Stop Motion · 3D Design · Art Direction · 2022
In Sync
every person you meet leaves an imprint. in those shared moments, you are in sync.
role
3D Design · Animation · Art Direction
collaborator
Mackenzie Schlagenhaft
tools
Cinema 4D · After Effects · Stop Motion
In Sync was born from Felix Gonzalez-Torres' installation "Untitled (Perfect Lovers)" - two wall clocks set simultaneously, slowly drifting out of sync. Mackenzie Schlagenhaft and I saw the deeper concept: the feeling of slowly going out of sync with people in our lives.
We wanted to make something people could feel, not just watch. Every person you meet leaves an imprint. Whether it's years or seconds, these interactions leave a mark - because in those shared moments, you are in sync.
project type
Fine Art · Stop Motion · 3D Animation
collaborator
Mackenzie Schlagenhaft
year
2022
tools
Process
hundreds of prints, one frame at a time
The animation was not rendered, but was physically printed. Every frame was output as a full-page print, laid out in sequence, and photographed one-by-one in a stop motion rig. We printed over 200 pages, rigged a camera in the studio, taped a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign to the stand, and shot every single frame by hand. The whole desk was covered in prints by the end of day one.
behind the scenes
Animation Stills
the final frames
The animation follows two clocks drifting apart - starting in perfect sync and slowly falling out of time with each other. Each frame was designed to hold up as a standalone image while contributing to the full rhythm of the piece.
Challenges
making the physical feel cinematic
The hardest part was the physical commitment - printing 200+ pages, keeping them in perfect order, and shooting without any accidental bumps or lighting shifts. One nudge of the camera rig and you would lose registration across dozens of frames.
Stop motion of printed pages could easily feel cheap or scrappy. We had to design every frame knowing it would be photographed and composited, not just rendered clean. The 3D had to hold up as print design first.
What I Learned
the medium is part of the message
Choosing stop motion was a conceptual decision. The physical imperfection of printed pages drifting slightly frame to frame mirrors what the piece is about: two things that were once aligned, slowly falling out of step. The medium reinforced the meaning in a way pure 3D could not.
I also learned what real collaboration looks like. Mackenzie and I had to trust each other completely through a physically demanding shoot. The "DO NOT TOUCH" sign we taped to the rig is one of my favorite artifacts from any project I have worked on.
Outcome
two clocks, one feeling
In Sync was exhibited as a collaborative fine art piece. The response focused consistently on emotional resonance - people did not ask about the technique first, they talked about who they thought of while watching it. That is the only metric that mattered.
200+
pages physically printed and photographed frame by frame
2
collaborators, one shared vision for the piece
1 day
to shoot the entire stop motion sequence start to finish
9
final stills selected from the complete animation sequence