Featuring Julie LaMendola and Snoozie. Filmed in a hotel room in Lisbon by Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper.
This video is part of a series of stop motion animations that were made in 2011 and 2012 by Nature Theater of Oklahoma as a preparation and exploration for a projected animated film that would eventually become Life and Times - Episode 4.5. The films were composed from individual still photographs shot with a Cannon Mark ii camera in various locations while the company was on tour with Life and Times - Episodes 1 and 2. No one in the company had ever done animated film before, and we were learning as we experimented. Breaking down time into individual still moments was a challenge both for the directors and the actors involved. The individual photographs -- done often over the course of an entire day -- were later assembled in Final Cut at a rate of 10 frames per second to create the motion.
This animation was made with Julie and her childhood bear Snoozie in her hotel room in Lisbon. Snoozie is a really soft bear and difficult to animate, so we were taping him into place with two-sided tape to keep him in place (as much as possible). We were also shooting with available light which became less available as the day wore on and it got darker. As we increased exposure, we began to see more and more of Kelly's flickery shadow animated in the reflection of the dark headboard as she moved Snoozie from frame to frame - something which we later learned was called "boiling". This idea of "boil" - basically animated mistakes - eventually became an important part of the film we made for Life and Times - Episode 4.5
To see other animations in the series, go to: vimeopro.com/oktheater/stop-motion-animations