Happy Birthday Marengo!

150 Years is a pretty long time. In order to celebrate, Tiny Circus will post 150 pictures from the festival! Or perhaps, we will limit this post to 150 words and let the images speak for themselves.

July 3rd was a stunning day for a sesquicentennial celebration. Poised from our hilltop location, the Circus enjoyed a perfect view of a veritable inflatable wonderland.



Both the studio and the projection airstream made it to the celebration.


The silvery trailers acted as bookends for our Animation Station and Making Tables, inviting in festival go'ers to tell their own stories and to

Where better to begin?



After 'Stuff' was made, many Marengo'ians took their creations over to the




A few participants created their own story involving an apple tree, some worms, and a tornado. Look it up on Youtube!

Tiny Circus wanted to wish Marengo a very special Happy Birthday by offering a birthday cake, or in this case, watermelon.

150 Candles are not easily made. Nothing says collaboration like an assembly line!



Thanks Marengo, we had a great time celebrating with you.

Tiny Circus Plays Music in the Park!

On July 2nd, Tiny Circus rolled into Central Park on Broad Street.

As the sun set, the animations glowed.

The crowd was ready for a new type of entertainment after their evening salsa dancing. As the moon rose over the train tracks, Grinnellians resting on lawn chairs and blankets were able to enjoy our show complete with four new histories created by the Animation Camp goers.

Terrance helps out at the donation box. With bow tie on, he can be quite the charmer.

Pogo knows what's up.
She watches intently as Circus members finalize setting up the event.

Three fans go in to investigate.
Perhaps soon they'll be watching their own animations on the big screen.

The crowd starts to grow.
Many of whom are sporting rather snazzy Tiny Circus t-shirts.

The History of Staring Contests kicks off the show.
Who will blink first and lose their castle built of cards?

Over all it was a beautiful night of warm weather, friendly faces, and fanciful tales.

If you missed Music in the Park, mark your calendar for the next Tiny Circus Event!

July 10th we will be projecting at the Ped. Mall in Iowa City at dusk.
July 11th will find us at the Linn County Fair.

Come join us as we wrap up our summer tour.

Storyboards, Sessions, and Shooting!

Our first three day Animation Camp has come to an end. Thank you to all of our campers for their hard work and wonderful creativity! After Day 1, we progressed through the next two sessions incorporating more prop making, adding sounds, and shooting in the airstream studio.

From storyboards to filming, having clear details make all the difference. The History of Blinking transforms quickly from sketched characters to...

a quite intricate set.
Down to the window panes, we see the patience and time which goes into every story.

Before jumping into the airstream, Jason demonstrates a few principles of stop motion animation. Everyone had a chance to create and move their own object before putting their knowledge to use with the histories.

Cranes easily come to life under the camera lens.

With polished animation skills, the group moves into the airstream to shoot The History of Blinking. Remember to be ever mindful of the camera...

Jonah inches the sore eyed costumers into Sav-Ur-I's as Lucas moves them out.

After three days of intense animating, the afternoon session takes a moment to watch all of their hard work. Jason also gives a crash course in editing.

Patience and detail are key throughout the animation process, but always work best when combined with collaboration and unity.

Good job campers.