Super Battle Episode One

'Super Battle Episode One' by Ethan Marak.

"When a notorious super-villain escapes from his subterranean prison, the enigmatic robot warden summons his most powerful henchman to deliver justice.
The first completed episode of an ongoing stop-motion animated series."

DVD available for sale at www.superbattlemovie.com
Also be sure to check out the behind the scenes gallery on the site.

Peter Lord & Dave Alex Talk "Pirates

This is truly amazing. If your as excited as me about 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists' then this 1 hour and 44 minute talk will get you 10 times more excited then you were before! They show a lot of behind the scenes stuff including sets, puppet production , unseen clips, video reference and a lot more. Fantastically amazing stuff.

Rencontre avec Peter Lord, le cofondateur du... by forumdesimages

Also here is a few new photos that have emerged today from behind the scenes and a couple of production stills

Dried Up

A short film by Jeremy Casper, Isaiah Powers and Stuart Bury.

“Dried Up” is the story of a quiet old man who, surrounded by desolation and apathy, perseveres to remain true to the nature of his own beliefs and character.
He toils daily to forge a last ditch effort to bring hope and life to a faithless, drought ridden old town.

A beautifully done film that is fantastic in every way. I highly recommend you take 6 minutes of your time and sit back and watch the beauty unfold.



Progress Timelapse


To read more about the film check http://driedup.wordpress.com/ Be sure to check out the 'Making Of' gallery

Truckers

Terry Pratchett's Truckers by Cosgrove Hall from 1992


Originally aired as a series then an unabridged version for VHS release. Unfortunately this has never seen a DVD release and most likely never will. Big sad faces about that :(

Truckers is another film that has a very soft spot for me as I watched it when it first aired on TV then bought the video as soon as it was released. YouTube has pulled through again as somebody has uploaded the whole thing!
Cosgrove did have plans to do the whole Bromeliad Trilogy but deals fell through with the TV Channel it aired on. At least we have this though.

This is an outstanding film. The sets to puppets are simply amazing. I really recommend watching it all.


Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8

The Pied Piper Of Hamlin - Cosgrove Hall

The Pied Piper Of Hamlin by Cosgrove Hall from 1980

Cosgrove Hall's wonderful take on this story. Brilliantly done.

Part 1


Part 2

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship

'The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship' by the amazing Cosgrove Hall from 1990

The Fool of the World was justly awarded a number of festival prizes,
most notably a 1991 Emmy for Best Children's Program

This film holds a special place in my heart. I used to watch it loads a young chap and I love it even more now.
There have been two DVD releases of this the first was in 2001 and also had Cosgrove Hall's Cinderella on the same disk but is quite rare now days. Then it has been released again last year. This newest version, I have to say, is appalling in quality. These youtube videos are better. I suppose there is a chance I had a bad copy but I highly doubt it. I'm glad I have the original release

This film is absolutely fantastic and I highly recommend watching it.


The film is in a playlist so as one part finishes the next should automatically start

Fimfárum Jana Wericha

Fimfárum Jana Wericha is a 2002 Czech animated film, directed by Vlasta Pospísilová and Aurel Klimt.

The film is made up of 5 short films, based on Jan Werich's book:
1. Az opadá listí z dubu (When the Leaves Fall from the Oak)
2. Franta Nebojsa (Fearless Frankie)
3. Lakomá Barka (Mean Barbara)
4. Splnený sen (A Dream Fulfilled)
5. Fimfárum (Fimfarum)

(All info taken from the youtube video description)

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8


Part 9


Part 10

Krysař - Pied Piper of Hamlin

Jiri Barta's 'Krysař' from 1986

The dialogue is gibberish just in case you are wondering so anyone can follow the film.
Beautifully done film!


Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6






And a fantastic 'Making of'

Beglan Bros

The Belgan Bros are a London based production company run by brothers Philip and Charles.

Philip tends to do the puppet making and stop motion animation and Charles does the CGI animation and post production.
Philip has also worked at Aardman on Creature Comforts and Curse of the were-rabbit to the poorly published Max & Co and then at Laika on Coraline.
He is also the chap that is animating Coraline in this timelapse/animation shot at 0:57 in this featurette


I'm not sure if they were aired in the USA but people from the UK should definitely recognize their adverts for Kellogg's Cornflakes.

Their puppets are ridiculously amazing have this very caricatured design. Very realistic but not too much to make it feel a bit uncanny valley.
I think I remember reading that they use unbaked super sculpy instead of plasticine or silicone.

What ever they use I think you will agree that it is all fantastic work!

Visit http://www.beglanbros.com to see the photo gallery and also both brothers showreels.

'24 Frames'

Brad Pattullo's fantastic short film , "24 Frames". He finished the film in late 2007 and to date it has screened in 25 festivals worldwide and has won 8 awards.

"From the mind and the hands of animator Brad Pattullo (”Gary & Mike”) comes the brutally funny “24 Frames”, the world’s first animated black comedy mockumentary horror puppet film about the making of a puppet film."

The film is really, really good! I highly recommend the watch and it. I can bet a few of you will be able to relate to this one!

The total length of all three acts of the film is 18:15. More information can be found about the film on Facebook HERE

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Documentary about the work that went into the short film

Misha Klein

Misha is a very, VERY talented animator. He is currently working at Laika on 'Paranorman'. He has worked on a lot of great shows from 'The PJ's' to 'Robot Chicken' and 'Robot Chicken: Star Wars. He also worked on 'Coraline' too.

Misha has written, directed and animated his own short film called 'Fred' Which looks absolutely amazing.
Here is trailer and a short clip




He also did a behind the scenes interview for Stopmotion magazine which is pretty damn awesome


There is a great write up over at Scarlett Letters which has some great info about Misha's set up and loads of behind the scenes goodness on 'Fred'

Frankenweenie photos

Its seems a couple of photos have emerged of the lead character and his dog and also two supporting characters from Tim Burton's Exhibition at LACMA. These maquettes look fantastic! I really like how they have been painted to look like Burton's illustrations. The phenoms at Mackinnon & Saunders have done an outstanding job and I'm 100% sure the actual puppets will be very special indeed.
I have no doubts at all that this film will be amazing!

Cirkus

"Cirkus'

A stunning short film with beautiful lighting and a fantastic lead puppet.

Rung

An outstanding short film by Chuck Duke and Jesse Brodkey.
They dont allow embeding for the video so here is the link

Watch "RUNG' NOW

The Periwig Maker

This is one of my all time favourite short films. I'm sure I heard that Tim Burton saw this and found the start of his crew for Corpse Bride or something along those lines.

Directed by Steffen Schäffler - Animated by Phil Dale - Puppets made by Mackinnon and Saunders - Character designs by Carlos Grangel


Part 1


Part 2

I Live In The Woods!

Multi award winning film from the very talented Max Winston



Animation timelapse

Timothy Hittle

Timothy Hittle has a pretty damn impressive credit list. From Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the giant Peach to The Incredibles and Toy Story 3. He has made 3 very impressive short films over the last 20 years and they most certainly are impressive. They really do show that you don't need the most complicated of character designs or puppets to produce some outstanding animation. Hats off to you Mr Hittle!

The Potato hunter. 1991


Canhead. 1996


The Quiet Life. 2010

Neomorphus

A very strange short film but very beautifully done.






Making of

Trompe L'oeil

This is Tyson James Dale's Final thesis short film film

"A business inspector is sent to inspect an old theatre. When he arrives on location, there's no theatre, only an empty lot with a charismatic mime who is looking to perform for him. The mime now has to perform various theatre positions, in order to convince the inspector that his "theatre" is up to code, and indeed real."

Madame Tutli-Putli

A few behind the scenes videos

Animating Madame Tutli-Putli



Inspiration



Finding Madame Tutli-Putli


A glimpse at the animatic

Mr. Wire's Nostalgia

A multi award winning short film by Jonathan Ostos Yaber

"A shadow puppet artist, will find out what fame is all about, in a journey that will make him decide between what he loves and what he desires most"

Plywood Pirates

Graduation film from Stefan Schomerus and his team. Fantastic little short film. The sets are HUGE!



Making of

Nightmare before Christmas - 'Making of'

The making of the Nightmare Before Christmas. Nothing more needs to be said

Corpse Bride - Behind the scenes

Someone has kindly uploaded all of the behind the scene features from the DVD. Part 8 seems to have been blocked but at least you can see the rest if you have not got it already on DVD.

Inside the two worlds


The Animators


Danny Elfman interprets the Two Worlds


Voices from the underworld


Making puppets tick


The voices behind the voice


And part 7 is all the animation tests

Jurassic Park - Animation Tests

Over the last few years a few 'Jurassic Park' Animation tests have popped up on the internet. I am no way against CGI but these really show that stop motion still could have its place in visual effects.


T.Rex walk Cycle



T.Rex Escapes


And here is a bit of Pre Vis from the Raptors in the kitchen scene that the legendary Phil Tippett uploaded

Phantom Inventory - L'inventaire Fantôme

I first saw this short film in 2007 and it was one of my first experiences of seeing stop motion at an animation festival. it has stuck with me ever since. I really do wish they would upload a higher quality version of it but I suppose anything is better then nothing

James And The Giant Peach - Animation Tests

So I’ll start with some animation tests from ‘James And The Giant Peach’
These are so inspiring! Brilliant animation with some beautiful puppets.
I am constantly studying these videos and feel people can learn a lot from them.

Welcome

I have decided to start this blog as an inspiration station (corny, I know) for all things puppet animation. Somewhere that I can post everything I find and others can come and be inspired by it. This is strictly puppet animation!