A gun, a cup of coffee and two unhappy men meet up in A Buck’s Worth. © Tatia Rosenthal.

A Buck’s Worth
A gun, a cup of coffee and the value of a man’s life are all part of an encounter gone wrong between two unhappy men (Tom Noonan and Phillip Baker Hall).

Using groundbreaking technology, A Buck’s Worth was shot on a Canon10D digital still camera, input into a computer at a high resolution and output to 35mm film. Handmade puppets were shot against green- and bluescreens and composited with After Effects into the background plates that were shot separately. The system was developed by the crew in order to test a more economical, modular approach to the expensive traditional techniques of stop-motion animation with the intention of using the new techniques on the production of $9.99 — the feature animation stemming from the short. The film took director Tatia Rosenthal one year to make. Burke Heffner was cinematographer, art direction was by Yael Komarovsky, Rachel Chancey was sound designer, Phil McNagny acted as technical director and Christopher Bowen composed the music.

Rosenthal previously collaborated with Buck’s Worth writer, Etgar Keret, on her award-winning short puppet animation Crazy Glue. They are collaborating on $9.99, a stop-motion, puppet animation film based on Keret’s short stories which was also the first fully animated project accepted by the Sundance Writer’s and Director’s Lab.

Mary Ann Skweres is a filmmaker and freelance writer. She has worked extensively in feature film and documentary post-production with credits as a picture editor and visual effects assistant. She is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild.