WARNING! STOP MOTION ALERT!
If you thought J Smith WASN’T into stop motion animation, you were SORELY MISTAKEN and EXTREMELY WRONG!
Ah! Stop motion! You brilliant fusion of reality and fantasy! Of design and of manifestation!
SECOND WARNING: stop motion is a RED FLAG and far worse than any drug! Yee lukewarm wanderer, turn back henceforth, now begone!
Lingerer’s take note: hosting stop motion videos is basically the only ACTUAL purpose to this website!
Here, have an example. If you comprehend what’s going on here, I shall consider you a brother or sister!
Ore No Doriru wa – 2022
Armatures, Puppets, Cinema Magic – ‘Ello then, what’s this all about?
DESCRIPTION:
[Idle words, you’ll skip these if you have any taste!]
I have been a stop motion animator for more than 15 years now. Yikes, you’d really think my work would be better than it is by now. I used to animate things like transformers, clay, knives, toys. I’m often tempted to, still. Alot of my earlier work has been deleted forever from the world in multiple fits of self criticism. Sometimes Nostalgia leads to regret, but perhaps it’s better off already extinct.
One piece I deleted, that I particularly miss and wish to see again, was “Killing Time,” one of my very very first works. This animation featured a cheap pocket knife unfolding on a large square wooden bench and moving around in patterns, destroying a cheap clock, and glass shatters moving in patterns. This bemused questioning of the nature of time was the first steps towards my becoming a full fledged arch-chrono mage.
I spent many years animating hasbro transformers action figures and bandai tamashii mechs. The articulation was very suitable for stop motion and came ready to go practically. I wasn’t necessarily a fool to do so, but I was an aimless kid.
Now my work has grown to be more legitimate and I make my own models, or moreso these days work with replacement-frame style concepts formed by Nature. Maybe because natural forms cannot be fabricated, and their reality cannot be questioned. Ive never been a 100% no CG or chroma key purist, but yea, forget CG. Nope.
Some of my films have won cash-money prizes at film festivals. In the big picture, it’s all childs play small pond stuff. I have also been paid big bucks (at the time) to teach classes on it to west-coast children, too. I was once approached by a famous big studio and encouraged to apply/send in a portfolio etc. My goal is to maybe one day be less bad??
But I cannot hire myself out as an animator. It means too much to me. Not unless the offer was holistic, centered, and felt right. I was approached by youtube a half decade ago wanting me to monetize stupid videos of action figures slaying eachother that was getting a lot of views. I declined and then they put ads on it anyway.
Below is a sampling of writing work on the philosophy and mechanics of Stop Motion. It was interesting enough that when I sent it to the organizer of the stop motion magazine at the time, alongside a donation of some of my prize money and having asked to put it out on the website or magazine or whatever, he actually ghosted me and plagiarized my work. These are no idle words and I have proof of this, but I am at full peace, I take it as a compliment.
This essay is a sample of some of the content published in the Syntheses & Analytics Volume 2.
So I have enjoyed a couple flavors of success as a stop motionist to at least a mild degree. Amazingly, as I consider myself rather terrible and at an introductory level in this space. Probably worse than a brand new beginner, actually. That and for many years my mountaineering off-grid lifestyle prohibited the development of any semblance of suitable infrastructure to adequately animate as I would’ve liked. I managed to pump out a thing or two, but longed for the day I can get back seriously into it. The interim served as a good opportunity for adaptation.
Some works from that time included submissions Stopmotionanimation.com’s StopmoJam
I contributed to most of these international collaborations but not the most recent one.
Here’s some films of mine that may be a little more interesting.
Something of an abstract ballet in celebration of the physical laws of motion and the evolution of life as the pinnacle dance the cosmos. Perhaps my magnum opus so far, this one definitely did the heaviest lifting for me (as far as winning prizes and getting jobs go). Definitely marks a transition from the earlier chapters of my life as an animator. And I actually kind of like it.
“The Elements of Simplicity,” or, “an elegant moment” – 2015
Behind the scenes to the above film… very informationally dense.
Eastern mysticism flavored meditation animation – conceived & meant to be filmed 2016
A few years back, this one is probably my most meaningful work of art as a human because of the immense fundamental truth about reality it contains. Filmed in 2014, this was probably my first truly organic and original production, the first one I actually like, and perhaps my favorite.
After moving deep into the mountain fastness, I hadn’t been able to animate with anything resembling a studio. So this is an improv compromise. 2017
I have many more animation videos from the era of my childhood Youtube, but I don’t particularly recommend any of them. I seek to make the film that justifies my life one day if I can cultivate enough skill and inspiration.
As the years have progressed, and our unincorporated private trust web meta network has been populated with different kinds of res, we find ourselves with a modest but passable animation studio and workshop. For more animations produced on site at the institute grounds, feel free to visit the link below. I wish I had more time to animat – oh, this thawing, melting mortal flesh – or was a higher-tier time mage than I am such that I could pull off more work like this. It is truly heights for me, it is very difficult to pull off but always worth it when possible as a gift to the world.
Animation Inspiration and Halls of Fame:
[coming soon]