Some Stills From The Millipede Ballet!
Here are some stills from my upcoming millipede ballet or “Les Noces” which will be presented at the San Francisco Symphony in November and then at the Orchestre de Paris in January! Yes, this is really happening!
Rotoscope with me!
Just a typical day on the job.
@thehillsite Rotoscoping my own self for the animation Im creating for stravinsky’s Les Noces to be presented by The San Francisco Symphony and Orchestre de Paris. #animator #animation #rotoscope #weirdjobs #artisticprocess #procreate #stravinsky #classicalmusic ♬ W.A.Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Allegro – AllMusicGallery
A Millipede Ballet!
Incredibly – It seems that Les Noces will be an animated millipede ballet! I’ve been posting videos about my progress on this project for the San Francisco Symphony and the Orchestre de Paris….Follow along on Tik Tok!
@thehillsite The millipede ballet for The San Francisco Symphony is on!!!!!!!! #careerchanger #unbeleivable #hilarious #classicalmusic #stravinsky #sfs #hillaryleben #freelancelife #artistlife #animator #animation #millipedeballet #artisticprocess #workingartist ♬ Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, Op. 90 “Italian”: I. Allegro vivace – Vienna State Opera Orchestra & Vladimir Golschmann
Come along for a wild ride – Le Noces
@thehillsite Hi, I’m an animator. Follow along as I work on the biggest and coolest project of my career so far. Today is day 1! Let’s listen! #classicalmusic #stravinsky #lesnoces #sfs #animation #artisticprocess #freelance #freelanceartist #riteofspring #hillaryleben ♬ dance(256762)
Creatures of Prometheus at the San Francisco Symphony!
The San Francisco symphony will play Beethoven’s Creatures of Prometheus on Feb 24, 26, and 27th accompanied by some animations that I made! This time it will be presented live with narrator Keith David. There are a few new drawings in there too. For more info click here!
The Creatures of Prometheus
Can you believe that the London Philharmonia let me create silly animations for their recent production of Beethoven’s rarely performed ballet The Creatures of Prometheus? Well they did! And it was so fun. Script was written by Gerard McBurney, narrated by Stephen Fry, and orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Click here to watch for free on Youtube! Click here for a pre-concert chat with Gerard McBurney and Esa-Pekka, and here are the program notes!
I never could have finished this project without the help of many talented friends. Thanks to Grace Christiani and Alicia Goveas for the hours and hours of coloring. Thanks to Liz Sung of Tango21 for helping me create video loops for rotoscoping. Thanks to Arturo Diaz for designing the beautiful titles. And thanks to my talented sister Hannah Leben for the wonderfully goofy choreography!
Quarantine Montage
The Fall Downs – Stop Motion Film by Audrey and Hillary
Guest Post by Audrey – “Portraits of Mommy”
Portraits of Hannah drawn by my niece Audrey (6 years old):