SEASON 2 PREMIERE!
SEASON 2 HAS ARRIVED!
We're back with Episode 12
We officially have a dozen episodes and we couldn't be more excited to share them with you. For our first episode of the season, we included an optional themed prompt "PAPER" - as you can see, lots of folks used the prompt as an inspirational jumping off point!
Check out the episode and learn more about the contributing artists below:
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0:11 Graveyard Groov'n
Animation: Kelsey Stillmaker
Instagram: @still_making_stills
Music: Tony Brattoli
Instagram: @tbratmusic
Instagram: @still_making_stills
Music: Tony Brattoli
Instagram: @tbratmusic
Animation Wild Card presents, Kelsey Stillmaker aka @still_making_stills :
"I am a stop motion animator who works primarily out of LA. I have wanted to be a part of stop motion since the 6th grade. I found a behind the scenes book about Nightmare Before Christmas in the library and realized I could sculpt stories for a living."
"I am a stop motion animator who works primarily out of LA. I have wanted to be a part of stop motion since the 6th grade. I found a behind the scenes book about Nightmare Before Christmas in the library and realized I could sculpt stories for a living."
Kelsey Stillmaker
Animator, Kelsey Stillmaker, shared a bit about the process of making Graveyard Groov'n:
"My short Graveyard Groov'n is about a little skeleton dancing with a ghost. But it really was just a good excuse for my husband to play with the laser wood cutter. "
This is a video of my little skeleton being cut out with lasers!
The behind the scenes images below show a box of all the puppet parts for both the skeleton and ghost, the two characters on the down shooter, and shooting the back light pass:
puppet parts
two characters on the down shooter
shooting back light!
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0:39 Hippo Bath
Animation Wild Card presents, Ben Treat aka @franticframes :
"Hey my names Ben, Im 18 and a Stop Motion Animator out of Fort Collins Colorado! Ive been animating since I was 12 and don't plan on stopping!"
"Hey my names Ben, Im 18 and a Stop Motion Animator out of Fort Collins Colorado! Ive been animating since I was 12 and don't plan on stopping!"
Ben Treat
Animator, Ben @franticframes , shared a bit about the process of making "Hippo Bath" :
"To make the “water” in this animation, I used hair gel, hot glue and plastic wrap. You have to rely on hot glue if you need specific shapes such as the drip that fell down the side of the tub, and then you also have to use plastic wrap for more extreme movement, like the water rushing out of the faucet."
"To make the “water” in this animation, I used hair gel, hot glue and plastic wrap. You have to rely on hot glue if you need specific shapes such as the drip that fell down the side of the tub, and then you also have to use plastic wrap for more extreme movement, like the water rushing out of the faucet."
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0:57 The Strange Box
Film By: Tomas Barrenechea
Instagram: @tomba.animation
Facebook: @TomiBarrenechea
https://vimeo.com/Tomasbarrenechea
Instagram: @tomba.animation
Facebook: @TomiBarrenechea
https://vimeo.com/Tomasbarrenechea
Animation Wild Card presents, Tomás Barrenechea aka @tomba.animation :
"Hi there! I'm Tomás Barrenechea and I'm a Character Animator from Argentina.
I work in commercials, shorts and games in the 3D industry since 2010. And now, because of the pandemic, I started to play with clay and to do different stop motion shorts in my free time.
I really fell in love with all the stop motion world and community and I hope continue doing more and more shorts in the future."
"Hi there! I'm Tomás Barrenechea and I'm a Character Animator from Argentina.
I work in commercials, shorts and games in the 3D industry since 2010. And now, because of the pandemic, I started to play with clay and to do different stop motion shorts in my free time.
I really fell in love with all the stop motion world and community and I hope continue doing more and more shorts in the future."
Tomás Barrenechea
Animator / Creator, @tomba.animation , shared a bit about the process of making "The Strange Box" :
"In this short you will see why you don't have to kick all the boxes you find on the street.
I think the most difficult issue was to animate the paper foil. It was a really challenge to me. So i think is the distinct part of the shot."
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1:39 Paper Beats Rock
Written, Directed & Animated By: Kat Messing
Instagram: @kat.messing
Gaffing By: Alex Lizotte
Instagram: @scoopsnation
Instagram: @kat.messing
Gaffing By: Alex Lizotte
Instagram: @scoopsnation
Animation Wild Card presents, Kat Messing aka @kat.messing :
"Kat Messing is an independent stop motion animator working in Los Angeles. She's worked on stop motion projects for American Girl Dolls, Barbie, and Hallmark e-cards. Plus, whenever there's a period of time between gigs she still gets that itch to animate! She's made and directed many short animation projects for online challenges or on her own, and is jazzed to join the collective of talented artists at AWC. When she's not animating Kat works in post production and spends lots of time with her two black kitties and her loving fella Alex."
"Kat Messing is an independent stop motion animator working in Los Angeles. She's worked on stop motion projects for American Girl Dolls, Barbie, and Hallmark e-cards. Plus, whenever there's a period of time between gigs she still gets that itch to animate! She's made and directed many short animation projects for online challenges or on her own, and is jazzed to join the collective of talented artists at AWC. When she's not animating Kat works in post production and spends lots of time with her two black kitties and her loving fella Alex."
Kat Messing
Director / Animator, @kat.messing , shared a bit about the process of making "Paper Beats Rock" :
"Have you ever wondered about Rock Paper Scissors? Only two out of three make sense. Scissors can cut paper, and Rock can smash Scissors, but how exactly would Paper win against Rock? In a test of strength Paper falls short of its opponents. Perhaps it must employ a more flexible strategy.
As an added challenge to be resourceful I decided that this animation would be made without purchasing any new materials. Everything I used to make the short was either languishing in my arts & craft closet, donated, or scavenged from the parking lot behind my apartment building. All sound was either already in my stock library or an open source sound effect. My partner Alex Lizotte provided his lights, moral support, and keen eye for gaffing. "
As an added challenge to be resourceful I decided that this animation would be made without purchasing any new materials. Everything I used to make the short was either languishing in my arts & craft closet, donated, or scavenged from the parking lot behind my apartment building. All sound was either already in my stock library or an open source sound effect. My partner Alex Lizotte provided his lights, moral support, and keen eye for gaffing. "
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"Shot on an old Canon Rebel T2i with a default zoom lens using Dragon Frame. Rigging and compositing was a challenge! Rock was heavy and difficult to attach to a rigs, so I used myself to suspend it when it needed to jump and roll. Scissors were rigged to a fly arm and attached with stikki wax. Paper's sides were adhered to a black wrap foil middle layer with spray adhesive. The dust cloud is cotton batting. All rig removal/compositing was done in After Effects, and everything was edited with Adobe Premiere."
Animation Timelapse
Stage Setup
Rigging by hand!
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2:28 Paper Pandemic
Created By: Morgan Mathew
Instagram: @morgan.animate
Instagram: @morgan.animate
Animation Wild Card presents, Morgan Mathew aka @morgan.animate :
"Hi, my name is Morgan! I'm a motion designer, video editor, avid dog lover, and Star Wars nerd based in Chicago, IL. I have been freelancing for all sort of studios and companies for a few years now and working in After Effects is my go to program of choice. I am super thankful to Animation Wild Card for giving me that chance to take a break from client work to have fun and make something for myself for once. It's been a long time since I've been given the chance to create my own short, and I'd forgotten how much I loved storytelling and production. The hardest part is reining in all the crazy ideas and picking just one to focus on. Looking forward to being able to create more shorts in the future."
"Hi, my name is Morgan! I'm a motion designer, video editor, avid dog lover, and Star Wars nerd based in Chicago, IL. I have been freelancing for all sort of studios and companies for a few years now and working in After Effects is my go to program of choice. I am super thankful to Animation Wild Card for giving me that chance to take a break from client work to have fun and make something for myself for once. It's been a long time since I've been given the chance to create my own short, and I'd forgotten how much I loved storytelling and production. The hardest part is reining in all the crazy ideas and picking just one to focus on. Looking forward to being able to create more shorts in the future."
Morgan Mathew
Animator / Creator, @morgan.animate , shared a bit about the process of making "Paper Pandemic" :
"This short was almost titled "Paper of Hope". You've all had a friend or family member post a photo of their vaccine card, or maybe you were that person yourself. Since our theme for this episode was paper I was really inspired to think about how paper has been used during this past year, and the main thing that came to mind were the little vaccine cards I've been seeing everywhere. It's funny how a little piece of paper has become such a icon for safety and the return to normal. When I finally got my vaccine and the little card that came with it, it was like a weight had been lifted off of my chest and there was hope again."
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"I started by drawing out some rough storyboards. From there I went straight into Illustrator to create the final design of each scene. I use Illustrator to make vector art so that the art work can be at the best resolution possible for animating at any scale in After Effects.
I also have to make sure each asset that needs to be animated is on its own layer and prepped to be imported. When designing for motion graphics, you have to be sure the full asset or object is designed out just in case it needs to be animated in a certain way.
For example, in my webchat scene, I wasn't sure how much the people were going to move around or wave, so the artwork actually includes a lot more of the character than what you actually see in the final scene.
Once I'm happy with how my art looks, I go right into animating in After Effects and will create an extra art assets I end up needing right there in After Effects itself.
The Open/Closed sign was created fully in After Effects, for example, because I knew I needed it to be able to do a 3D-ish flip. All of the paper texturing was also done in After Effects after everything was animated. I went through a few different test textures before I decided on the final look.
To get the final texture, I used 3 different texture and effects layers in total. I think using textures is a fun way to tie the whole animation together at the end and I love playing around and testing out all kinds of textures and effects to see how they will look."
I also have to make sure each asset that needs to be animated is on its own layer and prepped to be imported. When designing for motion graphics, you have to be sure the full asset or object is designed out just in case it needs to be animated in a certain way.
For example, in my webchat scene, I wasn't sure how much the people were going to move around or wave, so the artwork actually includes a lot more of the character than what you actually see in the final scene.
Once I'm happy with how my art looks, I go right into animating in After Effects and will create an extra art assets I end up needing right there in After Effects itself.
The Open/Closed sign was created fully in After Effects, for example, because I knew I needed it to be able to do a 3D-ish flip. All of the paper texturing was also done in After Effects after everything was animated. I went through a few different test textures before I decided on the final look.
To get the final texture, I used 3 different texture and effects layers in total. I think using textures is a fun way to tie the whole animation together at the end and I love playing around and testing out all kinds of textures and effects to see how they will look."
Working in AE
Storyboard Thumbnails
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3:12 mister topino in house of cards
Animation Wild Card presents, francesca morea aka @stopmotion_fra :
"Hi again! My name is Francesca I am a stop motion animator and maker from Italy.
In my work I take care of everything from the construction of the characters, the sets and props, to the animation and the editing, my favorite part is definitely the construction, I also have a lot of fun adding the audio where it is needed. I directed a couple of music videos and my last job was a commercial sketch. If anyone asks I accept commission at the moment 😄"
"Hi again! My name is Francesca I am a stop motion animator and maker from Italy.
In my work I take care of everything from the construction of the characters, the sets and props, to the animation and the editing, my favorite part is definitely the construction, I also have a lot of fun adding the audio where it is needed. I directed a couple of music videos and my last job was a commercial sketch. If anyone asks I accept commission at the moment 😄"
francesca morea
Director / Animator, @stopmotion_fra , shared a bit about the process of making "mister topino in house of cards" :
"it was quite complicated to create the castle of miniature cards, despite I used a lot of scotch tape (trying to hide it as well as I could) it was difficult, in any case it was worth it, the miniature things are so adorable 😊"
"it was quite complicated to create the castle of miniature cards, despite I used a lot of scotch tape (trying to hide it as well as I could) it was difficult, in any case it was worth it, the miniature things are so adorable 😊"
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3:32 Raisin
Animation Wild Card presents, Robby Cimino aka @kindclutter :
"hi wild cardigans. this is kindclutter but you may also call me robby. if you've seen something pretty recently like a furry pussy willow or maybe a small frog with a speckly back, i hope you've given yourself the time to absorb their sweet & funny details. you'll never know when you'll wanna remember those kind of things for comfort. instead of including a photo of myself, i've included a picture of Mr. Ingredient. rather than taking on something daunting like eating a peanut butter & pickle sandwich all at once, he prefers to eat a spoonful of peanut butter, then a bite of just bread, then just pickle. he finds it simpler, & i wouldn't dare correct him."
"hi wild cardigans. this is kindclutter but you may also call me robby. if you've seen something pretty recently like a furry pussy willow or maybe a small frog with a speckly back, i hope you've given yourself the time to absorb their sweet & funny details. you'll never know when you'll wanna remember those kind of things for comfort. instead of including a photo of myself, i've included a picture of Mr. Ingredient. rather than taking on something daunting like eating a peanut butter & pickle sandwich all at once, he prefers to eat a spoonful of peanut butter, then a bite of just bread, then just pickle. he finds it simpler, & i wouldn't dare correct him."
Mr. Ingredient, by Robby Cimino
Animator / Creator, @kindclutter , shared a bit about the process of making "Raisin" :
"here are some tiny animations from "Raisin". initially, i wanted to create Henri Chopin-esque typewriter art for the clouds & sky to match the episode's theme of paper. after much clacking & a lot of huffing, i found that my typewriter wasn't a great collaborator. running out of time, i decided i'd need to turn to digital alternatives. here are 2 cloud animations & a sky animation i played with in procreate. as for the clouds: one works like a vending machine's coil, the other like a dangling chain. the C's are for cloud. the sky is a lot less uniform---i'd like to think i made it to look like how wind feels. the S's are for sky. these are fun, but frighteningly nonessential details to have paid attention to. unfortunately, there are dangers in appreciating the lovely details---sometimes they can distract from the whole thrust of something."
"here are some tiny animations from "Raisin". initially, i wanted to create Henri Chopin-esque typewriter art for the clouds & sky to match the episode's theme of paper. after much clacking & a lot of huffing, i found that my typewriter wasn't a great collaborator. running out of time, i decided i'd need to turn to digital alternatives. here are 2 cloud animations & a sky animation i played with in procreate. as for the clouds: one works like a vending machine's coil, the other like a dangling chain. the C's are for cloud. the sky is a lot less uniform---i'd like to think i made it to look like how wind feels. the S's are for sky. these are fun, but frighteningly nonessential details to have paid attention to. unfortunately, there are dangers in appreciating the lovely details---sometimes they can distract from the whole thrust of something."
Vending Machine Coil Style Cloulds
Dangling Chain Style Clouds
Sky Texture
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4:51 Scrambled Glorp
Animation Wild Card presents, Taylor Andrews aka @tayloracartoons :
"Hi! I'm Taylor, and I'm a freelance animator living in rural Ohio. You can find some of my work on the Bob and Tom Show Youtube channel, where I've been animating music videos and comedy skits. Outside of my freelance work, "Scrambled Glorp" is the first animated short I've made since I graduated from college in 2020, and it was a ton of fun to make. Other than animating, I love to cook, jog, and watch scary movies."
"Hi! I'm Taylor, and I'm a freelance animator living in rural Ohio. You can find some of my work on the Bob and Tom Show Youtube channel, where I've been animating music videos and comedy skits. Outside of my freelance work, "Scrambled Glorp" is the first animated short I've made since I graduated from college in 2020, and it was a ton of fun to make. Other than animating, I love to cook, jog, and watch scary movies."
Taylor Andrews
Animator, @tayloracartoons , shared a bit about the process of making "Scrambled Glorp" :
"Scrambled Glorp is a short animation about an alien (the big guy in the apron) trying to cook breakfast using a sentient food group named Glorp. Glorp doesn't want to be scrambled, so he glorps his way out of it. We can assume this is usual for Glorp."
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"After coming up with the story for Scrambled Glorp, I designed the two main characters and figured out a color palette. I made a style frame shortly after to get a feel for what the finished product might look like. After figuring out character design and style, I animated the characters in Toon Boom Harmony. I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn't have enough time to paint each frame as shown in the style frame, but I love animated pieces with some jitter, so I compromised by lining over the exported animation in Photoshop."
Style Frame
Character Designs
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5:17 Little Forest - Flower Power
Animation Wild Card presents, Kate and Andrew aka @little.beasts :
"Little Beasts is a wife and husband team made up of Kate and Andrew (and their dog Charlie who cheers them on) based in Victoria, BC Canada. For the past twelve years we’ve run a physical theatre company called @thewonderheads , and we specialize in full-face mask performance and wordless, visual storytelling. Our touring came to a grinding halt last March when the pandemic hit, so with the sudden influx of time in our home studio we decided to try our hand at stop motion animation. Animation has long served as an inspiration to our theatre work and we were beyond delighted to find that our theatre skills as designers, makers, and performers carried over into the smaller-scale world of stop-motion animation – we felt right at home as well as really excited about the new challenges and possibilities in the form. Kate is also an avid needle-felter and has found great delight in bringing her needle-felted creatures to life in this way. We’re excited to continue on our stop motion journey as well as explore how it can intersect with our theatre work!"
"Little Beasts is a wife and husband team made up of Kate and Andrew (and their dog Charlie who cheers them on) based in Victoria, BC Canada. For the past twelve years we’ve run a physical theatre company called @thewonderheads , and we specialize in full-face mask performance and wordless, visual storytelling. Our touring came to a grinding halt last March when the pandemic hit, so with the sudden influx of time in our home studio we decided to try our hand at stop motion animation. Animation has long served as an inspiration to our theatre work and we were beyond delighted to find that our theatre skills as designers, makers, and performers carried over into the smaller-scale world of stop-motion animation – we felt right at home as well as really excited about the new challenges and possibilities in the form. Kate is also an avid needle-felter and has found great delight in bringing her needle-felted creatures to life in this way. We’re excited to continue on our stop motion journey as well as explore how it can intersect with our theatre work!"
Little Beasts aka Kate & Andrew
One of the @little.beasts creators, Kate, shared a bit about the process of making "Little Forest - Flower Power" :
"Kate (puppet maker and lead animator): One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered so far in stop motion is the making of flexible armatures for my puppets. When I create stationary needle-felted creatures I don’t need to worry about articulation or flexibility. For animation, though, so much planning and time (and trial and error!) has to go into creating my puppets so that they can be manipulated in the process of animation. I’m not much of a 2D artist, unfortunately, but I definitely have to draw a sketch first. Then I use a variety of materials in the building process. For Beep, his armature is a combination of aluminum wire, terminal blocks, epoxy putty, and polymer clay. I incorporated hex nuts into his feet for tie downs and shaped the epoxy putty around them. Then I built up the wool body by needle felting, being careful to felt more loosely in the areas that articulate, like the neck and arms, so that the puppet would retain enough flexibility. His eye is a stone bead baked into a polymer clay ‘socket,’ his teeth are polymer clay, and his legs and feet are finished out with a product called Sugru, a self-setting rubber that remains flexible after it cures. Every puppet teaches me something new, which I absolutely love."
"Kate (puppet maker and lead animator): One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered so far in stop motion is the making of flexible armatures for my puppets. When I create stationary needle-felted creatures I don’t need to worry about articulation or flexibility. For animation, though, so much planning and time (and trial and error!) has to go into creating my puppets so that they can be manipulated in the process of animation. I’m not much of a 2D artist, unfortunately, but I definitely have to draw a sketch first. Then I use a variety of materials in the building process. For Beep, his armature is a combination of aluminum wire, terminal blocks, epoxy putty, and polymer clay. I incorporated hex nuts into his feet for tie downs and shaped the epoxy putty around them. Then I built up the wool body by needle felting, being careful to felt more loosely in the areas that articulate, like the neck and arms, so that the puppet would retain enough flexibility. His eye is a stone bead baked into a polymer clay ‘socket,’ his teeth are polymer clay, and his legs and feet are finished out with a product called Sugru, a self-setting rubber that remains flexible after it cures. Every puppet teaches me something new, which I absolutely love."
Final Puppet
Felting the Puppet
Puppet Armature
Stop Motion Stage
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6:10 Magical Cat
Animation Wild Card presents, @_Threadwood
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Individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros:⠀
⠀
"We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (NY state specifically). 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 on both coasts. 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 sang to our cat when we got home from work (or when he would emerge from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
⠀
We'd like to continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial." - Threadwood
⠀
Individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros:⠀
⠀
"We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (NY state specifically). 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 on both coasts. 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 sang to our cat when we got home from work (or when he would emerge from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
⠀
We'd like to continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial." - Threadwood
Alexis and Scott
Creators @alexiseved & @sdaros of @_threadwood , shared a bit about the process of making the latest "Magical Cat" :
"This one was the most difficult to make, for obvious reasons. We miss our beloved cat (and forever muse) very much. We're so grateful for all of the kindness and empathy folks have shared with us, including about their own magical kitties and fur babies. It really has helped ease the pain of loss knowing how many other furry friends have had lots of snuggles and his song sung to them because of our magical cat. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts 💖"
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"It's pretty clear in our most recent short for Magical Cat, that our art really does imitate our life. The creature comforts that make us cozy, and the ridiculous antics our fuzzy little buddy would get up to on the regular. We're so grateful we had him as long as we did, and that we're able to immortalize our favorite things about him while we grieve his absence - his silly sounds, behaviors, and effortless cozy vibes. He really was our best little friend, and we miss him more than we can express.
A handy tool that made animation easy for this episode was a small laboratory jack. Since we don't see the bottom half of the cat until the end, we were able to use this tool to adjust his height and make it look like he was curiously rising and lowering in anticipation of his leap onto the shelf."
A handy tool that made animation easy for this episode was a small laboratory jack. Since we don't see the bottom half of the cat until the end, we were able to use this tool to adjust his height and make it look like he was curiously rising and lowering in anticipation of his leap onto the shelf."
Laboratory Jack Rig
Design
Inspo!
Stage Setup
Magical Cat
Fur Baby
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Thank you for viewing Episode 12 of Animation Wild Card!