Prolific director and animator Harry Chaskin crowdfunds stop-motion animated/live-action hybrid retelling of an Eastern European folktale one frame at a time.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Ever seen a monster made out of Oatmeal? A group of stop-motion artists have banded together to do just that with this animated/live-action hybrid retelling of an Eastern European folktale. Loosely based on the legend of The Golem, Steel Cut Oats tells the story of a wounded boxer who builds a giant protector out of oatmeal to defend himself from the mobsters who ruined his career.
Director and animator Harry Chaskin and his team hope to usher in a new type of storytelling with the project, using practical special effects techniques from bygone eras to create a new aesthetic that looks toward the future while paying homage to the past.
“A lot of people think of stop-motion effects as crude or old-fashioned, but I firmly believe it is still a viable technique for creating memorable cinematic creatures,” Chaskin says. “With Steel Cut Oats, I’m planning to use traditional handmade techniques like matte-painting, miniatures, 2D-optical and stop-motion to create a memorable world that serves this poignant character-driven story.”
Chaskin and team have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding to complete Steel Cut Oats, with perks for backers including opportunities to view the work as it progresses and see the finished film before it makes the festival rounds, digital art, production sketches, storyboard panels, and more.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
