My last animated short film, Domestikia, Chapter 3: La Petite Mort, will appear on the big screen of the Tribeca Cinemas in New York City during the Video Art & Experimental Film Festival 2014. The festival runs October 2-4, 2014. Details to follow.
Stop-motion animation
Walking loop for Toronto Alice
Paper cutouts used in walking loop.
Rough cut of a “walking loop” I created for my upcoming animated film “Toronto Alice”. Using the classical animation technique of a lightbox + peg-bar, I created 26 separate drawings that were then printed, coloured and cut-out. The sequence was then shot using the frame-capture software Dragonframe, swapping in the different cutouts frame-to-frame. The footage was exported into After Effects, where the background was keyed-out, and the walking looped using time remapping. A moving background will eventually be placed behind the walking character.
While all the preliminary work was time-consuming, the advantage is that the “walking loop” can be played infinitely, for as long as I need it in the scene.
The Dangerous Mind of Lady Lazarus
Hello, gentle readers. Many apologies for the fact that I haven’t been keeping up with my blog posting lately. As you can read in the previous two posts, I’m currently involved in a new animation project which is commandeering all of my “spare” time. Below is a screen capture from a lovely little write-up I received a couple of months back on the Dangerous Minds blog. I submit this for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
“Toronto Alice” is a popular girl, indeed.
Toronto Alice has become a very popular girl, indeed. She’s received some love from the Toronto Film Scene blog, from the Canadian Animation Resources blog, and from the fun-loving culture-geeks at Boing Boing!
Many, many heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to my Toronto Alice campaign! In just twelve days, we’ve not only met my goal of $3,000, but surpassed it! If you’d like to get in on the “perks”, there’s still time to do so. You can get a private Vimeo link or Blu-Ray DVD of the completed film, Toronto Alice paper dolls and/or original artwork. This film won’t be released to the general public until after its run in the festival circuit, so this will be your only opportunity to see it till then.
Indiegogo Campaign for Toronto Alice
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/toronto-alice/x/6519608
- Are you a fan of the funny — and slightly creepy — animations of Terry Gilliam? Or perhaps you’re more of a devotee of Surrealist animation from Poland? Or maybe you just enjoy weird, off-the-beaten-path stuff? If you answered “yes” to any of these (or, like me, to all three), then you’ll probably enjoy the unique style of cutout animation I create at Papercut Pictures.
- My name is Jennifer Linton, and Papercut Pictures is my production company. I’m an interdisciplinary visual artist working with animation, installation, drawing and printmaking. I have exhibited my art for the past 20 years in galleries across Canada, and internationally with exhibitions in the U.S. and Italy. My animated films have screened at festivals such as Animaldiçoados Film Festival 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) Showcase 2013, and the Boston Underground Film Festival 2014. I’ve received numerous awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council.
- This campaign is to raise funds for my next animation project, entitled Toronto Alice. The character of Alice from Lewis Carroll’s famous children’s novels is transported to contemporary Toronto where, like many native Torontonians, she takes a ride on the streetcar. As with many trips on the public transit, she encounters a succession of strange characters who engage her in (equally strange) conversations. The dialogue is borrowed directly from Through the Looking-Glass, but given a fresh & funny new twist in this stop-motion animation.
What We Need & What You Get
- I will create all of the visuals for this film: the artwork, the puppets, and the backgrounds. I will also handle all of the stop-motion animation. What I need help with is the audio component — and that’s where YOU come in!
- I need three separate audio components for this project: musical treatments, ambient background sound fx, and voice actors. While I can handle all the visual stuff, I need to call in the professionals to create good quality recordings of ambient sound. Animation takes a great deal of effort and a very long time to create, so you don’t want great visuals to be undermined by inferior audio.
- Listening to my voiceover in the pitch video should prove, without a doubt, that I should never, ever do voiceover work! Your contributions will allow me to leave this important task to the professionals!
- I’m offering a range of “perks” to sweeten the deal, from DVDs to paper dolls to original, framed artwork! It’s win-win! You help me make this project the best it can be AND you get limited edition art in return!
Why contribute?
- You’re a fan of animation. Specifically, you enjoy independent animation that advances the art form, or that simply stands out as different from everything else. There aren’t many animators out there working with paper cutouts and stop-motion. What I do is very boutique and kinda retro. Different is good.
- You’re Canadian, or you have an uncle who lives in Canada (hey, maybe I know him). No, seriously. It’s good to see your own stories up there on the (big or small) screen. We gotta represent. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to see Alice wearing a Hudson’s Bay coat.
- You’re a fan of Lewis Carroll and his Alice novels. There’s a timelessness and universality about Carroll’s characters that allow us to visit and revisit this wonderful material. Young and old, we all love to slip into Wonderland.
- You want that swag. A custom Toronto Alice jointed paper doll? Sweet.
Other Ways You Can Help
Spread the word!
- Like what you see? Help get the word out by using the Indiegogo share tools! It’s good karma.
Boston Underground Film Festival 2014
My short animated video Domestikia, Chapter 3: La Petite Mort has been selected to screen at the Boston Underground Film Festival 2014. Tentative screening date is Thursday, March 27th (check the festival web site after March 11th to confirm dates & times). If you’re in the Boston/Cambridge area, check it out!
“Blueprints”, group show at Centre 3
Documentation of my work in the group show “Blueprints” At Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts, Hamilton.
Documentation of my work in the group show “Blueprints” At Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts, Hamilton.
Documentation of my work in the group show “Blueprints” At Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts, Hamilton.
Documentation of my work in the group show “Blueprints” At Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts, Hamilton.
Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts
My installation The Disobedient Dollhouse will be featured in the curated group show Blueprints at Hamilton’s Centre 3 for Print and Media Arts. This exhibition will also screen my two recent animated videos Domestikia: The Incident in the Nursery and Domestikia, Chapter 3, La Petite Mort. Show runs from January 17 – March 1, 2014. The opening reception will take place Friday, February 14 at 7 – 10 p.m.
Papercut Pictures animated logo.
An animated logo for my brand, Papercut Pictures. The logo emphasizes my low-fi, anti-realist and “anti-slick” aesthetic and approach to both paper cutouts and stop-motion animation. I also wanted to stress the vintage style that my films often possess. The butterfly, one of my repeating motifs, makes a brief appearance.
VideoArt.net Selection of the Month (October)
My stop-motion animation Domestikia, Chapter 3: La Petit Mort is one of the Selections of the Month (October 2013) at Videoart.net, an international curated video-sharing network for video artists and experimental filmmakers: http://vlog.videoart.net/jennifer-linton-domestikia-chapter-3-la-petite-mort/
Founded in 2005, Videoart.net quickly positioned itself as the most popular video art and experimental film website in the world. Videoart.net attracts both art and film industry professionals by providing a gateway to an international network with a dynamic online curatorial community. By carefully curating thousands of video artworks by hundreds of artists all over the world, Videoart.net prides itself in providing the most rousing, thought-provoking, unprecedented, and significant works in film and video currently being produced. — from VideoArt.net web site.
Lady Lazarus 