Viewer Discretion Advised: Stop-Motion Stops Traffic

posted in: Features

As we all know, there is a ton of great and note-worthy music here on OurStage. But we hate to think that the other talents in our community who go unnoticed, like the many directors and producers that have made OurStage home for their video creations. So it’s time to give credit where credit is due. We first came across the coolness that is OurStage member Ryan Stober when we fell in love with the music video for Brent Shuttleworth‘s “When I Reach California.” Stober uses a stop-motion effect to bring some pretty heavy emotions to the forefront of the viewer’s mind. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term “stop-motion” in this digital age, stop-motion (or stop-action…or frame-by-frame) is a technique that makes a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own.  This technique is often used with clay objects ” remember Gumbi everyone? You may have also heard the term most commonly referred to as “clay-mation,” though Stober only uses real life subjects in this video.

But Stober’s brilliance doesn’t end there. Luckily he’s lent his talents to a slew of other incredibly talented up-and-coming artists.  In Nell Bryden‘s “Second Time Around,” Stober channels film noir, complete with smoke and mysterious shady characters. Film noir is most commonly defined as a low-key black-and-white visual style which pairs well with Bryden’s powerful, old-timey vocals.

There’s no doubt that we’ll see more from Stober in the future. This 2000 graduate from Montana State University at Bozeman, started the Team of Scientists production company in New York in January of last year. You can view his web site here, which boasts an impressive array of music videos, including his latest for Casey Shea‘s “Elephants,” which we also highly recommend you check out.