When Abigail Hill set out to make a stop-motion animated film for a Savannah College of Art and Design project, she decided it was time to give beavers their due. Her three-minute film “God Dam,” playing this weekend at the Coronado Island Film Festivals, follows two beavers working at a post office.
One lives up to the eager beaver stereotype, and the other definitely doesn’t.
“Since beavers are known for being such hard workers, I thought they’d make the perfect subjects for a workplace mockumentary,” Hill, who graduated from SCAD this year, told MovieMaker. “I chose to put them in a post office thinking it offered a lot of opportunities for comedic situations, and it was a setting I hadn’t seen before in a mockumentary.”
We talked with Hill about her influences for “God Dam,” why AI will never replace humans, and the many benefits of keeping things short.
MovieMaker: How did your time at SCAD help you as a filmmaker?
Abigail Hill: Being a SCAD student allowed me to try new things and explore my style as a filmmaker. I started at SCAD as an animation major focusing on storyboarding and concept art, with no idea I would end up doing stop-motion. I joined the SCAD stop-motion club, where I discovered my interest in the medium. I fell in love with the stop-motion classes I took, as I loved making things with my hands and the collaborative nature of the studio environment.
During my senior year I was the co-president of the Stop-Motion Club and by then I knew I had found what I wanted to do. While at SCAD I was able to take cinematography classes in the film department, which further expanded my knowledge and love of film.
The tight-knit group of students that comprised the stop-motion community at SCAD was a highlight of the program. With stop-motion being such a niche community, everyone gets to work together, share ideas, and we are all incredibly supportive of one another. By my senior year, I had met and worked with many talented and creative individuals that I knew would make great collaborators for this film.
I would have never found this niche of filmmaking without the plethora of clubs and classes at SCAD, and the flexibility SCAD granted me to try new things. I graduated in May with a BFA in Animation, after four years of amazing creative experiences. I feel lucky to leave SCAD having explored new artistic outlets and formed relationships that have prepared me for my career in filmmaking.
MovieMaker: How hard was it to make “God Dam”? Was it done by hand, frame by frame, or can you attain the stop-motion effect with modern technology?
Abigail Hill: “God Dam” is a frame-by-frame stop-motion film, which required a lot of time and effort, but it was a labor of love made by me and five other students at SCAD. Everything you see on screen is made by hand, from each and every package in the mail room to the beavers themselves. The beavers are silicone puppets with a wire armature covered in fur and dressed in fabric clothing. The sets are made out of a variety of materials including wood, fabric, and casted plastic pieces.
Once we had the puppets and sets built, the assets needed for each shot were set up in front of a camera and lights in one of our shoot hoods. These are spaces with an animation table and computer in a pitch-black room separated by black curtains. Before animating, we filmed live-action reference video of the shot’s action and animated blocking passes on a lower frame rate to get a feel for the shot. It was important to practice the shot before going for the final, as final animation, done at 12 frames-per-second, could take hours or days depending on the difficulty of the shot.
Although much of the film was created practically, we did use computer technology to add the hand-held camera effects and to remove the rigging that was used to support the puppets during animation. Although modern technology was a useful tool in this production, there is no way to use it to fully make a film that looks like this. There is something inimitable about the texture and look of things that are real, that no computer can recreate successfully. While attempts have been made to create a stop-motion film with computer technology, it’s obvious to me that they are not authentic.
You can see the extra level of detail and care that is required when making characters, sets, and props by hand. Because of the medium’s time demands, every animated movement is done with purpose. This is also why I’m not threatened by the idea that CG can totally replace stop-motion, or even that AI can replace artists; I think there will always be a demand for stop-motion, as people appreciate a handmade craft that takes time and effort.
MovieMaker: I love the feel of “God Dam” — it makes me think of The Office crossed with The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the comedy is so dry and never calls attention to itself. What inspired you to make it?
Abigail Hill: I’m glad to hear that as that’s exactly how I describe the film: The Office meets Fantastic Mr. Fox! I have always loved nature, hiking, and everything outdoors, which has led to me centering animals in most of my work. I am also a huge lover of sitcom mockumentaries like The Office and Parks and Rec — of which I’ve watched hours and hours on repeat.
In order to direct a capstone film for animation at SCAD, ideas are pitched the spring of junior year and voted on by the animation students. Around the time that I was ideating my capstone pitch, I had just finished a slapstick storyboarding project about beavers, and found myself learning more about how incredible of a species they are.
MovieMaker: A funny three-minute short is such a godsend for festival programmers. Did you make this so tight with that in mind? Or because animation is so time-consuming?
Abigail Hill: My vision for this film was always for it to be short and achievable as this was my first time directing a stop-motion project. In order to fully realize a stop-motion film with a small team of six students in a nine-month school year, I knew I wanted to tell a quick, comedic story with high-quality fabrication and animation.
From there, I went through what felt like a million versions of the animatic with all sorts of bits and jokes. Then, I edited it until I thought it contained just the funniest, tightest jokes while still telling a story. Editing for animation is so important in the pre-production phase as you don’t have the time to animate more than you need.
We had a 30-week production schedule, so the resulting length of the film was to make sure it would be completed in a timely manner.
Although I do see “God Dam” as a finished product that can exist on its own, I could totally see the beavers as the focus of a longer, episodic mockumentary if time allowed (or if the opportunity arises in the future). There is so much to explore in the world of these beavers, especially what their forest is like and who they deliver mail to. There are still a lot of funny situations I imagine writing them into.
“God Dam” plays Saturday at the Coronado Island Film Festival, one of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee. You can read more of our festival coverage here.
Main image: “God Dam,” courtesy of the Coronado Island Film Festival.