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.
My Role
Art Director + Stop Motion Designer
Collaborators
Director of Photography — Eric Bader
Editor — Eric Bader
Talent — Caroline Bader
Agency — Wray Ward
Deliverables
30-second Spot
Project Length
Sept 2024–Dec 2024
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
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.
