Nicole Emmons on this very independent film:
- The Wing Eater deals with unresolved trauma and subsequent fear, and the idea of using visualization to break through the handicap of anxiety brought on by these feelings. I’d say my biggest influences/ sources of inspiration for this film were Jiri Barta, Guillermo del Toro, Jan Svankmajer, David Lynch, Maya Deren, Janie Geiser, Rose Lowder, and the late Tony Scott’s film “True Romance.”
Production was a true labor of love, literally. I was very fortunate to work with a group of talented people that kindly donated their time and dedication to the project. The live action section featuring actress Catherine Strecker, was shot by Helder K. Sun on a Fries Mitchell 35MM camera using Zeiss Primes lenses that were rented from Ken Stone Camera in Frazier Park, California. For the object animation in that section we used a Norris Intervalometer hooked up to the Fries Mitchell. The hand held live action in the forest was shot on an Eyemo 35MM camera owned by Helder K. Sun. We used mainly Fuji and Kodak 250D and 500D stock, generously donated by Lindha Narvaez and Vance Burberry of Milkt Films. We shot the forest footage on location in the Sequoia National Park with a small crew, and actually had a black bear roaming around “our set” for a large part of our day.
We had a nine foot tall version of the 1 foot tall stop motion puppet, in addition to the mannequin, being puppeteered by some of our crew. The stop motion trailer interiors were shot on the Chiodo Brothers lot in Burbank, the exteriors outside of Eva Hauman’s trailer, artist from the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The stop motion animation was shot in the Butler Building at Calarts, with the exception of the baby eating the feather shot, which was actually completed during a Dragon Demo in Ojai! Kelsey Stillmaker animated that shot. Celeste Leipham came in for the Owl puppet build and flying shot. I was on camera and lights for all of the stop motion shoot, and animated all other shots. I used the Star Trek rig at CalArts for the Motion Control sections. I was originally going to shoot the stop mo on 35MM as well, but found the live view finder hooked up to an analog TV with lunch box combo did not compete well with the instant gratification of Dragon and my Macbook. Luckily Dragon came out at the beginning of my shoot, I used Dragon versions 1 through 2.1, as the project took a total about four years. It has been a thrill seeing the program grow ever more complex over time! I have used it on almost every job I have had since studying at CalArts, from commercials to TV shows to teaching.
– Thank you, Nicole! We are always glad to help expand the parameters for talented working artists!
Credits:
Featuring Catherine Strecker
Music by Daniel Corral
Cinematography by Nicole Emmons and Helder K. Sun
Sound Design by He Yin and Sage Lewis
Art Direction by Jesse Ayala and Sarah Sowell
Set Design by Sarah Sowell
Owl Puppet design by Celeste Leipham
Saorsa and Monster design by Nicole Emmons
Animation by Nicole Emmons, Celeste Leipham, and Kelsey Stillmaker
Selected screenings:
Blue Plum Animation Festival, Tennesee
Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, California
Savannah International Animation Festival, Georgia
Home Room Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Cinetoro, Columbia
Premis Ciutat De Palma, Spain
PACT Zollvervein, Germany
Red Cat Theater, Los Angeles, California
Beijing Film Academy Modern Creative Media College
Qingdao, China
Budapest Short International Film Festival
Animation Films in Competition
Sunday, September 9th, 2012