Author, Animator, and friend of Laughing Place, Dave Bossert approached me at this year’s CTN Expo in Burbank and suggested that I attend a special discussion and screening about a beautiful short film, Of Wood.
While yes, Bossert was moderating so it could be construed as “come check out my show,” I happen to take his suggestions seriously. The short, Of Wood, is an experimental stop motion film where one animator, Owen Klatte, carved down a chunk of a log 18 inches in diameter, frame by frame, to tell a wonderful story. If there is one person who would know a brilliant piece of animation, it would be Bossert. He has a tenured history at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, having provided effects animation on films like The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Rescuers Down Under and more, eventually becoming a VFX Supervisor on a number of projects and a director on others.
He also worked on Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and wrote a book (one of his many), that is a perfect companion piece to the film which you can find here. I bring this up to say, he knows what he’s talking about, especially when it comes to an experimental stop-motion film.
So at his advice, I went and checked out the screening he suggested and bluntly…was blown away.
Owen Klatte, a highly experienced character animator and animator director that works with both CG and stop motion animation, with work on projects like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (with Bossert), Dinosaur, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and provided the cut-out animation in James and the Giant Peach. Did you like that segment in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1 that beautifully told the story of the three brothers? Klatte led that team of animators that brought that to life.
With all his experience, he ventured on his own for an experimental new idea. So, setting up shop in his basement he began to work. Using a piece of wood that Klatte had claimed from a landscaping company that was going to destroy it, he began whittling down the piece, layer by layer. After taking courses in wood carving, he felt that he could try something new with the two mediums.
Klatte conceived of the idea of telling the story of man’s relationship to wood through a stop motion animation process that involved hand-carving every single frame from that singular piece of wood. There was no going back, there were no reshoots. Everything had to be done to perfection from the outset. For four years, he spent time down in his basement carving out this unique short film. Fans of stop motion animation know that the process of making minute movements taking the single frame, and heading back into the model to make another miniscule adjustment for another frame is a time-consuming process. When it comes to Of Wood, a single frame could take as long as three and half hours to complete. An audible gasp was heard at the screening when that information was revealed.
At certain points throughout the short film, wooden objects slide or fly out of the wood, like Lincoln Logs and even an artist’s mannequin. For this, Klatte had special rigs set up that would be edited out in post. However, he had a wooden carving that serves as the background, so while rods and strings were holding up the objects, Klatte still needed the background template for editing. As such, he had to painstakingly take the template frame, reset the foreground and all the supports and rigs for that frame, and to make his next carving, do it all over again.
Devoting 10-20 hours a week most of the time, he whittled his way down through the piece of wood, frame by frame, to end the short beautifully (but I won’t spoil it here). Though Klatte says he had no traditional storyboards, just knew certain points along the way, including the ending, you wouldn’t believe it. At a certain point in the short, knotholes in the wood appear, and it almost felt like Klatte accounted for that, incorporating them into the film. He said that they were, in fact, quite problematic, especially since the wood will tend to chip and fall off easier.
While I may have focused on the “hows” of the whole process and the unique idea behind the whole thing, the most important thing is that Klatte has made a film that is genuinely entertaining. Over the course of several minutes, Klatte tells a wondrous tale that conveys a message about consumerism but also reminds you to sit back and enjoy the simple things.
It was a film that had me from the opening title card, and with a score that was reminiscent (to me at least) of Catch Me If You Can, had me fully engrossed and entertained the whole time. Of Wood is currently making its way through various film festivals, and has already won 26 different festival awards.
Currently, Of Wood is making its way through various expos and film festivals, and will hopefully be available on physical media or streaming in the future. Until then, be sure to check film festivals near you. For more from Dave Bossert, who recommended this short to me, be sure to check out his website here,
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