Secret Recipe Ep 6: Why We Are Intentional Simpletons

KYSS KYMS! That is our motto. Keep Your Story Simple - Keep Your Movie Short.  KYSS KYMS

This secret recipe is perhaps the most important of all our secret recipes, because it defines the limits of what we TRY to accomplish.

It is our philosophy. If we had a "secret philosophy" section - we'd put it there. But we don't. So here it is in Secret Recipes.

We believe the recipe for successful movie making in stop-motion is to make the story more important than the tools used to tell the story. 

We once took a class in 3d animation, for instance. We spent 90% of the time learning the interface of the 3D software as we modeled a character and rigged it for animation. 90% of the class was NOT animation, it was getting ready to animate.

When we do any stop motion animation, we are animating as soon as our idea is hatched into some form of storyline. Why? Because we use everyday objects to tell our stories. If you can push a button on an iPad you can do what we do. 

Our mission is to make animated storytelling accessible to as many of the smartphone carrying/iPad/Android tablet using public as possible.

So this episode is a warning about going down the rabbit-hole of 3D or Flash Animation. It is a really cool rabbit-hole. But it is built for professionals with lots of time and money.

We are amateurs. We love story. So we step over the "high tech" rabbit hole and go on making our crudely "simpleton" driven stories.

So KYSS KYMS is our philosophy for online media creation.

Enjoy!

Bon Animate!

Secret Recipe Ep 6: Whiteboard Animation

Sometimes you want to animate and have an idea reveal itself to you as you go.

This is called "straight-ahead" animation. Traditional hand drawn animation is called "pose to pose", where an animator draws the "keyframes" or "extremes" and an inbetweener fills in all the "inbetween poses, all while following a storyboard.

When you work in teams, this is a great strategy. But, already this is too technical for Animation Chefs' fans, who often work alone, and with stop motion.

This secret recipe is about starting an animation, and seeing where your imagination takes you. No storyboard. No real plot. Just start animating and we what happens.

Things come into your mind and go out your finger tips, onto the whiteboard and into the camera. A deep symbiosis between you and the machine and the idea happens and then, Viola! There is your movie! Revealed and ready to share with the world. Itis fun to do, and it feels like meditation.

There is no faster, easier way to do it than to get a whiteboard, put it under your iPad or other mobile device, and get busy. Enjoy this Secret Recipe from Animation Chefs' episode 6.

How to make an animated Valentines movie for your heartthrob!

We love our fans! So we'll let this Valentines animation speak for itself! Stop motion emotion coming your way! With all the cool animation apps and cameras in everything but your toothbrush, why not make movies for your holiday wishes. Imagine how blown away your loved ones would be if they received a customized movie. Come on. Do it!