KICKSTARTER for the short film "The SPooKy Girls: a romance"

The SPooKy Girls are LIVE! Love the puppets, feed the puppets, make them grow! Donate and share with your friends <3

A darkly mischievous short puppet film about a coven of teenage witches, mixing advanced rod puppets with wicked in-camera effects!

 Something is brewing on Kickstarter!

Help us bring to life the world of The SPooKy Girls: a romance in a twenty minute long short puppet film. Our main characters Lucia, Tracy, Kendra, Nixy, and Tynan need your help to bring their Spooky World to our dimension through the magic of crowdfunding. The myriad of sets, costumes, film equipment and complicated puppet mechs we live amongst can use your financial support. We've begun the journey but you can help us continue it.

Before the Fall: The Preludes is a series of short films that we will release on  vimeo.com/thehandandtheshadow throughout our 4 week campaign. These vignettes will introduce each of the characters and their world. 

Contribute to the campaign and you could receive a LIMITED EDITION Blu-ray of the finished short film The SPooKy Girls: a romance, the directors cut. A SPooKy Girl Bust complete with a  painted face, styled wig and costumed likeness of your favorite character in the film, as well as, all the SPooKy updates from our creative team and the puppets themselves! Much like magic, the more you can give, the more you will get.

Welcome to the darkly mischievous SPooKy World, where young romance, witchcraft, puppetry and film collide. Meet The SPooKy Girls, a coven of young teen witches who evoke more than their Instagram-filtered brains can handle. Coven members Kendra, Nixy, and Tynan gather to bring back Lucia’s recently deceased ex-boyfriend, Christian. As the coven calls for Christian, they must communicate with deities who deliver his soul. In doing so, they awaken something dark and deep beyond the grave and must choose between the loss of two prospects that will change their lives forever.  

After 2 years of development, this short film project has a completed script and the 5 main character puppets have been workshopped and are ready to move into full scale production!  

The core of The SPooKy Girls are the characters. Each figure's look and behavior is based on ourselves and the people we know. The things the characters like and their surroundings -- from thrift stores and record shops to art galleries and occult bookstores -- are just as important as the plot in creating a rich portrayal of the modern teen. We came to the idea of The SPooKy Girls through our desire to portray our own experiences of intensity of first loves, the vulnerability of fitting in, and the deep philosophy of a naive mind coming to grips with its own mortality. All of these ideas will be filtered through the lens of the underrepresented subculture of "real" witches with a distinctly female perspective. 

The look for The SPooKy Girls came to Jason and Sarah through examining dynamic styles of storytelling. From the visual and live performing arts of Night Shade Shadow Theater, to the experimental film techniques used in TRI^DS, together these elements bring The SPooKy Girls into the world of puppetry. We are applying the style of 70’s horror films such as Rosemary’s Baby, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders and Suspiria to help to create the setting, while the supernatural tone and questions of faith are inspired by Ingmar Bergman, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Calvin & Hobbes. We plan to combine these elements with the influences the fluorescent chaos of Miss Pussycat, the haunting and beautiful style of Richard Teschner, and the worlds created on television by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. All of the later inspirations, aligned with mature teen dramas like Murmur of the Heart and 80's romances such as Valley Girl comprise the gritty and raw of "The SPooKy Girls: a romance".

We are remixing cinema by creating an integrated theatrical work of art encompassing everything from puppets to plays, stagecraft and incidental music. We also present what we dub the “mega” puppet, a traditional hand and rod figure combined with the modern finishing techniques used in silicone-based stop motion heads. After a year exploring, designing, and modifying the puppets, we have achieved a groundbreaking results. The puppets can move, talk and most importantly- convey emotion. Now that the puppets exist and we are well aware of their strengths it's time to take it to the next level! Each SPooKy Character takes months of sculpting, casting, machining, and fabrication to complete their full puppet forms. We have 6 more puppets to complete. Our SPooKy World has many dimensions, from the originally composed music, to the nostalgic settings with full sets to scale and miniature props to match. We want viewers to be drawn into tactile dioramas and be swallowed up by the unknown mystery of the Spirit World.

Puppets can achieve an abstraction and resonance that enhances the core of a story in a primal way. The characters we've created can express ideas and emotions without a filter and without the restraints and censorship reality imparts. Living in a fictional world actually presents an opportunity to show the truth. The more we mix old forms of storytelling with modern content, the more people crave this twist of an ancient art form. 

Our initial goal 1 year ago was to prove to ourselves that we could build the first 5 characters, and film two scenes to share with the world. We are thrilled to say Halloween marks this accomplishment and we are right in the creative zone. Our self-producing trio needs to expand the team to include more fabricators and on-set stage hands, as well as, space, materials and equipment. All these elements are necessary to secure the success of this short film. Our dream is to turn The SPooKy World into a 20-25 minute short film comprised of 11 different sets and shot in 3 acts. We love these characters and the 150 machined parts that make them work.

Some amazing artists and our greatest friends are helping support with their artistic superpowers... look for Kat Roberts' Astrology Books, signed Michel Fiffe limited edition SPooKy Girl Spirit prints, signed Charles Forsman Arcade prints and Cat Cabral fortune candles to highlight a few. 

With ever new project comes potential risks, obstacles and entanglements. However, with our years of experience working in a deadline driven industry, we feel comfortable dealing with all challenges ahead. Having jumped our biggest hurdle by developing and performing with our new puppetry technique in 15 proof of concept vignettes for "Before the Fall: The Preludes", our confidence is high. Our next challenge will be to grow the size of the team, and increase the depth of the World.

The best part about living in Portland, OR is being surrounded by wicked awesome multi-talented artists, many with experience having worked at the studio LAIKA, and who are now also part of our SPooKy crew. Along with NYC comic artists and some of the best puppeteers in the U.S.

We plan to complete the project by Fall 2017!

Through the means of Kickstarter we would be able to retain the rights of our project and ensure its integrity. Kickstarter would also give our friends and family a chance to take part in the creation of our project.

The funds raised through this Kickstarter campaign will go directly toward the costs associated with making this film: materials for puppets, costumes, sets and props, their construction, camera and lighting rentals, studio rental space, and more. Your contributions will enable this project to launch The SPooKy Coven on their wildest adventure yet! Once the Kickstarter goal of $33,333 is surpassed, a new "stretch goal" will be set. With additional funding, “The SPooKy Girls” will become an even more awesome and massive work of puppetry art. Wicked Thanks in advance for supporting puppetry arts and film! 

THE WITCHES ARE COMING!

Got a question? Email us at: thehandandtheshadow@gmail.com