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Italian documentary filmaker Roberto Lione in the nineties developed “Papermotion”, a new style of stop motion animation using paper puppets. Initially he used this tecnique for 10 short films and for the Taco & Paco children's TV series he coproduced with the state broadcaster RAITV.   In 2004 he used papermotion to make Italy's first stop motion feature, Kate – the Taming of the Shrew, a musical comedy version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.




Roberto Lione at his studio in Umbria







In  addition, this website is about ModArt, a painting style Roberto Lione developed during the making of his films in papermotion. Scroll down to ModArt Portraits to see a showcase of Lione's artworks and still life photography.



                                STOP MOTION ANIMATION





Kate, the Taming of the Shrew.

Directed by Roberto Lione

Photography by Roberto Lione


Watch sample animation






"One of the more interesting films shown at this year's Cartoons on the Bay animation festival in Positano, Italy, was Roberto Lione's Kate  -  La Bisbetica Domata  (Kate  -  The Taming of the Shrew) which claims to be the first stop-motion feature made in Italy.  But what made it so appealing was the unusual form of stop motion it used, which utilized puppets and sets made out of brightly coloured construction paper  -  a sort of animated origami if you will  -  that Lione dubbed "Papermotion."



by Harvey Deneroff

Skwigly Magazine

20 July 2004



                             PAPERMOTION








My background as a director and writer of live action documentaries, and my involvement in a research project on distance learning in 1996 for the film studios in Terni, Umbria, led me to look at animation as a teaching tool for children. During this research project I developed a style of stop motion animation using paper puppets and sceneries. I registered the name “Papermotion” and created the characters first known in English as Obie & Bingie, later as Taco & Paco.






Taco & Paco which features Paco, a “pensive crocodile” and Taco, “a busybody toucan” takes full advantage of the bright tropical colors this tecnique allows. The show has a warm gentle nature, aswell as a sense of discovery and freshness.



Taco & Paco paper art prints









Watch a story in English


It was with RAI, the state broadcaster that my Crayons Pictures made 53x6' episodes of Taco & Paco in papermotion. The series is aimed at pre-school children 3 to 5 years old. If you want to practice your Italian, you can watch it on line at:


www.raitv.tacopaco.com


                                        THEATRICAL FILM







Kate wins in Chicago


Although the tale nominally takes place in Renaissance Italy, the action is full of anachronisms, with  characters making free use of mobile phones and even skateboards.  Unlike Taco & Paco, the film is fast-paced  and the action is, at times, almost non-stop.




Watch the preview





The film, Lione admits owes as much to Cole Porter's Kiss me Kate and American popular culture as to Shakespeare, is a brash, fast-paced musical comedy  which revels in its theatrical nature.  Lione's affinity for things American is really not so strange seeing as he spent 30 years in the US,  mostly in East Coast cities such as New York and Miami, where his children and grandchildren live.


By Harvey Deneroff





Awards – Chicago International Children's Film Festival

Children's Jury Prizes – Animated Feature Film or Video, 1st Prize

Kid review Kate from CICFF org website. Txt


Reviewed by Dash S


The Taming of the Shrew is one of the greatest stories Shakespeare ever told. It was originally told in Early Modern English and performed on stage. Just like the play, this film accounts the story of a young playboy, Petruchio, who is looking for love. Kate, the Taming of the Shrew is a paper-animated feature. The characters looked like little paper statues that could move on their own. The animation was so fluid that I forgot I was watching a cartoon.



Gone is the iambic pentameter and Early Modern English of the Shakespeare Classic. Do not fret though; pieces of the Renaissance version are alive in the characters' garb and the ending monologue. There is a mixture of old and new elements that create such oddities as people carrying swords on motorcycles and other characters wearing plumed hats while speaking Italian slang. To make it even more interesting the characters are animals – the men are foxes and lizards, while all the women are ducks.






Overall, Kate, The Taming of the Shrew uses a healthy combination of swashbuckling, romance, and classic storytelling to achieve a balance that anyone will like. Just like any good kid's movie, there are cute characters and slapstick comedy for the young ones and intriguing plot lines and inside jokes for the more mature audiences. Be aware that because of subtitles people under 6 may not enjoy this film to its full extent, otherwise it's more fun than a barrel of monkeys . . . er, shrews.



Festivals (Music by Giovanni Bacalov)

 


Kate slideshow



                           









Artwork from the film

Kate, the Taming of the Shrew

Copyright 2004 - 2011 Crayons Pictures, Inc.




ModArt

Print on canvas

Size:  100 cm x 100 cm




COLORS and DESIGN

for a HAPPY LIVING


Stampe photo Art su tela, firmate dall'artista.

(Tiratura limitata a 100 copie per titolo)


PHOTO ART PRINTS ON CANVAS, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST.

(Limited edition of 100 copies for each title.)



Roman Girl  

Print on canvas

Size: 69 cm x 100 cm






Mountain Beauties

Print on canvas

Size: 80 cm x 100 cm







COLORS AND DESIGN

for YOUR HAPPY HOME


STAMPE SU TELA DI RITRATTI E DISEGNI REALIZZATI IN TECNICA MISTA.

(Tiratura limitata a 5 copie per titolo)


Portraits and Drawings printed on canvas.  Mixed technique.

(Limited edition of 5 copies per title.)



















King of Kings

Print on canvas

Size:  100 cm x 80 cm






A Chorus Line 1  

Print on canvas

Size: 100 cm x 80 cm



 



Red Passion

Print on canvas

Size: 100 cm x 80 cm



Morning Light  

Print on canvas

Size: 80 cm x 100 cm




Mountain Beauties

Print on canvas

Size: 80 cm x 100 cm





Morning Light

Print on Canvas

Size: 00 cm x 80 cm



Season's Greetings

Print on canvas

Size: 92 cm x 140 cm




Season's Greetings

Print on canvas

Size: 140 cm x 92



Chorus Line 2

Print on canvas

Size: cm 80 x 100







 






Three Suns in the Sky

Print on canvas

Size: 100 cm x 80 cm



Red Passion 2

Print on canvas

Size: 80 cm x 100 cm



Picnic in the Fields

Print on canvas

Size: 70 cm x 50 cm



Magnifica

Print on canvas

Size: 80 cm x 100




                               ART MODART paintings and photoart



MOD ARTPORTRAITS






       


   


Photography by Roberto Lione © 2011 ArtModart Inc.






Welcome to my Art Studio !


The collection is intended to be a source of Art Design for interior decorators and for people who want to put a bright touch in their homes.





Each artwork is printed in heavy canvas as a digital reproduction. Each work is numbered as a limited edition of up to 100 and is individually signed by me.


Sizes:

100cm x 70cm

50cm x 70cm

A red dot beside the title will indicate the larger size.


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