One possible definition of stop-motion is that it is the art of making stopped things move. For awhile now, creatively I have been at a stand-still. On Christmas day, I watched “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer,” on DVD, a gift from a friend. It sparked a notion in my brain - the tactile, realness of puppets and the homemade quality of the world in which they lived. This really appeals to me. There is personality in imperfection. It also seems like fun to try to fool the eye with physical effects. I love CGI, but I’ve tried that on my own and struggled with the tools. Though I would love completing a CGI short film, the tools don’t interest me enough to put in the effort. The tools of stop-motion are real-world crafts with application to real life projects, skills like woodworking, molding, sculpting, painting, photography, tailoring. These are the skills of handy-folks, and who doesn’t want to be handy?

So this is what inspired me to create a stop-motion film - a chance to create characters, (the true meaning of the word “character,” see Chuck Jones,) tell a story, sculpt, paint, build, animate (bring something to life), photograph and use computer programs to bring it all together. My creativity has been given electroconvulsive therapy and is flying over the cookoo’s nest. There are plenty of obstacles between this moment and the moment I’m sitting in my living room with friends and family premiering my short film. I hope to document the process from start to finish, capturing as much as I can. You never know, it might be interesting someday.