This guest post is written by Tiny Circus, AiR Camille’s stop-motion animation collective out of Iowa, who will be at The Showroom on September 16 and 17 to put on two full days of FREE stop-motion animation workshops, concluding with a FREE film festival in downtown Spartanburg! More here!
One might say Tiny Circus is a specialist at making “Histories” and “Traps.”
Our “History of” animations number in the 30’s and are created by small community groups, ranging from Pillows and Chocolate Milk to Ghosts and Curiosity. Our “Trap” series is made of animations created by larger groups, from Turtle Trap created by visitors at a children’s museum, to Mouse Trap with 300 people at an art museum, to Elephant Trap created by 500 elementary school students and their teachers.
Just as a tightrope walker is always walking farther, then higher, and then doing a highwire handstand, this past Summer Session Tiny Circus began to think about ways to develop our show and expand the possibilities of our animations beyond traps and histories.
And so we devised the “Tiny Tiny Circus,” a cast of six characters that we built to move in ways that convey a greater complexity of expression. The Tiny Tiny Circus is a group of circus misfits, and will be animated to have a recurring presence in our shows… a familiar thread. It’s nice to get to get to know someone, feel for them, and then see them again.
Building Maestra the ringleader with a wide range of motion.
A screen test for Billy, the 17-year old insecure strongman.
We’re imagining the debacles and triumphs that will ensue when Emile, the social-climbing French juggler who can’t juggle, tries to befriend Sid, the human cannonball who doesn’t shy away from risk or confrontation.
The Tiny Tiny Circus is ready for action.
Here‘s an early test reel of Emile the juggler.
Billy surrounded by characters who live at Elsewhere Collaborative in Greensboro.
With a mix of slap-stick, whimsy, and heart, we’re looking forward to bringing the Tiny Tiny Circus to life with the HUB-BUB community this weekend.
