OCTOPUS! Stop-Motion Design & Fabrication Lead (Collab with Mighty Oak & Jigsaw Productions)

Marguerite- Short Film. Collaboration with Jamie Caliri and Dragonframe

MTV “Vote Early Day”

“Star” - Co Directed with Tiny Inventions

Sesame Street “By Your Side”

Burt’s Bees “Lip Tips”

Nouns Fest “Blueberry Girl” BTS - Short Film

MTV - Women’s History Month “How to Triumph Like a Girl”

Charlie Banana “ A Little Softness Can Change the World”

Night Lights Denver - Clay Projection on building

“Pie for Peace” - Short Film

Kids GPS

The Miniaturist.- Book Trailer

Netflix - “The Half of It” Opening Sequence

Seed the Untold Story Time - Lapse

A paper stop motion animated spot for MTV. It was created for Vote Early Day during the 2022 Midterm Elections. Since midterms usually don't have a high turnout like a general election, our goal was to create a memorable animated piece to get young voters to vote for the issues facing the country. The election ballot bird takes the worms (issues) to the ballot box on vote early day. We decided to focus on reproductive rights, gun violence, racial justice, inflation and mental health care.

Credits

Direction, Fabrication & Animation: Hayley Morris

Compositing: Cody Millett

Producer: Colleen Siviter

MTV Creative Team: Chris William, Sundi Lofty, and Rosa White

Animation created for MTV’s Women’s History Month 2022.

I was inspired by Ada Limon’s poem, “How to Triumph Like a Girl” that celebrates the strength and power of every woman. It was made by creating hundreds of replacement water color pieces that were animated in stop-motion.

"Rowan" was created for Night Lights Denver in February 2025. https://www.denvertheatredistrict.com/artists/hayley-morris-shape-shadow

Directed and Animated by Hayley Morris and produced by Randi Wilens. 

Music: Strata by Moby, courtesy of https://mobygratis.com

I fell in love with animating clay during this project. There is something so intuitive about it, much like motherhood -there is no manual to follow, you just go with the flow of each day. I let the clay guide me, embracing the way it naturally unfolded. While making this my daughter was 3, and I wanted to explore the interconnectedness and transformation between mother and child, and also how as a parent your inner child resurfaces. The malleability of clay was the perfect medium to express my ideas. I loved working with the unique contours of the building to accentuate both the intimate and expansive qualities of motherhood. 

A woman is transported to her childhood when she hears the music from a mysterious guitarist on a quiet night. A stop-motion and hand drawn animated film.

I started working on "Marguerite" in 2017. Jamie Caliri reached out to see if I wanted to make a promo for a version of the new Dragonframe software based on a drawing I had done of a 1920's style woman. As we started working on it, it evolved into a new project, and we decided to ditch the idea of it being a promo and have it be a very short film instead. We worked on it, on-and-off for the past few years in between our projects and life events (pandemic, I had a baby).

My inspiration for the film is an amalgamation of many things. My dad passed away in 2014. He was a musician and guitarist and we really bonded over music. I had been wanting to make a short film inspired by him that wasn’t directly a film about him. That same year I went to Paris for a show I was in with other stop motion artists. I fell in love with the feeling of the streets at night and hearing the city sounds. When brainstorming ideas, I was listening to a lot of Django Reinhardt and had been making drawings with references to 1920’s Paris. In my research I was drawn to the photographs of Brassai and his night scenes of solitary figures in shadow. I did a series of drawings inspired by the characters in these scenes. One of them was a large drawing of a woman that I turned into the main character of Marguerite. Stylistically I wanted to explore how I could create a 3D stop motion puppet that looked hand drawn. I created drawn textures for the face, hair and clothes that I then cut out and sculpted for dimension out of paper. I then crafted a story and scene around her inspired by Django style music and references to my childhood.

Credits

Direction: Hayley Morris

Cinematographer: Jamie Caliri

Animation : Anthony Scott

Animation: Hayley Morris

Animation: Til Gold

Sets: Carin Huber

Sets: Alex Juhasz

Sets: Huy Vu

Puppets: Hayley Morris

Music: “Romano Trajo” Performed by Maitland Ward

Copyright - Angelo Debarre/ Jean Cousantiers

Production: Shape & Shadow / Dragonframe

This was a very special project and came to me at the perfect time when I was 7 month pregnant. I had been thinking of using cloth diapers and these have seriously been the best since my daughter arrived.

This project is a paper stop-motion spot for Charlie Banana cloth diapers. The paper puppets and elements were shot on green screen and then composited together with digital hand drawn facial features. Made with Nerd Productions London.

Agency: Curiousity

Production: NERD Productions London/Shape & Shadow

Director/Stop -Motion Animation: Hayley Morris

Fabricator: Randy Bretzin & Hayley Morris

Producers: Milana Karaica & Phil Burgess

Compositing: Shay Hamais

More about Charlie Banana:

At Charlie Banana, our mission is to create a better world for baby by connecting eco-conscious parents to superior, reusable cloth diapers.

We believe that the smallest steps – or tiniest humans – can make a huge difference in the world.

That’s why we create products that make a change and donate to organizations that help the planet, all while providing edge-to-edge softness and safe ingredients that keep babies’ skin protected.

We created the opening animated sequence for the Netflix film “The Half of It” directed by Alice Wu. This project is a mix of under the camera charcoal animation, paper and mixed media stop motion animation and digital 2d.

Animation Director: Hayley Morris

Animation: Hayley Morris & Caleb Wood

Producer: Katrina Whalen

“Blueberry Girl” is a short clay stop-motion film created and funded by Nouns Fest 2024. https://nounsfest.tv/

For this film I wanted to capture my daughter’s imaginative play at 3 years old and how I am a witness to her growth. At the time of making this, she loved Willy Wonka, and specifically the character of Violet Bauregard (Blueberry Girl.) I think I painted her face blue for a month. She usually becomes fixated on a character for a month and then moves onto something new. The nouns characters were a perfect way of showing her imaginative play and transforming into different characters. I involved her in the process of picking out the nouns characters, used her voice and she helped me animate the beginning section with her hands.

A stop-motion cut paper and clay animation for the Japanese pop band Ikimonogakari. This was a very fun collaboration with the animation duo Tiny Inventions ( Ru Kuwuhata & Max Porter). It was so great to combine our love for hand crafted animation and merge our styles together.

Direction: Ru Kuwuhata, Hayley Morris, Max Porter

Animation: Hayley Morris

Fabrication: Ru Kuwuhata, Mochi Lin, Hayley Morris

Compositing: Max Porter

Storyboard: Ru Kuwuhata & Hayley Morris

Producer: Yosuke Yamaguchi

Stop-Motion music video for Iron and Wine's song "Joy." from the album Ghost on Ghost, Nonesuch Records and 4AD.

Fabrication: Hayley Morris, Randy Bretzin, Denise Hauser

Animation: Hayley Morris

Explosions In The Sky - The Ecstatics (Official Video)
Directed by Hayley Morris: 
Glass Blowers-Cindy Del Rio & Arden Wren Sawyer
Fabrication-Hayley Morris & Randy Bretzin
Record Label: Constant Artists

Off the new album The Wilderness
Order The Wilderness
smarturl.it/EITSStore

Follow Explosions In the Sky
Facebook: smarturl.it/EITSFacebook
Instagram: smarturl.it/EITSInstagram
SoundCloud: smarturl.it/EITSSoundCloud
Twitter: smarturl.it/EITSTwitter
Website: explosionsinthesky.com

Explosions In the Sky Apparel
Webstore - smarturl.it/EITSStore

Tour Dates
smarturl.it/EITSTour

A stop-motion animation for Hilary Hahn and Hauschka's song "Bounce Bounce" from their album Silfra.

Direction & Animation : Hayley Morris

Fabrication : Hayley Morris & Randy Bretzin

Color Correction: Evan Kultangwatana

This was such a fun project for BABY DEGEN showcasing their EYEZ sweater. Check out their fun and playful knit products on
babydegen.com

A series of Instagram Videos created to inspire followers to use new Burt's Bees 100% natural lip products. We created a series of "lip tips" to be posted weekly on the Burt's Bees instagram account.

Check out this #beautytip from celebrity makeup artist@kateydenno: For #natural lip exfoliation, cut a grape in half and rub it on your lips. The fruit’s juicy goodness will help alleviate dryness, and prepare your 💋 for whatever color combination you choose. 💄

Director: Hayley Morris

Water Color Animation: Sharon Liu

Advertising Agency: Baldwin&, Raleigh, USA

Creative Directors: David Baldwin, Bob Ranew

Art Director: Kellyn McGarity

Copywriter: Chad Temples

Production Company: th1ng

Producer: Liz Stovall

Account Supervisor: Katharine Belloir

Project Manager: Tonya Martin

Production Company: Th1ng
 

A stop-motion animation about sibling empathy created for Sesame Studios.

Direction, Animation & Fabrication: Hayley Morris

Fabrication: Zoe Mathewson & Gabe Nelson

Rig Removal: Simon Allen

Producers: Vicky Stewart & Kim Diaz

Music: Teeny Tiny Stevies

We created animated tour visuals for The Smashing Pumpkins ‘Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour’ 2018 for their song “Stand Inside Your Love.”

Direction & Animation: Hayley Morris

Fabrication: Hayley Morris, Zoe Mathewson, Randy Bretzin, Simon Allen

Creative Director: Linda Strawberry

Producer: Randi Wilens

A drifting man struggles to pull objects from sea below him and scrambles to keep the objects from slipping through his fingers. A stop-motion animation using textured and tactile materials, as well as personal imagery, that represents the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Inspired by my grandfather.

Best Animated Short at Slamdance 2009.

"Pie for Peace" is a video I made for fun. 

This is an animated sequence from the short "Thousand Hills of Hope" about Imana Truyers and her NGO called Thousand Hills of Hope, which supports medical and schooling projects throughout Rwanda. To learn more about her organization and to contribute, please visit thousandhillsofhope.be. 
The animation was completely hand made with cut paper and jointed paper puppets.

Imana Truyers was born in Rwanda right before the genocide broke out in 1994, from a Hutu father and Tutsi mother. Through a series of fortuitous events and thanks to a Belgian nun, she was able to make it out of the country alive and was adopted into a Belgian family right before chaos ensued. She returned back to her home country for the first time in 2015, where she was able to see her family and the life that she almost had.

Direction & Animation - Hayley Morris (Shape and Shadow LLC)
Fabrication - Hayley Morris & Polina Zakharova
CREW:
Director/Editor - Spencer MacDonald & Eva Verbeeck
Producer - Eva Verbeeck
Cinematography/Sound Design/Color - Spencer MacDonald
Audio Mix - Matteo Di Giulio
MUSIC:
"So Diyara" by Sagna Guire Ramata & Niama Kouyate
"An Accumulation" by Blue Dot Sessions
"Distance 3" by Evelyn Glennie
"Visions of Light" by Evelyn Glennie
"Melted Crystal" by Kikagaku Moyo

Bon Jovi “Raise Your Hands” 2019 European Tour

We created paper stop motion hand animations as well as ripped paper elements for the background stage design for Bon Jovi’s song “Raise Your Hands”.

Production: Nimblist

Animation & Design: Hayley Morris | Shape & Shadow

Creative Directors: Scott Peterman & Linda Strawberry

Compositing: Andrew Hildebrand

Making of video for one of my favorite bands Explosions in the Sky for their song 'The Ecstatics.' 

Thanks to:
Glass Blowers-Cindy Del Rio & Arden Wren Sawyer
Making of Video-Polina Zakharova

Credits
Direction & Animation-Hayley Morris
Fabrication-Hayley Morris & Randy Bretzin
Record Label: Constant Artists

A stop-motion animation using fabric and paper puppets for Trickle up.

Trickle Up drives large-scale change by partnering with governments, global institutions, and local organizations. Since 1979, Trickle Up has helped 335,000 women gain the skills and confidence to achieve greater economic self-sufficiency. When women succeed, so can their children and families. Since five people on average benefit for each woman we reach, we've helped over 1.5 million people total. In the next five years, we’re committed to helping the next million graduate out of extreme poverty.

Credits

Direction, Animation & Fabrication: Hayley Morris

Fabrication: Zoe Mathewson, Gates Callanan, Randy Bretzin

Production: Bodega Studios

Creative Director: Mark Littman

Producer: Min Park

Official music video for Pure Bathing Culture's song " Dream the Dare" from the album, Moon Tides.
A raven's journey through a colorful stop-motion animated and projected landscape.

Director/Animator: Hayley Morris
Drawn Projections: Caleb Wood and Hayley Morris
Fabrication: Hayley Morris and Randy Bretzin
Color Correction: Evan Kultangwatana
Made with Dragonframe

Jessie Burton’s mysterious novel ‘The Miniaturist’ inspired this fan animation. Conceptually fascinating for stop-motion animators – who themselves are miniaturists. My interns (Somie Kim and Elise Waldow) and I created our version of a 17th century cabinet house. Each and every piece was crafted by hand.

SEED: The Untold Story

We created an animated cut paper stop motion segment for the Emmy nominated documentary SEED:The Untold Story.

Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds -- worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. This documentary follows passionate seed keepers who are protecting a 12,000 year-old food legacy. In the last century, 94 seed varieties have disappeared. A cadre of 10 agrichemical companies, including Syngenta, Bayer, and Monsanto, controls over two-thirds of the global seed market, reaping unprecedented profits. Farmers and others battle to defend the future of our food.

Directors: Taggart Siegel, Jon Betz

Animation Director: Hayley Morris | Shape & Shadow

A stop-motion holiday animation created for the law firm Haynes and Boone.

Direction & Animator: Hayley Morris

Fabricators: Randy Bretzin, Michaela Olsen

D.P: David Griffiths

D.P assistant: Perry Styga

Producer: Alia Nakashima

AE:Marian Abbruzzese

Production Co: Curious Pictures

Agency: Slingshot

The theme of the Robin Hood’s annual benefit at the Jacob Javits Convention center in NYC this year was education. We worked with 40+ hand models to create stop motion/pixilation animated screens that were integrated into various spaces. The hands wrote on chalkboards and created shapes like hearts and peace signs.

Among the invited guests were Kenan Thompson, Gayle King and Sebastian Maniscalco, with performances from Pharrell and Shawn Mendes.

Production: Nimblist

Creative Production: David Stark

Creative Director: Scott Peterman

Animation Production: Hayley Morris | Shape & Shadow

Casting Director: LDI

Compositors: Dylan Hayes & Andrew Hildebrand

Chalk Animators: Dylan Hayes, Natasha Sharpe, Hayley Morris, Randy Bretzin

PA: Randy Bretzin

Event Videographer: Gustavo Campos

A series of Instagram Videos created to inspire followers to use new Burt's Bees 100% natural lip products. We created a series of "lip tips" to be posted weekly on the Burt's Bees instagram account.

Did you know your lips need sleep too? @kateydennosays that to keep your lips looking more vibrant during the day, apply a light swipe of Burt’s Bees #natural lip balm just before you hit the hay. It’ll help the lip color you apply in the morning pop even more!

Director: Hayley Morris

Water Color Animation: Sharon Liu

Advertising Agency: Baldwin&, Raleigh, USA

Creative Directors: David Baldwin, Bob Ranew

Art Director: Kellyn McGarity

Copywriter: Chad Temples

Production Company: th1ng

Producer: Liz Stovall

Account Supervisor: Katharine Belloir

Project Manager: Tonya Martin

Production Company: Th1ng
 

Stop-Motion/Pixilation spot for KidGPS. This was inspired by 'Little Red Riding Hood' and created using hand made props, primarily made of paper. It was all shot in camera. 

Behind the Scenes Video Below.

Thanks for Mary Jo Cahilly-Bretzin for making this awesome behind the scenes video for the KidGPS project!

Music: "Favorite Secrets" by Waylon Thornton (waylonthornton.tumblr.com)

Credits

Client: KidGPS

Direction: Hayley Morris

Production and Creative Direction: Sara Siegel Productions

Coordinator:  Lauren Slone

Production Support: Jeremy Saxton, Lauren Rossi, Luke Reedy

Casting: Sara Siegel Productions

Support: Lauren Rossi

Props & Sets: Todd Davis, Hayley Morris

Fabrication: Todd Davis, Mary Jo Cahilly-Bretzin, Michelle Zamora (Viva La Puppet) Ilse Miller, Randy Bretzin, Jeremy Saxton

Animation: Todd Davis, Michelle Zamora, Hayley Morris

Director of Photography: Kelly Moore

Gaffers: Tom Pena, Yohan Herman

Post: Color Correction:Evan Kultangwatana

Compositing: Greta Scheing 

Voiceover talent and music: Buzzmeg Studios

Copywriter: Mac Schwerin 

Wardrobe: Kimberly Aldinger

Makeup: Caroline Ramos

Starring
Kid:Taeho K
Grandma: Mariko Van Kempen
Mom: Crystal Lee

Animation: Hayley Morris
Live Action: Sam Bayer

A paper stop-motion animated holiday animation for Green Mountain Quality Assurance (GMQA) , highlighting their message of "Helping You Build A Healthier World.".  

https://www.greenmountainqa.com

Production: Shape & Shadow
Direction & Animation: Hayley Morris
Fabrication: Zoe Mathewson and Hayley Morris
Music: "Montreal Summer" by Tiny Music

Direction & Animato:Hayley Morris

Client: Humana One

Agency: RAPP

Hand Model &Animator: Taylor Jordan

Fabrication: Hayley Morris & Taylor Jordan

DP: Abe Spear

After Effects: Jess Mireau

Production Company: Curious Pictures

A celebration of silent film stars projected onto my face. A short piece I made for Bare Bones 6. It was shown at the Red Gallery in London.

HP sent me their Sprout computer which has a touch screen animation surface and Stop Motion App. I experimented with its projection capabilities and wanted to create a playful animation using a simple character transitioning into various environments. I also liked playful with the idea of "touch screen" by incorporating my actual hands into the scenes. For instance my hand creating a rain cloud or sending the cube character into space. 

Credits

Direction & Animation: Hayley Morris

Music and Sound by Sean Morris.
http://www.seanmorrisproductions.com/#!music/cjg9

Give your #lips a pop of color this #ValentinesDay with our line of layer-licious lip color products! Because everyone knows bees love lips.

Director: Hayley Morris

Water Color Animation: Sharon Liu

Advertising Agency: Baldwin&, Raleigh, USA

Creative Directors: David Baldwin, Bob Ranew

Art Director: Kellyn McGarity

Copywriter: Chad Temples

Production Company: th1ng

Producer: Liz Stovall

Account Supervisor: Katharine Belloir

Project Manager: Tonya Martin

Production Company: Th1ng
Agency: Baldwin&

Animation for Pretty Snake. A collaboration with animator Greta Scheing.

Designer print streetwear, beachwear and accessories for the fashionably adventurous. Est '09 in RI by JAS proj runway ssn 11 prettysnake.com

We took thousands of photos of the animals at the Detroit Zoo and the actress interacting with the animals. My favorite shot is her hand actually touching the polar bear's paw. We then sequenced the photos all together and shot them in a bedroom frame by frame. 

Director/Animator:Hayley Morris
DP:David Griffiths
Animator:Taylor Jordan
Production Company:Curious Pictures
Agency: Doner

A series of looped GIFS made for Animus Studios using their lion logo as inspiration.

Direction & Animaton: Hayley Morris

Animated promo for apparel brand Pretty Snake. Designer print streetwear, beachwear and accessories for the fashionably adventurous.

Fabrication: Hayley Morris & Polina Zakharova

Animation: Hayley Morris

"I am that girl who shoots bullets into the sky and makes doorways of freedom, hope and relief." Daughters of Destiny, now streaming only on Netflix. 

Watch Daughters of Destiny:
netflix.com/title/80092926

Direction & Animation: Hayley Morris
Creative Director: Emily Collins
Production Company: Mighty Oak
Fabricators: Emily Hoffman, Harriett Lenneman, Hayley Morris
Post: Anthony Galante

I was the Lead Character Fabricator on a section of the film Wonderstruck, directed by Todd Haynes and adapted from the book by Bryan Selznick.

Production Designer: Mark Friedberg

Producer: Katrina Whalen

Character Fabrication: Bess Kress

Character Fabrication Intern: Anthony Galante

Health is a stop-motion animation using clay,paper and objects on glass. 

This animation was done for the Advertising Council's 57th Annual Service Award Dinner to introduce all the health commercials that were made that year.

A short stop-motion piece commissioned by Kate Spade New York. September's color was "Ruby." Everything is hand-made with paper.

Music: Sean Morris
D.P: David Griffiths

A paper cut-out stop-motion animation for Paragard.

Director/Animator: Hayley Morris

Agency: Strikeforce
Agency Producer: Lisa Goore
Creative: Betsy Petropoulos and Robert Dufour
Fabricators: Randy Bretzin, Michaela Olsen, Ze San San
D.P: David Griffiths
D.P Assistant: Perry Styga
Producer: Christophe Faubert
AE: Fred Lammie
Production Company: Curious Pictures

This is my interpretation of a yule log in collaboration with the amazing dancer Mary Jo-Cahilly Bretzin. This was shot frame by frame with long exposures and light painting to mimic the look of fire. 

Now in its 4th year, Yule Log 2.0 is a collection of short films created by various animation artists that are bringing the Yule Log tradition into the digital age. It’s also a chance to make a difference. We’re raising funds to support Camp Interactive in the Bronx, NY. It’s a place where kids can learn to code (and canoe).

Credits

Direction: Hayley Morris

Dancer: Mary Jo Cahilly Bretzin

Light Painter: Randy Bretzin

A Sketchbook film by author, artist and filmmaker Danny Gregory and artist Tommy Kane.

Danny says, "This Sketchbook film is about Hayley Morris, award winning stop-motion animator, capturing her creative process as she makes drawings and critters for her latest film "Bounce Bounce. I filmed Hayley with a Canon 7D and four lenses (a 15/2.8 Fisheye, a 50/1.4, a16-35/2.8 L II, and a100/2.8 L IS MACRO) and Tommy Kane used his own video camera for the aerial shots.
The music is the classic chanson "La Mer" by Charles Trenet."

See more sketchbook films at vimeo.com/channels/sketchbookfilms

It was a lot of fun collaborating with Edelman Digital to create this series of stop-motion videos for Samsung US in the Vine App. Also these were actually animated in Samsung phones. 

Thanks to Greta Scheing, MJ Cahilly-Bretzin, Randy Bretzin and Agnieszka Woznicka for the fabrication and animation help.