Episode 14 is here!
For this episode, we included an optional themed prompt, "Feather". We like to suggest that folks can interpret this theme in any way they can think of—as a material, prop, plot point, character, vibe, etc!
Check out the episode and learn more about the contributing artists below:
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0:08 Aves
Direction, Puppets, Animation and Video Editing: Maria Dolores Salcido
Instagram: @Madoso
Animation Wild Card presents, Maria Dolores Salcido aka @Madoso :
"Hello! I am Maria Dolores Salcido and I make freelance Stopmotion and 2D animations for brands, YouTube channels and personal projects such as my little round bear.
I have worked with different mediums such as paper, plasticine, food and felting which is the one I am loving the most right now for creating characters.
I am based in Sonora, Mexico land of the heat and beautiful sunsets."
"Hello! I am Maria Dolores Salcido and I make freelance Stopmotion and 2D animations for brands, YouTube channels and personal projects such as my little round bear.
I have worked with different mediums such as paper, plasticine, food and felting which is the one I am loving the most right now for creating characters.
I am based in Sonora, Mexico land of the heat and beautiful sunsets."
Maria Dolores Salcido
"Aves..A veces quisiera estar solo. "Aves" meaning birds and "a veces quisiera estar solo" meaning sometimes I want to be alone, is a play on words since both sound the same (Aves and a veces) and match perfectly with this short. :)"
Director / Animator @Madoso , shared a bit about the process of making "Aves" :
"I took more time than I intended on the little birdies since I wanted them to be as many as I could have for them to be a total nuisance but sort of cute.
The title had to be in Spanish since my husband had the idea of mixing "Yeah, you are cool but get off!" so, in Spanish we found out that sounded less rude."
"I took more time than I intended on the little birdies since I wanted them to be as many as I could have for them to be a total nuisance but sort of cute.
The title had to be in Spanish since my husband had the idea of mixing "Yeah, you are cool but get off!" so, in Spanish we found out that sounded less rude."
Animation Timelapse
Puppet and Chair
Felted Bird Puppets
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1:24 To Quill a Mockingbird
"To Quill a Mockingbird" is the tale of a frustrated monk and his impudent pet.
Directed & Animated By: Connor Yarish
Instagram: @chol_slumbo
Youtube: chol slumbo
Additional Voicing By: Stefan Lee Goodwin
Music: "Tavern Loop One" by Alexander Nakarada
https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/
Instagram: @chol_slumbo
Youtube: chol slumbo
Additional Voicing By: Stefan Lee Goodwin
Music: "Tavern Loop One" by Alexander Nakarada
https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com/
Animation Wild Card presents, Connor Yarish aka @chol_slumbo :
"Hello! My name’s Connor Yarish and I’m an aspiring animator from Canada (who’s currently living in the Czech Republic!)
I first got into stop motion by making a few dumb videos when I was a teenager, but it wasn’t until being in lockdown in China in early 2020 that I started animating regularly and posting my work to Instagram (@chol_slumbo). I mostly make weird loops and other short-form nonsense with clay, paper cutouts, puppets, or whatever I can get my hands on.
Not long ago, I decided I want animation to be more than just a hobby, and I’ve been reaching out to various studios and opening myself up to commissions ever since."
"Hello! My name’s Connor Yarish and I’m an aspiring animator from Canada (who’s currently living in the Czech Republic!)
I first got into stop motion by making a few dumb videos when I was a teenager, but it wasn’t until being in lockdown in China in early 2020 that I started animating regularly and posting my work to Instagram (@chol_slumbo). I mostly make weird loops and other short-form nonsense with clay, paper cutouts, puppets, or whatever I can get my hands on.
Not long ago, I decided I want animation to be more than just a hobby, and I’ve been reaching out to various studios and opening myself up to commissions ever since."
Connor Yarish
Director / Animator, @chol_slumbo , shared a bit about the process of making "To Quill a Mockingbird":
"I made “To Quill a Mockingbird” specifically for Animation Wild Card with the “feather” theme in mind. After scrapping a few ideas using real feathers, I decided I wanted to practice character animation and settled on the monk/quill idea.
I'm quite happy with how the flickering fire effect turned out (courtesy of 3 popsicle sticks and some wire), as well as the removable front of the birdcage. It gave me access to animate the crow, and luckily slid back into position way better than I expected it to.
Overall I’m pretty pleased with the end result, except for a few sloppy/rushed movements, a set-bump or two, and some things I wanted to include but just didn’t have time for (I reeeally wanted to make the music a Gregorian chant with some stupid secret message in Latin!)
If anyone has any questions/comments/feedback (or you just want say hi!) feel free to DM me!"
"I made “To Quill a Mockingbird” specifically for Animation Wild Card with the “feather” theme in mind. After scrapping a few ideas using real feathers, I decided I wanted to practice character animation and settled on the monk/quill idea.
I'm quite happy with how the flickering fire effect turned out (courtesy of 3 popsicle sticks and some wire), as well as the removable front of the birdcage. It gave me access to animate the crow, and luckily slid back into position way better than I expected it to.
Overall I’m pretty pleased with the end result, except for a few sloppy/rushed movements, a set-bump or two, and some things I wanted to include but just didn’t have time for (I reeeally wanted to make the music a Gregorian chant with some stupid secret message in Latin!)
If anyone has any questions/comments/feedback (or you just want say hi!) feel free to DM me!"
Animation Timelapse 1
Flickering Firelight Rig
Animation Timelapse 2
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2:09 Stop Sea Pollution
"Stop Sea Pollution - this is one of the first conscious animations about ecology, which was made as part of the training course on stop motion animation, at the beginning of March 2020."
Direction, Animation, & Video Editing By: Alex Lymarchuk
Instagram: @stop.mo.production
Art Direction & Set Design By: (Instagram) @sonya.l17
Instagram: @stop.mo.production
Art Direction & Set Design By: (Instagram) @sonya.l17
Animation Wild Card presents, Alex Lymarchuk aka @stop.mo.production :
"Hello! I'm Alex and I'm from Ukraine.
I am a freelance stop-motion director & animator.
Last year I graduated from college and currently doing various social and commercial stop motion videos.
I really like to shoot socially important topics, especially on the topic of ecology.
Also, I like to make animations with food, you can see them and many of my other works in my profile - @stop.mo.production"
"Hello! I'm Alex and I'm from Ukraine.
I am a freelance stop-motion director & animator.
Last year I graduated from college and currently doing various social and commercial stop motion videos.
I really like to shoot socially important topics, especially on the topic of ecology.
Also, I like to make animations with food, you can see them and many of my other works in my profile - @stop.mo.production"
Alex Lymarchuk
Director / Animator, @stop.mo.production , shared a bit about the process of making "Stop sea pollution" :
"Pre-production and filming took a whole day and night.
The hardest part was cutting out all these small details, some were only a couple of millimeters."
"Pre-production and filming took a whole day and night.
The hardest part was cutting out all these small details, some were only a couple of millimeters."
Making the Fish
Cutting Out the Fish
Animation Progress / Set Dressing
Fish Designs
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2:38 Funky Dance
"Meet Funky Club friends, Mr. Bear - the bass line holder, Mr. Onion - the charming dancer and Ms. Flower - the club's superstar 🕺🕺💃"
Created By: Nhi Nguyen
Instagram: @_tigrin
Instagram: @_tigrin
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Animation Wild Card presents, Nhi Nguyen aka @_tigrin :
"Hi! I'm Nhi, a stop motion animation lover living in Saigon, Vietnam.
I love experimenting ways of making things move and playing with different materials.
Just been a short time in this playground but animation has brought me a lot of joy. It forced me to slow down to observe the movements and listen to the sounds around me (to get ideas and references), it also connected me with many new friends.
So I'm super excited to dig deeper into the field!"
"Hi! I'm Nhi, a stop motion animation lover living in Saigon, Vietnam.
I love experimenting ways of making things move and playing with different materials.
Just been a short time in this playground but animation has brought me a lot of joy. It forced me to slow down to observe the movements and listen to the sounds around me (to get ideas and references), it also connected me with many new friends.
So I'm super excited to dig deeper into the field!"
Nhi Nguyen *photo: Me trying to make a cool pose with my props 😕
Director / Animator, @_tigrin , shared a bit about the process of making "Funky Dance" :
"This short is my practice after @beezilda 's class of creating a dance loop on Skillshare.
I took the reference dance from @smacmccreanor . Her choreography is weird yet cute which made me came up with these 3 chubby friends ✨✨✨"
"This short is my practice after @beezilda 's class of creating a dance loop on Skillshare.
I took the reference dance from @smacmccreanor . Her choreography is weird yet cute which made me came up with these 3 chubby friends ✨✨✨"
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3:13 Horacio & The Feather / Horacio y La Pluma
"Horacio will try desperately to steal a feather from the night dragon, he does not have much time because his act today will only last 40 seconds."
Director, Animator, Puppet Maker: Miguel León
Instagram: @migue_anima2
Editor: Manuela Osejo
Instagram: @manuosejo
Music: Giuseppe Rincón
Instagram: @giuseppe.r.p
Instagram: @migue_anima2
Editor: Manuela Osejo
Instagram: @manuosejo
Music: Giuseppe Rincón
Instagram: @giuseppe.r.p
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Animation Wild Card presents, Miguel León aka @migue_anima2 :
"Plastic artist, sculptor and animator.
Actually, Miguel is an Animation Director who works in stop motion projects. In most of the animation projects he has been the creator of characters and who make the puppets. He is also co-founder of @animhado animation studio."
"Plastic artist, sculptor and animator.
Actually, Miguel is an Animation Director who works in stop motion projects. In most of the animation projects he has been the creator of characters and who make the puppets. He is also co-founder of @animhado animation studio."
Miguel León
Director / Animator, @migue_anima2 , shared a bit about the process of making “Horacio & The Feather” - Spanish: "Horacio y La Pluma." :
"These are some BTS of the Horacio and Feather short, hope you enjoy it. The Green boy is my imaginary friend Horacio."
"These are some BTS of the Horacio and Feather short, hope you enjoy it. The Green boy is my imaginary friend Horacio."
Stage Setup Timeplase
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4:01 Lofi Letters
"A series of animated papercraft illustrations inspired by the Lofi beats and looping artwork trend. "
By: Casey Follen & Catalyst Castle Studios
https://catalystcastlestudios.com/
Instagram: @catalystcastlestudios
Music: WYS – Snowman
Provided by Lofi Records
Watch: https://youtu.be/0WmRB9Iz-30
Download/Stream: https://fanlink.to/1amstudysession
https://catalystcastlestudios.com/
Instagram: @catalystcastlestudios
Music: WYS – Snowman
Provided by Lofi Records
Watch: https://youtu.be/0WmRB9Iz-30
Download/Stream: https://fanlink.to/1amstudysession
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Animation Wild Card presents, @CatalystCastleStudios:
"Hi! I’m Casey, and Catalyst Castle is my creative practice specializing in stop motion animation & sculptural illustration. I’m a Los Angeles-based creative producer with Michigan roots. My work is often design-driven, kind, colorful, and infused with handcrafted charm. You can usually find me at the intersection of stop motion and motion graphics.
Previously, I’ve worked at other animation studios in production management roles, but these days I'm putting all my creative energy behind @catalystcastlestudios . I’m excited to strike out on my own and partner up with some new clients.
@alexiseved and I oversee the day-to-day of Animation Wild Card, but I haven’t contributed a short since the holiday special! I've been wanting to make a an animated sculptural/3D illustration for a while now, and the feather prompt episode was a great opportunity. Up next, you can check out some behind the scenes from my episode 14 short, Lofi Letters."
"Hi! I’m Casey, and Catalyst Castle is my creative practice specializing in stop motion animation & sculptural illustration. I’m a Los Angeles-based creative producer with Michigan roots. My work is often design-driven, kind, colorful, and infused with handcrafted charm. You can usually find me at the intersection of stop motion and motion graphics.
Previously, I’ve worked at other animation studios in production management roles, but these days I'm putting all my creative energy behind @catalystcastlestudios . I’m excited to strike out on my own and partner up with some new clients.
@alexiseved and I oversee the day-to-day of Animation Wild Card, but I haven’t contributed a short since the holiday special! I've been wanting to make a an animated sculptural/3D illustration for a while now, and the feather prompt episode was a great opportunity. Up next, you can check out some behind the scenes from my episode 14 short, Lofi Letters."
Casey Follen & Catalyst Castle Studios
Creator, Casey Follen from @catalystcastlestudios, shared a bit about the process of making "Lofi Letters":
"For this project, I focused on mixing practical elements with digital elements and translating my original concept through fabrication to the final short. In these images, you can see where I started with my layout and color designs. I recently took a webinar through @motionhatch that got me thinking about how I could make this short more versatile. With that in mind, I formatted the design so that the final product could be repurposed to make notecards/postcards. I also planned the animation so that I could break out each season to loop on its own.
Once I landed on those design choices, I began the fabrication process by printing out the largest linework mockup that would fit on my downshooter's background layer. From there, I took approximate measurements of the other two layers to lens in Dragonframe and tested with more scale printouts in-camera before I started cutting all that paper!
I liked the noise texture I was able to get in the concept art, so I took some time spattering the paper elements with paint to get a similar feel. It's tricky because the paper will curl if it gets too wet, so I had to be careful to work in layers. I also really liked some of the delicate linework in the 2D concept art and decided to mix them into the final composition as 2D elements.
I used Dragonframe to capture the practical paper elements, Photoshop for the 2D animation, and After Effects for compositing. I ran into a few challenges along the way, but overall I'm happy with how Lofi Letters came together!"
"For this project, I focused on mixing practical elements with digital elements and translating my original concept through fabrication to the final short. In these images, you can see where I started with my layout and color designs. I recently took a webinar through @motionhatch that got me thinking about how I could make this short more versatile. With that in mind, I formatted the design so that the final product could be repurposed to make notecards/postcards. I also planned the animation so that I could break out each season to loop on its own.
Once I landed on those design choices, I began the fabrication process by printing out the largest linework mockup that would fit on my downshooter's background layer. From there, I took approximate measurements of the other two layers to lens in Dragonframe and tested with more scale printouts in-camera before I started cutting all that paper!
I liked the noise texture I was able to get in the concept art, so I took some time spattering the paper elements with paint to get a similar feel. It's tricky because the paper will curl if it gets too wet, so I had to be careful to work in layers. I also really liked some of the delicate linework in the 2D concept art and decided to mix them into the final composition as 2D elements.
I used Dragonframe to capture the practical paper elements, Photoshop for the 2D animation, and After Effects for compositing. I ran into a few challenges along the way, but overall I'm happy with how Lofi Letters came together!"
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Thank you for viewing Episode 14 of Animation Wild Card!