The Glory In His Story

To me, the story of my film always comes first. That’s been true in any medium I’ve attempted. “What journey is taking place in this piece? What adventure can I take you on?” When that is completed (in script form if we’re talking about the film) I proceed to the storyboarding stage. That is the process of sketching all the shots and angles of the film. This is thoroughly important in my paper animation form, as it dictates what and how much I have to build from scratch. It is also the second layer of storytelling, as what angles and images one chooses to show affect the relationship between the viewer and the story. Then comes the build: cutting, painting, glueing, and assembling every piece seen on the screen. I bring my puppets to the set and puppeteer them live in camera several times till I feel I’ve captured the right performance. The most laborious process for me is digitally removing the puppeteering rods. But that process, along with further colour correcting, and visual effects, are essential processes in creating the illusion of a hand-drawn film existing in a 3-dimensional space. I like to call it “2.5D animation”.