Young Stop Motion Animator Suddenly Hit with Fame

young Kirsten Lepore, stop motion animator extraordinaire, seems to have become famous overnight -- at least in the animation community. the find has been documented by many a source, but perhaps her most high-profile featuring has been on Channel Frederator most recently. how would you feel if someone sent you this to introduce themselves on a reel?:


Reel bumper 2009 from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

can you tell i'm a fan? having just graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007 with her BFA in Experimental Animation, she's been lining up clients with her very distinctive and lively freelance work. let's start with her co-production with Garrett Davis (who also sings the song) of a drawn animation of said song espousing the values of valuing a spider's life like your own. it was featured on Motionographer last month:


Story from North America from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

next, here's a fun take on the old Guess Who? game, with assistance from Grandmaster Flash:


Guess Who from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

her commercial for Heinz Jalapeno poppers won the contest for it:


Heinz' Poppers web ad from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.



finally, her masterpiece (and she agrees as well that its her best work), is a 10-minute stop motion piece entitled "Sweet Dreams." it was her thesis project for her BFA at MICA. she put the better part of a year of work into the sucker and it shows. the idea and storytelling are fantastic alone, not to mention the animation. she uses many food products to make up the sets and props (though the main characters are foam puppets).


"Sweet Dreams" from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.

check out her site for more stop motion Kirsten Lepore goodness.