The-Spinning-Animation-Show

The fascinating final presentation of a Zoetrope workshop ...

The-Spinning-Animation-Show is like an exhibition and live performance. In this show, the participants of a zoetrope workshop themselves present their effectively designed cyclical animations on various optical, partly historical, image viewing devices in front of an audience and to a cinematic soundtrack.

 

In a zoetrope workshop, participants produce animation loops on a strip or disc of paper that show a very short action of less than a second in a cycle. The animation production process can be easely checked on a zoetrope.

Read more about what a zoetrope is and what we do in a zoetrope workshop.

 

The-Spinning-Animation-Show is an effective final presentation customised for the audience. The following examples were produced in zoetrope workshops lasting several days or weeks on paper strips, paper discs or transparent Plexiglas by talented youngsters, trainees or professionals.

 

The participants presented the animations themselves in an audio-visual show on several optical devices like zoetropes, praxinoscopes, projection devices or on rotating paper discs with stroboscopic light.

 

The following examples show which themes, locations or stories can be presented a Spinning-Animation-Show.

... created by excellent pupils.

Themes: panta rhei, balance, flow and the world is sound

 

From 2006 to 2019, I gave workshops in various animation techniques for the German winners of the International Youth Creativ Competition.

 

In 2015, I developed the zoetrope workshop and The-Spinning-Animation-Show on the subject: panta rhei – everything moves and nothing stays. Since then, several shows have been created. These have been presented by the workshop participants together with music on different themes. The duration of the workshop was about 6 days and about 20 minutes for the show.

Spinning Animation Show 2015

Theme: panta rhei

Making-of film by Simone Klar

(With English subtitle)

Spinning Animation Show 2016

Theme: balance

Making-of film by Simone Klar

(in German)

Spinning Animation Show 2017

Theme: flow

Making-of film by Simone Klar

(in German)

Spinning Animation Show 2019

Theme: plankton / the world is sound

Making-of film by Simone Klar

(in German)

... created by trainees.

Theme: city history – The Spinning-History

 

I was commissioned by the mayor of the city of Straubing to hold a zoetrope workshop at the Technical and Vocational College Straubing (FOSBOS/department of design) for the celebration ‘800 Years of Neustadt Straubing’.

 

The goal of the zoetrope workshop was to create a Spinning-Animation-Show about the history of my home city Straubing with the help of four teachers and 30 young creative trainees. The show was called The-Spinning-History

 

I traveled from Kassel to Straubing four times and held the workshop at the FOSBOS technical and vocational college for several days. The total duration of the workshop was about 3 months.

 

81 humorously and succinctly animation loops of historical events were produced in two months. I have developed a soundtrack of 10 channels of music and sounds myself.

 

The results were presented by the participants on eight optical devices with the soundtrack in a fascinating 40-minute Show.

Excerpt of the show The-Spinning-History

(in German)

Excerpt: making of the zoetrope workshop

(in German)

Report by Niederbayern TV

(in German)

Report by the Bavarian Broadcast TV

(in German)

Photos of the show The-Spinning-History

Trailer of The-Spinning-History

… created by professionals.

Theme: plankton / the world is sound

 

In 2018 I ran a one-week zoetrope workshop in Northeim for the German association of puppeteers and puppet theatres UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionette). The theme of the show was plankton / the world is sound.

 

We developed a Spinning-Animation-Show which presented an underwater world. In five days, eleven professional puppeteers created 35 two- and three-dimensional animations on paper strips and round discs. The 25-minute show was performed on six devices and accompanied by live music on a Hang instrument.

 

The film of the results and a making-of film will follow shortly.

Photos of the show Plankton

If you have any questions or consider booking me, please get in contact:

Idea and Realization

Thomas Stellmach

Technique

2D animation, object animation

Films

Category
Special
Tags
The-Spinning-Animation-Show, Zoetrop-workshop, animation workshop