READERSVOICE.COM: Fading Note has a beautiful looking interior of the old woman’s house, with the piano, and some very nice costumes for the characters at the train station. How were these made and how long did it take to make these sets and costumes?

TOM AND HANI: It took several months. Most of the sets were made from white cardboard, including the furniture and piano. Some of the small items are ready made miniatures that we found and some I made from polymer clay or similar materials. I sewed the costumes from different fabrics.

RV: The short film Bore has some nice furniture and a beautiful looking house with nice lighting. How did you make all those chairs and cupboards and beds with the nice sheets and pajamas for Bob? There is a lot of detail, with knives on the wall and pot plants. How long did it take to make the set?

TH: We had a carpenter that helped us with the kitchen MDF cutting, and seats and chairs (which were real wood). We tried to create a very square design as a contrast to the hole in the floor. The textile for the bed and pajamas were just a matter of finding the right fabric – small pattern and as thin as possible. It took us something like two months to create the set.

RV: How would you recommend people learn stop motion animation? What sort of basic equipment would you need?

TH: I think that animation studies can give a good foundation but most of the studies come later during the work and experimenting. We never stop learning and trying new techniques and materials. For starters you’ll need a camera: even a cellphone can work; a tripod; and a couple of flashlights. Then just start shooting some objects.

RV: What are some of your plans for movies, series or short films?

TH: Currently we are working on our next short “Fledge”, and we are also making a web series of very short episodes called “Secret dancers”. Hopefully we can just keep making more movies.

– See tomandhani.com for some of their short films.
– copyright Simon Sandall