Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 13 - Index

Aspiring Claymation Artist On The Verge Of Breaking In By C.J. Arellano
She’s an effervescent girl of 19 who’s just finished her
sophomore year of college at Indiana University-
Bloomington. Yet despite her fledgling age, she’s already
produced ten Claymation films (a number of which have
garnered awards and televised distribution); sold over 850
Claymation pieces to stores; provided voice-over work for
over 30 national television commercials; and has crafted
over 3,000 detailed Claymation figures in her lifetime. She’s
Taylor Zitman, and with her dexterity in Claymation, quirkyadorable
cartoon characters, impressive technical knowhow,
and considerable amount of industry experience,
she’s on the verge of making a name for herself. Production
and animation houses, take note.
Taylor’s main passion is Claymation. Her latest short, titled
“Fetch It,” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=GFxluEzhFys)
recently won first place for “Graphics and Animation for Web”
in the Indiana University-Bloomington Telecom Department’s
annual competition. It was judged by production houses
in Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Louisville. “I really
didn’t think about it beforehand,” Taylor says of the concept,
which involves a Dachshund puppy literally assembling a
girlfriend for his owner. “I thought it’d be cute for a guy and his
dog to play fetch, and then I had the dog move offscreen. I
thought, ‘Well, what would be really shocking to see him bring
back?’ And I figured that a limb would be pretty shocking sort
of idea, so then I was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cute if he built up his
little girlfriend?’ It’s a little dark, but it’s cute.”
“Fetch It” has also recently been picked up by Animation
World Network (http://awn.com). Zitman created the film
using only a Canon digital camera and iMovie. “So much
better than Final Cut,” she attests.
So what sets her films apart from the rest? “The sculptures,”
she says. “I mean, they’re different. They’re not very much
like what you see a lot of. The characters, they have
a lot of personality to them.” Zitman has been crafting
Claymation figures since she was eight. Her work ranges
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from original characters to sprawling and elaborate
Claymation replicas of scenes from “Harry Potter”
and “Hairspray.”
Now, Taylor is looking to take her work to the next level. “My
dream would be to work for a company that does stopmotion
animation, whether it be for advertising or movies,”
she says excitedly. “I would love to be a 3-D modeler.”
Taylor has been busying herself in the business and
advertising worlds since she was still in pigtails. She started
a business when she was 15, ultimately selling over 850
Claymation figures to several Chicago-based novelty stores.
She has also done voice-over work in over 30 commercials,
including those for McDonald’s, Crayola, and Matte. “The
McDonald’s ones - I got to see them on TV when I was
younger, so that was cool,” Taylor reminisces.
Taylor’s main inspirations are Tim Burton and “Wallace
& Gromit,” though strangely enough, she hadn’t been
exposed to much of either until recently. For now, Taylor
plans to work on refining her animation and production
skills. “I’m trying to learn as much as I can,” she says simply.
“At this stage, I don’t want to limit myself to anything.”
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