It's been two weeks since I left Oberlin, and I've been setting aside this time to relax, meet up with old friends, and enjoy the holidays. I've convinced myself that I earned this time to unwind, because I am in for a very long month of January.
My Winter Term plans originally started out with a vision to organize a small group to help with typhoon relief in the Philippines. However, these intentions were thwarted rather quickly. Money was obviously a major kicker, as well as the dangerous conditions the Philippines are now in. Also, considering that I have never been to the motherlands nor have I any extensive Tagalog vocabulary, these plans are indefinitely put on hold.
Luckily, I found a satisfying plan B: To make a short claymation movie during the month of January. I'll be staying home in New Jersey, which isn't the tropical climate that the Philippines is.
My fascination with claymation movies stems from my first viewing of the movie Chicken Run. I was probably too young to comprehend the processes used to create the movie, and more than anything I thought it was funny. After watching it very recently, I still find myself laughing. However, now I'm baffled at how much time and effort goes into these films.
To be honest, I have no experience in claymation or stop-motion whatsoever. I'm a little worried that I'll fall flat on my face, but also salivating at the prospect of a polished product. I admit that I'm still wondering if I'm over my head with this project, but I'll figure out the answer to that sometime soon. Either way, I have to start somewhere, and I'd like to think that this is the kind of self-discovery that I should be doing with Oberlin's Winter Term.
If anything, this project gives me good reason to watch tons of über-cool stop-motion videos on YouTube.
I'll be working on this claymation short in a tiny room on the first floor of my house while listening to oodles of music. Which brings me to my next point: Spoon (my favorite band, might I add) is releasing their new album "Transference" on January 26th! Not totally relevant to anything, just something else I am looking forward to for this next month.
