Stan: Beautiful Hand-Crafted Animated Film by Meirav Haber

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I recently went into the Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. Making my way toward the back of the long row of artists’ stalls – for all intents and purposes an artists’ neighborhood – I encountered an animated film playing on an iPad that was hung on the wall of the display area for artist Meirav Haber. It caught my attention because of the gorgeous and finely detailed handmade dolls she uses for her animation. This kind of filmmaking has become something of a rarity in our CG world. So now the eye seeks out the human touch. Finding it is a pleasure.

Haber has an unusually quiet and calm approach to telling her story. We are encouraged to watch the character and look for the details in his surroundings. The details are incredible. Watch the film through, then go back and pause it to have a look around. Enjoy the work of a master at her craft.

This kind of animation is done in a small studio on tabletop sets built by the artist. It’s all about imagination connected to the hand.

Stan is a simply told tale about a man who was born with an unfortunate resemblance to the Devil. His efforts to gain acceptance and companionship essentially turn him toward an appreciation for odd objects that closely resembles the artistic impulse. Haber’s beautiful film is made entirely with the magnificent hand-crafted artworks of an amazing artist.

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Creepy Claymation Brings Satan to Mark Twain’s Door

This is a genuinely disturbing look at how you can teach your kids all about the cruel world they find themselves living in. Today’s pleasant little lesson comes courtesy of Mr. Mark Twain’s novel ‘The Mysterious Stranger‘ which had this scene adapted to claymation for the 1986 feature film, ‘The Adventures of Mark Twain.’ Satan him or herself pays an unannounced visit to Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher so that he can show them how to build their very own little world of people and then destroy it with all the plagues and violence of mankind.

The Willow Pattern Story – An Animated Film by Kids

Quirky Pictures conducts another animation workshop for school children. This time it was a nine day workshop at Great Missenden C of E Combined School. The students made four films based on tales from around the world. I love the freely drawn lines and cutout characters combined with the very matter of fact narration by the kids. They are good storytellers. What fun art classes like these must be. I never had so much fun when I was a kid. I’m a bit jealous.