Progression

More progress on the puppet. I've been relegating this fellow to the back burner for a while, but hopefully no more. It's been a bit hectic lately: the first two or so weeks of November I was helping out two puppet-makers in Toronto, brushing up on my sewing skills, introducing myself to industrial rotary cutters and machines, learning the art of cutting Fun Fur (which indeed lives up to the name), inserting plastic eyeballs and consuming a whole lot of tea. Good times.

Prior to that I attended the Montreal Stop-motion Film Festival. I enjoyed meeting other stop-mo aficionados - including Oscar-nominated stop-motion animator and director Barry Purves!, viewing recent outpourings of stop-motion films made within the last year or two, and taking in the local culture of Montreal. The weekend following I attended a screening of my film at the Rendezvous with Madness film festival put on by Dufferin Arts here in Toronto. I participated in an after-screening discussion panel with Canadian film-maker Maureen Judge (The Scarf screened with her documentary feature The August Years of May & Gloria, very sweet film dealing with a mother-daughter care-giving relationship during the onset of Alzheimer's), a community support worker, a clinician of Baycrest, a caregiver, and a very kind moderater. This was the first time I'd done any sort of panel participation, and I really appreciate the discussion Rendezvous brings to the table - watching something you've made with a crowd that has a personal interest in the subject matter and addressing the core of what the films are about, was an incredibly valuable experience. An altogether wholesome and solid fest.

I google-searched my film some time ago and discovered it played at
ASIFA-Atlanta's 'Roll Yer Own' screening, which I'd submitted to in April. I never heard from them and assumed it hadn't been picked up, but as it turns out my film not only made it in but also won best-in-show! From there it played in Australia for International Animation Day - which is October 28th and also happens to be my birthday; a very good day indeed. The Scarf is also travelling with the Atlantic Film fest's International Viewfinders Festival, an outreach program that visits schools in rural communities of Atlantic Canada to show films and involve the students in filmmaking workshops. Very neat idea. My film will also be featured in Singapore's very first International Children's Film Festival (more details when they come)!

Anyways, back to this guy:


Magnets: I went back to magnets in the feet for this one, though these are slightly smaller (not as strong, but I think with four feet he should be alright).




One good thing about living out here - Niagara for the time - is that my family has a bit of a pack-rat streak in it (are these things genetic? Nature versus Nurture?) and chances are if you hunt hard enough for anything, you're bound to find it. Story of the Fishing-line.


p.s. The ears are comprised of black-wrap foil sandwiched between a layer of fabric and ribbon, so they're theoretically animateable.