The Grasp Hand and Walking Method: Model 1, 2004
This is the model for the frame, which we have to build and paint and let dry by 4 pm tomorrow. Never fear, barring the unforeseen disaster, we should have just enough time. As long as we don’t plan on getting any sleep tonight.
The stop-frame filming is finished. By 4 pm tomorrow, we’ve got to edit and burn the DVD, finish building the frame, then paint it and let it dry. We’re editing the text into the animation newsreel style.
Tonight’s the night. We each just drank a particularly potent iced coffee. Everything’s set. We’re shooting for a 45-second animation running at 15 frames per second. We’re in for one long night.
The show is opening in only a few days. We’re putting the final touches on the set and the story. If you will be in Long Beach this Sunday please come by (see the previous post for directions). If not, we’ll post it on our work site (www.meganandmurraymcmillan.com), sans drinks and small talk.
From an interview I did with my grandfather, a WWII veteran, about his experiences as a Marine on Iwo Jima. The title is the first line of the text translated into Japanese and then back into English.
The Grasp Hand and Walking Method
Hold hands and walk that way. Just keep walking until somebody gets you. And just like kids, they grabbed hands. They started walking that way. It’s funny how it doesn’t matter who you are, anybody that gives instructions, you just obey them. It’s so strange. Or not. But we put them holding hands, and they walked out of there.
We are underway working on our next project, a stop frame animation. All sprites (characters) are complete. The photo shows the set, which we’re in the process of working on. Meg just researched and purchased a small portable dvd player that will broadcast the work in the gallery (inside a wooden model).
Working with sprites is so much easier than working with people (all the phone calls, the food…), however, I do miss the energy of being on set with a great crew. Isn’t it funny how perfection slips through your fingers.
Megan and I are getting excited about our latest costumes. We both played with figures when we were younger and laugh at how we never really stopped. What’s hard is designing figures that don’t reek of science fiction or casual dolls but are still interesting. As of tonight, we’re thinking we should break from the figures and work on the space.
We are, of course, continuing our series on the development of our current project, a stop-frame animation. This is the first nearly complete character, finished except for his hands which need to be painted, and perhaps a little detail work. We’ll be using a low-quality camera so extreme detail isn’t necessary. A cheap camera is like having a boss that stays in the next office over.
