Stop Motion Art

Quoc, my animation friend from school/online recommended a stop motion animated film - Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. I've always like this genre of animation but didn't know it was called stop motion. The School of Visual Arts (animation department) tour last week - college shopping for my baby sister - opened my eyes to the wonders of this form of art. Since it was a rainy/gloomy monday, I borrowed the film, brought my Dell and went to a randomly searched (on www.yelp.com) bookstore con cafe place to watch it.

Before I dive into the film...............

I bought a cup of ginger ale and a slice of raspberry crumbler bar. Happily, I brought it to the table and another lady came up and we shared the same table. I offered to plug in her Mac's battery power plug, since the outlet was at my side, and as I straighten my clumsy self, my elbow hit my full brim ginger ale and spilled all over the floor. :( *well, nothing unusual about that. She felt bad and bought me another cup. I don't know if she is from here, but I guess my human interaction experience in New York has been a bless so far. :)

Back to the film, since I borrowed the DVD, there were many special features to explore. I really got to understand how stop motion animation are directed. It is such a tedious process of making 200 over puppets, filming each movement or frame one at a time. Imagine, moving the puppets, capturing the shot, shift the puppet, and get the shot again, and doing it 1 step at a time. Such a painstaking routine. It is really a pity that CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) has taken over
most animation, resulting in stop motion a dying art.

I also realized that being in the Art world, artists are constantly being challenged by the times and technology advancement in their generation. Facing the fast pace of lifestyle with the endless hungry demands of today's consumers, I applaud at artists who continues to be convicted to their passions and stay true to their art. I am glad that I've been given the chance to be immersed in an art education. I'm very lucky.

Almost 7pm, the raspberry bar is almost digested and ginger ale is occupying my bladder. hehehe Maybe I'll get a falafel somewhere in the East Village before heading home.