Quay Brothers at the MoMA beginning this Sunday.

The exhibit opens for non-members starting August 12, 2012 at 10:30 am. I had seen their exhibit in Boston back in 2008, and was very impressed with their detailed sets and effective method in taking advantage of natural lighting in their design.

A few of us are going to check out the exhibit for its first day. You can purchase tickets at the http://moma.org website.

Also NYT has provided some photos of the exhibit (You can guess where I grabbed the above image from.)

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/08/10/arts/design/20120810-QUAY.html
Take care,

Melissa

Ray Harryhausen: Stop Motion Master in Live Action

by Nick Meier

For my first post I wanted to write a litte bit about Ray Harryhausen, the undisputed master of stop motion and a huge influence of mine. I recently re-watched my favorite of Harryhausen’s Sinbad films, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973). As a cult film buff I really enjoyed the casting, with John Phillip Law (Barbarella/Diabolik) as Sinbad, Tom Baker (Dr. Who) as the villain, and Hammer film vet Caroline Munro as the sexy love interest. With any Harryhausen film the main attraction are the creatures and this film has some of the more interesting of the Sinbad series.

First up is the sorcerer Koura’s minion, the Homunculus. Two of these gargoyle creatures appear in the film, really just the same model repainted. It does feature some really nice wings and flying animation.

The second creature to appear is the Figurehead. Koura brings the figurehead of Sinbad’s ship to life and attacks the crew. It has a very cool sculpt and some great interaction with the live action footage where a sailor buries an axe in its chest.

My favorite creature of this movie and probably the most fascinating is the Kali statue. It is featured in two great scenes where it performs a complicated dance, and a great fight scene similar in complexity to the Hydra from Jason and the Argonauts.

The last two creatures are a cycloptic Centaur who battles a Griffin. Both puppets have great features like hair and feathers, and while I think they’re not my absolute favorite Harryhausen creatures, their fight scene is pretty impressive considering how difficult it would be to animate just one of those models, let alone two interacting.

Also, I found a clip of Tim Burton talking about the influence of Harryhausen and this film, and I am sure he has influenced many other Stop Motion Contemporaries of our time.

Until next time — Nick Meier

Nic Meier is a CG Motion Artist and Animator living in the NYC Area and a content contributor to the Stop Motion in NY Blog.

SMNY: Interview with Zack Williams

 

Stop Motion in NY at the Animation Block Party!

Hey Everyone,

Just a heads up that SMNY will have a booth at the ABP trade show July 28th.

Details on the site below:

http://animationblock.com/summerfest2012/

An excerpt from the site:

Animation Block Party continues on Saturday, July 28th at BAMcinématek located at the Peter Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, NY 11217.

On Saturday, July 28th – there will be an ABP Animation and Art Trade Show at BAMcinématek. Festival movie tickets must be purchased, but the Saturday Trade Show is 100% free, open to the public and will run from 12pm-8pm.

Trade show attendees will include Sakura color products, Lush Comics, Greenlight Bookstore, By Brooklyn, Maorinette, Green Mountain Energy, NY Bike Jumble, Stop Motion in New York (SMNY), Baked in Brooklyn, T33ZE plus numerous craft-makers and independent vendors.

Saturday, July 28th at BAMcinématek features three different animation programs. A special screening at noon will feature Animation for Kids (also showing 12pm on Sunday). Program One / Animation Block Eclectic Mix (2pm & 6:50pm) will feature award-winning independent works, global films, comedic shorts and more. Program Two / Animation Block International Shorts (4:30pm & 9:15pm) will showcase a taste of intercontinental animated shorts of all genres and styles.

Thanks to Casey Safron for making it possible for us to be present at the festival. We really appreciate it!

Hope to see you guys there,

Melissa

Pics & Links to Films From Our Exhibit at Brooklyn Fireproof

Hello fellow animation lovers!

We want to share the links of the films that were shown during our exhibit. If you double click on the thumbnails below it will take you to the films on Youtube or Vimeo. Click away, and remember to subscribe to our @StopMotioninNY twitter feed.

Cowboy, Clone, Dust – Matt Christensen

Andrew – Story of a Closet Monster – Elliot Lobell

Sweet Gum+Bad Wraps – Zack Williams

Bird Cycle – Alisa Stern (11th Doctor took care of the birds during the SMNY Exhibit)

To Have and to Hold – Jessica Polanieki

Pinball Number 12 – Abbey Luck

The Observer – Abbey Luck

Silver Thread – Jasa Baka

Fuzzy Insides – Michaela Olsen

Zots – Where The Fizz Izz! – Spencer Morin

Accumulonimbus – Andy Kennedy

 

Bounce, Bounce – Hayley Morris

 

 

The Art of Stop Motion SMNY Exhibit 2012

Hello!

Here is the itinerary for the events that are taking place during our show. Please stop by and take a look at all the work we have showing from our amazing Artists!