In this short General Pabst and his American Light special forces are stationed in Fort Worth Texas. News quickly spreads that the Tecate soldiers are advancing over the border. It is up to Pabst and his elite American Light troops to stomp out the Tecate's invasion.
Using beer cans and beer related packaging I have created a stop motion project to represent two nations entering a struggle. Beer is something that exists throughout the world. The branding and design of these companies is often reflective of the nation they are produced in. Therefore, beer packaging is ideal to distinguish between two sides of a worldly altercation.
The American Light soldiers are fabricated with American Light cans for bodies (produced in Western Pennsylvania), Pabst Blue Ribbon cans for bags and accessories, and Keystone Ice cans for helmets. One of the challenges with this was creating uniqueness within the characters. Each soldier has a distinct facial hair style (cut from Keystone Ice cans), bag, weapon, and accessories. Private Coldbroo was probably the character I enjoyed creating the most. He is introduced at the 0:15 mark of the project with his pop top grenade and thick Keystone Ice mustache.
The Tecate soldiers are produced from parts of Tecate packaging (produced originally in Monterrey Mexico). These parts include everything a box of Tecate can be broken down and cut up into. Unlike the American soldiers who are a blend of American beers the Tecate are strictly from one company (a result of resources).
The town and scenery itself is also the reminance of beer packaging. This was an attempt to create a world that is, a: unique and b:natural to the elements the "Beer Can Soldiers" would be in. In doing this you can imagine an entire world that these cans see, cardboard structures, furniture fabricated in cardboard, vehicles that operate on cardboard power... really just a lot of cardboard.
The entire short was produced in two weeks by myself on a kitchen table in a dormroom. Shot on a Nikon I borrowed from a friend and lighting the av closet at RMU supplied. As a one man team I found a great deal of respect for the elements and time it takes to create a stop motion. The process was very rewarding, challenging, an incredible amount of fun, and a much needed step away from digital grind.