Time-Based
An (unfortunate) driver witnesses what happens to a stag's spirit and body after it is struck by a car.
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In Artemis, an (unfortunate) driver witnesses what happens to a stag's spirit and body after it is struck by a car.
This short, experimental animation walks the hedges between Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror, but primarily explores a polytheistic view of the rural American landscape. As Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Terry Pratchett's Small Gods both explore polytheism in mundane (yet highly dynamic) landscapes, I decided to explore one individual's experience of a Mystery. And this Mystery takes place along a road, like any other rural road in US, in an incident that repeats itself over a million times a year.
Replace-able puppet faces, heads, and hands were digitally modeled in Blender 3D and then printed in PLA on a ZYYX 3D printer. The bodies were cast in silicon from molds also printed on the ZYYX. I shot the stop motion with Dragonframe and post-production happened in After Effects, Photoshop, and Garageband.
Voices are by Jeff Murphy (Driver), David Smith (Ghost of Elvis), Tyler Smith (Apollo). The music featured in the work is “Beautiful Man” by Stephanie Fagan. (Music/Lyrics Copyright 2011, Stephanie Fagan, under License to Big Mavis, LCC. Sound recording Copyright 2011, Big Mavis, LLC.) This project was made possible by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, the Blumenthal Endowment, and the Arts and Science Council of Mecklenberg county.
Finally, Artemis is currently under consideration for film and video festivals and not yet available on the web. Please contact the artist at heatherfreeman@uncc.edu if you would like to preview this work for a public screening.
For more of Stephanie Fagan's wonderful music, please visit StephanieFaganSings.com.
Artemis has appeared at the following festivals:
2017 SPE Media Festival (Orlando FL) February 2017
Cinema On The Bayou Film Festival (Lafayette, LA) January 25 - Feb. 1 2017
Films on Tap - 2 days of X-Mas on facebook and instagram feeds.
Espacio Enter - Digital Image 2016 (On-line and Canarias, Spain) December 2016
2nd Animation Marathon (Athens, Greece) 2016 November 28 - December 1, 2016
Artlightenment Art and Film Festival (3rd Place for Best Animation Film) (Celebrity Center, Nashville, TN) November 2016
19th Annual East Lansing Film Festival (East Lansing, MI) November 2016
Films on Tap - Triple C Brewing (Charlotte, NC) October 15, 2016
Directors Circle Festival of Shorts (On-line) November 2016
St. Louis International Film Festival (St. Louis MS) November 2016
BLOW UP Arthouse Film Festival (Chicago, IL) November 2016
16th Annual Kansas International Film Festival (Glenwood Arts Theatre in Overland Park, KS) November 4-10, 2016
14th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival (Wichita, KS) October 12-16, 2016
Kerry International Film Festival (Nominated for Best Animation) (Kerry, Ireland) October 18-24, 2016
Push! Film Festival. (Various locations in Bristal TN/VA) October 21-23, 2016
Grand Rapids Comi-Con Film Fest (The Devos Place, Grand Rapids MI) October 21 - 23, 2016
57th International Short Film Festival - Brno 2016 (Art Cinema in Brno, Czech Republic). October 12 - 15, 2016.
CineEco Seia 2016 (Serra Da Estrela, Portugal) October 8-15, 2016
Queen City Film Festival (Cumberland Ramada, Cumberland MD) October 6 - 9 2016
Conway Film Festival (The Lantern Theater, Conway, AR) October 1 2016
Hamilton Music and Film Festival (Hamilton, Ontario) September 23 - 25, 2016
FilmSPARK 2016 (NC Museum of History, Raleigh, NC) September 16th 2016
Arizona Underground Film Festival (The Screening Room, Tucson AZ) September 16 - 24, 2016
2016 Portland Film Festival (Various locations, Portland OR) August 29th - September 5th, 2016
17th Annual WV FILMmakers Festival (Elk Theater in Sutton, WV) September 20 - October 2, 2016
New Jersey Film Festival (Voorhees Hall, New Brunswick NJ) September 17 - October 23, 2016
Fantastically Horrifying Cinema 2016 (Little Rock, AR) September 9, 2016
Nightpiece Film Festival 2016 (Surgeons Hall and Symposium Hall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom) August 19-27, 2016
Joedance (10th Street Townhomes Courtyard in Charlotte, NC) August 5-6, 2016
ASIFA-SOUTH RYO Animation Festival (Plaza Theatre, Roswell GA) July 28th, 2016
16th Annual Marblehead Festival of Arts Short Film Festival (Various locations in Marblehead, MA) July 3 - 4 2016
Brainwash Drive/Bike/Walk-In (Nimby in Oakland, CA) July 22-23 and 29-30, 2016
Blue Plum Animation Festival (Johnson City, TN) June 3 - 4, 2016
TrixXxieFest (Cox and Palmer Space, LSPU Hall, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Canada) June 24-25, 2016
Animation Attack! (Downtown Players Club in Atlanta, GA) - May 21, 2016
Gallery Shows
Real American. (Ann Arbor Art Center in Ann Arbor, MI) July 1 - August 13, 2016. Juror: Peter Baker
On Our Own Terms. [VAE (Visual Art Exchange) in Raleigh, NC] September 2 - 30, 2016. Juror: Kelly McChesney.