Film screening / Trickfilm-Show

Film Screening

I show my internationally award-winning animated films and briefly explain how the idea for them came about. I mention the different animation techniques, e.g. cartoon or stop-motion animation, and talk about the successes at film festivals.

Depending on the focus, I offer an individual film programme on my artistic development or on various trick techniques.

At the end of a screening, I answer questions from the audience.

The film screening can take place on site or online.

Open a PDF file with an example of a film programme created for a one and a half hour screening of my short films.

Excerpts of the films

Trickfilm-Show

I present my films in my Trickfilm-Show as infotainment. Unlike a moderated screening, in this elaborately developed show I give a much more exciting and entertaining insight into the production processes of the films and show extensive illustrative material.

In a relaxed atmosphere, I go into detail during my presentation and talk about my inspirations, the highs and lows of my film career and the successes of individual films, e.g. Quest, which won the Oscar® in Hollywood in 1997.

Using facts and figures, I describe the effort involved in the productions and discuss the challenges brought about by the various trick techniques.

Depending on the length of the programme, there will be time for discussions with the audience or interviews with individual production members.

The films are without dialogue. Depending on the duration of the program and the venue, there are breaks during which food and drinks can be served.

Read my Trickfilm-Show reports about past presentations.

For example, my annual three-part Trickfilm-Show at the Theaterstübchen in Kassel, where I present all my films from three periods of my life.

Open a PDF with an example of a film program, created for a two-hour Trickfilm-Show, which includes short films and making-of-films.

Here you can see a flyer (in German) for a past Trickfilm Show, which I presented in three different events as Show I, II, and III at the Theaterstübchen in Kassel.

Here are my next events.

Introduction of the show

Artikel-Wiesbadener-Kurier-Trickfilm-Show-Thomas-Stellmach

Click on the article of the “Wiesbadener Kurier” to enlarge it.

Introduction of the show

Using facts and figures, I describe the effort involved in the productions and discuss the challenges brought about by the various trick techniques.

Depending on the length of the programme, there will be time for discussions with the audience or interviews with individual production members.

The films are without dialogue. Depending on the duration of the program and the venue, there are breaks during which food and drinks can be served.

Read my Trickfilm-Show reports about past presentations.

For example, my annual three-part Trickfilm-Show at the Theaterstübchen in Kassel, where I present all my films from three periods of my life.

Open a PDF with a two-hour film program of my Trickfilm-Show, which includes short films and making-of-films.

Click on the article of the “Wiesbadener Kurier” to enlarge it.

Here are the next event dates.

Film Examples

As part of the Trickfilm-Show, I give a talk of up to ten minutes after each film and explain how the film was made using making-of pictures and video material.

The following films are a small selection from my film programme. A total of 15 films are available.

The examples describe what I talk about in my lectures.

Click on the film titles to find out more about the film content.

QUEST Oscar©-winner film 1997

This stop-motion film should not be missing from my film programme. With this film Tyron Montgomery and I received the Oscar in 1997 for the best animated short film of 1996. In the Trickfilm-Show, I explain how we came to win this prestigious award and talk about the exciting award ceremony.

The film is an example of how a simple film idea for an exercise assignment by Professor Paul Driessen turned into a complex screenplay within a year, which then took four years to produce.

I explain with extensive visual material how stop-motion works and how the visually stunning film was realised with analogue trick technology in model making, in animation technology or in image recording technology, e.g. with mirror tricks from the silent film era.

Excerpt of QUEST

VIRTUOS VIRTUELL (Virtuoso Virtual)

This film visualises the music to the overture from the opera “The Alchemist” by Louis Spohr with abstract ink pictures.

I explain with extensive working material how the film was made from the idea to the completion in stereoscopy. I talk about the premiere, which was accompanied live by the Kassel State Orchestra.

It’s also about the collaboration with my fellow director and drawing artist Maja Oschmann. Maja and me do an interview at the Trickfilm-Show in Kassel. We talk about our different ways of thinking and our discovery process, how we came together after months of production.

Excerpt of VIRTUOS VIRTUELL

THE SAUSAGE RUN

In this animated film, I tell the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood in a new and unusual way.

I show a film of the final presentation of a Zoetrope workshop and explain what inspired me to create THE SAUSAGE RUN. I use several historical optical devices, namely zoetropes, and play with the creative limits of this primitive device in the plot.

The film was created entirely digitally and combines 2D animation with 3D computer animation. I use working materials to show the many steps involved in making a digital animated film and explain the various tasks of the production team.

Excerpt of THE SAUSAGE RUN

THE LAST LEAF

I show this stop-motion film in my programme when it comes to my beginnings as an animator. DAS LETZTE BLATT was made at the end of 1984 and was my seventh animated film. I taught myself how to make animated films by producing 10 films as a pupil.

At the age of 19, I was invited to the World Amateur Film Festival in Argentina with the film by the German Amateur Film Association. There I received the first prize for the best film by a young person. The film had previously won numerous awards at festivals and worked its way up from success to success, from level to level to the highest ranked festival for amateur filmmakers. The success at film festivals confirmed me in my path and motivated me to raise my artistic standards.

Excerpt of THE LAST LEAF

SMALL TALK

This film combines animation with real actors. The trick technique is known as pixilation. We were shooting with a rebuilt 35mm real film camera.

I explain how we worked and why the actors posed frame by frame in this film. I describe how an Amiga computer helped us to control the animation.

Excerpt of SMALL TALK

UNKRAUT (weeds)

This film is my first colour animation film, which I produced during my animation studies at the Academy of Art in Kassel.

Using this film as an example, I explain how a cartoon film was created a few years ago using pens, brushes, acrylic paint and transparent film. I explain how I used various animation techniques, e.g. Walt Disney’s multiplan layers or rotoscoping, to achieve three-dimensional effects in this animated film.

Excerpt of UNKRAUT

CHICKEN KIEV

In this animated film I explain the transition of production technology from analogue to digital. Using examples, I will show how the computer has simplified individual work processes and made it much easier to create three-dimensional effects.

In this film the animation was still created with pencil and animation paper on a light box and drawn on paper. But the drawings were scanned and digitally processed. The colouring was done with a mouse click using special software for animated films. The backgrounds of the scenes were also painted with a graphics tablet. The composition of the image elements, the three-dimensional camera movements and the completion of a cinema film were created using special computer programmes. The rendered image files were exposed on 35mm film.

Excerpt of CHICKEN KIEV