Experimental Animation
Hell's Half Mile 2022 - Sixteen Candles Anniversary Zoetrope Bumper
The Project
Myself and a small team of CMU animation students and faculty built this Zoetrope to commemorate Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival's 16th year in Bay City Michigan, MI. The three-tiered, 36" diameter cake is an homage to the 80's Sixteen Candles coming-of-age movie directed by John Hughes.
Scene Breakdown
The Zoetrope has five scenes celebrating iconic moments from the Sixteen Candles film and the HHM Festival.
Cake Top HHM Logo - Hell's Half Mile 16th Anniversary Logo.
Cake Top Geek Dance - Awkward high-school dance.
Roadster Joyride - Ted takes a Rolls convertible on an early morning joy ride.
State Theatre Projection of the Final Kiss - The last scene of the film screened in the historic Bay City State Theatre, while a patron shuffles in late with a bucket of popcorn.
The State Theatre Marquee - Complete with animated lights and Mayan headdress, the State Theatre Marquee proudly displays the 2022 Hell's Half Mile Festival.
The Process
We used 16 frame animated cycles from Toon Boom Harmony to drive laser-cut acrylic assets, digitally sculpted 3D printed models, and hand-placed over 2000 cycling marquee lights.
The entire project was digitally prototyped in Maya 3D animation software. 3D models of the roadsters, candles and the interior replicas of the Bay City downtown State Theater were created in Maya and Fusion 360, and 3D printed on Form II and Makerbot printers.
Credits
Zoetrope Construction Credits
3D Layout - Logan Crawford. Zoetrope Fabrication - Stephan Leeper and Lindsay Robertson. 2D Animation - Alondra Garcia, Jessie Chen, Jaymes Rodriguez, Megan Herbert, Emily Bober and Mathew Little. 3D Modeling - Logan Crawford, Connel Smith and Jeremy Catarino. Acrylic Laser Cutting - Mathew Little, Alondra Garcia, Jessie Chen, and Jaymes Rodriguez. Asset Painting - Sydney Melton, Alondra Garcia, Jaymes Rodriguez, Megan Herbert, Emily Bober, Mathew Little, Jessie Chen, Connel Smith, Logan Crawford and Lindsay Robertson. In House 3D Printing - Jeremy Davis and Scott Kinsley. Additional 3D Printing - Curtis Wood, Huntington University 3D Print Club. Zoetrope Assembly Leads - Megan Herbert, Sydney Melton & Jessie Chen. Zoetrope Assembly Team - Lindsay Robertson, Sydney Melton, Alondra Garcia, Jaymes Rodriguez, Logan Crawford, Connel Smith, and Emily Bober.
Bumper Film Credits
Director & Producer - Stephan Leeper. Director of Photography - Stephan Leeper. LED Strobe Tech - Jeremey Davis. Color Correction - Rose Brauner. Original Score - Dan Belleview. Sound Design - Matthew Blanke. Editing - Stephan Leeper
Toast! an Animated Potluck 2020
A brief exploration into laser cut animation & cocktail crackers. This is my contribution to the 2020 ASIFA USA-Central anijam project.
Watch the behind the scenes videos here: Toast! Behind the Scenes