Tag: Cat

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Mike Rainey’s “Bitter Melon” Gothtober Day 14

During the film, another orange being walks by… but not of the gourd family!

Visit Gothtober 2019 and check out DAY 14!

Coming to you all the way from FRANCE is this Terry Gross-style interview with a pumpkin, who in all honesty, is a bit prickly. I don’t know if you could expect such countenance from every squash you come across. Talking pumpkins are rare, so it’s a very informative exposé on the life of a jack-o’lantern.

Are you wondering how this piece was made? Here is a special “Behind the Scenes” look at how Mike engineered the talking pumpkin:

And just so you know, the technologically advanced “movie puppeting stick” Mike used to manipulate the pumpkin’s jaw was: a chopstick.

Thank you, Mike, for introducing us to Jacques the pumpkin, please tell him he’s got lots of fans. Happy Halloweeeennnn!!!

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Gothtober Day 24: Stop Motion Magic with Ignis Fatua

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 24 to see some lovely residential stop-motion film from Ignis Fatua!
There is so much to see in this arresting interior/exterior adventure! Watch the scene turn from night to day and back again, the curtains billow, everyday items perform mundane activities… or do they?
ARTIST STATEMENT
“It is a tragedie, exploring the possible inner lives of the objects around us and our unknown impact on them.”
And here it is for you to see, lovingly put together with gorgeous animated water colors, puppetry, sculpture and more.
Find out more about Ignis Fatua  here! 
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Gothtober Day 18: Material by Stephanie Abler

Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 18 to see Material, a film by Stephanie Abler
You can also visit this wonderful gallery of production stills that the artist sent, so you can see what goes into making something of this ilk, it’s a lot of work! From the gazillion bristol-painted bees, to the live-action actors, the grass, flowers and bears, this film is a feast for the eyes! Material can be many things indeed, from internal to external what is in the mind, and what is not of the mind but as physical objects.
Here is the artist’s statement:

I use this experimental video to consider different aspects of several materials. The point is to
look at the same substance from different angles: its visual properties (Part I), the associations
we make with it (Part II), and its use or behavior as a physical object (Part III)

It’s always interesting when an ordinary object brings to mind something fantastic or far away.

I combined a few of my favorite things (cherries, honey, flowers, and feathers) with live action,
stop-motion animation, still images, and sound to create this video, along with contributions from
some incredibly talented and generous friends.

If you like 90’s punk rock, bees, ice cream sundaes, understated acting, or drag queens, you’ll probably enjoy this piece.

Therefore, enjoy the experience of what you see in this Gothtober Day!

Find out more about Stephanie Abler  here! 

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Gothtober Day Day 14: PUMPkin starring: Cassils!

 
 Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 14 to see what the latest exercise trend is for fall!
It’s never too late to begin your path to a healthy, strong body, and Cassils is HERE with a new program called “PUMPkin.” It involves a rigorous fitness routine combining meditation, transformation, jubilation, fabulation, and really a lot of orange-colored fall season squash. This is your cornucopia of fully-realized components, bringing you the work/life balance you’ve always dreamed of, the workout is only 6 hours long, and you’ll feel the results instantly!
Seriously though, the feats captured in this informercial are REAL, showing the raw power that Cassils packs into an explosive display of glorious and challenging calisthenics right before your very eyes.

Find out more about Cassils and JP  here! 

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Gothtober Day Friday the 13th with Federico Tobon of Wolfcat Workshop!

 
 Visit www.gothtober.com and click on DAY 13 for an instructional video and downloadable paper craft from Federico Tobon!
Happy FRIDAY THE 13th! Welcome to a BLOODY game of cat and mouse! I suppose you can decide how much mayhem in this scene will play out when you download, print and build the components yourself. Federico has made for us a Kitty-Jason Voorhees-themed folding paper project involving a mask-wearing feline and a rodent that will surely meet its fate! If anyone invites you to Camp Crystal Lake tonight, tell them you can’t go because you have important paper crafts to make… I hear it gets a tad boisterous, out there in the woods, some pesky death curse or whatever.

Find out more about the artist, Federico Tobon, and Wolfcat Workshop here! 

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Don’t Mess With the CAT! Day 29

From two young film maker brothers arrives a cautionary tale about how NOT to treat your feline friend!

When Max and Jay decide to mess with the cat, Children of the Corn, they learn the hard way that cats do NOT take kindly to human shenanigans! KP Pepe produced and directed this collaborative film, it’s got some sweet stop motion and some expert animal wrangling! I asked KP the inspiration for the work, and here’s the scoop:

We pretty much let Jay come up with the story with some assistance from Max and me and Candi. The boys/Candi made the bulk of the sets and we took turns animating it. They had a big role in the story and dialogue.

This is a fine family project, big props to everyone who worked so hard on it, especially Mama Candi, who was production designer! And very big thanks to Children of the Corn, who is a BIG Gothtober Star, we hope you get all of the fish you like!

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Gothtober 2015 Debuts with “The Luckiest Woman in the World”

Welcome to Gothtober where every day is Friday the 13th. Today’s film is brought to you by Cristin Pescosolido, it’s called “The Luckiest Woman in the World” or is she? Watch carefully as “Jen” gambles with old-time superstitions.

This film uses SPECIAL EFFECTS! I know for a fact that the cat, Charlie, in the film is a grey cat, but Cristin managed to change his appearance in one of the shots! Here’s a little show and tell that gives you a peek into 21st century movie magic.

old_mac_shot
A shot of the render time on Cristin’s poor abused old macintosh.

nuke_shot
Here is the nuke script used to turn the modern HD footage in to something you might see from an old film. Grain, dirt, scratches were taken from old film footage that was scanned. Multiple layers of dirt, lift, scratches were added, camera shake was added, and some blooming on all the hilights as one might see in nitrate film stock.

cristin_title
Here’s a still frame of the titlecard, showing how all the lovely treatments trash a perfect black and white image.

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Slaying in the Kitchen with Gothtober Day 2

sandercock

All the way from Edmonton, Canada is a dance piece that will make your face melt off by Nancy Sandercock! Visit Gothtober and click on the Book on the shelf with the number 2 on it that is titled “Of Lice and Men.”

Watch Nancy’s visceral, frenetic, direct and gloriously globby performance called “Double Headed Axe” and if you have headphones, all the better, it’ll melt your face off even more. It was shot in Los Angeles, but edited in Edmonton by Kyle Armstrong, who also did the sound.

Fun trivia about this piece is that the cat’s name is Dawa, and she’s traveled the world with Nancy.

The other fun trivia is that this piece features Canadian film and TV star, Susan Kent!  Gothtober has a history of having some fabulous Canadian contributors, welcome Nancy and Susan to our crazy calendar! Yay Canada!

This is not Nancy’s first Gothtober, however, she has been in many a piece by Gothtober Artist and Film Maker, Barry Morse, and also has collaborated with Julianna Parr in a Gothtober piece from 2011. This is Nancy’s Gothtober debut in a project all of her own.