MERMANIAC (2014).

She's an underwater girl that comes out at night and gives you such a fright. You better watch out when she goes for a swim because your survival is going to get slim. She's Mermaniac, Mermaniac, that's for sure.  

I was one of the many students who helped out in this project for the Stop-Motion 2 class at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (or MassArt for short). 

Enjoy.

UPDATE! (3-June-2018)

Two days ago, I met Adam Savje and asked him about the projector and he said that he hadn't tested it.  So, an idea came up.  I told him about the optical printer and the solution to this problem just in case the projector malfunctioned.  He said that we will give it a shot.  The testing will commence sometime after the 4th of July weekend.  Perhaps July 9th.  I hope so.  If the test works, then Dinosaur Daze will back in production!

Speaking of dinosaurs, this month is Jurassic June so check out my IMDB (Internet Movie Database) page to see my reviews of dinosaur films. I started two days ago, so check out this page every day to see the reviews on what I think of these dinosaur films.

Speaking of which (i.e. what my project Dinosaur Daze is going through), here is a video about Terry Gilliam's movies facing troublesome times.  He never gave up.  He persists and persists and persists and persists AND PERSISTS AND PERSISTS...  You get the point.


Hope for the best and wish me luck, because I need it.

Mermaniac (2014)

This video was made in Stop-Motion II class. In this class, you need to work in a team. I was not only in charge of visual effects but vocal effects too. I did some creature voices and the voice of Mermaniac and the old merman. However, the old mernan's voice was rejected and got replaced with the creature voices. Why did I do the voices for Mermaniac (which was never shown in the final cut), because everyone in my class, male or female refused to voice her! Sad eh, but someone has to do it! If Mel Blanc, Frank Oz, Paul Frees, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Welker can do female voices, so can I! Monty Python did some female roles too! So, I hope you enjoy it.



Enjoy.

UPDATE (1-May-2018)

It has come to my attention that yesterday I spoke to Adam, and he told me to see if there are any news  about the projector.  He said that he hasn't touched it because of he was busy.  He told me that at the beginning of June we are going to talk about it. 
(I better come up with a solution for getting Dinosaur Daze off the ground as soon as possible.)

The Visitors (2009)

Get ready to get out of this world when two aliens try and communicate with Earthlings in this first attempt to combine live-action with stop-motion animation.


I made this for an Introduction to Animation assignment with Professor Dan Rowe at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.  I made this video to coincide with James Cameron's AVATAR because in 2009, a lot of movies with aliens are coming out back then. Also, what's with the 80's Atari video game-like graphics? There was 80's nostalgia going on back then.

The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (2005)

I am going to take you back.  Way back.  Back before there were animation programs like i-stop motion, Frame Theif, Dragon Frame and Stop Motion Pro.  Before I knew Final Cut Pro. There was something I learned on Discovery Channel's Mega Movie Magic about stop-motion animation.  Record for one frame, stop move it a bit.  Record for one second, stop, move it a little bit and so on.  The result was choppy and sluggish moments.  I was unaware about the EOS FAX Umatic Animation Controller so I sent it to Adobe Premiere and changed the speed of the movements and added in the voices.  This was The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (2005) a remake of the 1915 classic by Willis O'Brien. 
Yes, today is his birthday.  



Hey, this was my first animation.  Your first is not your best. 
Enjoy.

Dinosaur Daze Technical Issue

On Friday, I was going to continue working on Dinosaur Daze, but something happened.  The Athena 16mm Motion Analysis Projector malfunctioned.  Adam Savje, my Stop-Motion 2 and Optical Printing professor was in charge of the projector.  It malfunctioned because there was something wrong with the internal functions, so he sent it to the Film Cage and it will be sent for repairs.  I asked him when was the last time it was tested and working well.  He said "Two months ago." 

I told him that if the projector gets fixed, I would skip a work day and make up for the skipped work day.  He agreed.

Yes folks.  Currently, I am working at MassArt's Tech Central department.  I am doing inventory and making an animated safety film for the department.   So here are some pictures of the supposed dynamation shots for this 16mm production. 

This projector is used to study motion and timing.  Scientists use it to study motion.  Coaches use it to help athletes improve their skills.  Filmmakers and animators use it not only for rotoscoping, but for combining live-action with stop-motion animation.  While regular projector burn the film when paused, this one doesn't and the film never burns up.  You can move a few frame forward or a few frames back.  It is a great projector (pity that it malfunctioned).

Creature Triple Feature!

Happy Halloween to one and all!  Today in the spirit of my favorite holiday, I present you three creepy shorts I have made.

First off, is Bert Snaps!  That's right, you heard me!  This is what happens when you get annoyed by a fun-loving trickster for 45 years.  I made this one over the summer when I was checking for the following programs to see if there were any bugs in them.  Motion and CineColor.  If I wanted to test them, I came up with an idea.  To me, Bert from Sesame Street is known for being a long-suffering soul who gets tormented by Ernie's tricks.  He doesn't bounce back and give Ernie a piece of his mind.  What if all that changes.  So I came up with this video that symbolically shows, what would happen if Bert looses it.  Made with Motion, CineColor and Final Cut Pro, this video freaked out my friends and said it was terrifying.




The next one is Out of the Ordinary.  Inspired by the movie One Million Years B.C. (1966), I came up with an idea to do a nice little short that is an exercise in compositing stop-motion animation with live-action.  I chose the prehistoric beast, Arsinoitherium (a prehistoric ancestor to the rhinoceros), as the subject to this short because there were a lot of movies which had stories of the creature's involvement, but it ranged from getting replaced or rejected (like Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Ice Age and Mark Wolf's Age of Mammals) to having the film itself be unmade (Creation, The Legend of King Kong and Jongor of Lost Land).  So here, I decided to let him be the star in this short.  The title was inspired by a quote by Daffy Duck when he saw a disguised Bugs Bunny and said to Elmer Fudd, "Does anything appear out of the ordinary?"  I mean, it is a great title.  This was made during the Summer. 




Finally, I present you Tyrannosaurus Wrecks.  This was for a Digital Toolbox 4 class.  I made this one when I heard that Jurassic World was coming and Disney's The Good Dinosaur is coming soon, so this was made in the Spring of 2015.  Animating one is easy, but creating one from scratch is a challenge.  All in all, who loves dinosaurs?



Tyrannosaurus Wrecks from Matthew B. Lamont on Vimeo.

So I hope you enjoy it.  Happy Halloween.