Project Creator's Name & Bio

Cynthia Gall - Illustrator/Sculptor/Stop Mo Animator/Voice Actor

Project Name & Bio

To the Rescue - A short film designed to inspire people to foster or adopt shelter dogs

Who are the people who have influenced your filmmaking?

The Nightmare before Christmas and Corpse Bride are films that have sparked my desire to enter into the quirky niche of stop motion filmmaking. I was fortunate to be able to take the Stop Motion Animation Workshop at UCLA from Mike Johnson, director of Corpse Bride, who also animated on The Nightmare Before Christmas. Working on puppet design and construction as well as animating a short scene under his tutelage was highly informative to my understanding of building a puppet with both form and function capable of carrying the scene, as well as planning out the timing to bring forth the appropriate emotional response from the viewers. Another influence on my filmmaking would be Annie Wong, one of my professors at Academy of Art University. Annie is an amazing artist and teacher who inspires her students to put forth their best work. She has been a role model to me as a successful female mixed media artist and storyteller. She is known for creating whimsical sculptures, illustrations, and stop motion animation content. I admire her fun style, her work ethic, and her ability to build her own business as a creative. In that animation is still a male dominated career, seeing women succeed as one person studios is truly inspirational.

Could you share any amusing stories or incidents that happened during your process of making the project?

Not so sure how amusing this is, but a pipe in the kitchen sprung a leak during the shooting of my film and slowly inched its way across the carpet to my set in the living room. As it’s of vital importance that everything remains in its place until the end of the scene, I could not move my set from the living room until the last shot had been completed. You cannot bump the tripod, the camera, the set, nor any character or prop on set. So, I just kept using a wet vac to bail my set’s carpet out – joking with myself that the captain must go down with the ship! When the film was finished, I had to evacuate the place and replace the carpet!

Can you describe a challenges you faced while working on this project, and how you overcame it?

One challenge was the leaking pipe. Another challenge was that my greatest supporter, my father, passed away before I could finish the film. The week before he passed away, he kept asking me about the film, if I had finished it yet and what I was going to do with it. I told him that I was going to show it at film festivals and spread the word about dog rescue – and after that I hoped I would get further commissions to do Public Service Announcements to help out with other worthy causes. I became quite depressed that he was not able to see me finish the film and witness its run on the festival circuit. Although difficult, I just had to pick myself up and carry on as promised. Dad was an avid sailor and would often use nautical terms as advice for life’s difficulties. He would often say, “Stay the course.” So, I took his advice, got back to work and finished the film. I hope he is watching the film proudly from wherever he is now.

How can you collaborate effectively with an editor to shape the final version of your project?

I cannot speak to this question as I did not work with an editor. I edited the film myself.

What was your actual budget for making this project? If you were given more resources, how would you like to proceed?

I can only estimate that the amount of money expended on materials to build sets, puppets, props and buy photographic equipment would add up to $3500, but that’s just a rough estimate. If I had more resources, I could hire other animators, set, prop and puppet fabricators to widen the scope and length of my films. At the moment I am doing everything alone and that takes time.

Could you please tell us what projects you are planning to work on next?

I am planning on working on another shelter rescue film, this time focusing on fostering kittens. Also, I would like to work on a comedic series of misadventures of a mother/son duo of household cacti, using needle felted puppets. I will do the voices as well as I have been studying voice acting!

Could you share with us a proud accomplishment from your creative journey?

My thesis film, To the Rescue, allowed me to achieve my Master of Fine Arts in Traditional Animation – specializing in stop motion. It was also featured in my university’s (AAU) Spring Award Show where it won Runner Up for Best Stop Motion Film.

What are the biggest challenges of making a film today and how can the festival circuit help achieve your dream?

Speaking about making stop motion films specifically, finding funding to build the sets, props and puppets and buy/rent the photographic equipment - as well as having the space necessary to build sets and the time necessary to painstakingly shoot a film frame by frame would be the biggest challenges. The festival circuit can enable me to hire others to also work on the film, making the process faster and more varied in scope. The festival circuit can help me achieve my dream of helping shelter dogs find a forever home by increasing awareness of the need for fosters and adopters. The circuit can also help me find more work in stop motion animation, especially in making PSA’s due to my film gaining exposure and highlighting my strengths in creating such projects.

What advice do you have for individuals who aspire to become filmmakers/writers?

Never give up the ship! No matter how hard it may seem to achieve – stay the course!

Share your experiences and suggestions for improving the Stingray International Film Festival.

Stingray International Film Festival is a wonderful film festival, run by people passionate about independent filmmaking. Their outreach and promotional tools are exceptional. The only suggestion I would have would be to keep growing and expanding your offerings. This Sting Blog Magazine is a great new addition. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this new magazine.