Given the glacial speed of filmmaking, the de facto motto on most film sets is “hurry up and wait.” It’s worse for animators. Even in this age of digital production, animated films remain a labor-intensive endeavor – even more so when the animator elects to create a stop-motion film.
For perspective, consider that one second of film time is comprised of 24 individual frames. A stop-motion animator, using articulated models and puppets, has to complete 24 individual frames to achieve that mere second of footage. Even when aided with digital cameras, a stop-motion animation of modest length, such as the current Sundance Film Festival selection by Glen Ellen native Max Winston, is still a labor of love.
“I Live in the Woods,” is a three-and-a-half-minute mélange of social satire and ecologist’s nightmare in which a woodsman reveals his internal conflicts with nature, animals and finally a higher power, underscored with a rash of violence that would make director Sam Peckinpah blush.
“I worked on this film for eight or nine months – working whenever I had the chance,” said the 24-year-old Winston. “You definitely have to have a lot of motivation to do this work that I find just has to be in you. I watch films all the time, and that really inspires me to keep doing it. Music really inspires me to make movies, actually.”
Winston is a graduate of celebrated Southern California-based visual arts college CalArts, the alma mater of animation titans Tim Burton and John Lasseter, whom he cites as inspirations.
Winston recently completed a three-month internship with famed Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, and in 2007, Winston received the Princess Grace Award, named for the actress-turned-royal, as an emerging artist. He used the prize money to create “I Live in the Woods,” which will screen at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival this month.
“I’ve always drawn all my life and made art all my life, and I kind of realized at one point that animation would make my drawings and my ideas move,” recalled Winston. “Instead of just taking directly from reality, you can make your own reality completely from scratch.”
Creating a reality “from scratch” has proven something of a forte for Winston, who has several short films under his belt.
“I have heard some people describe it as wanting to play god or something like that, and that’s kind of interesting. Especially with stop-motion animation, you have all of these puppets and you’re controlling them all in this world. And I guess it is almost god-like in some kind of bizarre way,” he said wryly. “Stories that appeal to me most are ones that are fantastical that are based outside of reality, and the animation lends itself to those sorts of ideas because it’s your own reality that you are completely creating, and you can make any kind of fantastical situation you want.”
Despite his recent successes, Winston ultimately seems most interested in his creative process – from concept to execution (sometimes literally when it comes to the fate of his characters).
“I’m a very tactile person, I like to touch and build things with my hands, and that’s definitely a large part of the satisfaction of stop motion – that you’re building everything with your hands, creating it with your hands, animating it rather than being inside a box that you’re staring at, manipulating from the outside with these weird controls,” explained Winston of his craft. “It’s just a different kind of process that has a traditional sort of aspect to it.”
Winston aspires to eventually create a feature-length animated film and has even contemplated venturing into live-action film as well.
“I guess I’ve always had big ideas in a small place. Having these ideas in Sonoma is interesting because it’s a small place where you can make your ideas become a reality,” said Winston, who acknowledged the amount of talent in the area, professional and otherwise. “There could be something in the water. I guess I’ll have to drink some more water then.”
Max Winston Animation Reel from Max Winston on Vimeo.
