Interview with Emily D. Myers, ShadowMachine armaturist on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio

Abstract

In this article, Emily D. Myers, ShadowMachine armaturist on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (GdTP), is interviewed by Animation Practice, Process and Production (AP3) co-editor Miriam Harris. Myers has significant experience as an armaturist in the stop-motion animation industry: she is a veteran of four LAIKA-animated feature films, has worked at Bent Image Lab, and spent a year and a half working on GdTP at ShadowMachine in Portland, Oregon. The article provides insights into Myers’s training, her experience working at LAIKA, reflections on the ShadowMachine environment and production process while working on GdTP, and her thoughts about analogue/digital hybridity and stop-motion’s future potentialities. An insider’s perspective is offered regarding the amount of personal creativity that might be exercised when working on a large-scale stop-motion animation production.