds, our cat's purrs, my mouth sounds, Scott's retching sounds, and used a Barbie butt for the paw swipes (it had good textures). Swipe to see what we mean ;)⠀
Opening Titles Animation
Clay Puppet Replacements
Lex Prop Painting
Scott Doing Post Production
———
0:29 The Adventure of Dink
Created By: Tyson James
Instagram: @tysonjames.draws
Art Director: Drayson Helberg
Title Design and Storyboards: Zoe Serbin
Instagram: @zoeserbin
Filmed at: Extra Credit Studios
Instagram: @tysonjames.draws
Art Director: Drayson Helberg
Title Design and Storyboards: Zoe Serbin
Instagram: @zoeserbin
Filmed at: Extra Credit Studios
Animation Wild Card presents, @tysonjames.draws:⠀
Hi! My name is Tyson James, and I'm a stop motion animator/motion designer based out of San Francisco. I like to bring my ideas to life thru the power of film. ⠀
Hi! My name is Tyson James, and I'm a stop motion animator/motion designer based out of San Francisco. I like to bring my ideas to life thru the power of film. ⠀
Animator, @tysonjames.draws, shared a bit about the process of making his short, The Adventure of Dink:⠀
⠀
Here's some behind the scenes photos of my set up for animation @extracreditstudios, a heroic shot of the final puppet, my fabrication set up, and Dink's hero props pre-paint.⠀
⠀
This short follows Dink, a lowly farmhand, who on his way to work stumbles across a fallen warrior. Does Dink have what it takes to take on this warrior's quest and become a hero? Probably not. ⠀
⠀
This is the first in a series of planned shorts that follow Dink, as he ventures thru a fantastical land trying to become the hero that he isn't meant to be.
⠀
Here's some behind the scenes photos of my set up for animation @extracreditstudios, a heroic shot of the final puppet, my fabrication set up, and Dink's hero props pre-paint.⠀
⠀
This short follows Dink, a lowly farmhand, who on his way to work stumbles across a fallen warrior. Does Dink have what it takes to take on this warrior's quest and become a hero? Probably not. ⠀
⠀
This is the first in a series of planned shorts that follow Dink, as he ventures thru a fantastical land trying to become the hero that he isn't meant to be.
Stage
Puppet
Workspace
In Progress Props
———
1:52 Square Squad
By: Joe Heinen
Instagram: @joe.heinen
By: Joe Heinen
Instagram: @joe.heinen
Animation Wild Card presents, @joe.heinen:⠀
⠀
Joe Heinen is a stop motion animator living and working out of Portland, OR. Born to a ghosthunter mother and rocket scientist father, Joe became interested in stop motion animation at a young age, eventually deciding to pursue that interest professionally. He studied film and animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Joe has spent the last six years working on such stop motion projects as Anomalisa, Tumble Leaf, and Cosmos. He is currently animating on Wendell & Wild. When not animating, Joe can be found making artisan ice cream and goofy drawings.⠀
⠀
Joe Heinen is a stop motion animator living and working out of Portland, OR. Born to a ghosthunter mother and rocket scientist father, Joe became interested in stop motion animation at a young age, eventually deciding to pursue that interest professionally. He studied film and animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Joe has spent the last six years working on such stop motion projects as Anomalisa, Tumble Leaf, and Cosmos. He is currently animating on Wendell & Wild. When not animating, Joe can be found making artisan ice cream and goofy drawings.⠀
Creator, @joe.heinen, shared a bit about the process of making his short, Square Squad: ⠀
⠀
This short was made over the course of about a week utilizing materials left over from various other projects. The animation itself took about a day. I tried to keep it loose and fun, and used replacements and cycles to help speed up the process.⠀
⠀
This short was made over the course of about a week utilizing materials left over from various other projects. The animation itself took about a day. I tried to keep it loose and fun, and used replacements and cycles to help speed up the process.⠀
———
2:24 Stuck at Home With Neville: Quilling
By: Casey Follen
By: Casey Follen
Instagram: @CatalystCastleStudios
Animation Wild Card presents, Casey from @catalystcastlestudios:⠀
For this project, I wanted to come up with something that both hit the brief for @animationwildcard and helped to fill out my freelance portfolio for @catalystcastlestudios. I've been meaning to make some sort of animated how-to video for a while now, but I wanted it to be something that could also be functional.⠀
⠀
My good friend Sam has an amazing company called @inspireartpdx where they host art education events, and their quilling activity was a perfect fit. Hopefully, Inspire Art and use the video to reach more kids once they're back up and running after Covid-19. ⠀
Creator, Casey from @catalystcastlestudios , shared a bit about the process of making her short, Stuck at Home With Neville:
When not working on projects for Catalyst Castle, I usually work as a production manager for animated projects at other studios. It's safe to say that I love the planning part of any project, so I had to push myself to move beyond the pre-production phase and into production. The Animation Wild Card structure definitely helped keep me on schedule working from home, and the community helped me work through some hiccups I ran into animating my garage for the first time.
I usually start projects in the research and ideation phase, dialing in the intention of a project, mind-mapping, script editing, and sketching ideas for visuals. I then made a mood board to help guide the overall look and feel of the project. From there, I went into storyboarding. I usually don't color my boards, but in this case, it helped me to plan out the different art setups and stage scheduling. After that, came VO recording, timing the storyboards in an animatic, fabrication, animation, a little digital clean-up/compositing, and sfx.
Usually, I like to break up some of these steps into tasks for different people, but Covid-19 has raised the challenge of doing what you can with what you have on hand which means DIY!
Storyboards 1
Storyboards 2
Mood Board
Ideation: Specs, VO, Imagery
Behind the Scenes 1
Behind the Scenes 2
———
3:12 Can’t Stand It
By: Kaley Powers
Instagram: @kapow.art
Website: kapow.myportfolio.com
By: Kaley Powers
Instagram: @kapow.art
Website: kapow.myportfolio.com
Animation Wild Card presents, @kapow.art:
⠀
Hi! I’m a stop motion animator/fabricator and illustrator from Los Angeles, where I studied at UCLA and am currently working on shows Micro Mayhem and Crossing Swords at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. ⠀
⠀
At first slated to pursue zoology, I had a change of heart in high school and decided to pursue art instead, where my science-focused upbringing influences my calculated approach to creating. Outside of art, I enjoy traveling, music, trying not to kill the plants in my apartment, and old-school film photography.⠀
⠀
Hi! I’m a stop motion animator/fabricator and illustrator from Los Angeles, where I studied at UCLA and am currently working on shows Micro Mayhem and Crossing Swords at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. ⠀
⠀
At first slated to pursue zoology, I had a change of heart in high school and decided to pursue art instead, where my science-focused upbringing influences my calculated approach to creating. Outside of art, I enjoy traveling, music, trying not to kill the plants in my apartment, and old-school film photography.⠀
We asked @kapow.art some behind the scenes questions about her process in general and making Can't Stand It from Animation Wild Card - Episode 1.⠀
⠀
QUESTION: How did you solve sourcing materials and tools during quarantine?⠀
⠀
For materials, I looked around my apartment for things that I already had that would be relatively easy to animate and didn’t need much modification in terms of making it animatable. I had this life drawing mannequin on a shelf and realized it essentially was a pre-fabricated puppet and the idea for the short started forming from there. Another object I’ve always fallen back on when animating is my own hand! Always reliable and ready to go with no modifications needed. Then the rest was just a simple pencil and piece of paper, as well as hot glue for the water effects and a piece of blue projector acetate for the moonlight effect over a desk lamp. The set was decorated with my own books and office supplies.⠀
⠀
QUESTION: Where are you working from? How did you solve your space needs?⠀
⠀
I animated in my bedroom! I have a corner of my room dedicated to general creativity where I use a folding desk as my work surface, and in this case as my stage. It has a shelving unit attached where I clipped desk lamps as my light sources, and I’m able to turn my desktop monitor around from my usual desk so I can see while I’m animating. A black out curtain keeps the daylight out for constant lighting. Overall, the workspace is only around 4ft x 6ft! The only downside with the set up is that it is very tempting to just lay back in bed and take a nap.⠀
⠀
QUESTION: How did you solve sourcing materials and tools during quarantine?⠀
⠀
For materials, I looked around my apartment for things that I already had that would be relatively easy to animate and didn’t need much modification in terms of making it animatable. I had this life drawing mannequin on a shelf and realized it essentially was a pre-fabricated puppet and the idea for the short started forming from there. Another object I’ve always fallen back on when animating is my own hand! Always reliable and ready to go with no modifications needed. Then the rest was just a simple pencil and piece of paper, as well as hot glue for the water effects and a piece of blue projector acetate for the moonlight effect over a desk lamp. The set was decorated with my own books and office supplies.⠀
⠀
QUESTION: Where are you working from? How did you solve your space needs?⠀
⠀
I animated in my bedroom! I have a corner of my room dedicated to general creativity where I use a folding desk as my work surface, and in this case as my stage. It has a shelving unit attached where I clipped desk lamps as my light sources, and I’m able to turn my desktop monitor around from my usual desk so I can see while I’m animating. A black out curtain keeps the daylight out for constant lighting. Overall, the workspace is only around 4ft x 6ft! The only downside with the set up is that it is very tempting to just lay back in bed and take a nap.⠀
Materials
Bedroom Setup
Behind the Scenes
———
4:16 Spring
By: Scarlet Nelson
Instagram: @scarletnelsonart
Twitter: @snelsonart
By: Scarlet Nelson
Instagram: @scarletnelsonart
Twitter: @snelsonart
Animation Wild Card presents, @scarletnelsonart:⠀
Hi, I’m Scarlet Nelson, an Animator and Illustrator currently based in Portland, OR. I grew up in beautiful Wisconsin, spending lots of time drawing and making music. I animated for the first time in college (Savannah College of Art and Design), and I loved it from the start! ⠀
⠀
I’ve spent my career mostly in Stop Motion, animating on various projects including the Emmy-award winning Tumble Leaf, and I’m currently working on Wendell and Wild. I love character acting, action sequences, and working in mixed media. I also work as an illustrator, and I love to draw portraits!⠀
⠀
When I’m not working, I rewatch tv shows I’ve seen a million times, listen to too many podcasts, and beg my cat to let me pet her.⠀
Hi, I’m Scarlet Nelson, an Animator and Illustrator currently based in Portland, OR. I grew up in beautiful Wisconsin, spending lots of time drawing and making music. I animated for the first time in college (Savannah College of Art and Design), and I loved it from the start! ⠀
⠀
I’ve spent my career mostly in Stop Motion, animating on various projects including the Emmy-award winning Tumble Leaf, and I’m currently working on Wendell and Wild. I love character acting, action sequences, and working in mixed media. I also work as an illustrator, and I love to draw portraits!⠀
⠀
When I’m not working, I rewatch tv shows I’ve seen a million times, listen to too many podcasts, and beg my cat to let me pet her.⠀
Scarlet Nelson
Animator, @scarletnelsonart, shared a bit about the process of making her short, Spring: ⠀⠀
⠀
This was such a fun project! I shot the background images in my backyard, setting up my tripod by a tree branch and taking photos at different times for daylight and nighttime. I edited the photos to line up the branches, because the wind blew it into slightly different positions throughout the day. ⠀
⠀
I did all my animation in photoshop, keeping loops in mind whenever possible! I kept it loose, using anything from 1s to 5s. I had the most fun with the flower petals and squashing the snail's eyes! ⠀
⠀
I comped everything together in After Effects, using some free sound fx, and then wrote and recorded a little song. I have a keyboard, a guitar, and used my computer mic, not a fancy set up at all! It was so much fun to put together this little short in such a tight time frame, you can accomplish a lot in two weeks!⠀
⠀
This was such a fun project! I shot the background images in my backyard, setting up my tripod by a tree branch and taking photos at different times for daylight and nighttime. I edited the photos to line up the branches, because the wind blew it into slightly different positions throughout the day. ⠀
⠀
I did all my animation in photoshop, keeping loops in mind whenever possible! I kept it loose, using anything from 1s to 5s. I had the most fun with the flower petals and squashing the snail's eyes! ⠀
⠀
I comped everything together in After Effects, using some free sound fx, and then wrote and recorded a little song. I have a keyboard, a guitar, and used my computer mic, not a fancy set up at all! It was so much fun to put together this little short in such a tight time frame, you can accomplish a lot in two weeks!⠀
Spring: Snail Loop Animation Progress
Spring: Music Composition Behind the Scenes
Spring: Flower Petal Animation Progress
Spring: Background Plate Photography
———
Thank you for viewing Episode 1 of Animation Wild Card!