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The Craft of Stop-Motion Animation

Stop-motion animation takes a long time.  That’s the first thing most people say when I mention the technique – and it’s undeniably true.  There is, however, a secret about stop-motion; something that makes the act of snapping hundreds or thousands of nearly identical photographs bearable.  Here it is: stop-motion is fun.  I don’t just mean that the results are fun, although there is certainly a … Read more!

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Random Movie Review: Being Elmo

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey earned some critical claim when it was released last year (including a Special Jury Prize at Sundance), which is no small feat for a documentary ostensibly about a puppet beloved by toddlers.  It would be easy to dismiss a movie about Elmo; and if the film really did focus on the titular muppet – or even the merchandising and media … Read more!

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Creating Handmade Animation for Flying Paper

One reason that I love animation is that if one takes a step back and considers what is going on, it really shouldn’t work. In fact, symbolic, representational art in general should not work. Our brains should reject it. A stick figure has virtually no real resemblance to a human being. As far as I can tell, there has never been a species of mouse … Read more!

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Flying Paper

Late last year, I had the privilege of having my short film strand included in The New School’s “Fine Cuts” semiannual showcase in New York.  At the screening, I met a number of talented and ambitious young filmmakers; among them, Nitin Sawhney and Roger Hill, who were in the process of assembling what sounded like a fascinating documentary project.  Flying Paper is a movie … Read more!

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strand

This 2011 experimental film was featured at the Fine Cuts exhibition and Mega Media Showcase in New York.  It combines traditional stop-motion animation with live-action video and digital noise.… Read more!

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Reve – Brave Rabbit

This short film was selected as one of the winners of the 2010 Ann Arbor Film Festival Sight + Sound competition, wherein filmmakers “visually scored” one of three pieces of music composed specifically for the event.  This particular track – Reve – was created by Roberto Kalb.… Read more!

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“Influx” gallery opening

This short video documents the opening of Joe Meiser’s Influx exhibit at Bucknell University’s Samek Gallery.… Read more!

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Video Portfolio

Short films, commercial work, experimental animation, and all manner of whatnot in between.… Read more!

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Photography

Random snapshots from the last several years, in no particular order.… Read more!

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Goddesses of Water & Sky

My thesis project, Goddesses of Water & Sky: Feminist Ideologies in the Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki is now available as an ebook on Amazon.com and the Barnes & Noble website.  The book examines Miyazaki’s feature films through the framework of feminist film theory.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan’s premier directors of animation.  His films regularly break box office records in Japan and his … Read more!