Tuba Entertainment has released a new episode of Winkle Bear series. Its stop-motion animation work was produced by Comma Studio in South Korea. Comma is currently working on this series, planning to complete three more episodes this year.
Tag Archive for: 김우찬감독
작년에 기아자동차 광고 시리즈에 사용할 실제 손 크기의 뼈대를 제작했습니다. 이 광고 시리즈에서는 손 캐릭터가 등장해 사람처럼 움직이며 춤을 춥니다. 손가락은 마치 팔 다리가 된 것처럼 움직입니다. 작년에는 퀘이 형제의 작품에 들어갈 아주 작은 손 뼈대도 제작했는데, 그 때에는 힌지 관절을 사용했습니다. 이 실물 크기의 손 뼈대에는 인간과 같은 움직임을 구현하기 위해 볼앤소켓 관절이 들어갑니다.
This year, I had some clients asking me to make a hand armature. Earlier this year, I made tiny hand armatures for the Quay Brothers. And last month, I made a real-size hand armature for Kia Motors commercial series.
In the Kia commercials, this hand turns into a puppet and dance. Its fingers move as if they were arms and legs. Unlike the hinge jointed hand I made for the Quays earlier this year, I’ve used ball and socket joints for this one to create humanoid-like movements.
This armature is made based on a real human hand. So its size as well as the positions of its joints are exactly same as the real model hand. While finishing up this project, I once again realized that the human body is asymmetric. When you look at the fingers, you can see that the joints are machined to have curved surfaces. It takes longer time and harder work to machine parts in this way. And tie-downs are hidden in fingertips.
‘Wingcle Bear’ is an animal character created by Tuba Entertainment in South Korea, which is well-known for a computer-animated series <Larva>. I have been working on a stop-motion animation series of it since this summer. Here’s the first episode. (Stop-motion series are producing in Comma Studio)
작년에 퀘이 형제의 첫 일본 전시 오프닝에 초청을 받아 도쿄 근교에 위치한 하야마 현대미술관을 방문했습니다. 당시의 오프닝 참석 후기는 아래 포스트에서 읽어보실 수 있습니다. 올해에도 도쿄에서 열리는 동일한 전시를 방문할 기회가 있어 다녀왔습니다. 이 전시는 일본을 약 일 년 정도 더 순회할 예정이라고 합니다.
The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama in Japan is hosting an exhibition titled “PHANTŒM MUSÆMS” by the Quay Brothers from July 23 to October 10, 2016. The exhibition will travel around the country for two years, and Hayama is the starting point of its journey.
The other day the Quays and I were communicating for work, and they told me just before the exhibition opening that they were coming to Japan. To Japan?! It’s right next to where I live, South Korea! Hurray! After going through a challenging seven months, I’d just completed armatures for their next film, and now it was time to see the Brothers Quay again.
And not only that; there was the exhibition as well. I had always thought it was too bad that I missed their exhibitions at the MoMA New York and the EYE Film Institute Netherlands. I could never miss the chance this time. So my wife and I went to Japan for our summer vacation! 😉 The Quays thankfully invited us to the opening at the MoMA Hayama.
I most recently met the Quays in the winter of 2012. I remember that the Brothers and I had an amazing time together back then, drinking wine and chatting at their studio in London. With full of expectations and excitements for seeing old friends and the exhibition as well as being on vacation, my wife and I set foot on Japanese soil. Read more
이번 사진은 워커 또는 리깅에 부착하는 비스듬한 각도의 너트입니다. 미국과 영국 쪽 스튜디오에서 주로 사용됩니다. 이 너트는 영미권에서 만드는 것과 같은 방식이지만 사용자의 편의를 위해 제가 다시 디자인한 버전입니다.
This is a picture of customized brass nuts, which are used as supplementary parts for rigging. I usually make my armatures in various materials including alloys of steel and aluminum as well as brass. Some clients specifically order brass armatures.
Brass is highly machinable and offers greater corrosion resistance than steel. It is also easy to braze and weld thanks to its relatively low melting point.
Even with such advantages, however, stop-motionists in some countries have underestimated brass as a material for armatures. They say that brass is weaker than steel and corrodes under alkaline conditions.
It’s true that brass has some disadvantages, but I still think brass is a very good material for armatures. With a brass armature, it is possible to create smoother movements and control tension more precisely than armatures in other materials.
2015년 초에 Adrienne Dowling이라는 영국 NFTS 학생의 졸업작품 “Fishwitch”에 들어갈 인어 금속관절뼈대를 만들었습니다. 인어 뼈대에서 가장 중요했던 건 물 속에서뿐만 아니라 육지에서도 자연스럽게 움직여야 한다는 점이었습니다.
In early 2015 I made a mermaid armature for an NFTS (National Film and Television School, UK) graduation film titled Fishwitch directed by Adrienne Dowling. Adrienne told me that the film will soon start screening in festivals. I’ll post the link for the trailer when it comes out.
The trickiest thing about this character was that it had to move not only in water but also on land. I figured that the most important part was to make it move naturally in both environments. So I designed all the joints to have different ranges of motion in order to make it move like a human as well as fish. It’s possible to replace the mesh fin in case it breaks.
The hip part is made to install a square brass tube and a screw rig. You can choose to install the tube either horizontally or vertically. The client wanted the mermaid to swim in water horizontally and walk on land vertically.
Botos is a stop-motion animation series created by Comma Studio in South Korea. Its cute characters are based on three cats Director Heeyoung Lee has at home. Director Lee originally started posting web comics about these cats on her blog, and then moved on to make the animated series. The story centers around the hilarious lives of the cats confronting all kinds of troubles. The series has drawn public attention since pre-production, receiving several awards for its interesting characters and original stories.
Since 2009, I’ve been involved in this project as an armature specialist. The studio has released about 40 episodes so far, broadcasting them on Naver–the largest search portal in Korea. This episode is a parody of a big hit Korean historical drama series. You will see a kitten appear at the end of the episode. The armature for this kitten is an exactly the same with the mouse armature in the Japanese feature, Chieri and Cherry. When Director Lee saw the mouse armature, she thought it was the PERFECT size for her new kitten character!
아래 사진은 일본 스톱모션 애니메이션 장편 <치에리와 체리>에 등장하는 쥐 캐릭터의 금속관절뼈대입니다. 이 뼈대는 너무나도 작은 사이즈 때문에 이 프로젝트에서 테스트 버전이 가장 많이 나온 캐릭터가 되었습니다. 제가 이제껏 만든 볼앤소켓 금속관절뼈대 가운데 가장 작은 사이즈이기도 합니다
This is an armature for a mouse character in a newly released feature, Chieri and Cherry. For this Japanese animation, I’ve made various types of armatures including humanoids, four- and two-legged animals in different sizes from about 5cm to 50cm.
It was quite time-consuming to make various types of armatures in a small quantity. Yet the most challenging part in this project was to make all the customized parts in so many different sizes. In order to make these customized parts and finalized armatures, I needed to spend a lot of time communicating with the puppet fabrication team and the animation team.
This mouse character had to go through the same process. It was supposed to have a lot of movements, so the studio definitely wanted to have a ball-and-socket armature for it. Due to its tiny size, this armature became one of the most tested versions in the project. And it’s the smallest full-bodied armature in ball and socket I’ve ever made so far.
Hyundai Motors has recently begun running a brand new commercial for the World Rally Championship 2016. This ad was produced by Comma Studio, Inc., one of the major stop-motion studios in South Korea. The studio has mostly been focusing on features and TV series, as well as various commercials for global companies such as Amway, Samsung and LG.
Comma Studio has made several big sets representing various cities that hold the championship throughout the year. The animators have done an excellent job in creating dynamic speed and thrill of the sport. This commercial has shown technical know-how and skills of the professionals in Comma Studio. I’ve heard that it took them six weeks for the total production.
I was recently involved in a stop-motion feature film titled Chieri and Cherry as armature specialist. Japanese production company Frontier Works Inc. has lately released a new trailer for this film with English subtitles. It will be screening in Japan soon.
The film is about a little girl Chieri, who found a stuffed toy named Cherry at her dad’s funeral. Chieri goes on a journey with Cherry, straddling the line between reality and fantasy. On the course of the journey, she learns some important things about life.
This feature is directed by Makoto Nakamura, who supervised the remake of Russian puppet animation Cheburashka a few years ago. This is my second participation for Director Nakamura’s feature as armature supervisor.
Behind the Scenes