Cross Training: Stop Motion Video

So, I had an assignment for my Digital Imaging Class. I'm not much for
representative depictions. So I decided to plane a piece of gnarly
hemlock found in the scrap bin of my friend's furniture design studio. I
sent the board through a belt-fed belt sander. With each pass, I would
take photos of certain sections of the board. Then I assembled them and
added sound effects.

My idea came from the video below. I wanted to figure it out before I try something different

Images by Keith Skretch

Sound by Ennio Morricone, "The Big Gundown"

To create this strata-cut animation, I planed down a block of wood
one layer at a time, photographing it at each pass. The painstaking
process revealed a hidden life and motion in the seemingly static grain
of the wood, even as the wood itself was reduced to a mound of sawdust.


Official Selection, Chicago Underground Film Festival 2013

Official Selection, Brooklyn Film Festival 2013

Official Selection, Provincetown International Film Festival 2013

Official Selection, Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival 2013

Official Selection, DC Shorts Film Festival 2013


Created at CalArts.