Welcome to my blog, featuring various pieces from my collection of Oz books, artwork and memorabilia!

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Convention 2017

This past weekend I was at the National Convention of the International Wizard of Oz Club. As always, it was an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones, as well as experience a variety of programming dealing with various aspects of Oz.
This year I did a presentation based on the making of the toy theater I've been working on for the past two years. I spoke about the steps involved in creating the theater and the various scenes of the 1903 Wizard of Oz musical. Below are a few pages of sketches and drawings used to make the different curtains and figures used in the scenes of the show.
I finished with a showing of a simple stop-motion animated version of the show. It's an adaptation based on the script in the Library of Congress, and utilizing bits of music and songs that were in the production - though not necessarily all at the same time! L. Frank Baum makes a cameo appearance at the end of the show. I've never done anything quite like this before, and it was an interesting experience... but I don't think film-making is in my future!

8 comments:

Nasal Noteworthy said...

I just saw the video and it was GREAT! I got a real feel for the original show and your artistry with the toy theater was simply wonderful.

Bill Campbell said...

Thank you! I was hoping to capture a little of the color and variety that the original show had - after all, it truly was an extravaganza!

Sam said...

So That's how Kansas and the Cyclone went - GREAT of you to show it to us like that!!

I can't wait to see the full video, Thanks!

Bill Campbell said...

It can't really be considered an accurate portrayal - there was no cyclone set as far as I know, it was done with lighting and projections. But it's my very abbreviated take on the whole thing!

Cindy said...

Such wonderful detail in your work, and probably prettier than the original! You've chosen stunning color schemes....

Bill Campbell said...

Thanks! The color schemes were largely dictated by reading up on the show - golden Kansas, blue Munchkins, green Emerald City and lavender third act - but of course there's no precise record of how the colors were used, so a lot of it is simple guess work!

Micki said...

Just found this now--I could have been enjoying this 9 months ago! This is utterly fantastic and completely worth all your time and effort. I've listened to enough music from this show that I recognized most of it and sang along with some of it. It must have been wonderful to be there in the day. More, more! Full length songs! I'm sorry I missed your presentation. Encore at Oz-con International? Pretty please?

Bill Campbell said...

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!