An Oversimplification of Her Beauty

I am so so so excited about this movie. Written and starring Terence Nance, it's about a young man that navigates live action and animated landscapes to understand himself after a young woman stands him up.

I personally love dream landscape movies like this and I'm so excited by the lovely afro action going on in the film! Trailer posted below...look out for the yummy stop motion animation sequence.

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty • Teaser from Terence Nance • Terence Etc. on Vimeo.

A New Update

The semester is over and I'm left to process and contemplate the upcoming summer and my final year. One thing I tried this semester (and simultaneously loved and hated) was Stop Motion Animation. Below is one of the many short films I shot during the semeser during the course of my intro class. The main character is named Mr. Monkey and is my second favorite puppet creation (the first i will debut at a later date.) But for now feast your eyes on A Monkey and His Objects.

Stop Motion Extravaganza!

I caught this on the Sundance Channel a few nights ago. It's called Madame Tutli Putli and is a stop motion animation about one woman's surreal trip on a train across country. I was extremely impressed with the quality of the puppets and animation in general, though I'm sure a little CGI was used to smooth out the flow of movements. What I liked most were the expressive eyes of all the characters and the bumpy textures of their skin.




I didn't really understand the ending but I think it's worth watching for all of the creepy backdrops and colorful characters.

This is the moment where she meets a famous tennis player who is a very rude man! A man like that deserves a crisp slap across his face!

These two men are playing a wobbly game of chess while sitting in their suitcases. Another wonderful moment.

So this got me thinking that I have to plug two other favorites. I know I've mentioned this one before but it's definitely worth re-mentioning. Peter and the Wolf (2006) is a modern stop motion adaption of an old composition by Sergei Prokofiev.

"Boys like Peter aren't afraid of wolves." Awesome.

I've always had a fixation for wolves. The Bog Bad Wolf is my favorite fairytale villain and I've dated several guys because they were wolf-like (bad idea in the long run). The wolf from this tale will not disappoint. He's mean and scary and has a coat of beautiful, alluring fur.


Don't you just want to pet that lovely beast and keep it in your home as your companion?

Look at Peter's wonderful face. An example of some very fine sculpting.

This is an older live action version of Peter and The Wolf that I used to catch on the ARTS channel back in the day. It's narrated by Sting (as a puppet) and is a combination of Barnum and Bailey and nightmares from childhood. My favorite elements are the Marx brothers-esque hunters, the alcoholic duck, and the giant frightening wolf puppet with it's long, lolling tongue. To my delight the first chunk of it is available on youtube. Watch it and bring lots of joy to your eyes!

The past two weekends have been stimulation overload for me...but in a good SummertimeinChicago kind of way.

Trump Tower

I spent Saturday night in Trump towers with my good friend Sheena and my new friend Sam. We were on the 23rd floor in her deluxe suite and I couldn't fall asleep because I was deftly afraid of sleeping in a room so high up.

A king size deluxe suite at the Trump. Roughly what Sheena's room looked like.

I imagined the room splitting in half and me plunging 23 three stories below to a poisonous river death, clad only in my pajamas. I guess this means that I might be afraid of heights which makes sense considering that I've lived in 2 or 3 flats my entire life.


By the way, Artistic Liberties recently posted an extensive interview with yours truly. Read it to find out all about my humble beginnings!

Anyway, it's my bedtime. Happy Monday!

P.s - I saw a lady reading a book on the train today entitled Give Us A Kiss. I know that has to be some kind of sign. Just not sure what it means.

You sink without a sound...

Ok, so for the record the Conservatory was amazing!!! Please go if you get the chance! Just beware that if you go during the afternoon on a weekday, it might be overpopulated with lots of loud school children which will alter your experience a little. Next time I go I will have photos galore!!

By the way, does anyone remember this book?

My mom used to read it to me ages ago and I recently spotted it laying on a chair in my friend's house. It is a story about a little bunny-child laying in their bed at night, saying goodnight to everything in their home.

The entire book is written very eloquently in rhyming lyrics. After rereading it a few days ago, I repeated certain lines to myself throughout the course of the day. My favorite lines: "Goodnight comb and Goodnight brush. Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush. And Goodnight to the old lady whispering "hush".

These are images from the Mermaid Theatre's production of Goodnight Moon. Well crafted handmade sets and bunny puppets? Yes, please!!


I love that they stuck with the original color scheme of the book. But they could have been a little bit more creative with their placement of the puppeteers.


I'm usually pretty open about my mild case of agoraphobia and my love of small shoebox-sized rooms. I found this on Peter Tucker's website, along with other tiny delights. This room just makes me want to shrink myself down to Tinkerbelle size and snuggle in that mini bed!!

But anyway - I was able to find the animated version of Goodnight Moon on youtube, read by Susan Sarandon. Doesn't it just make you want to go to sleep??

And of course, a little shameless self promotion never hurt anyone.

Goodnight Moooon earrings. Still for sale on my Etsy page.

I found this song a while back when I researching the death of Kurt Cobain (don't ask why) apparently Veruca Salt was inspired by his suicide and Goodnight Moon when they wrote this.

You're the pearl in the quicksand
You sink without a sound
I'm the girl with the tiny hands
Planted underground
You're the dream, I'm the dreamer
In the dream, you're still around
See the sun falling down [x4]
You're the bleach
When everything went black
The relief I found
You're the sliver of hope in my lap
You're soft, warm, round
See the sun falling down [x4]
Falling down [x2]
Goodnight moon, Goodnight mush
Goodnight ladies saying hush
Goodnight moon, Goodnight mush
Goodnight ladies saying hush
See the sun falling down [x6]

How obsessive can a person be over one little book? Finding it yesterday was like some sort of omen. Happy Thursday!!

mr. fox has marble eyes

I've been super busy this week (3 crits so far) which is why I've been so illusive. Anyway I spotted this video back in October on an amazing blog and haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. It's like the acid trip/dark side of Fantastic Mr. Fox (which I still haven't seen by the way).



Check out More from Max Swinton. He also made a similar video called Mr. Pike.

On a related note, I just registered for an awesome class next fall called Alternative Animation: 1960- present. I'm so very giddy about it because we'll be viewing the work of Janie Geiser, Jan Svankmajer, and Susan Pitt to name a few.

If you have any animation recommendations, I'd love to hear it. And I hope you all are soaking in some fickle April sun!

I wish I had 2,010 dollars...

I hope everyone had a blast ringing in the 2010! I attended a party filled with lovely ladies and danced myself into exhaustion...a lovely way to start a new year!

Speaking of new, I nearly ran myself ragged trying to find the perfect pair of heels to caress my feet on the big day. Sadly, I found a bunch online that were a little out of my price range. I primarily drooled over these:

And these:

It would be real nice to afford $300 shoes.

Anyway I finally had the opportunity to see Dante's Inferno last week. What I thought would be a movie with ok puppets and a bunch of dick and fart jokes ended up being a movie with amazingly detailed puppets, a well thought out script, and a bunch of dick and fart jokes. The story follows Dante, a young man who wakes up in a drunken haze in another dimension and meets Virgil, a mullet - toting poet from ancient Rome. They travel together through all the dimensions of hell ending with an encounter with the Dark Prince himself. It's definitely worth a look for the charming, well- choreographed puppets and all the political figure/ pop culture icons dispersed though out Hades. Incidentally, one of the head puppeteers is Paul Zaloom of Beakman's World fame and my friend's puppetry teacher in college.

So that's that. I leave you with this wonderful piece of art from Michel Gondry and Lauri Faggioni. Enjoy.

A Red Ribbon. Music by Devendra Banhart

Creepy aimation makes the world go round.

From "The Adventures of Mark Twain".

Fun with the drill press and stop motion animation

Worked in Blair's studio today. He was gone most of the time, tending to his sick dogs at home. It felt like me and the other intern were two little girls lost in a forest out of some fairy tale. There were wild masks and props all over and I was having so much sick twisted fun constantly drilling holes using the drill press. I mean, it was fun until I somehow managed to rub one of my knuckles raw and then proceeded to bleed on one of Blair's books. Thankfully, he wasn't mad. He actually thought it was amusing. It was nice to hear him laugh.

I talked to the other intern about various stop motion artists including Christiane Cegavske. She created this wonderful stop motion animation called Blood, Tea, and Red String over the course of 13 years!!! She has since created a creepy live action follow up called The Doll Maker and is working on a related stop motion movie. Some of her work:

Slice and Stitch

I actually saw a similar version of this painting which was actually used in the movie and I liked it better because instead of sewing her vagina shut, they were delicately painting a thin red line down the middle. The fact that they're cutting off her breasts, though does bother me. At first I thought they were just measuring them.

Little Red

I like this one because of it's blatant sexuality and that ALWAYS came to mind when reading about Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I also recently finished The Book of Lost Things and in it there was this story in which Red Riding Hood seduced the Wolf and that is how Werewolves came to be. Freaky.

There is no time

I haven't been able to decide if she's sadly repairing herself or just making herself a costume. None the less, I love visible stitches. I used to work with this woman who had stitches tattooed along her body and I adored them. Maybe I'll get some tattooed some place discreet.

After watching this, and a lot of Svankmajer, I made this miniature scene based on Alice in Wonderland that has since been destroyed. Too bad I never got to finish it, but a few pictures still remain.

Can't see it too well but it's made out of an old wicker basket, there are hands coming up out of the ground holding a gold key and on the table are three playing cards (from the suit of hearts) and a glass of milk next to a sign that says drink me. Beyond the huge keyhole is a table with a tea set on top of it. I plan to rebuild it someday and add more things...including rabbit tracks. But, I think I'm going to make a pair of earrings first.