The Tucson Film and Music Fest was launched in 2005 by Michael Toubassi of Upstairs Film, and it seeks to fuse the creative communities of film and music with its diverse programming.
The TFMF accepts features, shorts and music video submissions from all over the world, with an emphasis on documentaries and music-related content. Films and filmmakers with a connection to Arizona or the Southwest are also highlighted, and the festival gives lots of very welcome support and exposure to the local arts.
Above: Textural and character elements
Tucson Film and Music Festival: 2014 Spaghetti Western Intro
I’ve always loved the look and feel of the classic 1960’s Spaghetti Western credit sequences. With so many films released within the genre there are of course a number of different styles at play, but when taken as a whole I think that the overall vibe and highly creative motion graphics work is hard to top.
With all of that in mind, this was an intro that I directed and animated for the 2014 Tucson Film and Music Fest as a tribute to the general Spaghetti Western form. Seen here are a number of animated elements based on the original poster art, and the song you’re hearing is entitled “El Chumbanchero”, courtesy of Portland, Oregon’s fabulous Audios Amigos.
Above: Animation elements
After editing down one of my favorite Tucson jingles from the past to use as an audio track, I based my animation on elements from the TFMF festival poster as well as various vintage late ’50’s/ early ’60’s commercials and graphic design.
Finally I tossed in a smattering of time lapse photography that I’ve shot in and around Tucson over the last few years so as to further underscore the “Sunshine Climate Club” tourism vibe that the song exudes.
CONTACT JASON WILLIS