Many animators I know want to make their own personal film. They want to show the world their vision, their take on the world they live in. I talked about making a personal film for many many years. It reached a point where I was angry when someone would ask if I had ever made a personal film. I had been sitting on the idea of making a film but never doing anything about it. I had made sketches of different ideas and characters but never solidified anything or fabricated anything useful.
It was only when I met my room-mate Jesse Brodkey that the film had any hope of production. Jesse was an all around artist in many fields but his forte was in writing. I sculpted a character and Jesse started figuring out the story. We would bat ideas around and Jesse solidified it into the final shooting script. Then the process to get the written page into a visual storyboard to follow in the animation world.
I worked with an amazing artist/animator at Tippett Studio. Will Groebe did all of the storyboards. Jesse and I would explain the scene we had in mind and before we had finished talking, Will had a rendering of that scene in front of us. He draws incredibly fast and is able to capture the idea but also keep to framing and camera direction. His ideas for the flow of the action was immensely helpful.
The fabrication of the whole film was next. Puppets, sets, stages, camera tracks, lighting rigs, the whole deal. My girlfriend was also an amazing artist. Side note; work with amazing artists. Holly Strauss helped fabricate the main puppet for the film. She even sewed the tiny hat and sweater the main character would wear in the film. Another side note; The next puppet sweater she would create would be the one the character Ash wore in the film Fantastic Mr. Fox.
One final thing. I wanted to shoot this film on my 16mm Bolex camera. That meant traditional lighting, light meter, film stock, lenses, and waiting a couple days to get the film back from the lab.
The ARMATURE
The Armature for my main character was fabricated by Merrick Cheney. Merrick has worked on many of the greatest Stop Motion Features made.
Fishing off the Pier.
Waiting…..for a bite. I love how the set, props and puppet all fit together in this world. That was thanks to Jesse Brodkey who was a master at finely detailed fabrication and to Holly Strauss who was scenic artist and costume designer.
This was one of my favorite shots to animate. I would move the ladder up and down as the exposure was open on the camera. This gave the blur and sense of speed the shot needed. Of course, it’s not blurred in this still image, it’s definitely blurred on film.
I made multiple heads for different moods of the main character.
Again, the fine work of Jesse.
This is the film RUNG if you want to watch.
Jesse was a master craftsman when it came to the ultra miniature work. He could copy a large scale prop down to the perfect tiny dimensions. Jesse’s work was always more refined and inspirational compared to what I produced. I think it made for a good balance. It’s kind of like when you walk through a beautiful relaxing park and occasionally see small bits of trash on the grass.
Big Boss Bird in his final paint stage. Animators use many things in their tool box to make the process go smoothly. The lube in the background is for the eyeballs that are in the clay head of the main character. It gives a realistic sheen the the eyeball as well as making it move smoothly in the socket.
The Main Character
I liked the character the most when he was sitting at the end of the dock. That’s where the whole idea for the story came from. I wanted to use that image and Jesse wrote a film around that one idea.
This was a great studio space to work in. It was tiny but it had everything I needed to make shit. Jesse and I shared each end of the workbench and it was so nice to be able to look over to a friend making art pieces everyday.
I have put together a selection of photos that shows some of the behind the scenes work on this film. Order the Rung E-book here.
I have also put together the storyboards that visualizes the whole film in drawings. I was forced to cut back on what was originally intended for Rung. It was a much longer film with a few sequences cut for time. Order the Rung Storyboard E-book here.