"VideoDoc: 3-Dimation" is a 32-minute documentary I produced for my college senior project in 1977-78. "VideoDoc" is short for "Video Documentary," and "3-Dimation" is short for "3-dimensional animation," which was, at the time, what Will Vinton called his particular brand of clay animation. About a year after I made this documentary, Vinton changed the moniker to Claymation (which, although trademarked, has become a generic term for clay animation). The video contains interviews with Will Vinton and several of his associates, including clay animators Don Merkt and Barry Bruce and musicians Bill Scream and Paul Jameson. Screenwriter/composer Susan Shadburne, who was Vinton's wife at the time, also appears.
I originally recorded the documentary on 3/4" videotape, and later had it dubbed to an MP4. My apologies for the less-than-stellar video and audio quality. I've posted the video here primarily for posterity.
At the time I taped the interviews and made this video, I was a full-time college student and part-time production assistant for Will Vinton Productions. After I graduated college, I was promoted to full-time production manager, and continued working in that capacity and others until about 1982. Vinton and I remained friends until his death on October 4, 2018.
Writer/videographer/producer/director: Rick Cooper
Interviewer: Kathy Gardner
Narrator: Julie Jones