Penciltopia

Science Projects at Calhoun

2012-01-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

When students from the Friday middle school class at Calhoun wanted to create an animated film for their science project, how could we say no?

Students created informative scripts, built some pretty anatomically correct puppets,recorded narration, and then got animating!

Learning about the paramecium, the euglenoid, dinoflagellates, and truffles has never been so engaging!

Nice work, Romi, Nicholas, and Anna!

Calhoun Tuesdays Fall 2011

2012-01-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

Some penguins use teamwork to help a friend get inside his igloo, a couple of dogs lose their toys, and a cucumber learns kung fu from a monkey. Check out these awesome films from the kids at Calhoun! (With music composed by the filmmakers!)

Calhoun Mondays Fall 2011

2012-01-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

A killer french fry is foiled, A fire-breathing dragon terrorizes a bakery, and a thief is in the White House! Check out these fabulous films from Calhoun Schools Monday after school Penciltopia class. (With music composed by the filmmakers!)

Brooklyn Friends School Fall 2011

2011-12-16T07:15:00.000-08:00

Shipwrecks! Sea Monsters! Fruit vs. Veggies! A veggie-eating hippo wreaks havoc on a farm! The kids at Brooklyn Friends are never at a loss for a good story.

St. Luke's School Fall 2011

2011-12-15T10:22:00.001-08:00

What a fun semester at St. Luke's! In addition to exploring found-object animation and pixilation, filmmakers took claymation to a whole new level with our new face animating table! Check out their transformations!

Farm to Table at Calhoun School

2011-11-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

When we were asked to create a film for the Harvest Festival at Calhoun School, Calhoun's Friday class jumped at the chance! Students interviewed the school's own Chef Bobo about the Farm to Table Movement, and created an animation inspired by what they learned. Check it out!

St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School Fall 2011

2011-11-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

Penciltopia's first semester at St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School was a blast! We experimented with pixilation, paper-mation, dry erase board animation, and claymation. We are looking forward to our next session at St. Hilda's in Spring 2012. In the meantime, check out all of the student's hard work!

Brooklyn Friends School Summer Arts 2011

2011-07-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

What an incredible summer at Summer Arts! We created short narrative films in Session 1, and animated candy, chalkboard drawings, clay creatures, handmade surprise boxes, black light fish, and ourselves in Sessions 2 and 3! Check out the cool time-lapse film in Session 3 that shows our (sometimes wacky) process.

Summer Arts 2011 Session 1 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

BFS Summer Arts 2011 Session 2 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Allen Stevenson School Spring 2011

2011-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

The boys of Allen Stevenson experimented with clay, paper, and even themselves to create 3 short stop-action films. Enjoy!

Allen Stevenson Spring 2011 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Bonus Allen Stevenson Film!

2011-07-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

The boys at Allen Stevenson conceived and completed this fabulous film using found objects in about an hour! Please enjoy this bonus feature, and check out their other amazing films from the Spring semester here!

Allen Stevenson School Winter 2011

2011-03-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

The boys of Allen Stevenson experiment with clay, paper, and even themselves to create 3 short stop-action films. Well done, Boys!

Allen Stevenson Winter 2011 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

St. Luke's School Fall 2010

2011-01-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

A superhero named Superbang starts a family, and the tooth fairy is jealous of Santa because he has more facebook friends than her. Check out the films from St. Luke's Penciltopia after school class!

St. Luke's School Fall 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Tuesdays Fall 2010

2011-01-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Two alien brothers fight over an ice crown, a dragon makes toast, and tornado boy and lava boy go to school. Check out the films with original scores created by the kids at Calhoun!

Calhoun Tuesdays Fall 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Mondays Fall 2010

2011-01-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Cheese goes missing, a dog gets his mouth waxed shut, and a monkey finds gum. Original scores take these Calhoun films to the next level!

Calhoun Mondays Fall 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Brooklyn Friends School Fall 2010

2011-01-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

A monkey loses his cookie, a fox and bear discover a candy castle, a snail and bug steal some cheese, and there is a major burger dispute at the fork and spoon diner! Check out these films created at Brooklyn Friends!

Brooklyn Friends School Fall 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

St. Luke's School Spring 2010

2010-06-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

An alien kidnapper is foiled, and some politicians have a golf-off. Check out the films by the students of St. Luke's School!

St. Luke's School Spring 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Allen Stevenson School Spring 2010

2010-06-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

When a circus train goes through a nuclear power plant, the food in the dining car goes crazy! Please enjoy this film by the boys of Allen Stevenson School.

Allen Stevenson School Spring 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Tuesdays Spring 2010

2010-05-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

A ghost cow arrives on a farm, a skeleton miner goes on a go-cart race, and Bob turns into a fish. Check out the completed films from Calhoun's Tuesday Class!

Calhoun Tuesdays Spring 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Mondays Spring 2010

2010-05-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

A puppy is scared off by a witch, an alien statue is discovered, and a candy thief is busted! Check out the completed short films of Calhoun's Monday Class.

Calhoun School Mondays Spring 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Brooklyn Friends School Spring 2010

2010-05-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

A robot tries to destroy a circus, two raccoons rob a museum, a squirrel meets a baby alien, and a mermaid falls in love with an ogre! Here is a series of short films created by the students of Brooklyn Friends School.

Brooklyn Friends School Spring 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Allen Stevenson School Winter 2010

2010-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

A failing trapeze artist goes to medical school and enlists the help of a voodoo man to get more patients. Aqua Ryan and Lightning Steven are having a relaxing retirement until they obtain a robo-dog...

Allen Stevenson School Winter 2010 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

St. Luke's School Fall 2009

2010-01-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

A popsicle is saved by a superhero, a wizard's spells are thrown in the toilet, and there is a battle over a time machine!

St. Luke's School Fall 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Brooklyn Friends School Fall 2009

2010-01-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

Dogs' rumbling stomachs start an earthquake, policemen have trouble catching a robber, a rock band is composed of rocks, and cheese and sushi chase a ninja through Tokyo!

Brooklyn Friends Fall 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Allen Stevenson School Fall 2009

2010-01-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

A miner and his dinosaur friend has to battle a couple of monsters, while Aqua Ryan and his friend Lightning Steven have to rescue their friend Dr. Kalsi from some aliens!

Allen Stevenson Fall 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Tuesdays Fall 2009

2010-01-22T07:55:00.000-08:00

A rock band falls in a volcano, a nautilus ingests toxic waste, and an alien is in search of helium to power his space ship. A series of short animated films made by 7-12 year-olds at Calhoun School's after school Penciltopia animation class in the fall of 2009.

Calhoun School Tuesdays Fall 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Calhoun Mondays Fall 2009

2010-01-22T07:51:00.000-08:00

A secret agent has a pizza and cookie party with a baby ghost, and a princess and cupid have to decide how to deal with a flower-eating rock monster. Created by 7-12 year-olds at Calhoun during the fall of 2009.

Calhoun School Mondays Fall 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Summer Arts 2009

2010-01-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

A dog and a fish get wings, a monkey is rescued from an evil penguin, a girl has troubles at school, a polluted earth fights a clean earth, hip-hop platypuses need some assistance, and dogs break their legs. Check out the amazing films created at Summer Arts at Brooklyn Friends School!

Brooklyn Friends Summer Arts 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

The Fat, The Lean, and the Mean

2010-01-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

When the residents of O.B. City's way of life is threatened by the weight-loss fanatic Marty and his pigeon cronies, a king is forced to embark on a cross-continental journey to foil their plans!

This film was created by some real Penciltopia veterans in the summer of 2009. Some of them were on the original team that created the film that became our namesake back in 2004! This team worked 5 full days a week for three weeks to create a script, storyboard, and shot list, and then tirelessly built multiple sets, props, and puppets. We recorded dialogue, and then animated in two teams for several weeks. After editing their film as a group, we went to composer Paul Hogan's recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to create an original score.
The result is an incredible film (our longest yet!) that really shows off how far these kids have come over the years. Ian and I continue to be impressed by this group again and again.

The Fat, the Lean and the Mean from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Working on the shot list...225 shots! Yikes!

Creating the O.B. City set

Making some adjustments to the Marty puppet

Brooklyn Friends Spring 2009

2009-07-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Working with the kids from Brooklyn Friends is such a pleasure. So much so, that I came back for Summer Arts! Here are the films they created in after school during the spring semester. I really love the pan of the fat guy (I believe Mr. McFatty Fat is his proper name) rubbing his belly. I also love the fight scene in the Bat, the Cat, the Oak Tree, and the Crazy Guy, because it uses the classic fight-cloud, which is exactly how the kids drew the storyboard for it. Stay tuned for more from the Brooklyn Friends kids at Summer Arts!

Brooklyn Friends Spring 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

The Joy of Editing

2009-07-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Jo, Denea, Nora and Ariel wrote a score for their film, "The World Needs a Hug" on Garage Band and spent the day editing sound in iMovie. Don't they look happy?

St. Luke's School: Spring 2009

2009-07-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

I'm really fortunate to make films with the kids at St. Luke's. We have two classes with a variety of levels of skill, and the experienced filmmakers always help out and inspire the younger kids. Its a really cool working environment for everyone. In the beginner class, we experimented with a variety of techniques, including pixilation and white board animation, but everyone seemed to like animating Legos the best! The boys in the advanced class made a really cool film called "When Monsters Go Bad"that has the coolest opening shot, and an ending that still makes me laugh, even though I have watched the film about a hundred times! Morgan, who has been taking classes with me since she was in 3rd grade (she's now going into 7th!), wrote a really great script for a talkie, which was inspired by her real life. She learned a lot about creating realistic looking animated dialogue, and I was really impressed with how it came out!

St. Luke's School Spring 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Allen Stevenson School: Spring 2009

2009-07-01T16:00:00.001-07:00

Finally...the fabulous films of the boys at Allen Stevenson! They worked hard to create a sequel to their previous films, complete with a Star Wars inspired intro. It being spring and all, a baseball film was also in order, complete with a really realistic looking pitching sequence. The boys at Allen Stevenson are super enthusiastic about animation, and this semester we were thrilled to have a class full of really experienced animators. I can't wait to see the next installment of "The Fire Ruby!"

Allen Stevenson School Spring 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

Platypus at Summer Arts!

2009-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Check out these amazing platypus characters by Grace, Anna, and Lucy! They did some great research on street art to make the set, and animated a choreographed dance with them. Great job, girls!

Calhoun School Spring 2009

2009-06-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

A haunted museum, celebrity penguins, and shipwrecks...Calhoun students really worked hard to create some memorable films this semester. We also had time to create cool credit sequences using pixilation, where we animated live people! Pay close attention to the music in these films, as they were written by the filmmakers using Garage Band. I am particularly fond of the boat-building montage music in "Shipwreck." Other stand-out shots are the girl's reaction to the broken doorknob in "Haunted Museum," the native's crazy sign language in "Shipwreck," and the foot print following detective in "Penguins in Hollywood." Congratulations to all Penciltopia ASP students at Calhoun for all of their hard work!

Calhoun School Spring 2009 from Penciltopia on Vimeo.

A Successful School Year and a New Blog!

2009-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

Another school year has come to a close, and I am thrilled to be writing the first post to the new Penciltopia blog! I hope that this can be a place for Penciltopia filmmakers to share their work and see what other filmmakers are up to. This summer, I am working with Brooklyn Friends Summer Arts Camp as well as teaching a private class with advanced animators who we have been working with for 5 years now. Check in here to see their process and progress. I love seeing the films my students make on their own, so please email to let me know what you are up to this summer, and I can post your work here! Thanks to all Penciltopia filmmakers for all of your hard work this semester, I will be posting your films shortly...