Chasing flops of gauze,
Ostensibly knotted, amuck,
Things in between other things,
Clean up as best they can.
Will they make it in time?
Probably not.
Written by John Fadeff and Beca Lafore
Sound Design by Seth Augustus Quittner
Sound Mix Mastered by Will Mitchell
Voice Over by Heather Horter
Animation by John Fadeff and Jenn Steffey
Typography by Mark Eastman
Music by Seth Augustus
Thanks
Jun Jalbuena, Martha Gorzycki,
ASIFA San Francisco, CinemaSF,
SFSU Cinema Department, and
The Gordon “Don” Thomas Memorial Foundation
Contact: thingsinbetweenotherthings@
Festivals
CutOut Fest 13th Edition
International Animation and Digital Art Festival
Jury Prize – Experimental
Querétaro – Mexico
November 16th – 19th 2023
“We are the nation’s largest celebration of animation and digital art in Mexico. A festival known for its inspiring program of workshops, artists talks, lectures, film screenings and art exhibits offered at no cost. We are recognized for our impressive Competition of International Animated Short Films. We are a unique and amazing experience that every year brings together some of the most influential artists and thousands of minds hungry for knowledge, art, creativity and innovation.”
https://cutoutfest.com
https://www.instagram.com/cutoutfest/
Northern Lights
Fantastic Film Festival
Official Selection
Akureyri – North East Iceland
October 26th – 29th 2023
“Northern Lights – Fantastic Film Festival is a short film festival based in Akureyri in the North East region of Iceland. The festival selects and showcases around 48 international fantasy films, horror, and sci-fi included, being narrative, animated, or documentaries. The goal is to bring something fantastic to the cinema for all age groups of fantasy film lovers, award filmmakers who make fantasy films, and encourage filmmakers to be inspired by the treasure of Icelandic folklore.”
https://www.fantasticfilmfestival.is/
https://www.instagram.com/northernlightsfantasticff
https://www.mak.is/en/
Experimental Film Guanajuato
Official Selection
Guanajuato – Mexico
October 19th – 21st 2023
“We are the result of the meeting of many projects focused on local, national and international audiovisual exhibitions, which are found in the Capital of Guanajuato – a conducive space for ideas to germinate. Also calling on everyone who wants to present their works within a space as massive as the city of Guanajuato within the celebration of the International Cervantino Festival.”
https://experimentalguanajuato.com/
https://www.instagram.com/experimental_film_guanajuato/
19 Festival Transterritorial de Cine Underground
Official Selection
Buenos Aires – Argentina – Itinerant
October 4th – 15th 2023
“Films from the undergound, self-managed, decentralized and free distribution. Environmental and audiovisual tools used for pure joy, happiness, disinformation, emotional connection, television detoxification, collective cooperation, social creation of art, the multiplication of free cinema and more …”
https://cineunder.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cine_underground/
Trickfilm Festival Düsseldorf
Contemporary Animation 2023
Official Selection
September 29th – October 1st 2023
“At various locations in downtown Düsseldorf, the festival showcases international artists who deal with the topics of animation, animated film and motion design in very different ways. From classically drawn and animated shorts to generative and abstract video works, we will present a wide range of styles, techniques and approaches representing the diversity of contemporary animation art. In addition, we use the festival as an interactive space to explore the techniques and background of animation. Our program includes workshops and lectures by creative personalities who give us insights into their creative process.”
https://www.instagram.com/trickfilm.festival/
Experimental Brazil
Official Selection
Campos Dos Goytacazes, Rio De Janeiro
July 15th 2023
“So many borders in so many corners, in so many worlds, just waiting for a little courage. Textures. Densities. Musics. Beats. Breaks. Noises. Silences. A little boldness in these days of dryness and self-flagellation. We keep on filming. Looking for new universes under stones, abandoned ruins, cigarette ashes, and films that no one watches. We explore in minefields. We throw ourselves into a sea of colors, smells, and chaos.”
https://www.experimentalbrasil.com/
https://www.instagram.com/experimentalbrasil/
Vagrant Film Festival
Official Selection
Minsk – Belarus – Itinerant
June 17th – 18th 2023
“Our festival travels and leads a nomadic lifestyle. Our first screenings will take place at an open-air event as part of the festival “Edinenie” on the picturesque lake shore of the Rahachow district (South-East of Belarus) on 17th -18th of June 2023. The exact coordinates of the venue will be announced two weeks in advance. Over the past year, we did a radical renovation of CinemaVan Amphibian. The three-wheeled motorcycle replaced the agricultural 2-wheels motor engine.”
https://vagrantfest.art/about/
https://vagrantfest.art/films/films-2023/
https://www.instagram.com/vagrant.film.fest/
UNDER_the_RADAR
Festival and Conference for Artistic Film Animation and Experimental Sequential Media
Radar International MQ Air Award
Vienna – Austria
April 17 – 23rd 2023
“Under-the-Radar is an annual festival and interdisciplinary conference for animation, experimental film, media art and connected fields of research and production.”
https://www.under-radar.com/
https://2023.under-radar.com/radar-awards-winners-2023/
https://www.instagram.com/under_the_radar_vienna/
SFO Short Film Festival
Honorable Mention – Animation
Pittsburg – California
October 28th 2022
“SFO Short Film Festival is dedicated to short films created by Students and Independent Filmmakers. The festival screenings are held at the Maya Cinemas in the center of historic Pittsburg California.”
https://www.sfonline.com/short-film-festival.com/
Production Process and a Stencil Cutter
A stencil cutter can be converted to hold a pencil. It’s a little like drawing with a garage door, but diverse effects can be realized by varying the pigment density, machine pressure, paper finish, etcetera. For example, a layer made with a sharply pointed hard waxy pencil, using a high amount of force will coat and blend the pigments beneath, modulating and unifying the layers. Alternatively, a layer made using a dully pointed soft opaque pencil, will scuff the high points of the paper, but leave the nooks untouched.
The on-screen elements for Things In Between Other Things were made using a variety of traditional and digital methods, including hand cutting rubber stamps and drawing with a digital tablet. The animation was a combination of frame-to-frame, and 2D digital manipulations of static elements. Completed digital scenes, composited and flattened, were exported as image sequences. Each frame was then converted into vector graphics, arranged in multiples of eight, and drawn with colored pencils on black paper, by a stencil cutting machine.
Just over 4000 frames were drawn with a stencil cutter for Things In Between Other Things. The images were then scanned, placed back into a timeline, and rendered as digital film.
Selected Frames
Pencil Sharpeners
Pencil Shavings
Hand Cut Rubber Stamps
Rubber Type
Preparatory Sketches
Production Log
THINGS IN BETWEEN
OTHER THINGS
Contact: thingsinbetweenotherthings@