“we were slaves in Egypt”

…but we probably didn’t look this hot:

Hebrew7acrossGIF

JewessesAcrossGIF
Character designs for male and female Hebrew slaves for Seder-Masochism. Yes I grossly exaggerate contrasting male and female traits like shoulders, hips and waists. It’s a cartoon. These guys are on a 27-frame cycle because that’s the closest beat to the song I’m using.

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Author: Nina Paley

Animator. Director. Artist. Scapegoat.

4 thoughts on ““we were slaves in Egypt””

  1. You’re doing such an amazing, unique work, Nina!
    Love how the guys blink in sync with each other, on the beat 🙂

    “grossly exaggerate contrasting male and female traits” – a wonderful design and a clear statement!

    A 27-frame cycle is an interesting phenomenon. What’s your frame rate?
    (As someone who has not lived in an NTSC country I’ve only worked at 25, 24, 12 and 12.5)

  2. Thanks Nickolay! I work at 24fps. In 27-frame cycles it means the legs are out of synch by 1 frame every half-cycle. It’s not too much of a problem. What’s harder is beats that fall almost exactly on a half frame, like 21.5 frames per beat. Then I have to add or remove a frame every few cycles, which is a pain.

  3. Hi again Nina!

    I understand. It just complicates everything as this one frame offset accumulates over time, so you need to constantly compensate.
    It’s happened to me too. This may be one of the differences between real musicians and drum machines – the little imperfections that make real music so much more ‘humane’.

    My experience tells me that as long as I hit the beat on the frame or a frame earlier all looks OK. If you delay a pose half a frame or a whole frame it can be noticeable and appear off-sync.
    (Valid for lip-sync as well. ‘Hit your vowels hard; go out of them softly if you need’ – I read it somewhere years ago and it’s stuck in my head. Wish I remembered who I’m quoting.)

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