The Spinning Animation Show

Spinning Animation Show trailer Straubing
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Excerpt of THE SPINNING HISTORY

Hypnotizing animation cycles ...

THE-SPINNING-ANIMATION-SHOW is a unique presentation, a mix of exhibition and live performance, with different optical devices, which presents cyclic animation together with a cinematic soundtrack.

 

The Show is the final presentation of my Zoetrope-Workshop. The participants are young talented youngsters, trainees or professionals. They develop animation on paper stripes, paper discs, record discs or transparent plexiglass. They can present their results themselves in an audio-visual Show on several optical devices like Zoetropes, Praxinoscopes or projection devices.

 

The duration depends on the number of finished animations. The show can portray a theme, a place or a story.

Zoetropes are optical devices invented around 1834, which can bring drawings of figures to life as if by magic. In the rotating cylinders of these devices short repetitive cycles of movement can be shown such as running, waving, hopping, opening and closing etc.. The repetitions have a hypnotic effect on the observer. Zoetropes and Praxinoscopes are the forerunners of film technology. Despite the invention of film, the old techniques did not disappear. Animators use it to create fascinating animation cycles. I call this art of animation spinning-animation.

 

Since I have been giving animation workshops with these historical devices, I have been fascinated by Zoetropes and animation loops.

 

I experimented with this in my new short film THE SAUSAGE RUN.

… made by talented youth

My Zoetrope-Workshops produce instantly viewable animation clips, which concentrates on a very short act of less than one second. Such an animation can be made in a half of a day by one participant.

This making-of film was realized by Simone Klar for our workshop, which we led together in 2017.

 

The Zoetrope-Workshop and The-Spinning-Animation-Show were developed for the Academy of the German Prize Winners of the international youth creativ competition in 2015.

... developed with motivated trainess

I was commissioned 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 workshop was to developed a Spinning-Animation-Show about the history of my home city Straubing with the help of four teachers and 30 young creative trainees.

Report by Niederbayern TV

  • Example of 80 animations created by students of the FOSBOS Straubing and developed together with Thomas Stellmach in a Zoetrope workshop.
  • Part of 80 animations created by students of the FOSBOS Straubing and developed together with Thomas Stellmach in a Zoetrope workshop.
  • Part of 80 animations created by students of the FOSBOS Straubing and developed together with Thomas Stellmach in a Zoetrope workshop.
  • 80 animations created by students of the FOSBOS Straubing and developed together with Thomas Stellmach in a Zoetrope workshop.

Finally, 81 humorously and succinctly animation loops of historical events were produced in two months. I was at the school four times for several days during that time for teaching and preparations. In the meantime, I composed music from prefabricated loops and developed a sound design with reference to the animations.

 

The results were presented by the participants and me on eight optical devices in a fascinating audio-visual Spinning-Animation-Show of 40 minutes.

  • Set-up for the presentation of the Zoetrop show 'The Spinning History' for the celebration of 800 years of Straubing. Idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Set-up for the presentation of the Zoetrop show 'The Spinning History' for the celebration of 800 years of Straubing. Idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Set-up for the presentation of the Zoetrop show 'The Spinning History' for the celebration of 800 years of Straubing. Idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Presentation of the Spinning History, 800 years of Straubing, idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Presentation of the Spinning History, 800 years of Straubing, idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Presentation of the Spinning History, 800 years of Straubing, idea by Thomas Stellmach
  • Students of FOSBOS Straubing have presented 'The Spinning History', which is a Zoetrope show created together with Thomas Stellmach in a Zoetrope workshop.

… presented by enthusiastic professionals

In 2018 I held a Zoetrope-Workshop in Northeim for the German association of puppeteers and puppet theatres UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionette).

  • Spinning Animation Workshop at the Theatre of the Night in Northeim, held by Thomas Stellmach.

We developed a Spinning-Animation-Show which presented an underwater world. In five days, eleven professional puppeteers created 35 animations, some drawn on paper strips, but also as three-dimensional objects on disks. The 25-minutes show was performed on six devices companied with live music played with a hang.

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