Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Screen Novelties


I just wanted to bring up this company's stop motion work. They mainly do commercials and short pieces for other shows, but have recently been closing a feature film deal, with The Jim Henson Company.

Their web page is here.

What I love about their creations (be sure to watch their reel) is that they let the stop motion animation be FUN. The designs are fun, the overall vibe is fun, and it's not trying to be "real". They're puppets, for Pete's sake, embrace it. Things look handmade, the designs are very silly but lovely, and it's just FUN.

Can I put FUN in capital letters enough times?

Be sure to watch their short "Mysterious Mose," that combines puppet animation, silhouette animation, and live-action puppetry. I love seeing mediums blended, and this short does it beautifully.

I think their work is wonderful, and I really hope the feature project makes it to the screen.

FUN.

2 comments:

jriggity said...

FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN..

these guys make me LOVE stop mo.

jriggity

ChrisW said...

I know, it's amazing (to me, at least) how easy it is to forget that stop mo hooked us all in the first place cause it was FUN to play with it. It's so easy to lose sight of that, when you are struggling with all the steps of a production.

I think it's only through personal experience (making more little films) that I'm learning to find ways to keep the FUN alive (I think it deserves caps!)while also maintaining as high production values as I can (working indie).

I find that part of the challenge is a personal desire to touch the audience's heart. I don't want to just make disposable stuff, I want to effect people. And for me, that desire can sometimes lead to content getting too "serious". I always struggle to remember, as I'm writing something, that something can be silly/goofy/fun AND be touching. That balance between fun and emotionally honest is so key to success, I think.

So when I see stuff from Screen Novelties, that embraces the silly and the gags and the fun designs that are just so full of life and charm, and aren't hung up on being all "Corpse Bride" (a film that was SO clean and polished that it had no life, in my opinion, no FUN), it really shows a path to take. Screen Novelties stuff is ALSO really well animated and clean and carefully created, so they have this great balance of being total pros that know exactly what they are doing AND keeping it FUN.

Really inspirational.