Category: Stop motion

Nuts and Bolts  is a 20-minute puppet animation in development. It is a non-dialogue black comedy about a surgeon who is living in a relationship with a robot. Metallic and angular robots are pushed out from society. Unemployed robots roam in the streets in low current looking for electricity. Society is strongly divided. When someone starts to kill robots, police forces are not interested in finding the killer. The Surgeon and his robotic spouse have to solve the murders.

Image by Sonja Huttunen

Test shots for LED-screen rearprojection.

My latest stop motion film All tender things tells a story about six characters gathered around a campfire. When the flames starts to fade the fire needs to be fed. Books are sufficient at first, but as the night grows darker, more sacrifices are demanded.

In a secular society experiences of the sacred are no longer commonly shared. Some people consider nature, homeland or religion as sacred. For others it can be totally different things. They might sanctify love, the body, food or art. Can we honor other people’s sacred values?

The film was completed in summer 2020.

You can read more about the process in The Dragonframe blog.

Director, story and animation: Tatu Pohjavirta
Cinematograpgy: Tatu Pohjavirta
Music: Ville Kabrell
Sound: Svante Colerus
Producer: Aleksi & Tatu Pohjavirta
With support of  YLE / AVEK / SKR
Smaragdivirta oy 2020

 

Absurd psycho-triller that was in development. This teaser was done for rasing money for production. Sadly we didn’t raise 2 million euros for making this feature puppet animation.

Director: Tatu Pohjavirta
cinematographer: Anu Keränen
animation: Jan Andersson
set design: Milja Aho
character design: Antti Kemppainen
sets and props: Leevi Lankinen, Heta Jäälinoja, Emmi Heimonen, Jyrki Kanto
music: Stakula
sound: Svante Colerus
puppet makers: Agnieszka Mikolajczyk, Agnieszka Smolarek, Dariusz Kalita, Marcin Zalewski, Piotr Knabe, Justyna Rochala, Katarzyna Piastka
puppet hair & costumes: Anna Szczesniak, Justyna Rochala
compositing, lighting, special effects: Mario Kalogjera
3D animation: Kristijan Dulic
3D modeling: Goran Mitrovic
thank you: Adam Ptak, Vanja Andrijevic, Katarzyna Gromadzka
Producer: Jyrki Kaipainen
production support: Finnish Film Foundation / Jukka Asikainen
2013

Animal is a story about a single parent father who is turning into a werewolf, his son who has mixed his body with a lamb in an accident, and a female doctor – the subject of the father’s desire.

Director & Script, Editing: Tatu Pohjavirta
Animation: Mark Ståhle
Cinematography: Anu Keränen
Set design: Tatu Pohjavirta, Kim Helminen, Aki Viikilä
Costumes: Piipa Toivonen
Sound: Salla Hämäläinen
Music: Alamaailman Vasarat
Producer: Jyrki Kaipainen
With support of AVEK, SES & YLE
Elokuvaosuuskunta Camera Cagliostro 2005