Stop Motion: The Marvel Factory

THE MARVEL FACTORY…

“Forget the luscious colours of children’s cartoons, the happy little animals singing in Disney films and the sentimental stories with happy ends for happy families, because Stop Motion is the other side of the animation moon, the dark, mysterious and unsettling side which ‘normal people’ generally try to avoid and which they often hurriedly catalogue as disturbed and disturbing. Those who employ stop-motion animation techniques tend to have a preference for things like bones, rags, old toys and weird objects forgotten in dusty attics, and their favourite themes tend to take on gothic and macabre tones… and yet, for those who get over their initial diffidence and overcome the knee-jerk prejudice which hinders them from following their imaginative instincts, a world filled with marvels – sometimes with sinister undertones, but undeniably fascinating and exciting – is there to be explored. Long considered the younger, uglier and rather naughty sister of traditional animation, at a certain point stop-motion was suddenly overtaken by the brash newcomer of 3D animation… and just like Cinderella, stop-motion came to badly need a fairy to step in and use her magic to finally restore love, respect and justice. And one fine day this fairy arrived, sporting permanently rumpled hair which looked as though it had never tangled with a comb in all its life, beaming the infectious grin of the eternal child, bustling in from Burbank. The name of the fairy was, of course, Tim Burton.” – Stefano Bessoni

Stefano Bessoni has created an illustrated handbook focused on stop-motion animation, with an introduction by Barry JC Purves. Starting from the question What is stop-motion animation? the author examines its history and techniques, then offers a step-by-step description – enriched with detailed photographs – of how to create an animation puppy for your animated films, taking into account the set design, the usage of Dragonframe and some editing and post-production techniques. The book ends with an overview of several must-see stop-motion animated movies that you can’t miss (if you haven’t seen them already): Neco z Alenky (Alice) and Lekce Faust (Faust) by Jan Švankmajer, Rigoletto by Barry JC Purves, The maker by Christopher Kezelos, La noria (The Waterwheel) by Karla Castañeda and, last but not least, Bessoni’s Gallows Songs.

The author: Stefano Bessoni was born in Rome in 1965. He studied visual arts under the teaching of the Neapolitan engraver Mario Scarpati and graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Since 1989 he has been making many experimental films, video and theatrical installations and documentary films, arousing the critics’ interest and winning several national and international prizes. From 1990 to 1998 he worked for several TV production companies as camera operator, director of photography and editor. From 1998 to 2001 he collaborated with the Italian director Pupi Avati, as assistant, storyboard artist and digital effect artist. In 1994 the Museo Nazionale delle Arti e Tradizioni Popolari published his essay about the creation of a character, with the title of Attraverso lo specchio (Through the Looking Glass). The book features the script and the sketches of his video-theatrical work Grimm e il teatro della crudeltà (Grimm and the Theatre of Cruelty). In 1995, he received the FEDIC’s “Claudio Pastori” award, for his work as a moviemaker, motivated as follows: “For the consistency of his commitment, the peculiarity of his research, the culture and the passion expressed through his work and in the in-depth analysis of the relationships between cinema, painting, history, and popular traditions and beliefs.” In 1998 a solo exhibition was dedicated to him at the Messina VideoFestival “L’Occhio del Ciclope”, in 2009 at the Reggio Emilia Film Festival and in 2011 at the Rome Fantafestival. From 2000 to 2007 he taught direction at the NUCT (New Cinema and Television University) in Cinecittà. From 2010 to 2013 he held lectures at the Griffith Academy in Rome, where he held a course in fantastic and visionary cinema and where he now manages a post-graduate master’s degree for students who want to specialize in stop-motion animation and illustration. He also teaches illustration and stop-motion animation at La Fabbrica delle Favole in Macerata. For Logos edizioni he has already published: Homunculus, Wunderkammer, Alice Under Ground, Gallows Songs and Pinocchio.

ILLUSTRATI logos Hardcover

190 x 190, 172 pages

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