Art Educators of Iowa Fall Conference

Tiny Circus was in Cedar Rapids with the Art Educators of Iowa this past weekend. AEI's fall conference took place in the lovely Hotel at Kirkwood Center. We converted a conference room into our animating studio for the weekend, making use of the huge magnetic whiteboards, the rolly desks and desk chairs, and the gigantic flat screen monitor (used to show animators shots from Dragonframe in real time).

As the "animation troupe in residence" at the (coincidentally) circus-themed conference, we spent three long days in our animating studio. Teachers attending the conference jumped in both to observe the process and to get hands-on by making characters and animating. Some conference attendees spent a few minutes with us; others spent hours and returned day after day.

The storyboard for the visuals involves shots of clay, paper cut-outs, and dry erase marker drawings as well as time lapse and stop motion sequences. The fanciful and imaginative visuals will be paired with an audio document crafted from interviews with art educators at the conference. Exploring questions related to the importance of art education, what actually happens in the art classroom, and what larger lessons art educators hope to give their students through art education, the audio document takes a closer look at what art class really does for students at any grade level.

The weekend with AEI was packed full of animating and interviewing, but we also had the opportunity  to give a lecture to the entire crowd, do a screening the last night of the event, and make some new friends from all over the state!

After packing up and saying goodbye to our converted conference room turned animating studio, we returned to our Grinnell home base to edit the animation and prepare to head south for the winter. Stay tuned for the animation.

Circus at Citizen Jane

Two weeks later, Tiny Circus is still feeling the buzz from this year's Citizen Jane Film Festival in Columbia, MO. Having been too busy animating during our last several years at Citizen Jane to actually experience much of the festival, we were grateful this year for the opportunity to kick back and enjoy some great films. We also got to know some awesome filmmakers as we interviewed them for next year's film festival bumpers. We asked them about the first films they ever made, and what kind of film they'd make now if they had unlimited time and budget.

We spent our weekend discussing what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated industry, and strategizing about alternative structures to the current model.

Katie and Sally spoke on a panel about collaboration. We collected lots of Citizen Jane gear. 

And we danced. And ate 2 a.m. biscuits, and explored a cave. Ken, our cave tour guide, came to see The History of War, The History of Curiosity, Ghost Trap, Age, and Creativity as they were screened in the Animated Shorts! program. 

This short film made by Stephens College student volunteers at the fest really captures the magic of the weekend. Thank you, Citizen Jane! We can't wait until next time. 

Cornell College Joins the Circus

Tiny Circus has begun its latest project in residence at Cornell College. Located in hilly Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Cornell College has a long and proud history of community and art.

While at Cornell College, the Circus is providing students with hands-on experience brainstorming, producing, and editing stop-motion animations a collaborative environment.

The Circus moves fast, but so do the students and faculty of Cornell. The production studio is up and running, and the creative team has already done a quick introductory animation with one of Tiny Circus' recurring characters, Billy Circus.

The animation station set up and ready to go.

This month, the Circus crew plans to shoot a series of short animations on the topic of the Seven Deadly Sins. Deciding to limit set-making and animating to only the medium of paper, the group has found a variety of captivating ways to construct and shoot some scenes about sin.

The Circus will conclude the month with an appearance at Mount Vernon's Lincoln Highway Arts Festival . Thanks to the hard work of students at Mount Vernon, you can be sure to stay tuned for some of the most sinful stop-motion you've ever seen.

Tiny Circus Returns from the Super Fantastic RAGBRAI Tour

After an exciting eight day long tour with the Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), the Tiny Circus has returned to Grinnell. Each day involved setting up our animation tent in overnight towns along the route to allow the riders and locals to participate in our animation, as well as participate in interviews about their RAGBRAI experience and the community it has to offer. 

Animating tent getting prepared for the day.

Day three of RAGBRAI was our big animating day in Des Moines. Instead of our usual animating station we set up a sky jack in front of the capitol building to animate people! The sky jack allowed us to shoot photos of everyone from above.

Two Circus-ers shooting and directing on the sky jack. 

Participants on the ground and in position for animating.

 In each town people of all ages and backgrounds showed up to our tent to help make paper characters for the animation project. Once they were done making their character, they had the opportunity to take it to the animating table and learn how to do stop-motion animations.

Participants at the making table.

Jenny and Katie demonstrating how our process works at the animating table. 

We received a lot of super fantastic help from participants in each town and we thank everyone who came by.  Now that we're home we'll be going through all of the animations and interviews we collected along the way to begin the editing process.  Please check back soon to see the finished Super Fantastic RAGBRAI animation! 

Summer 2013 Residents' Animations

Tiny Circus artists recently completed the animations Age and Before Sleep. Like previous documentary animations, these videos use audio recordings of interviews.

The Circus Prepares to Tour Iowa

#packing the air stream and setting out#

We continue to make progress in preparation for the giant workshop we have designed for the upcoming Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, RAGBRAI. Animation sessions are planned for stations in each overnight location along the RAGBRAI route. Riders will be recruited to create animations and record audio for a documentary video about community. We need your help! Tiny Circus relies on group (community) participation in our creative process. Look for the big red tent, red signs, and carnies dressed in red Tiny Circus t-shirts, which we coincidentally will be selling, in the following RAGBRAI overnight locations: Council Bluffs, Harlan, Perry, Des Moines, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Fairfield, & Fort Madison. The finished product will be featured at the "Riding Through History" exhibition hosted by the State Historical Museum of Iowa in conjunction with the Iowa Arts Council.

During this morning's group meeting we learned about Monday's front page of the "OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF GRINNELL AND POWESHIEK COUNTY, IOWA".

Much has been accomplished in preparation for RAGBRAI so far this week. We have collectively settled on and tested out a storyboard that anticipates community assistance. We have exhausted every song ever written about bicycles, but we're open to suggestions. We have an especially spectacular scene planned for Des Moines! Come join The Circus!!

Have you watched this one yet?

Tuesday at Tiny Circus

After another intense lead-up to our second film screening, our weekend concluded with a welcome relaxed pace, but was accompanied by the departure of several Circus clowns. The rest of us spent Monday organizing ourselves to tackle the upcoming RABRAI tour project—which our new video promo (below) might best explain!



As a few of us aren't joining the main crew next week, we split the seemingly-infinite remaining logistics, responsibilities, and plans. Animation tests and phone calls to newspapers alike were made, and our Google "Ducks" online turned grey with every completed task. We rounded out the day with a picnic dinner at Rock Creek, where one particularly spry clown proved that swimming across the lake right after eating is safe (so long as you ignore the haunted depths and their aquatic moaning). A recently-returned harp made the evening especially peaceful.

Tuesday began anew with excellent DJing by none other than your most humble blogpost author for today, and the morning was spent discussing the test animations and tackling a storyboard for each day of the trip. We're talking tubes, hoppers, and gears galore—so get excited!

The afternoon switched from all that couch time and got us moving in the sluggish humidity: some of us completed a series of new test animations, others made to-do lists for making more to-do lists, and everyone suffered from the heat. Overall, it was as productive a few hours as it was icky working conditions, but the Circus never lets the weather get to us! Dinner was served in town at Community Meal (which you should attend every Tuesday at 5:30pm if you live in Grinnell) and the evening spreads out in front of us. More to come!