Some call him an illustrator, others call him a sculptor. In reality, Japanese Shotaro Kitada‘s practice is more like that of a film production. «o tell a story to the audience, a film is shot using characters, situations, costumes, lighting, movement, sound, etc. I feel that my production process is very similar to these tasks». Kitada says in an interview with Creative Boom. In fact, his video works are actual animations that he makes from start to finish. First the creation of the characters and settings in papier-mâché, then the construction of a mechanized system that drives the whole thing through ropes and handcrafted motors. The effect is one of imperfect, almost clumsy and at times creepy movement, especially in the appearance of the characters.
«My animation is not stop-motion,» Shotaro Kitado continues to Creative Boom, «I mainly use a live-action animation method, using wires and hands to move objects and film movements. This allows me to create awkward but vividly realistic movements that are impossible with stop-motion». His inspirations clearly come from cartoons, particularly Toy Story, from which he takes the concept of failure. Kitado’s characters are like us, they make mistakes, they stumble, they fall, so they create an immediate and emotional bond with the viewer. Another factor that contributes to triggering the process of identification is the setting, which draws in every way from reality. From the streets to the interiors of the houses that, besides resembling our own, come from a universal cartoony imagery capable of touching the chords of childhood memories.
Courtesy Shotaro Kitada
