Pandemania(s)

Nan Chalt-Noaker's combined talents of creativity, knitting and photography have aided her in producing several stop-motion animation films with up lifting messages in this time of Covid Crisis.

Pandemania and Pandemania 2 have a run time of less than a minute but the time invested is incalculable. “It is impossible to add up the time spent building a set, creating the characters, knitting outfits for them and then shooting a scene. Even more time is spent in post production — touching up each frame, adding sound etc. It is time-consuming but I seem to be kind of obsessed with it. And I am completely self taught!”

In Pandemania, the little character is only 3 inches tall and knits with toothpicks. “Between shots I would knit a row on the toothpicks and then put them back in her hands for the next shot, then transfer the stitches one by one to the other needle taking one frame at a time. Crazy, huh!”

Nan eventually sanded the toothpicks because they were snagging the yarn. “I buy yarn from Wasatch and Wool in Park City. The yarn for the scarf in Pandemania is from that beautiful store. When everything shut down due to the virus, the wonderful owner of the store, Margaux Kelleher, sent me a surprise package with the beautiful pastel mohair yarn seen in Pandemania 2!”

In social media photos, Nan's characters appear to share or at least hang around open wine bottles during thee PC Follies preview and other events. “My little characters are kind of taking over the house — birds, dogs, donkeys and a skunk! I blame the sheltering in place order! And yes, they join me for happy hour on a regular basis. My husband and friends have been very tolerant.”

Nan isn't spending the quarantine just knitting with toothpicks and thinking up new adventures for her soft creations. She volunteers for the Summit County Democratic Party, Zooms with friends, cooks, bakes, gardens, reads and walks with her husband and their dog. “I would really like to emphasize, though, that I have been loving the amazing online cultural experiences that our local nonprofit organizations have been hosting. The Park City Summit County Arts Council’s virtual gallery stroll, The Egyptian Theatre’s free online Follies presentation, lots of Facebook Live home concerts, classes, etc.”

We wish Nan much success with all of her projects and thank her for her uplifting messages during this time of isolation. Here are links to 

Pandemania  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtdeBU6qPoo 
Pandemania 2   https://youtu.be/7XxxoCK5BJI