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.

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.

An Animated Vision →

Director and animator Josh Funk created “The Spaceman” as a playful expression of his childhood imagination.“‘I used to make cardboard spaceships as a kid,” Josh explains, “and I wanted to make a film that incorporated childhood themes and as many practical effects as possible.” The film was created using stop motion animation, miniature sets, large cardboard sets, animatronics, and CGI and represents Josh’s second stop motion effort. His previous film, Wormholes, was created using exclusively stop motion techniques.

Though stop motion is sometimes viewed as a prohibitively labor intensive process, Josh holds a special fondness for the medium: “I’ve always been a fan of stop motion animation and in awe of the amount of dedication that goes into finishing a project in this medium.” It’s through this impressive level of dedication that stop motion animators such as Josh earn uncompromising control over their projects. “I can create elaborate sets that would be costly for a live-action film,” says Josh, “there are no actors to worry about scheduling with, and anything I can imagine can be created through puppets. It really feels like art in movement.”

Still, complete control does not always equate to ultimate perfection — but this doesn’t bother Josh: “I enjoy the flaws in this form of animation. For example, if you look closely at The Spaceman you can occasionally see the fur move from where my fingers were adjusting the puppet. There is a performance happening in between the frames.”
“The Spaceman” has so far garnered two awards at the IndieFEST and Best Shorts competitions and will be headed to several more festival by year’s end.
We want to offer a special thanks to Josh for giving us a behind-the-scenes peek at his work in the images featured in this article. Watch “The Spaceman” and keep up to date with Josh’s latest projects at www.joshfunk.com(link is external)

Jordan Maison is an editor and VFX artist whose plied his talents in web content for Disney Studios as well as movie and videogame websites.

Issue: 

• September 2015

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.

Art at the Matador marks 5th year Friday and Saturday

by Linda Watkins-Bennett

Click to see interview

The 5th Annual Art at the Matador Motel kicks off Friday, May 8th at the Matador Motel on the Esplanade in Chico.

75 artists will convert 14 rooms into imaginative art galleries ... transforming them ... and there will also be more than 20 booths outdoors. Friday you'll find hand mixed margaritas, jazz music and fire dancing from 4 - 9 p.m. and Saturday May 9th the event continues for families from 2-9 p.m. There will be food and all types of entertainment, and arts and crafts for youngsters, souvenir penny stamping, and a cantina.

The featured up and coming artist this year is Josh Funk, a film maker and stop motion animator. His exhibit will include the puppets featured in his films "Wormholes" and "The Spaceman". And he also has a stop motion animation station for people to try their hand at the intricate, time consuming art.

For More information visit the Art at the Matador event facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ArtFiestaAtTheMatador?fref=ts.

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.

Stop-motion monsters come to life in ‘The Spaceman’

A short film titled “The Spaceman”, which has part stop-motion animation and part live-action, along with animatronics and a miniature set design, is fit for any sci-fi or action movie fan. 

The film will have showings at the Pageant Theatre on East Sixth Street on Feb. 21 and 22 and is directed by local Chico State alumnus Josh Funk. 

The epic story of “The Spaceman” deals with a man who builds a cardboard spaceship and travels to another planet to end up battling with an alien monster. 

The monster is a stop-motion puppet, which the filmmakers for the movie had to animate frame by frame. 

“You take a picture of it, then you move it a little bit and then take another picture,” said Funk, the director. “It took two years for us to do this.” 

The people involved with the movie also made a gigantic spaceship. The cockpit took up almost all of a garage studio Funk has in the backyard of his house. 

Other styles and elements that were used in the movie were green screens and actual live-action filming in areas of Forest Ranch and in Fern Canyon in Humboldt County. 

Funk told his brother Jordan, the star of the movie, to “Pretend that you are Bruce Willis, but all they could afford is cardboard.” 

At the movie premiere for “The Spaceman,” the puppets that were used in the movie will be displayed and the audience will get to see a behind-the-scenes video of how the film was made. 

At the end of the event there will be a Q&A; with the filmmakers and others who contributed to the movie. 

Premiere Details

• Date: Feb. 21 and 22

• Time: 1 p.m. on Feb. 21, 6 p.m. on Feb. 22

• Location: Pageant Theatre

• Price: $5

Tom Sundgren can be reached at artseditor@theorion.com or @tomsundgren on Twitter.