You know the old saying March comes in like an
animator and goes out like a composer? Something like that. You
don't recall that one? Well, just trust us. For March 2001, the Tentacle Sessions
delivered a fantastic two-for-the-price-of-one artist:
Composer Nik
Phelps and illustrator/animator Nina Paley shared the stage and
talked about their own work and their collaborations.
Nik talked about his past musical experience, including composing and
performing new music for classic silent films with the Club Foot
Orchestra. Nina Paley covered both her popular strip "Nina's Adventures" and her animational
experiments--from 8mm with clay to 70mm with rubber stamps (or bicycle
tires, who's counting?).
They also discussed uniting their talents to work
on two animation projects: "I (heart) my Cat" and the soon to
be released "Fetch!".
Harrowing real-life tales of producing an independent animated
film! Not to mention the animations themselves, the glorious product
of their labor: thousands of frames, hundreds of notes, and a
few minutes of time. Nik and Nina gave us perspective on not only
how music is synched to moving images, but how an animator and
composer can unite their visions (with sound).
Nik Phelps is well-known as a multi-instrumentalist,
composer, and a member of the Club Foot Orchestra. Since 1997
his Ideas in Animation series has featured his group The Sprocket
Ensemble performing Nik's original compositions live to accompany
new work by both experimental and established animators. He has
also performed with, amongst others, Frank Zappa, Tony Bennett,
and Tom Waits.
Nina Paley first gained notoriety for her weekly comic Nina's Adventures
which debuted in 1988. Her work has appeared in newspapers around
the world, and been published by Dark Horse Comics, Kitchen Sink
Press, and many others. In the last 3 years she has focused on
animations
in a wide variety of formats, which have shown at film festivals
from Ottawa to East Hampton to the Ukraine.
