This year, animation in all its forms is the guest of honor at Quebec City’s Musée de la civilisation.
Until August 23, the Frame x Frame: Animated Film at the NFB exhibition celebrates National Film Board animators who have pushed the boundaries of the art in the past and continue to do so everyday.
Visitors can meet filmmakers, see their works and stimulate their very own creativity in the animation lab. The exhibition also presents over 250 films and clips and some 150 objects, including Norman McLaren’s Oscar from Neighbours and the actual chair from A Chairy Tale.
Here’s the short trailer for the exhibition (French only):
This week, the artists-in-residence are husband and wife duo Dale Hayward and Sylvie Trouvé. Two Hothouse alumni, Dale and Sylvie are the animators behind See Creature, a Montreal-based animation company that specializes in on-location animation (stop-motion, 2D, after effects, mixed media and live action). Its motto, fittingly, is “We make it look like it moves.” And smoothly, too!
These two gifted artists have truly found their niche since first getting their foot in the door at the NFB in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
Recently, the couple completed over 4 minutes of stop-motion animation on Cordell Barker‘s upcoming stereoscopic short, If I Was God.
Sylvie and Dale also animated many stop-motion sequences in a new Paramount Pictures production of The Little Prince, stated for release in Fall 2015. (Check out the Japanese teaser trailer for that film here.)
All week, however, they’ll be at the museum from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, working on a new original project and sharing their creative process with the public.
The two seem to be thoroughly enjoying their experience in the glass cage so far.
“The visitors are really excited about what we’re doing,” says Dale. “It’s fun to see the kids’ eyes light up when they see the drawings come to life in the devices.”
Devices? What kind of devices?!
“Zoetropes, praxinoscopes and a flipper from flipbookit.com!” he explains “We’re making a short film of animated loops made in animation devices. Visitors are asking a lot of questions and wanting to get their hands on the devices. Coincidently, there’s also another exhibit in the museum where they can make their own animation in other devices.”
Check out these 2 short explanatory videos from the couple’s Instagram account:
“The Frame x Frame exhibit is fantastic,” Dale adds. “I’m really happy to see animation featured in this way. It should be done more in public venues. It feels similar to the Kubrick exhibit at TIFF, surrounding you with the makings of film.”
After this week, Dale and Sylvie will return to their true love, stop-motion, as they dive right into production of their upcoming NFB film, Bone Mother.
Based on a short story by Maura McHugh, Bone Mother will be a “stop-motion film utilizing the technology of 3D printing.”
Not much can be said about it right now, but its creators are promising a “dark film.” Production is slated to complete early 2016. We honestly can’t wait.
