Tess Martin’s animated short film from 2007, A Moment’s Reverie, is now available on DVD! It’s on a compilation of short films called the “Journal of Short Film Volume 22: Special Issue - Women of the JSF.” The Journal of Short Film is a quarterly DVD journal put out by the Ohio State University Film Studies department. Each DVD is only $10! “I’m happy my work is represented along with work from seven other talented female filmmakers, including Samantha Moore’s ‘An Eyeful of Sound‘, an animated documentary about synesthesia.”
Aug 102011
Barn in the Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation, WA
On Saturday July 30th, 2011, Webster Crowell, Britta Johnson, Clyde Petersen, Salise Hughes and Tess Martin trekked out to the Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation, WA at 9AM and decked out the inside of a barn with paper kites. At 2PM fifty Long Walk participants arrived at the barn and showed us their blisters. As the sun set it was revealed that four of the kites were actually being projected with short animations, three of which (those of Britta Johnson, Salise Hughes and Tess Martin) had actually been photographed on the walking trail the day before. Two other shorts also included on the kites were those of Clyde Petersen and Stefan Gruber. Stay tuned for more beautiful photos of the installation at night as well as a video of all the films.
This is the second kite installation (the first was up for the month of June at Arabica Lounge in Seattle) and just a precursor to Flying Cinema, an event that will happen at the last minute on a windy night and involve flying kites and projections in a park near you. Spearheaded by Webster Crowell, this is a SEAT event you won’t want to miss. Make sure to follow the SEAT blog or Facebook page to get an alert.
Webster Crowell using a slingshot to loop a long piece of string around a far rafter
Webster Crowell and Britta Johnson installing one of the four special kites - outfitted with projectors
Web adjusting said kite. Here you can see the tiny projector
Hoping no park rangers come by...
Jul 242011
Four SEAT animators (Webster Crowell, Britta Johnson, Salise Hughes and Tess Martin) will be creating animations along the Burke-Gilman Trail during the ‘Long Walk’ art event (July 27-31) created and led by artist Susan Robb. If you are one of the lucky 50 walkers participating this year, you will stumble upon crazy animators with cameras by the side of the road as we photograph, one frame at a time, a short animated loop inspired by the act of walking. At the end of the 3rd day of the walk you will get a chance to see the pieces as part of an installation involving kites in the Big Barn. I will be there channeling a lynx in some way, shape or form.
Below is some info about the Long Walk from www.thelongwalkseattle.com:
THE LONG WALK, led by Susan Robb, is a time-based, ”open-source”, and socially engaged art event that grew out of a collaboration with Stokley Towles as part of 4Culture’s TRAILS PROJECT. For this iteration, Susan and a group of fifty trail trampers will walk more than 45 miles along the King County Regional Trails System (RTS) in Western Washington over the course of four days – July 28th through 31st – from Puget Sound to Snoqualmie Falls. Along the route, participants will experience a shift in their sense of time, a new understanding of the local geography, and the creation of an interstitial culture.
Only 4 days until the first screening in NYC of Inter-Action: Shorts by SEAT, Seattle Experimental Animation Team.
The first is at 92YTribeca, Mon July 18th, 8PM (tickets online, $12). The second is at the Anthology Film Archives (part of the NewFilmmakers series), Wed, July 20th, 6PM (tickets at the door, $6).
I will be there for both screenings and there will even be a merch table selling drawings and small clay figures by Bruce Bickford, as well as DVDs of my short film Plain Face and some t-shirts by Stefan Gruber!
Thanks to all who came out for the premiere of Inter-Action: Shorts by SEAT, Seattle Experimental Animation Team this past Thursday here in Seattle. It was a great success!
The tour of the program kicks off in NYC, with not one, but two screenings in July. All tour dates will be listed in the ‘Upcoming Shows’ widget on the right. The first screening is at 92YTribeca (200 Hudson St) on Monday, July 18th at 8PM. Buy tickets here. Feel free to invite people you know in NYC using this Facebook event.
The second screening is part of the NewFilmmakers series at the Anthology Film Archives (32 Second Avenue) on Wednesday, July 20, 6PM. Tickets are $6 for the entire evening’s screenings, on sale starting at 5:30PM at the door. Again, check out our Facebook event for this one. Spread the word!
Related show
Jun 142011
Inter-Action is in two days! This Thursday, June 16th, 8PM, NW Film Forum (1515 12th Ave, Seattle, WA). Buy tickets here, or RSVP to our Facebook event.
This is the official line up for Seattle’s screening. Includes live narration and music by Stefan Gruber!
Inter-Action
Animator Tess Martin presents a collection of short animations that explore inter-actions - action between each frame of motion as well as between each subject on screen. Made individually by twelve members of SEAT (Seattle Experimental Animation Team) these thought-provoking films reflect on love, insanity, faith and murder.
1. Britta Johnson, Two Dots, 4:39 (2009)
Marbles illustrate the subtle math of a relationship in this video made for Lusine’s song ‘Two Dots.’ Marbles, dental floss and wax animated frame by frame.
2. Drew Christie, The Man Who Shot the Man Who Shot Lincoln, 5:15 (2010)
TMWSTMWSL is an animated interpretation of the strange and bizarre life of Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth. Animated on the pages of 12 books with charcoal, pastel and crayon. Contains one instance of nudity and violence not suitable for a young audience.
3. Aaron Wendel, Dwellings, 3:53 (2010)
Over time, two houses slowly destroy each other. Hand drawn on paper.
4. Tess Martin, Plain Face, 10:42 (2011)
In a fantastical land, a stranger arrives and is the subject of prejudice, violence and love. We follow her journey through memory as she decides whether to give up her heart. Paper and plastic cut-outs animated on a light-box. Contains one scary moment that may not be suitable for a young audience.
5. Amanda Moore, Bridging Wounds, 5:00 (2009)
A whimsical exploration of the lives of strangers told through silhouette puppet animation.
6. Davis Limbach, Loopforms, 5:03 (2010)
Loopforms is a dance of energy or spirit expressed in ‘maximized loops’. A traditional narrative is omitted in favor of a sensual, emotionally affecting experience. Ink and pencil on paper.
7. Sarah Jane Lapp, Chronicles of a Professional Eulogist, 6:30 (from 26min film, 2009)
A eulogist in training interviews his mentor on the eve of war. India ink, wax and gouache on paper.
MINI INTERNISSION- 5 mins
8. Stefan Gruber, Both Worlds, 10:17 (2011)
In an Eden like garden, cartoon deities sit upon mountaintops ready to trade gardening tips about their mountainside utopias. Hand-animated in Flash.
9. Clyde Petersen, The Dirty Street, 4:44, (2010)
A found footage film, recut, projected and rephotographed using the “Hipstamatic” app for IPhone one frame at a time. Music by Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death. Footage: “Jealousy” - a Prelinger Archives film from the Series, Marriage for Moderns. (1954)
10. Webster Crowell, Parasol, 8:30 (2008)
Parasol is a short, quick revenge film about bicycles, dancing and speed; animated with pastels across the surface of a few thousand paper parasols.
11. Salise Hughes, Somewhere, 4:00 (2010)
Somewhere between a 1950s sock hop and the Wild West, a Technicolor and Black and White pair of lovers meet to belt out a tune from “West Side Story.” Found footage manipulated frame by frame.
12. Bruce Bickford, The Comic That Frenches Your Mind, 5:28 (2008)
Bruce Bickford’s latest complete pencil animation is a trip - this is your mind on eggs. Contains nudity and drug use.
Jun 072011
I was a guest yesterday on Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair on KKNW (1150 AM). She asked me about my work, what keeps me motivated through the production of an animated film, and about the upcoming Inter-Action screening at the NW Film Forum - a great opportunity to see lots of work from SEAT, Seattle Experimental Animation Team! Check it out here. My segment starts about a third of way through, and you can fast forward inside the little audio player.
Jun 052011
The DVD of Tess Martin’s Plain Face is now officially on sale at Indieflix.com! Check it out! It comes with two additional short films (A Moment’s Reverie and Gaijin/The Foreigner) as well as a ten minute Behind the Scenes featurette, and animation extras which include a timelapse, instructions on how to joint a back-lit puppet, and how to create a tissue paper mountain range. It is $19.99.
Thank you to Michael Wallenfels for designing the DVD cover!