News

Baltimore Orioles Scoreboard Animation 2013 - New and Improved!

Stop motion and the Baltimore Orioles: Two of my favorite things in the world. Since the last time I'd created any new animated rally sequences for the JumboTron, the Orioles had come back and broken a 14-year streak of losing seasons and made it to the postseason. The new, invigorated team needed some new, invigorated animated clips and I was thrilled to lend a hand.

Finally, for the 2013 animation, I was able to use the cardboard set that was never used for the animation back in 2010. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice some little Baltimore shout-outs: a "Why Not?" sign, a small billboard for "Floyd Rayford: Attorney at Law", and other little fun details. John Sumner lead the way in building the cardboard stadium set (Oriole Park at Cardboard Yards?) and I added some little touches to it like the turf made out of dishtowels and the sequins used for stadium lights.

As much as I loved my original Bird puppet from 2010, we decided the Bird needed a makeover, too. Sumner created a new Bird, this time with shoes, a stronger armature, and a set of replacement beaks and eyelids to convey a wider range of emotions.

One of my favorite things about this new series of animated segments was getting a chance to do some prop-building. In the one, I made The Bird's jetpack from a dollar store toy truck, a couple of kazoos, and some miniature golf clubs. I went for the vintage 1980's elastic-belted uniform look:

I had fun making the Camden Yards-style brick Noise-O-Meter for this one. Check out those 1989-era birds on top!


A big thanks to all the guys at Orioles Productions for giving me the chance to put my fingerprint on a small piece of the Baltimore Orioles experience!


Looks like the fans dug the spots, too! Amazing!!