As a girl with so many artist loves – writing, drawing, crafting, dressing up – the Segway into film making came quite organically.
In 2012 I took my first stab at animation, and made a music video for a friends band ‘Doc holiday takes the shotgun’.
The piece was scratchy and rough, which suited the music style nicely. I used traditional methods of animation, drawing page by page like a flip book. It was a long process, but an incredibly rewarding one, and gave me the first taste for animation.
Watch the music video for Doc Holiday takes the Shotgun
In 2013 I made my first short animated film Ink & Marrow. The film is a quirky love story – about a girl who is independent and self assured and laughs at the world, but lonely.
Not having any training in digital animation I went old school, and made ‘Ink & Marrow’ like a stop motion. Drawing everything by hand, then cutting each drawing out, rigging a camera frame and taking a million photos as we moved them around the page. This time I edited the film myself, something I found I also loved.
The film was entered into Tropfest 2013, and from the total of 1,200 films was shortlisted to the top 100. It was an amazing experience making it, and working with friends that it spurred a desire to make more.
Watch:
From there I made my second short animated film ‘Chump’, using the same style and method.
It’s now been some time since these projects. They sparked a real passion for film making, and helped re-direct my steps towards working in the Film production industry. It’s wonderful to be a small fish in a much bigger pond, helping build a cinematic masterpiece. But rest assured – my desire to continue creating my own film projects has not died away. My next short film project will be the most ambitious yet – and as such requires some considerable love and planning. So watch this space..
View Sophie’s films:
Sophie Stone 