Tom Waits for No One is a rotoscoped short movie starring Tom Waits, singing "The One That Got Away" to an apparition.
Produced and directed in 1979 by of Lyon Lamb, it was amongst the first music videos created specifically for the then up and coming MTV market. The film, inspired by a performance of Waits' at the Roxy in may of 1977, captured a first place award at the first Hollywood Erotic Film and Video Festival in 1980. Unfortunately, the film was never released commercially and sat in obscurity for 20 years until the advent of YouTube. Filmed live at the La Brea Stage in Hollywood in 6 takes and edited down to five and a half minutes, the live frames were then traced using a "video rotoscope" and then converted by hand into animation. This particular combination of rotoscoping and pencil test developed for Ralph Bakshi's American Pop, was considered innovative at the time, assisted in winning Lyon Lamb a 1979 Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement. The films' production team consisted of an amazing host of talents which includes as follows, David Silverman-animator:.David was the first animator on the Simpsons, working with Klasky-Csupo on Simpson interstitials for The Tracey Ullman Show, later on to produce the Simpsons, The Wild Thorneberries and Monsters Inc. Kieth Newton-rotoscope and character design: Kieth moved on to Disney doing backgrounds and character design for Pokohantas, portrait artist on site at Epcot Center and Disney World in Florida. Micheal Cressey-inker: Micheal went into a distinguished career of childrens book publishing, writing 8 books and receiving the coveted Caldecott Award twice, among numerous others. Garrett Smith-live action camera: Garrett moved into an illustrious career at Paramount Studios and became an integral part in the development of HD with Texas Instruments. Gary Beydler-live action camera: Gary was an esteemed fim maker/photographer and fine artist with works in the MMA, Moca and a Newsweek cover article. Donna Marie Gordon-dancer/model: Donna became a choreographic trainer for Las Vegas chorus girls for 18 years .
Recently, a cel from the production became part of the Tom Waits permanent exhibit at the Rock and roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
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