Escape Artist
10 Week Collaborative Stop Motion ProductionResponsible for co-direction/concept with Preston Robertson-King, set and prop fabrication, molding and casting, lighting, set dressing, and animation.
(Click to enlarge any image)
Concept
The story: An art thief breaks into an extravagant gallery after-hours to finally get his hands on his highly sought after pièce de résistance, only to become entangled in the escape. The concept for this project was devised by myself and Preston King. The goal was to take inspiration from early UPA style and French animations with a simple storyline. We both collaborated on ideas with regard to the character design, story line and concept art for the sets as well as creating mockups of everything before fabrication started. Below are my contributions to design/concept and original technical drawings for the puppet.
Set Dressing
All set dressing was done as a collaboration with Preston King. With a very short deadline to get the shots animated, the sets required a lot of creative problem solving and quick fabrication and treatment to achieve the UPA-inspired look we were aiming for.
Fabrication
The majority of my fabrication contribution was done as set dressing directly on set, per-shot. I additionally made the miniature scale puppet of the Thief character, and made the arching spiral staircase for the set which the miniature puppet runs into the main hall. Along with that, I collaborated with Preston King to make mockups for each of the shots before the main set pieces were made.
