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Jerry Svoboda Strives in Stop-motion Film Making IndustryColin Svoboda | Staff Writer

Randy Speer | Staff Writer

photo courtesy of steamcontroller.com

Each year, full-length animation films are made with a considerable amount of effort. Out of these films, no other process takes more time and precision than stop-motion animation. Creating full length animation films is a competitive business. Amidst this competition, Laika Studios stands out. “At Laika, we aim to compete directly with top-tier CG animated films at the box office. Feature films are very competitive so every company is watching with keen interest what films succeed and why,” said Jerry Svoboda, a stop-motion rigger for the company. Laika’s first film, Coraline(PG), debuted on February 6, 2009. It was a box office success. Not only has it currently made $75.2 million, it is also the first 3D stop-motion film. Due to this success, Laika has expanded its movie production. Their latest film, Paranorman (PG) released on August 17th, is still playing in theaters, although not in Omaha. The feel of a stop motion film is different from another popular animated filming process, Computer Graphics, or C.G. C.G. films like Toy Story from Pixar are created entirely using a computer. Throughout the process of making a computer animation movie, animators use computer programs to design and animate characters to perform actions that follow a script. The stop-motion technique is different. It uses physical models that are manipulated and filmed frame by frame. Svoboda said, “Personally, I find stop-motion animated films to have a warm, tactile quality that C.G. animated films lack. I believe this has something to do with the role of the human touch in stop-motion film making.” Svoboda continues, “It is akin to the way an oil painting can have a physical presence that a photograph cannot.” Svoboda also shared his experience working on stop-motion animation, According to Svoboda, In stop motion, riggers assist in the animation by building

custom machinery to incrementally move puppets, props and set pieces. Many of these “rigs” are hand powered by the animator, while some are motivated by computer driven motion control motors. “If you’ve seen Coraline, you might remember the portal tunnel in which the

heroine passes between parallel worlds. I designed and built the machinery that animates the tunnel itself, as well as the rigs that allow Coraline to jump and run. In the beginning, the portal tunnel is quite benign and fun, but toward the end of the film the portal tunnel literally assaults Coraline,” Svoboda said. The whole process takes a long time. Shooting Paranorman took 18 months and post production took a few more. Individual animators tried to shoot 150 frames

per week or about 6 seconds of screen time. “When we were at the peak of production, with 30+ animators on set, we shot about 2 minutes per week.” Svoboda said. Svoboda took an interest in stop motion animation at a young age, “When I was about 14 yrs. old, I started making stop-motion animated shorts at home, using a super-8 film camera that I saved up all summer to purchase. I would spend hours at a time animating. For me, the linear, incremental way stop motion films are shot propelled me forward. I enjoyed the combination of rational mathematical thinking with that of sculptural performance. I’ve always preferred film making that is process and craft intensive.” Later in his life, Svoboda glided into the film business after college. He worked as a production assistant for TV commercials as his first job after college A couple of years later, he moved up to assistant props and effects rigging and then to lead rigger. He then fell in with some directors that worked in the niche of tabletop commercials. In tabletop, most of his work involved making props or products perform. “I’ve built rigs that launch beer cans through waterfalls and one that caused several pieces of toast to cartwheel in unison. I still manufacture machines that create fake steam for food commercials as a side business. In the end, I’ve worked on more than 300 TV commercials.” Svoboda said. However, after 14 years working in commercials he became bored. “I thought back to my enjoyment of stop motion as a youth and I applied to work on Coraline, imagining it could be a fun new direction.” Of all the different genres of film made today, no other film process involves more artistry or intense precision and craft, than stop-motion animation. Laika Studios is at the cutting-edge of stop-motion production and with a genuine passion, Svoboda contributes to that success.

Pitch Perfect DeliversDecent Tune

Saturday night started off on the wrong note. Due to misinformation, the movie I planned on attending started twenty minutes prior to my ar-rival at the movie theater. Thus, I was forced to view my girlfriend’s movie choice, Pitch Per-fect. I was apprehensive about watching a mov-ie on Intercollegiate A Cappella. For those who don’t know: a cappella is a choral piece sung by a group of three to twelve members. There are no instruments allowed. Choreography is often included, and harmonizing is a must. While many teenage boys are wary of any movie involving excessive singing, this movie offers some pleasant surprises. The opening scene introduces the audience to the Bellas, a stereotypical group of attractive girls, performing a slow, perfectly harmonized rendition of Mariah Carey for the National Championship of A Cappella. The crowd falls asleep until one of the performers vomits ex-cessively. This destroys their hopes of winning. Thus enters Becca played by the Anna Kend-rick, the main character with a rebellious atti-tude. She begrudgingly joins the Bellas. From there it goes on to follow the average teen mov-ie plot with the rag tag group of girls coming to-gether to be greater than the sum of their parts. Pitch Perfect, however exceeds expectations with quality casting and a good script. What sets it apart is the raunchy humor from the side characters. They include Adam DeVine, an

Omaha native, and Rebel Wilson, one of the ac-tresses form Bridesmaids. Anyone who enjoys DeVine’s show , Workaholics, will enjoy his character, Bumper, because he does not deviate from what he does best, which is being an arro-gant and crude ringleader. In addition, Wilson’s character, Fat Amy, adds a lot of color to an otherwise bland group of girls. While the actors are excellent in some places, there are still some downfalls to the story. The plotline leaves much to be desired with many holes and loose ends that are never tied together, though. The plot seems to jump around excessively. At one point, Becca and Jesse seem to be best friends without any build up to that emotional state, and then they have a intense falling out with little provoking of this event. Also, (this a warning for those with weak stomachs) there are two intense vomiting scenes that are incredibly explicit. In addition, there is no originality in the storyline; if you have ever seen any of the Step It Up series of movies, then the plot will have no surprises for you. Overall, I would give this movie a 3 out of 5 stars based on the humor in the script by the side characters. The downfalls were exposed in the weak and underdeveloped plotline. While I was apprehensive when I first walked into Pitch Perfect, I left the theater thoroughly amused and pleased that I was suckered into watching it.

Jerry Svoboda stands by one of his motion animation film sets in Laika studios.

JOCULAR JESTS! Mr. Roshone: What ethnicity was Catherine the Great?J.T. Cronin: African American?Mr. Roshone: That might be the greatest (most ridiculous) answer I have ever heard.

Grant Ramm: When’s Halloween?Ms. Lund: Grant, can you even feed yourself?

Fr. Stephen: Humans are naturally afraid of what?Josh Bloomquist: Mr. Cormier!Fr. Stephen: Close enough. The correct answer is loud noises.

Grant Ramm: I’m so hungry, I could eat my arm hair!