Behind the Scenes

The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato’s Allegory in Clay

Behind the Scenes Facts:

'The Cave' consists of thousands of high-resolution still photographs, which come together to bring this 3-minute stop-motion animation to life. Animator John Grigsby created the set and the characters by hand. Each time a character made a movement, their feet had to be re-screwed to the set. The actual shooting took over 3 weeks. The lighting was achieved by use of candlelight and a fire that burned at the back of the set.

Animator, Photographer, Editor: John Grigsby

J ohn Grigsby’s has a passion for pushing the limits of audible and visual art. He has been animating since he was 9 years old, beginning with flipbooks, which quickly evolved into animation and other stop-motion techniques, such as rotoscoping and pixelization. One of Grigsby’s recent animations entitled, “An Introduction to Lucid Dream Exploration” was painstakingly created on etch-a-sketch and has appeared in numerous film festivals worldwide. Grigsby is also a musician and recently toured the world as a bassist with blues musician Otis Taylor. To learn more about John’s work, you can visit his website at: http://www.johngrigsby.com/

Director, Producer, Writer: Michael Ramsey

M ichael's career as a filmmaker began after an ethno musicological grant took him to Brazil and later the Caribbean. He has now directed produced, filmed, and edited well over 300 programs including award winning feature length documentaries, music videos, educational series, underwater programs, animations, and commercials. His clients include Discovery Channel, PBS, The Smithsonian Institute, La Mama Repertory Theatre, Free SpeechTV, TDU, Ambrose Video, Centre Communications, Gaiam, Thought Equity, and Bright Cove. You can learn more about Michael and his work by visiting his website here: http://www.onespokenimage.com

Producer: Timothy Schultz

T im is a filmmaker and the owner of the Colorado based production company ‘Bullhead Entertainment LLC.’ He has been featured in numerous media outlets, including a recent appearance on TLC (The Learning Channel) where he was featured working on this animation. He was inspired to produce this film because of “the optimistic message that the story conveys about life and the vast amount of possibilities that exist when you have an open mind.” He is currently working on multiple film and television projects, including a feature-length documentary entitled Chasing the Shadows, which follows his journey into the mysterious and eerie world of ghosts. To view the trailer or to learn more visit http://www.chasingtheshadows.com