Local filmmaker to Premiere Latest Creation →

“3 Keys” makes its debut 7 p.m. Friday at the Museum of Northern California Art, 900 The Esplanade.contributed photo

By Leila Rodriguez, Chico Enterprise-Record

POSTED: 04/11/18, 4:31 PM PDT

Chico >> Independent Chico filmmaker Josh Funk earned his place as a stop-motion monster movie maker, and now his latest creation, “3 Keys,” taps into the supernatural, subconscious fears of dolls. 

The spooky short film makes its debut 7 p.m. Friday at the Museum of Northern California Art, 900 The Esplanade, with themes appropriate for a Friday the 13th movie screening and may not be suitable for younger viewers. 

“3 Keys” follows a patient (Brigette Funk) plagued by recurring nightmares that always start with a peculiar door and three skeleton keys. Depending on which key she uses to unlock the door, the patient is transported into an unfamiliar world, and she recounts her terrorizing dreams to a psychiatrist (Robert Donnelly) which offers viewers a maddening psychosis. 

Stop-motion puppets, marionettes and miniatures bring this 15-minute spooky tale to life. 

Puppets and props from the production will be on display at the screening along with brief behind-the-scenes footage so viewers can get a better idea of how Funk made the movie. 

Concepts for the horror/fantasy film began shortly after Funk’s son was born three years ago.

The new father was eager to work on his next film and utilized the odd hours parenthood generously offers to work on his script. 

As his little one grew, Funk began drawing inspiration from his toddler, like how a prism in his son’s room reflecting light became the inspiration for fairy creatures. 

Beloved Muppet puppeteer, Jim Henson was a childhood favorite of Funk’s, but as a kid, he feared dolls and often had nightmares starring the stone-faced toys. 

“I was very interested in how these inanimate objects could be brought to life to scare you or to entertain you, and that was kind of the basis for (‘3 Keys’),” Funk said. 

For the last scene, Funk said he wanted to amp his frightful story, so he sat down with the star of the film, who is also his sister-in-law, to find out who or what spooked her the most as a child. 

Brigette Funk told him of an eerie clown doll, and Funk had every detail re-created down to every last ruffle fashioned from a puppet maker in Prague. 

This was also the first time Funk worked with marionettes. 

“We constantly did re-shoots to make it scarier and scarier because if you’re not a talented puppeteer, it’s hard to bring something like it to life,” Funk said. “But we made it work.” 

Working with family is common in Funk’s movie-making realm. 

Funk made a short film featuring his son Jonah last year, and Funk’s younger brother starred in “The Spaceman” which won Best of Festival at The Sundial Film Festival.

The full-time artist has garnered countless film festival awards for other projects like his first short film “Wormholes,” and locally, Funk has lent his talents to creating stop-motion music videos for Chico bands Michelin Embers in “Diggin’ On” and Severance Package’s “Scissors Gonna Cut Ya.” 

His creative playground in the world of animation and stop-motion holds no bounds and “3 Keys” is no exception. 

“When you work on something so meticulous for so long you don’t even know what you have,” Funk said. “I’m excited to hear what people think and it’s nice to hear it was effective in the way that I wanted it to be effective.”

2017 DEVO Awards →

CHICO NEWS & REVIEW - ARTS DEVO 2017 DEVO AWARD WINNER

By Jason Cassidy 
jasonc@newsreview.com

This article was published on 12.28.17.

Best artist: Josh Funk. The local musician-turned-filmmaker makes some of the most time-consuming art possible: stop-motion animation. In 2017, his projects included a sweet video featuring his young son interacting with animated toys created for the Chico Art Center’s kid/adult collaborative art show, Shared Visions, in August, and a music video for “Scissors Gonna Cut Ya,” a rockin’ earworm by local garage punks Severance Package. The music video is by far the most impressive piece of local art I saw all year, with a meticulously edited animated scene featuring characters that look like living, rocking paper dolls.

ARTS DEVO: Severance Package has sharpened its scissors

By Jason Cassidy - jasonc@newsreview.com

Lately, I Keep Scissors In these stinky times, if the shit’s gonna keep hitting the fan, do we cut the damn cord or start nicking some of the monkeys who keep flinging turds at everything that moves?

Severance Package’s scissors are sharpened and ready to slice, and the Chico garage-punk power trio has created the “unfriending anthem of the century” to serve as the soundtrack to cutting the BS out of our lives. “Scissors Gonna Cut Ya” is the just-released first single from the band’s new album (coming this summer), and to properly introduce the sassy, riffy, damn catchy raver to a drama-weary world, the band teamed up with local animator/filmmaker Josh Funk to create a video for it.

The key word there is “create,” because Funk crafted his own little meticulously edited animated world with a video with characters that look like living, rocking paper dolls. Funk filmed the band members (vocalist/bassist Robin Indar, guitarist/vocalist Josh Indarand drummer Mike Erpino) and a few familiar locals (Claire Meehan, Katie Norris, Claire Fong and Moshin’ Dave), all decked out like bee-hived characters from John Waters’ version of the 1950s and then cut them out and placed them against various animated environments. It’s really impressive, and all the cutting (hey, I see what he did there) matches the song’s herky-jerky energy.

Best Local Act!

See it for yourself for the first time at the band’s video-release party this Friday (April 7) at the Maltese. Funk will be on hand for back slaps and congratulatory shots, and Severance Package, The Empty Gate and new Chico crew Licky Lips (playing their first show), will be rock ’n’ rollin’.

New Music, Video bring Tremor of Sass →

By Jeffrey Fox, Correspondent - Posted: 04/05/17, 8:20 PM PDT

Punk rock trio Severance Package and filmmaking animator Josh Funk combined talents to bring an above-and-beyond, top-quality music video that will debut Friday at The Maltese, 1600 Park Ave.

The video release show begins at 9 p.m. Severance Package will be performing as well as local greats The Empty Gate and the debut of Licky Lips. The show is $7 and for those 21 or older. 

Josh Funk, who has been a local musician himself, became even more notorious in the Chico music scene with his stop-motion animation video for The Michelin Embers song “Diggin’On.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHxxolsgxc). 

When the musicians of Severance Package saw the video, they were enthralled by Funk’s artistic quality and visual storytelling. They implored him to design an idea for their song “Scissors Gonna Cut Ya,” which is the first track from their upcoming LP anticipated this summer.

Severance Package, who formed in 2009, is a classic power trio featuring the vocal and songwriting talents of Robin and Josh Indar (Black Fork, Lott Lyzzyrd) and powered by the double-fisted percussion of veteran Chico rocker Mike Erpino (Deviants, Breakouts, Special Forces). 

Elements of rock — reminiscent of X, Dead Moon and Bon Scott-era AC/DC — the band pairs diamond-hard rock riffs with dagger-sharp lyrics, delivered in stunning male/female harmony.

“We are so stoked to have worked with Josh Funk on this video,” Josh Indar said. “He’s super talented and seemed to know just what we were looking for. It was also fun to mess around with a bit of a different sound than we’re known for.”

Funk printed and hand-cut thousands of individual frames to make this buffet of cut paper eye candy, big hair and sassy characters. 

“Creating this video was extremely fun and challenging,” Funk said. “I really enjoyed collaborating with the band to find a look and imagery that matched the energy of their song.”

After printing and cutting, Funk had to animate the thousands of images, then combine them in the computer to create an energetic feel that matched the band’s song. 

The project took around four months, though Funk said he was working on multiple jobs at the same time. 

“Near the end, I had two weeks straight, six hours a day to meet the deadline. I also hired some local artists to help cut some paper,” he said.

The song and music video bring a sweet tremor of sass and attitude.

It’s inspired by Internet drama and the universal need to remove toxic people from one’s everyday lives by cutting them out. 

The band refers to the song as, “the unfriending anthem of the year.”

For more on Severance Package visit their website at severancepackage.org.

For more details about the video release show, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/255748778212132.

Videomaker Magazine - Live Interview with Josh Funk

Josh Funk, filmmaker, animator and Co-Director of Animation Chico is here with us to answer your questions. (http://www.joshfunk.com/)

Plus, get a glimpse of the Panasonic Lumix GH5 in action!

Michelin Embers
The Making of the Diggin' On video and Plans for the Future

Link to "Diggin' On" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHxxolsgxc

Artist Josh Funk: https://www.facebook.com/joshfunkartist/?fref=ts

The Michelin Embers have long been one of my favorite local acts. Their combination of quality song-crafting and unique instrumentation makes them eminently interesting to listen to and watch. Calling themselves “Western Skiffle,” they are a tough band to peg into a category. Not quite bluegrass, not quite rock and roll, the group draws upon elements from a variety of different musical genres including country, swing, rock, and even the soundtracks of the old spaghetti westerns, to comprise their overall sound.

Johnny Meehan started an early version of the band several years ago with the concept of “playing songs under a trestle,” and my understanding is that the band did indeed meet and play underneath a train trestle. The instrumentation is primarily acoustic, and while the band has undergone a few different line-ups, the current configuration seems to have stuck. Right now it's Johnny on acoustic guitar and doing most of the singing, Ken Smith on ukulele, Steve Bragg thumping a home-made wash-tub bass, and the newest member of the band, Scott Pressman on slide guitar.

The band has released a couple of albums, their first is a full-length collection entitled “Telapachie” that garnered the CAMMIE's award for best local album. The second is a 6-song ep called “Looking for a Hole.” From the ep, the band decided to make a music video for the song “Diggin' On,” and enlisted the help of video artist and animator extraordinaire Josh Funk. The amazing piece of stop-frame animation debuted in December at the International Animation Festival held at the El Rey Theater. It is an incredibly lush, surreal, vibrant and wondrous creation.

I sat down with thee of the four band members recently - Ken Smith was out of town - to talk about the making of the video. Meehan expressed excitement about the idea of collaborating with Funk.

“It presented itself as a cool opportunity. Josh Funk is a badass.”

The band members unanimously point to the video “Wormholes” as an example of Funk's stunning visual artistry.

It turns out the video for "Diggin' On" was itself a sort of collaboration between Funk and Ricky Barnett, the illustrator who came up with the album artwork for the band's two releases. It was Barnett who originally came up with the bird-man figure on the “Looking for a Hole” ep, and Funk got in touch with Barnett to co-create the female bird character featured in the video.

“He captured something in that bird person,” Pressman opines. “He's helped to shape the Michelin Embers' personae and mystique.”

The Diggin' On video serves to extend that mystique. In the video the male bird-person is driving a wood-burning stove fueled cart towards a drive-in movie theater, where he eventually meets a female bird person, and we can assume they may be embarking on a new romance. During an earlier meeting Funk explained to me some of the process. He hand-crafts much of the equipment used in the creation of the video, and for whatever parts or pieces he can't fabricate by hand he utilizes a 3-D printer. Funk will also incorporate found objects where appropriate. One example of this is the autonomous drill that bores a hole in the video's closing scenes. The drill is actually an animated “steam-punk style eye-piece” Funk had collected prior to the inception of the video. As he was trying to decide how to create the sequence that would lead to the hole boring, Funk realized the eyepiece could serve as the drill bit.

The video made its debut at the International Animation Festival here in Chico, and the band members assume Funk has plans to show it in other festivals. In a classic symbiotic relationship, the band sees the video both as a means to display Funk's incredible talents as an artist, and to help get the Michelin Ember's music out to a population that they otherwise couldn't reach by playing local and regional gigs.

“We've all played in bands and played shows,” says Meehan. “Fridays, Saturday nights, and also the Monday and Tuesday night shows. So it seems like, let's expand what we can do.”

“YouTube,” Bragg suggests. “Everybody at work watches YouTube, checks shit out on YouTube.” The video is a great way to expand the band's on-line footprint, and to get them in front of audiences they would otherwise not be able to reach.

“I've always thought the Michelin Embers would do really well in Australia.” Meehan explains. “I can imagine there's going to be some kind of world premier in Australia.”

The animated video is extraordinary, but the underlying song is also a gem. I ask Meehan what the song “Diggin' On” is all about. His answer:

“It's about, I'm pretty sure it's about – they say that love takes work. Being in a relationship takes work. The whole idea of devotion, and then questioning that devotion. I'm pretty sure that's what the song is about. Like, how deep are we going? Where is this devotion? The idea of hard work – where does that end up? Sometimes it feels like it ends up in a hole.”

There is some laughter at this explanation – resigned laughter.

As for future plans Meehan informs me the band is currently working on a new album.

“We're working on an album with the whole idea of road themes,” he informs. “The whole idea is songs about the road. Specifically I wrote this song recently about, do you know, the dude who had the mules? I wrote a song about him. I'm really looking forward to showing you guys the song – I'll pack my Mules.”

Something to look forward to in 2016 – my ear's taste-buds are tingling already.

-NSM

Diggin' On video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTHxxolsgxc

Band's website: http://www.michelinembers.com/music.html

Michelin Embers on BandCamp: http://michelinembers.bandcamp.com/

Short film festival headlines Chico's El Rey Theater →

By Jerry Olenyn, jolenyn@krcrtv.com

Sixty short films will be showcased at the El Rey Theater in Chico this weekend.

The filmmakers come from all parts of the world, including a few in the Northstate, like Chico's Josh Funk whose 12-minute film "The Spaceman" took two years to complete.

"In my case, it was all the special effects and the stop-motion animation that I did," said Funk. "It took 24 pictures for every second of film that you see whenever there's a puppet involved."

Funk was a cell phone sales representative for eight years before focusing on film making. His story is like many of the other filmmakers, who will show off their efforts this weekend, hoping to one day direct feature films like some of Hollywood's greatest auteurs.

One of the festivals organizers said film lovers will see a large quantity and quality of films over the next three days.

"There are many good films," said Renee Boyd. "There's action, comedy, drama, documentary and animation."

"There are so many beautiful films with good stories," she said.

Tickets are $10 per day or $20 for a three day pass. For more information about the film festival, click here.

• Copyright 2015 by KRCRTV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

REVIEW: He said, she said: ‘The Spaceman’ wows reviewers →

By Allen K. Lunde and Michelle MacEachern, Correspondents / POSTED: 05/13/15, 4:55 PM PDT

“The Spaceman”, a locally-made film by Josh Funk and friends, is about a man who builds a cardboard spaceship and travels to a distant planet to dispose of a mysterious object.

MICHELLE: I liked it better than the latest “Avengers.” It’s weird how a film that costs millions to make can be cloying, while a locally-made project with cardboard props can be enthralling. But that’s how I felt about it.

ALLEN: I had heard about the film, but hadn’t seen it yet. I was able to get a copy at the Art at the Matador event and I’m thrilled I did. You can actually watch the film at www.joshfunk.com. You should do that immediately.

MICHELLE: To be honest, I’ve seen some really good locally-made films, and some truly tacky stuff. Generally, (and as someone who has never directed anything in her life) you’d think it would be easier to make something in modern times — and you’d think science fiction was a genre to avoid with a low budget. But somehow, this Chico State grad put together a film that’s very worth watching.

ALLEN: Like Robert Rodriguez did in “El Mariachi”, Funk and his team makes a virtue of their limitations. The obviously cardboard sets and props somehow become completely believable. You should be laughing when star Jordan Funk puts on a cardboard helmet, but instead you are just intrigued. It was a wise choice to make the film in black and white. Josh Funk is an artist and the visuals in the film have real artistic merit.

MICHELLE: It’s a short, so I didn’t expect to get to know our hero terribly well. He’s a man on a mission, and that’s enough. There’s an obvious nod to Tim Burton here. But the director has his own style. And I’d be interested to see his next project, even if there were no local connection. It’s that good.

ALLEN: I felt the same way. I’m much more excited to see what Funk will make next than I am to take another trip into Marvel land.

MICHELLE: The movie is great on its own, but if you watch the “making of” section, you’ll be even more impressed, at what they accomplished with what they had.

ALLEN: Not to mention the “making of” video is pretty entertaining on its own.

A combined effort →

CHICO ENTERPRISE RECORD

POSTED: 03/27/15, 5:15 PM PDT 

The Museum of Northern California Art (monca) presented Art Connects with Technology, a current Pop-up at 215 Main Street through March 28. The Pop-up includes art from high school students, Idea Fab Lab and local artists who use some form of technology in their work. On March 14, Animator Josh Funk showed two of his animated films and described his art to an audience of over twenty people. Shown here with monca board member Claire Pelley (left), is Josh Funk (center) and visitor Arnie Rodriguez from the Bay Area.

'SPACEMAN' MAKES ITS LANDING →

By Leila Rodriguez, Correspondent / POSTED: 02/18/15, 8:53 PM PST 

Chico >> “The Spaceman” by director and creator Josh Funk finally makes its landing on to the big screen in Chico this weekend. The short film debuts Saturday and Sunday at the Pageant Theatre, 351 E. Sixth St. After two years of hard work and creating a spaceship in his backyard shed, Funk has left his full-time job to fully commit to a career in the arts.

The premiere kicks off with a screening of “Wormholes,” Funk’s first stop-motion short film, followed by a two-minute behind-the-scenes short of “The Spaceman” and finally the showing of “The Spaceman.” A question-and-answer session with Funk and his crew will commence after the movie. The puppets used in the film will also be on display for guests to take a gander.

“The Spaceman” is a 12-minute, live-action, stop-motion adventure film starring Funk’s younger brother, Jordan, and a bug-eyed alien monster. The story follows an adventurous Spaceman who crafts a cardboard spaceship and ventures to another planet to dispose of a mysterious object. While exploring, he encounters an alien and they battle.

“I don’t want people to think too much about it,” Funk said. “I want people to have fun and smile and kind of think about being a kid again because of the cardboard spaceship idea. It’s not a comedy but it’s a ridiculous concept.”

It’s a campy movie tapping into a youthful imagination Funk and his brother fondly remember as children. 

His project was partly funded from a Kickstarter, crowd sourcing campaign. Within a few days, Funk exceeded the Kickstarter goal allowing him to purchase another puppet with a slightly different expression, construct a large forest scene for the film and provide those generous folks who donated to Funk’s project some awesome rewards.

Funk was surprised by the benevolent outpouring and he said the majority of the donations materialized from locals. “When you start animating, there are hurdles and things you didn’t think about before,” Funk said. “So I had to rethink it on the second puppet. I was able to get everything I needed but because I had the money I wanted to make it as good as a I could.”

This was the first time the two brothers worked closely together aside from recording music. “There’s a big age difference between us,” Josh Funk said. “He’s nine years younger and growing up I was always playing in bands and he was always bugging us and now it’s kind of cool (Jordan’s) grown up and we’re working together. It’s fun.”

This was Jordan Funk’s first time acting and the novice actor said he enjoyed his time in front of the camera. Working with the green screen and fighting a miniature monster proposed some challenges for Jordan Funk.

“I had no dialogue in the entire film, so it’s all facial expressions and that was hard to do,” he said. Some voiceovers by Jordan Funk invite viewers into the character’s thoughts but aside from those bits, the film is driven by the scenes.

“It was a hard project to start off with right away because you have to convey a lot without saying anything” Josh Funk said. “It’s just him and a monster so he’s not talking to anyone or saying anything out loud. It’s a little different and a little harder acting because you have to say a lot with your face.”

The original concept of “The Spaceman” stemmed from a rough sketch Funk dreamed up a few years ago after Josh Funk’s first completed stop-motion film “Wormholes.”

In the span of two days, the Funk brothers filmed the first version of the entire movie. After they received extra funding from Kickstarter donations, Funk returned to his storyboard and expanded the movie including locations. The majority was filmed in Funk’s backyard shed with the exception of a few scenes shot in Forrest Ranch, Lindo Channel and Fern Canyon.

“In my head, it ended up where I wanted it to be,” Josh Funk said. “What I had envisioned originally ended up being better than I thought in certain areas.” The animation and special effects were a new territory for Funk and he said he had doubts at first.

“I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do some of that stuff,” he said. “I thought I was going to compromise on certain shots and eliminate them or do a version that wasn’t as good but we met everything I wanted to meet.”

With the film’s completion and the premiere approaching, the brothers reflect on the entire adventure with fond memories.

Jordan Funk has a particular stand-out memory: he also met his fiance on set. Brigette Enos was brought onto the Space team as an acting makeup artist for the Funk brothers’ Kickstarter video. During the course of filming, Enos stuck around lending her makeup skills to a few scenes and the two fell in love.

“So technically I don’t have to pay (Jordan),” Josh Funk said laughing. “I should have thought of that. So you owe me. I got you a wife.”