“Waiting for the Locksmith” is part of my ongoing series of stop-motion shorts that animate found objects from the streets of NYC as characters in their own drama. The many keys and locks that I find point to the transience of New Yorkers as well as our need to protect ourselves and our belongings, no matter where in the city we may find ourselves.

Locks and keys have a symbiotic relationship; each needs the other to fulfill its function. Insert key. Turn. Pins move. The compliant lock opens up. But this piece is about when things don’t go so smoothly. Maybe the key doesn’t fit, or the lock cylinder rusts shut, or the keys fall into the wrong hands. I used the idea of conflict to create a street fight scene for our characters.

Shot on iPhone and edited in Stop Motion Studio, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects. Titles were made in After Effects. The typeface is Blue Highway Condensed.