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Friday, September 21, 2007

Phantom Mountain



Update 3: Here's a higher-quality version on Crackle.com

Update 2: Hey I won! Wow! Incredible. A big thank-you to Laura and the band for choosing my video. Thanks to all of you readers for the generous comments and kind words. Having never really done anything like this before, it's very rewarding to me that it was a success - in the contest, and with all of you. Thanks! And be sure to visit Laura's site to check out the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place videos!

Update: Fun facts about the making of the video.

The chickens make their animation debut today! This is my entry for the Laura Veirs music video contest. It's for the song "Phantom Mountain" from the Saltbreakers album - a great album - go get yourself a copy!

Just click the video to start playing it. If you can't see it for some reason, you can watch it on YouTube.

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121 Comments:

At September 21, 2007 2:44 AM, Blogger country roads said...

amazing! Simply amazing!!

 
At September 21, 2007 3:26 AM, Blogger Phil Burchill said...

Wow! That was just incredible! Most excellent!

 
At September 21, 2007 3:54 AM, Blogger Gary said...

Very Cool!!

 
At September 21, 2007 4:10 AM, Anonymous Marauder said...

GORGEOUS!!!

 
At September 21, 2007 4:24 AM, Anonymous Eugen said...

stunning!!! congrats, it's really beautiful!

 
At September 21, 2007 4:27 AM, Anonymous Jen said...

Now that's fecking amazing. Fantastic work, Doug! Hope you win it. :D

 
At September 21, 2007 4:40 AM, Blogger Ian Ellis said...

Awsome!

 
At September 21, 2007 4:49 AM, Anonymous Julie said...

Holy mother of chickens! That was awesome...both the song and the video.
Go go Chicken power!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:02 AM, Blogger William said...

That was great! I got so into it that when the butterfly flew down, I tried to scroll the page to follow it!

Great job!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:10 AM, Anonymous Alyxx said...

WOW! Ok, I've always loved pixilation in its many forms - and this is a great example! I love the way the chickens work with the 3d environment, and I think it goes brilliantly with the song.

Kudos!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:15 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very cool!!!! Love your chickens. Congratulations.

 
At September 21, 2007 5:26 AM, Blogger Owen said...

Very well done! Cool song, too. Gotta check her out.

 
At September 21, 2007 5:29 AM, Blogger Derek said...

This video is so amazing!!! you mixed the fabulous chickens with origami an d godzilla!! im pretty sure you're going to win the contest!!!

Keep it coming Doug! your chickens are awesome!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:29 AM, Blogger Marti said...

OMG this was so Great!!!! Do you think maybe there will be more animations in your future? I would love to see savage chickens on TV

Have an awesome weekend!

Regards Marti

 
At September 21, 2007 5:32 AM, Anonymous Tom said...

absolutely brilliant...
very innovative and catchy...
song and even more your animation ..

so, i'm gona watch it a third and fourth time now ;-)

 
At September 21, 2007 5:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fantástico, de verdad impresionante trabajo, muchas felicidades. Saludos desde México de parte de Krom.

 
At September 21, 2007 5:38 AM, Blogger garricks said...

Well done! Most excellent animatration!!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

How much do you rock? That was SO cool. Nice work. I hope you win!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:57 AM, Anonymous Doris Sudduth said...

That was great! I've read every single Savage Chickens comic and I really enjoyed the animation and the music. Thanks!

 
At September 21, 2007 6:08 AM, Blogger Kat said...

Wow, that was fantastic! :D I like them animated.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:10 AM, Blogger Jim Pemberton said...

Great job! Very creative. I love the idea where the medium becomes the art.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:10 AM, Blogger Cooth said...

AWESOME!!

 
At September 21, 2007 6:18 AM, Blogger Joseph said...

That was really impressive. I would love to see some stats on it, like how many frames you shot, how long it took you, etc. Stop motion animation has always fascinated me.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Darn Firewall at work. Can't see the comic today. Must skip work and rush home to see Savage Chickens. The power of the chicken compels me!

C.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:21 AM, Blogger grigorisgirl said...

Superb! Glad to see Frued and the choocks getting animated:)

 
At September 21, 2007 6:24 AM, Blogger hypnobee said...

Awesome...excellent job!

 
At September 21, 2007 6:29 AM, Blogger Hanako said...

Doug, you have outdone yourself!! Post-it animation?? I love the little office supplies that move around the animation, like the cards to make waves. How long did it take you?

 
At September 21, 2007 6:35 AM, Blogger Janice in GA said...

Well done! I like stop-motion animation anyway, but you did a great job with this.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:37 AM, Blogger Robert Williams said...

Surreal!

 
At September 21, 2007 6:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow!! You did a great job, loved the music. Turning all my friends on to your site.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:42 AM, Blogger jesirose said...

That was absolutely brilliant.

 
At September 21, 2007 6:46 AM, Anonymous Daniela Berger said...

That was absolutely beautiful.

And I can't begin to imagine how many hours you put into this work.

Just plain awesome!

 
At September 21, 2007 6:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

doug, you are the only person i feel safe recommending this to... Quit your day job!

 
At September 21, 2007 7:00 AM, Blogger Hillary said...

VERY cool! You just may have found your new niche! Wow! :)

 
At September 21, 2007 7:07 AM, Blogger SeriousCat said...

THAT is so cool.. love the animation muchly!

 
At September 21, 2007 7:07 AM, Anonymous coneja said...

That was awesome! ^^

 
At September 21, 2007 7:17 AM, Anonymous Julie D said...

Absolutely awesome! Great job!

 
At September 21, 2007 7:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

omg, doug that is awesome, how long did that take to shoot and make?

 
At September 21, 2007 7:27 AM, Blogger Kath said...

It's incredibly awesome, but you know that. You will totally win.

 
At September 21, 2007 7:36 AM, Blogger Spring Dew said...

Awesome!! Completely made of win.

 
At September 21, 2007 7:42 AM, Blogger Jason said...

Well done! How long did it take to film all that stop frame animation?

 
At September 21, 2007 7:48 AM, Blogger aly said...

Loooove the animated chickens, especially the one that "flew the coop"! And the butterfly and office supply montage was way fun! You must have spent weeks on this, if not months. Go Savage Chickens!!

 
At September 21, 2007 7:49 AM, Blogger Sarah said...

Not only did the chickens make their video debut, but Dead Dog and Godzilla, too! Very esoteric video and well put together.

 
At September 21, 2007 8:07 AM, Anonymous Goodness Gracie said...

That was brilliant!

 
At September 21, 2007 8:10 AM, Anonymous Mike said...

That was amazing. Hopefully you'll do some more of these animations again.

 
At September 21, 2007 8:17 AM, Anonymous Tyler said...

Did I see Dead Dog Bob make an appearance?


Fantastic video! Be sure to let us know if you win.

 
At September 21, 2007 8:21 AM, Blogger Doug Savage said...

Wow thanks everybody! I'm really glad you like it!

It took 2 weeks to make, with about 500 sticky notes, and 1500 photos. I've put up some other fun facts about the making of the video here on the behind the scenes page.

 
At September 21, 2007 8:22 AM, Blogger Jeff said...

Bravo! You've taken chicken art to a whole new level!

How did you manage to suspend the butterfly in air while you took the shots?

 
At September 21, 2007 8:22 AM, Blogger PodSquadHQ said...

Amazing - great work!

 
At September 21, 2007 8:26 AM, Blogger Jenny said...

Hands down, best chicken cartoon EVER!

 
At September 21, 2007 8:48 AM, Anonymous Hunter said...

That was...really cool.

 
At September 21, 2007 9:05 AM, Blogger chikzrkul said...

AWESOME! I'm beyond impressed!!! You have just made my depressing morning a whole lot brighter!

 
At September 21, 2007 9:12 AM, Blogger the erudite baboon said...

Hey! That's awesome!

 
At September 21, 2007 9:40 AM, Anonymous StrangeRover said...

...What's th' punch line?

 
At September 21, 2007 9:43 AM, Blogger Hekateris said...

That was awesome! Great tune, too.

 
At September 21, 2007 9:49 AM, Blogger belphebe said...

Wow, Doug. That was fantastic! I definitely need to check out the behind the scenes information.

I loved how the animation worked with the song, especially the butterfly.

 
At September 21, 2007 10:16 AM, Blogger Rayni said...

Oh my goodness! You must have spent so much time on it! And it was amazing! Amazing! Amazing!!

 
At September 21, 2007 10:46 AM, Blogger newsong said...

I quite like it :D

 
At September 21, 2007 10:51 AM, Blogger WhizGidget said...

Doug, what a fabulous job you did! That was incredible!

I showed it to my youngest daughter and she loved the part where the chicken was "roasted" by lightning. I have to say, that *was* pretty cool.

 
At September 21, 2007 11:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i read the behind the scenes stats. your film is both creative and entertaining. you spent more time planning it than a lot of shows that are on tv today. the fact that you storyboarded puts you above many kids shows i've worked on. best to you

 
At September 21, 2007 11:26 AM, Blogger Samantha said...

Brilliant! Made my day :-)

 
At September 21, 2007 11:45 AM, Anonymous jenmoocat said...

That was wonderful and very creative. I, too, am interested in how you suspended the butterfly in the air while filming.

 
At September 21, 2007 12:06 PM, Anonymous S.Castor said...

Superb.

 
At September 21, 2007 12:06 PM, Blogger Gafguru said...

that was amazing..
do you still have a day job ???

 
At September 21, 2007 12:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't like the song, but the visuals were awesome. I must say, the multi-color papclip was my favorite character :)

 
At September 21, 2007 12:07 PM, Blogger Raquel said...

That was awsome!!! You did a fantastic job. :)

 
At September 21, 2007 1:10 PM, Blogger Katie said...

WOW. I know you've heard it already but WOW!

 
At September 21, 2007 1:15 PM, Anonymous Amy said...

Wow, that's absolutely amazing!

 
At September 21, 2007 1:26 PM, Blogger Ian Castruita said...

Great song, and awesome work!

 
At September 21, 2007 1:28 PM, Anonymous andy said...

i agree with everyone else. this was simply fantastic! i was really getting excited to see it, and the hype you created was worth it! great job!!

 
At September 21, 2007 2:12 PM, Anonymous Dev_chieftain said...

That was so amazing! I'm completely in love! <3!!

 
At September 21, 2007 2:48 PM, Anonymous Pedro Villalobos said...

Really amazing! One of the best stop-motions i have ever seen :)

 
At September 21, 2007 3:07 PM, Anonymous Girion said...

That was awsome!!!

It was great all the way through but it really got me smiling when the dog tackles the lighter to save the butterfly.

 
At September 21, 2007 3:32 PM, Blogger jag said...

I don't think I realized you were left-handed?! Doesn't matter - this is frickin' amazing. And thanks for the related Fun Facts. You always bring a smile to my day!!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow! Excellent, really! That's the best thing I've seen on the internet in a long time. I freaking love those chickens!

 
At September 21, 2007 5:31 PM, Anonymous awestruck by doug's amazing amazingnessocity said...

wow. Wow. WOW.
a steaming pile of awesome!!!!
[:
you have lots of time on your hands, don't you?

ps: lefty's rule!

 
At September 21, 2007 7:39 PM, Blogger Sami Koivu said...

Wow, Doug. Superb. First animation? Two weeks? Incredible.

 
At September 21, 2007 10:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was ok- maybe i missed some deep meaning.

 
At September 22, 2007 6:21 AM, Blogger Katherine said...

That was simply amazing!

Love love love the butterfly. :) That's my favorite origami diagram!

 
At September 22, 2007 8:20 AM, Anonymous Justice~! said...

I feel bad leaving nothing but a "me too" comment, but I pretty much had to
CHANGE
MY
PANTS

after seeing this! It was absolutely nuts. I'm so glad other people felt the same way because this definitely deserves animation!!

 
At September 22, 2007 10:49 AM, Anonymous LeAnna said...

I see no reason why you wouldn't win this competition. That was completely mesmerizing!

 
At September 22, 2007 11:35 AM, Blogger Dawn said...

This is a big leap in your work. I didn't realize you were an artist of so many mediums! I'm very impressed =)

 
At September 22, 2007 2:53 PM, Blogger Edric Hsu said...

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!! I love this super duper special animated edition! Well done, Doug!!! :P

 
At September 22, 2007 5:18 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good God you're talented!

 
At September 22, 2007 6:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

THAT. IS. AWESOME.

 
At September 23, 2007 6:58 AM, Anonymous Claudia said...

that was unbelievable!!!!! you're awesome. -highfive- it HAS to win that contest.

 
At September 23, 2007 12:32 PM, Blogger UWYO said...

Amazing work! I enjoy the day to day escapades of the chickens, but this was just wonderful! What software did you use? Camera? Good luck!f1r35T0rm

 
At September 23, 2007 4:45 PM, Blogger jean said...

Great job Doug! I love it!! I hope you win!

 
At September 23, 2007 5:10 PM, Anonymous Warren Criswell said...

Truly amazing, Doug, especially if this is really your first animation!!? But listen-- Do you know about Xuangzi, the monk who dreamed he was a butterfly, then woke up and wondered if he was a butterfly dreaming he was Xuangzi? Your interplay of drawings with reality reminded me of that Taoist story. Way cool.

 
At September 24, 2007 2:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Out of the videos I could find that were done for the contest I think yours is the best, you're so gonna win this.

 
At September 24, 2007 3:07 AM, Anonymous el jefe said...

beautiful!

 
At September 24, 2007 7:57 AM, Anonymous lioness said...

Fabulous! GO CHICKEN GO! Great work. Really nice flow.

 
At September 24, 2007 8:41 AM, Blogger Sbyllek said...

FANTASTIC!

Ever since I discovered your chickens a year ago they have been a part of my morning routine.

I've always been impressed with your talent...your video just blew me away!!

Awesome work!

 
At September 24, 2007 10:28 AM, Anonymous CaySedai said...

And it's Doug Savage for a first-place win! Yay Savage Chickens!

 
At September 24, 2007 11:04 AM, Blogger Doug said...

very first thing I've seen of yours was the blank page cartoon.. I love it. I just emailed it to several other writers...
now this great video! I turned off the sound because it was breaking up, but still was riveted by the story.
really Doug you're doing me a great service....
people googling me will find your cartoons and think they're mine. good thing they're great! haha
btw I've been a writer director on & off for 30 years. great animation.great story.
I found you googling myself. a lost friend found me a couple of weeks ago through google. so curious I followed through. and here you are.
I've just signed up for your cartoons. best of luck.
Doug Savage

 
At September 24, 2007 11:14 AM, Blogger Doug said...

second comment
just watched it again. too awesome, no three awesome.
and I agree, quit your day job.
Doug S

 
At September 24, 2007 12:33 PM, Blogger Habi said...

wow! brilliant!
can't wait to see more of those.

 
At September 24, 2007 1:51 PM, Blogger Skaoot said...

froudo9
Wow, so very wow. I did some animationshorts myself, and I know it's an awful lot of work to get. Respect for getting it done in two weeks. It looks amazing. No wonder you won the contest :)
And I love your chickens, I've been visiting them for over a year now, and won't stop any day soon.

 
At September 24, 2007 2:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yippy!! YOU WON!!!!!!

 
At September 24, 2007 3:10 PM, Blogger Derek said...

congratulations Doug!! well deserved!! enjoy your super prize :D

 
At September 24, 2007 3:49 PM, Anonymous Warren said...

Congratulation on the win! You deserve it.
Warren

 
At September 25, 2007 3:37 AM, Anonymous Ellie T said...

congratulations on the win, doug! you definitely deserved it. the video is amazing.

 
At September 25, 2007 8:19 AM, Blogger belphebe said...

Congratulations on winning, Doug. I am so happy for you.

However, unlike other commenters, I don't want you to quit your day job, but that is because of purely selfish reasons. :-)

 
At September 25, 2007 9:41 AM, Blogger grigorisgirl said...

Many congratulations Doug!! We knew you'd win!!!

 
At September 25, 2007 5:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was wonderful!! I was most impressed!

 
At September 26, 2007 4:27 AM, Blogger MedStudentWife said...

Congratulations !!!

Its a truly awesome video !!!

 
At September 26, 2007 5:51 AM, Blogger tangled said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 
At September 28, 2007 9:01 AM, Anonymous Tofu Ali said...

Love the stop-motion vid and congrats on the competition!

 
At September 28, 2007 3:13 PM, Blogger Paula said...

Doug! ! viewed this when you posted it and thought it was great and wonderful! I'm so glad you won!!! :)
And yes...this is Paula H.

 
At October 01, 2007 2:23 AM, Anonymous snacktime said...

All Kinds Of Awesome.

 
At October 03, 2007 2:51 AM, Blogger bluecat said...

That was a totally awesome video! It's no wonder that you won. Love the chickens!

 
At October 03, 2007 7:39 AM, Blogger funspirit said...

The first time I've left a comment when over a hundred were already there - but man was that a blast! I LOOOOVVVEEEEDDD IT!

When are you going to do another?

 
At October 05, 2007 6:23 PM, Anonymous Michael said...

Congrats on winning, that was an awesome video.

Here via someone's blog, and now cannot remember who as I have been checking out the chicken cartoons.

 
At October 06, 2007 3:40 PM, Anonymous Ashurii said...

Congrats on winning, Doug! That was awesome! Nice Origami, too!

Savage Chickens are a good joke in our family. Especially the irrational fears.

 
At October 08, 2007 6:09 AM, Blogger Nick said...

Wow! That was excellent. Really cool animation :) I heard 'Galaxies' from Laura Veirs a while back and love this song as well...

 
At October 12, 2007 12:54 PM, Blogger Aviatrix said...

Very creative.

I definitely want to see more chickens on rollers coasters.

 
At December 08, 2007 11:43 AM, Anonymous Gail said...

that is pretty darn amazing! congrats

 
At January 30, 2008 5:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm just back from seeing Laura Veirs play in Edinburgh (30/01/08). Great gig. She was full of praise for the videos and for the enormous effort you and the other winners put into the competition. She urged us all to check out the vids. So I did. I'm impressed. Congratulations.

 
At February 11, 2008 2:33 PM, Blogger Polysmack said...

Wow, cool stuff!

 
At March 11, 2008 9:40 PM, Blogger Axxle said...

Just wow! That was amazing. such an outstanding style to it!

 
At April 10, 2008 11:59 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had the best time watching this! As a matter of fact, I watched it twice. Couldn't view it when you released it last Sept due to bandwidth issues, but tried again today and it WORKED! Amazing job. Bravo!
Now I'm going over to Itunes to pick up Laura's cd.

 

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