Circusing Iowa City on a Friday Night...

With Jazz music still hovering in the air, Tiny Circus set up camp in downtown Iowa City at the Ped. Mall. Despite a rainy morning, the evening found us warm and dry with a brilliant audience and a clear sky. All ages came to sit outside in the July evening and share the Tiny Circus experience with friends and strangers alike.


Daylight was still shinning when our crew first rolled in. Equipped with a new animation, just finished earlier in the day at U.A.Y., Tiny Circus was prepared for the evening performance. Was Iowa City ready for the circus?


Our portable Animation Station invited passerbys to try out stop motion animation on their own.




Before the sun sets Susan and Elizabeth pass out our handy and very attractive Tiny Circus bookmarks. Remember to check up on our plans by visiting the website and by referencing your orange, green, or blue bookmark.

The time is 8:00 p.m. and the projection screen needs to come up. It's near the end of our summer time tour, and as these last events fade away, we can all enjoy our new screen set up / take down abilities. Anyone have a timer?


And our show begins!



Along with with The History of Soap, The History of Pockets also had it's Tiny Circus premier. Such a sneaky pencil with such clever ideas...



Despite an unexpected conga line, it was a night of magic and imagination underneath the stars. We hope you enjoyed the show, and we look forward to returning to Iowa City in the future.

Presenting the crowd during the first ever showing of The History of Soap.

Tiny Circus Joins U.A.Y. in Iowa City

What does a circus produce after spending a couple of days in Iowa City? If you've guessed a workshop with United Action for Youth, The History of Soap, and a marvelous outdoor show, then you would be on the right track.


During the 9th and 10th of July, Tiny Circus joined forces with United Action for Youth. Our very talented workshop participants collaborated in brainstorming, creating, and shooting a brand new animation.

The first day began with an introduction to our entire process. Jason shares the History of Popcorn with Max and Grace. Was this perhaps a source for some musical inspiration?

U.A.Y. participants could also experiment with stop motion in other venues. At our portable Animation Station, Alex shows how nearly everything has the potential to be made into an animated short.

After brainstorming and storyboarding, Carlos lays out the proper scale for this new world. Within those blocks rests the yet to be created Gertrude, super sniffer dog, and a few pink flowers.
Time to break out the card stock. Wherever the circus travels, we bring along a smorgasbord of supplies.


Just as before, it's with attention to detail and patience that every element of the animation is made.


From snail slime to flower smells, The History of Soap came into being with the help of many hands.

Thank you to everyone that helped out in creating this new animation!

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.