Phantom Mountain Fun Facts

Okay I’m getting lots of questions about the music video, so here are some fun facts about the making of Phantom Mountain:

1. I found out about the contest late so I only had 2 weeks to make it happen and I had no idea what I was doing, having never really tried animation – at least since drawing flipbooks as a kid. I spent the first day storyboarding, then 11 days drawing, and then 2 days shooting all of the photographs and editing the video.
2. There are about 500 sticky notes in the video, including a butterfly and 4 or 5 stunt butterflies.
3. There are over 1500 photos in the video. I used a digital camera on a tripod, which I had to sort of crouch over. My back was killing me!
4. I drew so many cartoons that I actually developed a callus on the inside of my left thumb from drawing too much. Towards the end, I had to get up and shake out my arm every few minutes.
5. The old clock radio on the table used to belong to my great-grandmother.
6. The tarot cards are the Ryder-Waite deck, miniature version. The cards that appear in the video are: The Devil, The Tower, Death, and – briefly – The Fool.
7. I love Dead Dog Bob’s surprise appearance. I didn’t plan to use him in the original storyboard. It just kinda happened.
8. Will I do animation again? You bet I will! But I think I’ll give myself more time next time!
9. How did I suspend the butterfly in the air? I used a bunch of different techniques: pins, string, and bits of yellow plasticine.
10. Do I still have a day job? Yes, I did most of the work in the evenings and only took two days off for the photography work.

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