Upcycle Arts:
The Button

30-SECOND SPOT

Upcycle Arts is a creative reuse nonprofit that transforms donated materials into artful resources for local artists and educators. With the launch of their new retail space, they needed a video to showcase their unique supplies, encourage cash donations to expand programming, and promote their event calendar around the Queen City. I collaborated with Director of Photography Eric Bader—who filmed, directed, and edited—while I handled art direction, paper crafts, and stop-motion animation for the handmade end card.

Collaborators

Director of Photography | Eric Bader
Editor | Eric Bader
Talent | Caroline Bader
Art Direction | Kelly Gilbert
Stop Motion | Kelly Gilbert
Agency | Wray Ward

Concept & Execution

To capture the spirit of creative reuse, we followed the journey of a single button —lost, discarded, and eventually finding new life in an artist’s hands. Using a series of quick jump cuts, the button stays in the same spot on screen while everything around it changes, making for a dynamic and engaging visual story. The spot wraps up with a handmade stop-motion end card, tying back to Upcycle Arts’ mission and encouraging viewers to check out their new space.

Stop-Motion End Cards

upcycleend2.gif
Upcycle-CTA1.gif
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upcycleend4.gif

The Process

Eric and I spent a day in the studio arranging the paper elements and capturing the stop-motion frames one shot at a time.

Materials included 156 hand-cut paper letters, four toy frogs, one hand-made robot, two googly eyes, endless glue, and a jar full of buttons.

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