Still from the feature length animation by Signe Baumane: Rocks in My Pockets

Rocks in My Pockets Needs Financial Support

I am very happy to have an excuse to place one of Signe Baumane’s animation stills in my blog. Her works have been incredibly important and inspiring to me. You can find plenty of examples on YouTube. An excerpt from her film The Veterinarian is a good place to start.

Originally from Latvia and now a long-time resident of New York City with a studio and production company in Brooklyn, Signe is currently deep into the final stages of creating her first feature-length animation. It includes frame-by-frame hand-drawn animation with beautiful hand-painted backdrops and props. Her plan is to set up a Kickstarter site in the near future. Meanwhile she needs people who use Facebook to visit her there and “like” her page. This will facilitate broader exposure for the Kickstarter program when it begins.

She needs $30,000.00 to pay for post-production (sound and music). I have already helped in a small way by purchasing some DVDs of her work for sale on her website. I plan to contribute to the Kickstarter site as soon as it is up.

Since I have not yet been able to bring myself to join Facebook, this blog post is my way of helping to get the word out about a very worthwhile project. The film will deal with issues of depression and suicide based on real stories from Signe’s life and family. The film will be highly personal and poignant and help to de-stigmatize mental illness, and, in her own very special way manage to be funny too.

Her blog includes some great video interviews with Bill Plympton in which Signe and Bill discuss her production process, animation in general, and where it is headed. These videos are very instructive for beginning animators such as myself and entertaining in their own right.

Please help spread the word about a very worthwhile project as we await the completion and release of Signe Baumane’s Rocks in My Pockets.