If there’s one thing farmer Olga loves more than her pet pigs, it’s a pork chop.
When the pigs she butchers find that they can still influence events on the farm after their deaths, a vicious circle begins.
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Runtime: 6 Min
Genre: Dark comedy, fantastical
Technique: Stop motion, stratacut
Format: DCP, 16:9
Language: None
ISAN: 0000-0005-B3FF-0000-Y-0000-0000-9
Produced by: Asako Film GmbH, HSLU Lucerne University of Arts and Sciences, SRF Swiss Radio and Television
Supported by: Zürcher Filmstiftung, Focal Stage Pool – Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Swiss Films, BAK Swiss Federal Office of Culture
Author, director, animator: Thirza Ingold
Felt puppet animator: Eleonora Berra
Producers: Anja Kofmel, Gerd Gockell, Jochen Ehmann
Editor: Marina Rosset
Music: Simon Schwaninger
2023 Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival
2023 Fantoche International Animation Film Festival
2023 Bristol Encounters Film Festival
2023 Namur Festival International du Film Francophone
2024 Solothurner Filmtage
2024 Premiers Plans Angers
2024 Fumetto Luzern
2024 International Short Film Festival Nijmegen
2024 Schulpräsentation HSLU & adult swim Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart
2024 International Festival of Animated Films ANIFILM Liberec
2024 Kurzfilmnacht Winterthur curated by Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
2024 Züri Shorts Hofkino im Landesmuseum curated by Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur
2024 International Animation Festival Fest Anča
2024 Mecal Barcelona International Animation and Short Film Festival
2024 «Heldinnen / Heroines» Swiss Stop Motion Special, Cinema Xenix, Zürich
2024 Dublin Independent Film Festival, nominated for best animation film
2024 Golden Grape International Short Film Festival Telavi
2024 Festival International du Court Métrage de Lille
2024 Nahal International Student Short Film Festival
2024 T-Short Animated Film Festival Karlsruhe
2024 Solothurner Kleinkunsttage
What does it take to make a stop motion film? Lots of patience and attention to detail!
Below are some impressions from the making of «Kill Your Darlings» which illustrate the level of craftmanship that goes into making a stop-motion film. And of course, especially at the beginning, there are a lot of things that don’t go quite as planned and need to be re-done!
From the first trial puppet, a mould is created from which multiple puppets can be cast. Each puppet has an armature inside, its «skeleton», which ensures rigidity and allows it to move as a live human would and hold its position while a shot is set up and lit. These armatures are commercially available, but Thirza made her own.
Farmer Olga and the three pigs were created both as plasticine puppets and as felt puppets.
And finally, the sets were painstakingly built on large boards and hand-painted. Every detail has to be just right, so the viewer is transported into the world of the film.
At the very bottom of the gallery are early animation tests with the puppets to ensure that they would move as desired.
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ASAKO FILM GmbH
Dienerstrasse 26
CH-8004 Zurich
Studio:
ASAKO FILM GmbH
Ottilienstrasse 17
CH-8003 Zurich
+41 (0) 76 464 05 88