Angry Puppet Films

New Dinosaur Office.........RAWR!

2011-12-15T06:58:00.000-08:00

This recently came out on CollegeHumor.com

New Dinosaur Office "Asteroid" I directed at Buddy System. Thanks to animators Alex Kamer and Pete Levin for their funny-mation!

CLICK TO WATCH!!!

Kitchen Nightmare Before Christmas on MAD!

2011-10-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

My buds at Buddy System and I scared up some fun recently for our friends at MAD! We had the honor of creating a spoof of Nightmare Before Christmas, mashed up with Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The result is a Halloween treat we are proud to dish out!

It was posted on YouTube- I don't know how long the link will last so have a look!

Mad : Kitchen Nightmare Before Christmas on YouTube

Dinosaur Office!

2011-07-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun little project I got to animate at Buddy System Studios for CollegeHumor. We tried to give a slight flavor of the original Dinosaur Office videos by adding some enthusiastic shake to every line! We shot it in 3d using Dragon and the Iota 3d slider. It is available to view in 3d on the Nintendo 3ds.

Watch it here!

Stoopid Monkey Behind the Scenes!

2011-07-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

For the last few months Buddy System Studios has been cranking away to create the new Stoopid Monkey web series from the creators of Robot Chicken! We are super-excited that the first four webisodes are now online, with more coming in the weeks ahead! The series uses our patented "stop-live" animation technique to bring Stoopid Monkey and his friends into our world, interacting with people just like you. The puppets are all flat down-shooter style that are made from a combination of paper, cardstock and felt. Each character is made up of over 60 pieces! Follow the link below to see the Stoopid Monkey channel on YouTube, and then check out my behind the scenes photos.

Get the full press-release on AnimationMagazine.com!

then

CLICK HERE to be transported to the Stoopid Monkey Channel!

Here are some behind the scenes pictures from the build and animation:

Me and my Buddies help slay some Monsters!

2011-05-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

We recently had the pleasure of collaborating with director Caskey Ebeling on her live-action/animation hybrid "Monster Slayer".
‎
"Every morning, Ben is visited by a motley crew of imaginary playmates, products of his psychiatric disorder. Embodiments of the best and worst in Ben, these hallucinations both bring him comfort and create chaos. This forces Ben to make a difficult choice: continue to live in his fantasy world, or confront reality, by taking a pill that will destroy his imaginary world."

The creative team at Buddy System Studios handled all aspects of the stop-motion animation in this piece, from character design through to final composites! We are very proud of our crew and the work we did for this great short film.

View the film here!

Animation ByBuddy System Studios

Animation Directors - Eric Towner and John Harvatine IV
Producer - Nakia Trower Shuman
VFX Producer - Eric Towner
Director of Photography - John Harvatine IV

Character Designer - John Sumner
Director of Operations - Mario De Jesus
Animation Supervisor - Ethan Marak
Animator - Cameron Baity
Animator - Elizabeth Harvatine
Puppet Fabricator - Mike Murnane
Puppet Fabricator - Lauren Horoszewski
Compositor - Andy Windak
Production Assistant - Sofia Iffla
Puppet Intern - Melissa Bloom

SuperBattle full episode now on YouTube!

2011-04-16T22:20:00.001-07:00

Well- due to underwhelming DVD sales I figured I'd get Episode 1 out to the world for free. Have a look and let me know what you think!

I've embedded it on the right hand column of this blog, down about half way. Make sure you watch it in 720p and expand to full screen!

http://youtu.be/aAuTF9EGdIE?hd=1

SuperAdvanced art show!

2011-03-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

If you are in the San Francisco area, be sure to check out my buddy Mike Murnane's SUPERADVANCED art show! I've bragged on Mike's top tier design and sculpting abilities in past posts, and now is your chance to see his personal vision of SUPERADVANCED up close and personal!

SUPERADVANCED April Fool's Day @ Bluxome Point

The Fantastic Mr. Star Fox!

2011-03-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

Me and my buddies at Buddy System Studios recently shot an animated piece for the folks at CollegeHumor.com. We created sets, puppets and animation for their hilarious mash-up of Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr.Fox and the Star Fox video game.

View the video here!

Exclusive behind the scenes photos!

SuperBattle DVD on sale now!

2011-02-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

My short film SuperBattle : Episode 1 is now available for sale on DVD! I had it professionally duplicated and printed and it contains a great behind the scenes photo gallery that takes you through the puppet and set build. Help support independent stop-motion filmmaking!

View the trailer HERE!

Buy it now at SuperBattleMovie.com!

Gerald's Last Day on DVD!

2011-02-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

The talented filmmaking duo Justin and Shel Rasch have recently released their acclaimed stop-motion film on DVD! Gerald's Last Day has played in dozens of festivals worldwide and is proof that garage-studio stop-motion is a force to be reckoned with. Help support their current film project by purchasing the dvd today! Visit Stop Motion Mission and look for the DVD image.

Score A Score!

2011-01-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a website promo I just directed and animated at Buddy System Studios. Our client was scoreAscore.com, an amazing service that connects filmmakers with professional composers with no up-front costs. The animated piece we did is a short step-by-step of how the website works. This one was a quicky- I had seven days to come up with a concept, build, animate and composite! The multi-talented John Sumner designed and built the flat paper puppets which were shot separately on the downshooter and composited together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUAHT-xv6B8

Emmy!

2010-09-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm blown away that I just won an Emmy for my role as Animation Director on season 4 of Robot Chicken! The show won the Short-Format Animated Program category this year. Congratulations to the show's creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich, and to the talented crew at Shadow Animation!

FRED!

2010-09-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Huge congrats to my dear friend Misha Klein who has recently completed his emotionally-charged stop-motion short "Fred". Misha recently premiered this amazing piece of puppet acting in Portland and Los Angeles and the film has already been embraced by a multitude of festivals! Hop over to the Fred Guy facebook page to see when it will be playing in your area. Don't miss it- Misha has created a truly unique animated short that will blow your mind!

Mega-Mation!

2010-07-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

Please take a minute to check out the awesome game trailer for the upcoming Mega Man Universe! We teamed up with our buds at Iam8Bit and created all the animation at Buddy System Studios! More behind the scenes coming soon! Click here to head over to GameSpot to watch the trailer!

A nice mention!

2010-06-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just stumbled across the Guide to Art Schools website which lists AngryPuppetFilms.com in their 50 Most Awesome Cartooning and Animation Blogs on the Web. It's a really great list of sites that are definitely worth exploring.

SuperBattle picked for Visionfest!

2010-05-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

Great news! NYC residents will soon get a chance to see SuperBattle Episode 1 as it was selected from over 450 submissions to play in the 10th edition of Visionfest! This festival celebrates domestic filmmakers and their line-up this year looks amazing. Pop over to the Visionfest website and see for yourself. SuperBattle plays Friday June 25th at 6:30pm.

SuperBattle needs your help!

2010-04-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

WORLDWIDE STOP-MOTION ANIMATION ALERT!

SuperBattle needs your help! Less than a week to go!

The first episode of my stop-motion sci-fi series SuperBattle is playing in the First Glance Online Short Film Contest! It will be competing against twenty other short films for distribution opportunities and a screening slot in the First Glance Festival in Philadelphia. It will only be available to view from April 7th - May 18th. During that time I need as many people as possible to cast a vote for my film and support independent stop-motion animation!

Please follow these steps to help SuperBattle win this contest!

1) Visit http://firstglancefilms-contest.openfilm.com/ and create a user account. It is free and non-invasive.

2) Click on the "Submissions" tab at the top of the screen and then locate SuperBattle in the thumbnail pages below.

3) Crank up the volume, watch SuperBattle and vote! To vote, click on the stars under "Rate this video". I need five stars!
4) Make sure to watch two other films and vote for them as well, or they won't count your SuperBattle vote.

Two important notes:

1) Depending on your computer and internet connection, the video can sometimes get choppy. Please- press pause and let the entire movie load before watching it.

2) VERY IMPORTANT! You must watch and vote on three of the short films for your votes to count.

Please pass this on to your friends, families and any animation fans you know! I'm up against some popular films and need all the votes I can get. SuperBattle is the only stop-motion film in the contest and I feel like it is a strong contender!

Thank you-

Ethan

Director/Animator "SuperBattle : Episode 1"

SuperBattle to play at TromaDance!

2010-04-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to be included in the official selections for TromaDance! The festival plays April 16th and 17th at the Showroom theater in Asbury Park, New Jersey! If all goes as planned actor Rocco George (the voice of the Chemical Kid) will be in attendance to represent SuperBattle!

SuperBattle gets a "Yes" in Greece!

2010-03-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

The director of the Athens Intl Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival posted some insights into how the "thematic groups" were received this year. Out of 21 films screened in these groupings SuperBattle was among 13 that 50% or more of the audience responded "yes" to the question "Would you see this film again?". Nice!

SuperBattle to play in Phoenix!

2010-02-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

Recently received word that SuperBattle Episode 1 will play in a block of animated shorts at the Phoenix Film Festival in April! I'm going to try and make it to this one- gotta' see Brawl Magnet on the big screen!

I was also notified that while SuperBattle didn't make it into the main selections, it will be included in the online portion of the First Glance Film festival. It will be in competition with about 30 other short films- the winner will get shown in the First Glance Hollywood festival. More details coming soon- I'll need as many people as I can get to sign up, watch and vote for SuperBattle!

Re-Creation

2010-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Fellow stopmo superstars Trisha Gum and Dan Field released their music video for the band Papillon this past week. It was a great night at the downtown Standard Hotel here in L.A.- watching a stellar set from the band and then getting a sneak peak at the video. Trisha and Dan employed a mixed-media approach with puppets and cut-out paper shot on a down-shooter. Liz Harvatine was the Lead Animator and did a great job with both techniques.

Congratulations GumField!

SuperBattle Posters on sale!

2010-02-20T07:52:00.001-08:00

Help support the future of SuperBattle by purchasing a mini-poster! They are professionally printed on 11"x17" 100lb gloss paper. Actual poster doesn't have the "superbattlemovie.com" watermark shown in the preview image above.

SFF-Rated

2010-02-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

The Athens Intl Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Festival has announced their schedule. SuperBattle Episode 1 will be playing with a grouping of animated films on Monday March 8th at the Mikrokosmos Filmcenter in Athens Greece! So cool- wish I could be there!

2010-02-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

Just announced that SuperBattle Episode 1 was awarded the Savannah International Animation Festival "Reynaud" trophy for best stop-motion animation! Thanks to festival directors Hal and Nancy Miles and also to the rest of the judges for this recognition!

SuperBattle World Premiere in Savannah!

2010-02-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

SuperBattle Episode 1 will have its world premiere this coming Friday, February 5th at the Savannah International Animation Festival! This is a new festival that has been created by animation power couple Hal and Nancy Miles. A great article was written about the new festival on the Connect Savannah website. This looks like it is going to be a great first year for this festival and I am super-excited to be a part of it!

SuperBattle Crew Screening!

2010-01-25T17:41:00.001-08:00

We had an awesome little party at Buddy System Studios to premiere SuperBattle Episode 1 for an intimate group of sixty or so crew, friends and supporters of the project. It was amazing to finally watch the episode with an audience and get their reactions afterwards. I got some really positive responses- only complaint, they want to see more! Well, it is just a first episode and I am really hoping a situation will present itself that will allow me to continue with the project.

Quick plug: Mini versions of the poster above are available here!

The little screening room we set up in the shop, with behind the scenes photos looping before the screening.

Posing with an amazing rice krispie treat and white chocolate sculpture of The Chemical Kid that was generously created by John Sumner. Artistic and tasty too!

I set up what remains of the puppets, props and set pieces for people to look at.

A few SuperBattle freebies!

My friends Jenny and Jon showed SuperSupport by coming to the party with a handmade Brawl Magnet magnet helmet! It was a hit!

SuperBattle HD Trailer!

2010-01-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

I just posted an HD version of the trailer on YouTube

SuperBattle HD Trailer

SuperBattle Episode 1 is complete!

2010-01-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

Wow- it has been a seriously long haul...many years using most of my spare time to bring it to life, and I am very proud to announce that the first episode of SuperBattle is done! I have put together a website to showcase the trailer and give some behind the scenes information.

SuperBattleMovie.com

I am also thrilled that SuperBattle Episode 1 has already been accepted to a couple of the festivals I applied to! Check out the websites for the Savannah International Animation Festival and SFF-rated: Athens International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival for details!

Meet the Buddies!

2009-12-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

My buds at Buddy System Studios are featured in the new issue of Stop Motion Magazine! As always it is a free PDF download. There are some other really great articles this month as well, including a feature on Director/Animator Barry Purves' latest work!

Stop-Motion Magazine

2009-10-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Editor John Ikuma recently announced the launch of a publication completely devoted to the art of Stop Motion Animation. He hopes to provide readers with up-to-date industry info, interviews with famous and not so famous animators and directors, Movie and T.V. reviews, along with tutorials and articles on everything related to the art form. John has two great issues already done which are free to download as a PDF from Stop-Motion Magazine. The current issue has an informative behind the scenes article on "Titan Maximum" including interviews with representatives from most of the different creative teams.

Buddy System Studios update

2009-10-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't checked in awhile, the Buddy System Studios website got a nice face lift, with more improvements coming in the near future! Pop over and check out the updated reel.

Additionally, I am happy to be represented as one of the Buddy System Studios directors at Sugar Rush Media. Terence Liff built Sugar Rush Media on the foundation of satisfying a client's media desires no matter how simple or complex, and I am excited to be a part of what he's got going on!

Titan Maximum - Behind the scenes!

2009-09-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a handful of behind the scenes photos from the pilot episode. Some are pretty blurry- but they will give an idea of what was going on.

TITAN MAXIMUM PREMIERE!

2009-09-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Be sure to watch or DVR the first episode of Titan Maximum this Sunday, Sept. 27th on Adult Swim @ 11:30pm!

Once again- a ton of hard work went into this from the amazing crew at Shadow Machine, and I can't say enough positive stuff about the people I get to work with. As each episode airs I will try and get in the habit of posting some behind the scenes photos and insights, to talk about what went into the show.

Until then, here is a fun interview with Director Chris McKay which gives some insight into the process of making the show. And here is another interview with Chris.

Stop Motion Gold!

2009-08-29T14:51:00.001-07:00

Huge congratulations to Elizabeth Harvatine and Joshua Jennings (a.k.a Savelen Forrest) for their recent Emmy wins in the juried category for Individual Achievement in Animation! Liz won for her work on the last season of Moral Orel while Josh took home the prize for his performance on Robot Chicken Star Wars Ep2. Go stop-mo!!!

Titan Maximum shooting wraps!

2009-08-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Adult Swim's latest stop-motion show Titan Maximum has finished shooting for the first season. I served as animation director on this one and had an amazing crew of animators who were a constant source of inspiration. Check out our animation crew photo! Make sure to catch Titan Maximum when it premieres soon on Cartoon Network!

Guitar Hero Spec Ad - Watch it!

2009-07-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

Here is the Guitar Hero spec ad I directed and animated. Many thanks to all the talented artists who pitched in to make this look amazing. Extra special love goes out to my buddies at Buddy System Studios who gave me tons of support to create this piece. Please have a look and let me know what you think of it!

Here's a link:

GUITAR HERO SPEC!

And here's YouTube HD:

YouTube Version

Spec Commercial - Shooting is Done!

2008-12-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Just before the Christmas break I managed to get the last shot for my spec commercial in the can. In case you haven't already figured it out from the posts below, this is an idea I came up with for the Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero. It is a really cool little product, that lets you attach a special controller to the side of your DS so you can rock on the go. I should have all the editing and post work done by the end of January.

Who's this guy?

2008-11-28T23:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a frame from the spec commercial I am shooting- I am really enjoying working with this puppet!

New Project Update!

2008-11-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

It's been another long lapse since I've posted anything- time to catch up!

SuperBattle has continued to evolve. I realized I would not be able to complete the 22-minute film that I originally set out to create, so I have sensibly broke it into 3 seven minute episodes. The great thing about this decision is that the first episode is pretty much done- freeing me up to work on some of my other ideas.

While I continue to serve as the Animation Director on Robot Chicken Season 4, I've been using my after hours and weekends for the past two months on a new project. I am working with my friends at Buddy System Studios to create a "spec" commercial. I am directing and animating the spot, with a huge amount of creative backup from the talented artists of the Hollywood stop-mo community. I don't want to say too much about the project yet, but take a look at the pictures below and you might pick up on what the product is! More on this project soon!

Here's a few shots of DP Harv working on the lighting:

Moral Orel New Episodes

2008-10-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't tuned into Adult Swim recently, they have begun airing the new episodes of Moral Orel (season 3) complete with introductions from the show's creator Dino Stamatopoulos. I had the pleasure/honor of directing one of these episodes titled "Alone". I am really proud of it and would love it if you'd check it out when it premieres on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on Tuesday October 21st. The schedule on Adult Swim is sort of hard to decipher, but from what I can tell it airs at 12:15am. Let me know what you think of the episode!

RCSW EpII

2008-07-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

I can pass this news along now that it is officially announced!

(From Hollywood Reporter)

"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II" is a go. Days after the Adult Swim show landed a best animated series Emmy nomination for its "Star Wars" episode, the cable network is moving ahead with a sequel that will premiere Nov. 16.

"It doesn't even seem real -- getting to make Star Wars twice!" said "Robot Chicken" co-creator Seth Green, who is set to direct the second "Star Wars"-themed episode after winning an Annie Award for helming the first one.

Many members of the voice cast from the first special, including original "Star Wars" actors Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams -- reprising their roles as Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian, respectively -- are back. Also returning are Seth MacFarlane as Emperor Palpatine, Conan O'Brien as Zuckuss, Breckin Meyer as Admiral Ackbar and Boba Fett, and Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks. Green will voice several characters, including Ponda Baba. Joining the voice cast this time around is Andy Richter.

As for the creative direction in the sequel, "we decided to focus on the bounty hunters a bit and explore their stories," "Robot Chicken" co-creator Matt Senreich said. "It's a geek-fest for us all."

"Robot Chicken" hails from Green and Senreich's Stoopid Monkey Prods. and Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico's ShadowMachine Films.

The 501st invades Robot Chicken!

2008-07-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

A unit from the amazing 501st legion dropped by Robot Chicken last week to iduct the creators of Robot Chicken as honorary members! It was so cool to see some of my favorite characters up close and personal, especially the incredibly authentic R2-D2 and his astromech buddies!

There are a couple of image galleries posted here and
here, and if you want to learn more about the 501st, go to their site here.

And don't forget that the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode is out on DVD July 22nd!

Sound Design!

2008-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

The first act of SuperBattle is locked! I met with a couple of very talented sound designers yesterday and they have agreed to take on the sound FX and perhaps even the music! I will have time to put the final bit of polish on some of the shots while that is being done. I am also going to try and edit together a new SuperBattle trailer to post here on my blog so you can see a little of Brawl Magnet in action!

Making cuts.

2008-05-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well here I am again, laid off between projects at Shadow Animation. It is actually a welcome break and I am using the time to make a final push to complete the first act of SuperBattle. I've been cutting things down and reworking some sections to make the action flow better. There are still a couple of shots in there I need to re-shoot but they are fine as placeholders. My goal is to get this chunk locked for sound design- it is coming in at about six minutes thirty seconds.

Moral Orel meets its Maker....

2008-04-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

It is getting late in the day on a Wednesday night as I type this entry from my desk in the Animation Department office at Shadow Animation. Several animators are still out on the stages finishing up the final handful of shots on an amazing third season of Moral Orel. We're wrapping up several weeks earlier than originally planned- Moral Orel has officially been cancelled.

It's not all bad news though! Cartoon Network let us down easy, allowing us to shoot thirteen of the planned twenty episodes. And they look amazing. We are rushed here at the end, as always, but somehow this amazing crew of people has managed to create something beautiful on a really tough schedule. All the departments work at an insane pace to ensure everything is built, rigged and lit so we can shoot around 11 minutes of animation a week. The scripts that show creator Dino Stamatopoulos wrote this season provided us with a lot of inspiration. I feel like this season will give viewers a truly unique stop-motion experience that can't be compared to anything that's ever been done with the technique. I was really honored to serve as Animation Director and doubly honored to take the helm as Director on one of the episodes titled "Alone".

Please support stop-motion on Cartoon Network by tuning into the final season of Moral Orel when it begins airing in August! I'll announce the exact date and time as soon as I know it, and also I'll post some behind-the-scenes photos.

Announcing Buddy System Studios

2008-04-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

My buddies John Harvatine IV and Eric Towner have started their own stop-motion company called "Buddy System Studios". This animation power-duo can handle all your stop-motion needs. I had the honor of working on their first couple of contracted projects and I can tell there are big things ahead for these guys. Head on over to Buddy System Studios and check out their reel.

Brawl Magnet has left the building...

2008-04-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

I finished the last shot of the scene I have been working on! This marks the completion of just over six minutes of footage from SuperBattle. My goal now is to polish this first act of the film (with sound design, music and effects) so that I can start showing it around to try and get the support I need to finish.

Here's a 3d shot of Brawl Magnet as he made his exit... (for now).

SuperBattle Update!

2008-03-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted any news lately but things are still moving ahead on SuperBattle. I moved the set and all my gear over to the garage studio of Miracle Baby Fims. The generous proprietor of this new studio is Matt Manning, who you will be hearing more about in future posts concerning his stopmo projects.

I have three more shots to complete on the current Brawl Magnet scene, which will put me at just over six minutes of finished footage.

In addition to shooting I finally had the opportunity to record the talented character actor Rocco George. I held out for two years just to get a chance to record him for the part of The Chemical Kid, and it was worth the wait!! Rocco did a great job and I can now move forward with the other scenes in the film.

Here's a shot of Rocco in the recording booth!

Eric Towner wins Annie Award!

2008-02-10T10:04:00.000-08:00

Congratulations go out to my pal Eric Towner who just took home the Annie Award for Character Animation in a Television Production for his work on Robot Chicken! Congratulations also to Seth Green who won the Best Direction on a Television Production for the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode!

Here's a 3d shot of Towner working on Robot Chicken.

Faces.

2008-01-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Harvatine directs Hip-Hop Puppets!

2008-01-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

My buddy Harv recently directed the animation sequences for the new video from rap star Soulja Boy! Check out the video HERE.

Brawl Magnet scene- almost done.

2008-01-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've been getting closer to finishing the first Brawl Magnet scene. I won't get it all done on the stage I have set up at Shadow Animation though, I'll need to move somewhere else to get the last few shots. That being said I am happy with how everything looks and Brawl Magnet has been a great puppet to work with!

Brawl Magnet comes to life.

2007-11-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

Finally- after many many months....er, years....in the planning, Brawl Magnet is coming to life and uttering his first words! I'm having a blast with this character!

The magic of LIGHT!

2007-11-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

It always amazes me how good lighting can transform a set from something good to something amazing. I was happy to have the Robot Chicken/Moral Orel DP Jeff Gardner in to help me with lighting this week. JeffyG had some really cool ideas and the end product looks amazing! Thanks Jeffy!

I also want to thank Celeste Leipham, one of our Assistant Animators on Robot Chicken, for generously giving her time this week to break down the dialog tracks for this scene. I've got a nice tidy stack of exposure sheets all ready to go!

Here's Jeffy shedding some light on the Brawl Magnet stand-in puppet (The real puppet is still in progress):

Help when I need it most.

2007-11-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

I've been a couple of days behind schedule on the set I'm building. There are so many steps to the paint work and I am just one lone artist! Who can I call on for help! My wife Cindy came to my rescue this weekend, using her great color sense and skill with a brush to take the lead on aging the set. All the grease and grime really made the set come together! I feel so lucky to have such a cool girl to help me.

Check back soon- the set will be getting the magic glow of incandescent lighting tomorrow!

Here's Cindy adding some grime to a few of the set pieces:

And here I am doing the same:

Another set going up!

2007-11-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

Wow- long run without any new SuperBattle news...but I'm still going!

It is now the break between Robot Chicken and Moral Orel, and Shadow Machine Films has been kind enough to let me use the studio for my film for the next few weeks. I have been busily working away on a new set, and this time I was lucky to get some help from master model maker Logan Payne Logan helped me for a full week, focusing primarily on creating a stasis pod for the new set. Logan hand carved the shapes for the pod out of sculpting foam and then created a vacuform "buck" to pull four identical pieces from. It is amazing work- Thank you Logan for your time and talent! And also thank you to Shadow Machine Films for opening their doors to the animators personal projects during the hiatus!

Here are some pictures of Logan working on the pod:

Robot Chicken Season 2 DVD!

2007-09-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Robot Chicken Season 2 DVD has been out for awhile now. I finally got my hands on it and was suprised to see a really well done behind the scenes movie in the DVD extras. It features a nice cross-section of the crew talking about their contributions to the show. It's worth checking out!

Here are some of the highly attractive people who bring you Robot Chicken:

Harvatine

2007-09-05T07:56:00.000-07:00

My pal Harv just created a website to showcase some of his personal stop-motion films. Harv is a master of short format filmmaking, and he acts fast on his ideas. He mostly works with a variety of found object materials, lately on a downshooter. Visit Harv's Web Site

More Stopmo Emmys!

2007-08-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to animators Tom Smith and Sihanouk Mariona who were recently chosen to receive Emmy awards for Individual Achievement in Animation! Tom won for his work on Robot Chicken season 2 and Sihanouk won for a scene from Moral Orel Season 2. They join the ranks of our other Emmy winner from the last round Sarah Meyer- who is moving on to better things and heading up to Portland to work on the stopmo feature Coraline!

Still Boarding!

2007-08-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

I've been powering through storyboards for the final sequence of the film. These have been a challenge since it is a big action scene and I really want to nail down screen direction and framing as close as I can to the actual shots. I've learned to embrace my crude drawing style, and concentrate on getting across the main idea of each shot. Photoshop has been a huge time saver- I've been drawing backgrounds separately from the characters in shots with more than one panel. Everything is scanned in and adjusted, and I've even been doing some gray tones and motion blurs to make things read more clearly. I'm about 85% done with the boards! Soon I will be able to cut my animatic and actually watch my film in drawn form.

In the puppet department- Brawl Magnet is foamed up over the legit ball and socket armature. He is awaiting his seaming and paint job. Very exciting!

Armature setup

2007-07-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

I did the armature setup for Brawl Magnet over the weekend. The process involves adding the finger and face control wires and then getting everything centered up in the mold. This seriously tested my patience and made me respect puppet builders even more. The finger wires were easy enough to measure and attach but the brow and lip wires were really tough! Fitting these wires to the mold requires a lot of trial and error. Once I had the face wires in place it was another challenge to get the two halves of the head mold over them. I forgot to take a picture of the full setup but the picture below shows the hands done and all the joints safely wrapped in teflon tape to keep the foam out. The big grey epoxy piece in the chest is part of the breathing mechanism- to push in and out. Should have the foamed up hero puppet soon!

Foaming the Brawl Magnet

2007-07-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

Had some generous help from Tennessee Reid Norton and Rob Ronning this week- resulting in my first foam latex test casting of Brawl Magnet. This was cast over a simple wire armature with no finger or face articulation- a quick run to test the mold. He will serve as a paint test model and a lighting stand-in when complete. It is so fun to see him in positive form again. I've been posing him out a little and it is getting me really excited to animate again. Brawl Magnet is going to have a ton of personality!

Within a couple of weeks I should have the hero casting with the full-on ball and socket armature! I'll try and shoot a little behind the scenes video of the armature setup and foam process.

Character Evolution

2007-06-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old papers this morning and came across the early designs (c.1995) for my character "The Chemical Kid". Originally this character was for another short film idea that I never made- he was a small parasitic twin that was attached to another character. These sketches were done by my buddy Mike Murnane and show how we honed in on the character though several revisions.

Robot Chicken Star Wars!

2007-06-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

This is by far the best and most entertaining episode we have done (in my opinion) - Don't miss it!

Master Model Maker!

2007-05-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

My old pal Cundo had a nice article written about the concept models he built over at Dreamworks for the latest "Shrek" installment. I worked with Cundo in the puppet fabrication department on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and he was building models on my first job as an animator on "Bump in the Night". Cundo's skills have obviously continued to grow since then! Click below to check out the article:

Set your TIVO's

2007-05-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

The episode of Moral Orel I directed is on this Sunday (er...Monday morning I guess) on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim- Please check it out! It is titled "Geniusis" and everyone did a really great job on it.

Notes from the Box?

2007-05-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

Some of you out there in stopmo-land may remember a very inspirational blog that vanished from the web a year or so ago. Yes I am speaking of course about "Notes from the Box" which was the passionately keyed stopmo ramblings of animator Misha Klein. Well- for anyone out there that might be wondering, the blog may be gone but Misha's project (previous known as "Bad Bullets") is in full production. What started in his little one room studio in San Francisco years back is now nearing completion in another cramped box here in Los Angeles. I've seen some of the most recent shots and all I can tell you is that fans of stop-motion are in for a treat. Misha is crossing over into some juicy acting zones- and really putting it all into the performance. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mish- check out the teaser scene for his film. Visit Misha's Web Site

This is an old picture Misha sent me when he was working in his San Francisco studio. The reading has paid off- he is definately following "The Way of the Actor". Keep rockin' it Mish!

Behind the Scenes Video!

2007-05-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try and start adding small behind the scenes videos of the puppet fabrication techniques being used on my characters. Here is the first installment showing Mike Murnane finishing the sculpt for "Brawl Magnet".

Negative Character

2007-05-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back Paula finished the mold for Brawl Magnet! It came out beautifully, and is a piece of sculptural art in itself. Thanks again Paula for lending your mold-mastery to my project!

Here is the finished six piece mold- complete with a little plug that fits into the mouth:

And here is an in progress picture laying up the wet clay around the sculpt:

Board yet?

2007-05-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Hello out there in stopmotion blog-land. Yes- there has been another big gap in time since my last post. My wife Cindy and I recently moved which is always a big time drain, so I haven't really made any solid steps forward on the film for a few weeks. The other bummer about the move is that I no longer have a garage to use as a studio space. Angry Puppet Films is now based in a 6' x 8' garden shed in my backyard! Just enough space to hold my tools and a workbench- so I will be counting on the universe to provide me with a shooting space once I am ready to go again. In the meantime I am trying to get some things finished that can no longer be put off. One of them is storyboards. There is stil a significant chunk of the film to board, and it is the hardest thing for me to do since I am not the best wth a pencil. I really admire the abiilty of a good storyboard artist to communicate the key information about a shot without spending too much time on each panel. I am trying to losen up and just get through these scenes, without worrying about the quality of the actual drawings or whether the angles are true perspective. Check back soon for a Brawl Magnet update!

Tease Me.

2007-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

The website that will accompany it is not yet up- but what the heck, I'm posting the link to my teaser trailer! This is just a quick glimpse to give you an idea of what I am doing....

CRANK THE VOLUME WAY UP!

"SuperBattle Teaser Trailer"

Another set up wrapped up!

2007-03-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished the last of the shots with my robot character! I feel really good about completing this chunk of the film- one less thing to think about. Now the next major step will be getting Brawl Magnet from sculpt to puppet.
The mystery master mold-maker below is currently laying up the clay for what is going to be a six piece mold. More about the mold soon....

Nothing so satisfying as crossing shots out.

Here is the mystery mold-maker at work:

Robutt.

2007-03-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

I'm about a quarter of the way through the shots with my new robot character.

Sculpting Hero

2007-02-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

This has been a crazy busy week! More progress has been made on my film in the last seven days than in the last month- and it is largely due to the generous help I've been getting from my talented friends.

First off, my good friend Mike Murnane came down from San Francisco to sculpt the other main character he designed for my film. Mike's design kung-fu is strong, and he's got the sculpting skills to match. The character is looking amazing- I can't wait to make him come to life!

Second, I was able to record two of the three voices for the film through the generosity and skills of my friend Dick Kaneshiro. You may remember Dick from a past installment of my blog, when he helped me shoot a shot with his home-brew motion control unit. Dick's regular job is in sound engineering, and he managed to hook me up with some free studio time. It was a blast to actually record my actors in a top-rate studio, and Dick was a champ to donate his time on a Saturday.

Below you can see Dick at the controls (sort of, he doesn't want his image revealed) and Mike doing a voice for me.

Lastly, I completed a new set and started shooting the reverse angles of my Robot Warden character. I've got two shots in the can and his personality is revealing itself to me a little more with each one. The puppet is all hand built out of mostly kit-bashed model parts over a Tom Brierton hinge joint armature.

More updates soon along with the promised "teaser" trailer!

Digging in deep.

2007-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Wow- it's been a long time since my last post. While it may seem my film has slowed to a stop, in reality things are moving forward faster than ever! In the hiatus between seasons of Moral Orel and Robot Chicken I have a nice chunk of time to devote entirely to my film. New characters are finally being made, sets are being built and the biggest accomplishment yet- I locked my script and am recording the voices! In addition to that I have cut a short "teaser" trailer to show a quick glimpse into the world I am creating. Check back here soon for the link!

Nothing new to report...

2006-10-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

So here is a random still from my film:

Monster Safari!

2006-10-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

My pals over at Screen Novelties premiered their amazing pilot "Monster Safari" this past Saturday night! It was a full house with most of the Los Angeles area stopmo talent in attendance. The pilot was incredible on all points with energetic cartoony animation, great art direction, sound and story. This project is a true cartoon- and there is no doubt in my mind it will be a huge success once it lands on Nickelodeon!

Congratulations to Seamus Walsh, Mark Caballero and Chris Finnegan- the Animators/Directors behind this amazing cartoon.

Left to right: Seamus Walsh, Voice talent Peter Dennis, Audrey Wasilewski and Keone Young, Mark Caballero and Chris Finnegan.

And here are some pictures of the sets and puppets they had out for the crowd to see!

Bonus picture from Screen Novelties studio! Ray Harryhausen left his mark on their wall!

Stopping to get organized!

2006-09-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last week I started cutting all my finished shots together, finalizing all the digital effects and compositing for each shot. I was surprised to see that I already have nearly four minutes of finished film! I'm happy with how it is coming along, and re-inspired to keep going.

More Bobblehead.

2006-09-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

The third installment of the Levi Strauss Signature/ Jimmie Johnson web movies Misha and I directed has been released.

Go to the "Levi Strauss Signature" website to watch "Cupholder".

Stopmo History On Display.

2006-08-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

One of the great perks of living in Hollywood is that we are surrounded by film history and there are often fun opportunities to see some artifacts from the past. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a great exhibit up right now that features animatronic and stop-motion characters. The highlights for me were a nice selection of Harryhausen's puppets and also the "Kane" robot from Robocop 2. If you live in the Los Angeles area I highly recommend you check out this free exhibit before it leaves on September 10th.

Go to the "It's Alive!" website for more info.

METALOCALYPSE!!!!

2006-08-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

My new favorite show! You have to check this out on Adult Swim!!!

Go to the Metalocalypse web site on Adult Swim!

Animal Instincts

2006-08-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

My friend and fellow Robot Chicken/Moral Orel animator Sihanouk Mariona is directing a collaborative stop-motion film that is anchored around gritty interviews with real NYC residents. He has invited several animators to build puppets and animate segments of the film. This past weekend Sihanouk brought over the set that he built for my squirrel puppet to live in. I've got 45 seconds of animation to do for him which I will start this weekend. Stay tuned for more about Sihanouk's film, I can guarantee it will be a treat!

Levi Strauss Signature Job

2006-08-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

A little over a month ago, my animation directing partner Misha Klein and I landed a small contract to create three short stop-motion spots for the Levi Strauss Signature website. The little movies were to feature the bobblehead sidekick of NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson. Misha and I oversaw all steps of the animation process thru to the delivery of final shots. We had a lot of amazing help from super-talented character designers, puppet builders, set builders and animators- without whom we wouldn't have been able to create a minute of animation from storyboard to final in about six weeks.

The website launched today- so go check it out! The third (and best) installment will be released next month. Click on the section marked "Lil JJ Videos" to see our work (Download the movies to your desktop to get the least-compressed video):

Lil' JJ Website

Here are some behind the scenes pictures:

Director/Animator Misha Klein.

A setup for the second spot in the series with motorized shadow maker to fake car movement.

It's me, Director/Animator Ethan Marak

Animator Chris Calvi.

Animator Richard Zimmerman on set with Misha.

Animator Sihanouk Mariona, lookin' bugged as we got him started at 1am.

Animator Josh Jennings.

Shot on the Panasonic Lumix FZ-30.

The Bones of a Hero

2006-07-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Wow- it's been a long time since I've had time to post anything new here. Things have become really busy for me in the last month and I've had to put my own project on the back burner for the time being. "Moral Orel" season 2 has started up at Shadow Animation, and in addition to that my great friend and directing partner Misha Klein and I landed a small independent job. We are shooting it in my garage at night and on weekends....more on that soon.

One thing has progressed on my film- I finally got the completed armature for my other main character! The armature was designed and built by Lionel Ivan Orozco who has built armatures for such notable productions as "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The PJ's". I feel fortunate that he took my commission and created this beautiful piece of kinetic art. One feature I am particularly excited about is the breathing mechanism which will allow that character to huff and puff. Soon I will hand it off to my friend Mike Murnane for sculpting!

Hip Hop ya Don't Stop (Motion)

2006-06-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

The first video from the all-puppet band Otafuku Rex is online! I had the pleasure of animating a few shots on this under the direction of the very talented Eric Towner and David Candelaria. I think this is one of the best looking videos, stop-motion or otherwise, to come out in years.

Go to Otafuku Rex to see the video in high or low resolution.

Breakdown.

2006-06-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well I tried keeping it intact- but the way I put the console set together there just wasn't any graceful way to break it down. I salvaged the little detail pieces that can be used again and then went at it with the hammer. The process was strangely cathartic! Now the stage area of the garage is open and ready for the next scene.

Crew'd

2006-05-31T22:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the talented crew from Robot Chicken at the end of the season. A fun and friendly bunch of folks I feel honored to work with! See how many full beards you can count!

Another setup is completed....

2006-05-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I just shot the last animation and elements from the "computer console" set that has been up in the garage for the last few months. I'm always happy to finish a section of the film and move on to the next, but I have a hard time tearing down a set once it is built and lit. It takes so much work to get it looking good- and then it gets torn down! I don't have storage space enough to keep this set assembled, so I am going to try and take it down in chunks and crate up all the flats for safe keeping. Normally I'd just junk it, but I worry that something might come up missing in the final edit and I may have to go back for a few more quick shots.

I'm going to be building a couple of puppets and a small set over the next few weeks, including the rest of the body that hooks up to the robot arm below (this time in a small scale).

Images from the past....

2006-05-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

There were four people in attendance at the Robot Chicken wrap party that were fellow crew members on my first stopmo job back in '95. "Bump In The Night" was a Saturday morning kids show that aired on ABC until Disney pulled the plug. Seeing part of the crew together again got me feeling nostalgic, so I pulled out the photo box to see what I could find. This was the pre-digital age, so taking mass amounts of on set photos wasn't as easy or cost-free as it is now. I was disappointed to find I don't really have many pictures from this great time in my life, but here are a few:

Mr. Bumpy, the star of the show. I remember this is one of the first shots I did using wires to fly an object:

The Closet Monster, an amazing life-sized puppet:

Here I am animating a shot with "Destructo" the robot character. Notice the beefy Mitchell rack-over camera:

Here is a shot of the replacement mouths for Destructo- the puppets on this show were top notch!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Misha Klein! This was Misha's first job as well!

There were always Polaroid cameras out on the stages for continuity shots, which were often abused for personal use. This one is for any old "Bump" stage crew out there:

Thanks for indulging in my past with me- now it's time to look ahead!

Robot Chicken 2 Wraps!

2006-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

The crew from Robot Chicken celebrated the wrap of the new season last night with karaoke and booze- two staples of the stop-motion community. Amazing how fast these shows blow by, I can't believe we already have two seasons under our belts!

I should be posting more frequently about my own film in the coming weeks since I have a nice break before the next season of Moral Orel goes into production.

See Misha in a puppet suit....

2006-04-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

My dear old friend and fellow stopmo crafter Misha Klein has released the first scene from his amazing personal film for your viewing pleasure. Misha is an insanely talented animator with a unique style that blends cartoon with sublime, inner-motivated character acting. He puts all of himself into his scenes, and the result for people who know him, is that his character "Fred" often takes on the appearance of Misha in a puppet suit.

Go check out "The Hallway" at his new website, and while you are there, click the "Other" section. It contains a quick glimpse of his student film from 12 or so years back, and also samples of Misha's amazing clay on glass animation.

Go to Misha's website!

On deck.

2006-04-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

I finally got out to the studio this weekend and banged out a couple short shots on my current set up. When I am setting up a shot, I like to get as much of the needed gear up and out of my way- so it is just me and the puppet under the lights, sharing a moment. All my lights are either hung from the ceiling or on stands behind the set, so there is no walking on cords and bumping lights during the shot. Better still- I manage to put the camera on the actual surface of the stage as much as possible, to get the tripod out of my way as well. I find that the less stuff you have to think about avoiding contact with during a shot, the better the animation turns out. Stopmo Feng Shui!

Robot Chicken DVD release party!

2006-03-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

It's not everyday that a bunch of stop-mo geeks get out of their dark animation stages and into a place like the Playboy Mansion. That's right- to celebrate the release of season one of Robot Chicken on DVD, the crew was invited to join the party up at Hef's place. Here are a few pictures of some of the amazingly talented people I work with having some much deserved play time:

Carrot Kid

2006-03-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was reading news over at AnimateClay.com where there was a link to a stop-mo website I'd never seen before. You really have to go and check out Carrot Kid's films. Really cool stuff that clearly shows how good animation gets inside the characters head.

I put a link to Carrot Kid over there ------->

Gettin' squirrelly

2006-03-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

I recently built a squirrel puppet for my friend and incredible animator Sihanouk Mariona. He's got a really cool project in the works, and has invited several animators to build and animate characters in the film. I was assigned a squirrel, which I built using a wire armature and foam build-up.

Here is the bare-bones armature:

Wood head with facial controls screwed into threaded inserts:

Starting to build up the foam, and I shortened the neck and used a ball joint there and in the jaw:

And here is the finished puppet- life size!

Fake fur and flock:

Sunday Funday

2006-03-20T22:18:00.000-08:00

I spent another day working at Xow! over the weekend with fellow animator Josh Jennings and project genius Eric Towner. We are moving out of the green/bluescreen stages and onto real sets, with Josh doing the first shot in the warehouse. Check out that detail!

Variety.

2006-03-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

This past week was a sanctioned break from Robot Chicken, so I was able to pick up a few days working at other local stopmo studios helping out on a couple of really cool projects. I felt honored to get a call from the guys at Screen Novelties to do a couple of shots on an anti-smoking PSA they are doing for RAT (Reject All Tobacco). It is always a pleasure to work at Screen Novelties! Check out the amazing set, built and lit by Joe Schmidt.

I also had the opportunity to do a few days at Xow! Studios helping out animators Eric Towner and David Candelaria on an in-house music video project. I was shooting some of their characters against green and blue screen for some really interesting composite shots using live-action footage. They were also having a really amazing warehouse set built for the other scenes in the video. I'll see if I can drop by once that is up and lit to take a few more pictures.

On a side note, there have been some new digital still cameras released recently, and I have seen three of them in action.

Screen Novelties is now shooting with the Sony DSC-R1.

Xow! is now shooting with the Olympus Evolt 330.

And I am now shooting with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30.

These cameras all have some small issues, but I've worked with each of them and they all produce very nice final images. I will devote another post to the details....

Stop Motion Oscar!

2006-03-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

Wallace and Grommit take the award! Congratulations to Nick Park and all the talented artists and animators who brought this film to life and have pushed stop-motion into the mainsteam once again!

Thanks Bryan!

2006-03-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

The set is lit and ready to go. Actually, I've got a few touch ups and things to do, but I will be animating this sequence within days! I am really happy how Bryan's lighting added depth to the set. His technique was to use a couple of bounce cards in conjunction with 200watt fresnel lights to set an overall ambient level, and then go in with small 20watt MR11 halogen spots to highlight areas and add depth and some color. Thanks again Bryan!

Lightening my load....

2006-02-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

Veteran lighting guru Bryan Garver made a guest appearance at Angry Puppet Films today. Bryan has generously agreed to set the lights and the mood for my next sequence of shots. In addition to lighting multiple set-ups a day in his role as DP on Robot Chicken, Bryan has worked on a vast variety of high-end jobs in Portland, Oregon.....The other west coast center for stop-motion fun. I'll post pictures of the progress as Bryan lays in layer upon layer of creamy life-giving halogen bliss!