TROVER VS. JACK FROST (TAYMATIONS: Creator Showcase '21)
TROVER VS. JACK FROST
The hunt for powerbabies is a treacherous battle. Trover, as usual, is doing his mighty best. Maybe some holiday spirit can help the guy out? Eh, probably not, but we'll give him a C+ for effort.
___________________________________________________________________________________
MEET TAYLOR WELLS OF TAYMATIONS!
Clay is such a fun medium to work with! How did you get into it stop-motion/ claymation?
I’ve been mesmerized by Stop-Motion animation since I was a kid. The idea of bringing inanimate objects to life and telling a story has always fascinated me and I made silly little animations with my Hi-8 camera for fun. As an adult, I saw the short “lunch” by Jan Švankmajer and was floored by the concept, surrealism and humor of it. That’s the literal moment I told myself “let me give this an honest go” and try a serious approach to this art I’ve loved for so long.
Looking back, what’s the first claymation project you ever completed?
The first Claymation I made wasn’t too long ago actually:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt94hGYgPY6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Do you have a favorite piece from your portfolio?
Besides the new Trover animation, which is definitely one of my favorites, I have piece I call “What goes bump in the night” that I’m really proud of. It’s not my most viewed or liked or anything but it was so fun to make and I think strikes that challenging balance of being simple but interesting.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTm7i8bA3G-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Let's get spicy: what’s the strangest project you’ve ever worked on?
Ok so this is an easy one for me. I have a very close friend named Blake Butler who’s a musical genius and constant collaborator of mine who makes the craziest, hilarious shorts. I’ve contributed lots of animations to these and the strangest one has to be “Ricky”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ3HZ1UComU&t=365s
How long does it take to finish up a claymation? What’s the process of creating one from the ground up?
This one is tough to answer since it depends on so many factors. A typical animation I make for Instagram which is usually between 15 and 30 seconds takes me about 15 hours of animating to complete. Of course, then there’s the post production work, sound design, etc so it’s probably around 20 hours in total per animation. I usually start with a loose concept, sometimes it’s a story or it can be as simple as a camera movement I want to try. Then I almost always improvise from there which is not what you want to do with Stop-Motion lol. I think I’ve gotten decent at just animating what comes to me but please, if you’re going to try Stop-Motion, plan everything and don’t be like me.
Your Instagram bio describes your work as “90’s Nickelodeon vibes.” What’s your favorite 90’s Nick show?
Ooooo I’m so glad you asked this. Unsurprisingly, my favorites from that time are claymations. I absolutely loved Prometheus and Bob when I was a kid, and still do! That show aged surprisingly well actually. Bump In the Night was another favorite of mine. I feel like no one ever references those two but man, they made a huge impact on me and my style today. If you haven’t watched them, I strongly recommend them!
You created an awesomely weird short for us! Where did the idea come from? What was it like to build?
So I watch a lot of dumb YouTube “top 5” lists and one of my go to’s is “Top 5 Easter Eggs that haven’t been found.” A game that comes up a lot is Trover Saves the Universe! Obviously, there’s a notorious undiscovered Easter Egg in this game that Justin Roiland alluded to in an interview once. I knew I wanted to stir the pot surrounding that controversy again and get people wondering If maybe it really does exist. Since this was a holiday themed animation, it was only natural that I made Jack Frost the character voicing that recognizable actors voice 😊 Since that actor has also played a serial killer in a little movie called The Shining, and part of the theme was Jack Frost being a serial killer it just came full circle.
I have to say, this animation was a challenge but I learned so much in the process. I built all the puppets, sets, props, etc myself with the help of my partner Yvette Morales who I owe the world to for helping. From storyboard to animation, it was quite the beast but I think it came out awesome!
What was the coolest part of making this claymation? Do you have a favorite section from the project?
The best part of any animation, but this one particularly, is when it all finally starts to come together. Putting those scenes you animated separately together and adding the sound design always gets me super excited.
My favorite section is the scenes in the Bathtub Guy’s house. That character was so funny in my playthrough of the game, and I knew he was going in the animation. He also conveniently provided the perfect way to kill Jack Frost with his hairdryer
Who’s the evil-er villain: Glorkon or that nasty Jack Frost from your video?
Jack Frost didn’t steal any puppies, so I’d have to say Glorkon, hands down. What a bastard.
You need to grab Trover a gift for the holidays. What are you buying?
I would buy that young man some clothes. No one likes getting clothes for Christmas but my boy doesn’t need to be walking around fully exposed anymore.
Did Trover ever collect that green powerbaby at the top of the tree? The people need to know!
I’ll let the viewer decide. Or maybe you’ll find out in part 2 😉
Give us your links! Where can we find you? Put ‘em here:
I’m mostly on Instagram at the moment but will make a TikTok once I figure out how to use it.
https://www.instagram.com/taymations/
____________________________________________________________________________________
Head to the Squanch Blog to view more from the 2021 Creator Showcase! Also catch us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the latest news and updates.
