Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tiny Circus in Print!



Tiny Circus showed up in the Des Moines Register this Past Sunday with a great article from the Des Moines Arts Festival written by Michael Morain. Our own Amy Santoferraro is quoted in regards to our engagement with all age groups, "The tough part is the adults. 'It's OK,' we tell them, 'You can play too.' "

Click on the above image to enlarge.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Welcome to Animation Camp!

On June 29th 2009 at Stewart Library, Tiny Circus held it's very first Animation Camp. On Day 1 we learned what animations were, broke into groups, and brainstormed the Histories of Clocks, Hiccups, Blinking, and Balloons.

It was a very busy day, spanning from tearing out your own animal name tag to constructing chomping, floating, and blinking props.


The first group of the day views an introductory screening of Kissing, Claps, and Locks in order to get a clear understanding of the art of stop motion animation.

With the help of Terrance (our star of Locks) and Flappy the bird, Carlos illustrates how movement impacts the speed of the animation. By taking big jumps little Terrance quickly passes slow moving Flappy.

The History of Hiccups gets it's start in the corner of Stewart Library. Beware of coconuts...

The afternoon session begins their storming....

Essential story boarding for The History of Blinking. Remember to stop at Sav Ur I's.

What could this possibly be?
Come by Music in the Park on Broad St. at 9:00 p.m. to find out.

A busy 'historian' hard at work. Animations aren't going to draw themselves.

What did you learn today?













Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Des Moines Art Festival

This weekend, Tiny Circus traveled to Des Moines, IA for the annual Des Moines Art Festival after weeks of preparation. We took off early Friday morning and spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday working with festival-goers. Part of the work we did included a do-it-yourself animation station, which allowed passerby to come in and learn about stop motion by creating their own out of assembled objects. At another station, people made props for an animation called "The History of Cities." Finally, inside our newly-completed mobile airstream studio, festival attendees helped us shoot the animation with freshly made props.

Our participation in the Art Festival also included a showing on Friday and Saturday nights. The Saturday night show even included some raw footage taken from the day's shooting!

At the animation station, Ally demonstrates the kinds of movements that make stop motion work.
A crowd gathers in the do-it-yourself area on Friday as "The History of Maps" plays out of the baby airstream. Participants had the opportunity to shoot a few frames and then watch the playback.

Inside the new airstream studio, a group of young volunteers helps with the shooting for "The History of Cities."
Inside the airstream, looking out at the festival...
Outside, festival-goers work on creative paper props, including animals, a parade, and more. Both children and adults collaborated to make beautiful and original work.

Saturday night's audience waits patiently for the show to begin, with another beautiful Iowan sunset in the background.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend in Des Moines. Tiny Circus was glad to get out, enjoy the festival, and make art with people.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

T-Shirts For Sale e-mail tinycircus@gmail.com for more information

T-shirts are now available
for more information contact tinycircus@gmail.com


Greta using her amazing screen printing skills.



Waiting to dry.



Hangin' out.

History of Hiding T-shirt design.
History of Repetition T-shirt design.

Tiny Circus logo t-shirt.

History of Ghosts t-shirt.

History of locks t-shirt.

All t-shirts also available in Light Blue!



Sunday, June 21, 2009

Shake Rattled and Rollin'


Mona's Polishing in high fashion



Elizabeth shows off a great insulation and wiring job on the interior of the trailer


More insulation and wiring


All the great brains here working on different parts of the project

'STREAMIN'

Tiny Circus had a show this past Saturday at the Art Farm Kids Art Camp in Grinnell. It was a success and enjoyed by all that attended. The show was in a beautiful wooden barn with the screen on the inside and the tiny projection airstream right outside the barn doors. What a beautiful evening! Followed by a dance party.




It has rained part of every day for a week. That just means shifting of tents, beds, etc. searching for a dry spot...




The Banner for the side of the Airstream known as 'Silver Unicorn', or our new Animation Studio Airstream:




Work on the airstream does not stop. Ever.




Work on the airstream does not stop. Ever.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The ABCs of Tiny Circus...

Animations



Today new arrivals and temporary Circus members made their very own animations! Here, Mona and new Circus member Sarah film outdoors. Don't let those balloons blow away!


Banner

Jess is sewing a bright, noticable banner for us to hang on the airstream.



Clouds


Some of us spent the morning polishing clouds.....


.....to make airstream cloudpatches.

Doors and Dogs



Everyone is working hard and we're making visible progress on the airstream. Here John & Jason are cutting a door into the side of it. Pretty soon we'll have the whole exoskeleton finished!



A tiny Circus member draws a portrait of her pal.



Editing



Sarah and Rick edit their balloon animation. We're hoping to have the two animations that were made today in our show tomorrow at the Global Arts summer camp, so there's no time to waste!

Between the airstream, new animations, and our kids' workshops coming up, Tiny Circus is busy as can be. We play every minute of the day!



And we're stopping at E, so that's all, folks!