Faculty of Art

Experimental Animation

Maya Harding

02 │ The Piece Atop His Pate

The Piece Atop His Pate is an experimental music video directed by myself and Jae Despi, inspired by Jocelyn Morlock’s song Bobby Hull (from her 2013 cycle Perruqueries) with words by Bill Richardson. The project was an exciting collaboration that was brought to OCAD U students and made possible by Canadian Art Song Project (CASP). “The song recalls a quirky moment in Canadian hockey history. In 1978, during a WHA game between the Winnipeg Jets and Birmingham Bulls, a scuffle on the ice led to Bobby Hull’s toupee being knocked loose. Hull returned to the game wearing a helmet, and the incident quickly became hockey lore. In reality, it was Dave Hanson — not Steve Durbano, as was widely reported at the time — who inadvertently knocked Hull’s hairpiece off. Morlock and Richardson take playful liberties with the details, turning the episode into a humorous and musically inventive art song.” - Canadian Art Song Project on YouTubeTo set the story in a particular time and place, we chose a unique combination of Hanna-Barbera style animation with late 70’s CBC television graphics. The project was animated in Toon Boom Harmony, and composited using Adobe After Effects.

“Lawrence Williford from CASP and Phillipe Blanchard from OCAD U oversaw the project, allowing Jae Despi and I to take on director roles. Jae’s main focus was on overall project management, as they also acted as the producer. I was the project’s sole storyboard/animatic artist, and then took on the role of animation director in the second half of the project. I shared my storyboard/animatic work with the group weekly, and helped to develop the project in its early stages. When we moved into animation, I oversaw all of the work and led weekly meetings summarizing our progress to the project supervisors.Williford came to the group with an exciting plan for visual treatment, asking us to incorporate references to late 70’s/early 80’s CBC television graphics as well as Hanna-Barbera animation from the same era. Ben Fieldhouse did research to help identify key traits of this animation style as well as to give us an accurate understanding of the layouts of hockey arenas in this era. The character, Stan the Stick was created by Angela Lin as our stand in/nod to the character “Peter Puck” who was animated by Hanna-Barbera and featured on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada in the 70s. Using Stan as an announcer type character, I was able to create a playful relationship between him and Bobby Hull. His more cartoon-like nature granted him the ability to talk to the audience, be everywhere, and to have a hammerspace. Keith Lam, the baritone in the song, was an amazing voice for Stan! One of my main focuses in recounting this event with Bobby Hull was telling a story that was both comedic and an exploration of a public figure who is challenged by personal insecurities. The moment that I experimented the most in this project was when I integrated graphics inspired by the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast intro from 1977. Instead of having them appear separately from Hull, I wanted to see the two styles together. The CBC silhouettes starkly contrast the cartoon-like appearance of Bobby Hull, visually “othering” him and highlighting his horror/insecurities in the moment that he lost his toupee. Notably, the graphics that inspired these scenes are not fully animated. Our use of roto scoping animation is a unique take on the graphics, and allowed for more acting and interaction between the characters. The reference was performed by Aaron Philcox, recorded by Patrick Hagarty and animated by Stella Yang.The Piece Atop His Pate is a wonderful combination of art song and animation. It is a uniquely Canadian piece that celebrates Canadian music artists, animation made in Canada, and Canadian hockey history. This project was developed in memory of Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023). Thank you to the generous financial support of Janet Stubbs and to CASP for making this project possible. Additionally, thank you to all of the amazing artists who worked on the project. For more information about the project please refer to:https://canadianartsongproject.ca/the-piece-atop-his-pate-is-here/ ARTISTIC TEAMMusic“Bobby Hull” from Perruqueries (2013) by Jocelyn Morlock, words by Bill RichardsonKeith Lam, baritoneSteven Philcox, pianoRecorded and mixed by Dennis Patterson at Imagine Sound Studios and Big Smoke AudioProduced by Lawrence WilifordProduction Manager:Jae DespiDirectors:Jae DespiMaya HardingStory Artist:Maya HardingCharacter Design:Raghad DaghestaniAngela LinVisual DevelopmentBen FieldhouseAngela LinBackground Artist:Dong ZhouAngela LinMaya HardingProp Artist:Angela Lin3D Modeling and Animation:Jeffrey MarkRotoscope Hockey Player:Aaron PhilcoxRotoscope Videographer:Patrick HagartyRotoscope Animation:Stella YangAnimation Lead:Sabrina NovakAnimators:Letitia Chui, Jae Despi, Maya Harding, Luka Lai, Angela Lin, Jessica Lin, Jeffrey Mark, Kato McKiernan, David Okoli, Seun Ogbara, Menita Sriharsha, Cherrie Tam, Andria Truong, Twig Whale, Stella Yang, Aklesiya Yared, Nalan YildarCompositing/Editing:Letitia ChuiJeffrey MarkProducers:Lawrence WilifordPhilippe BlanchardCanadian Art Song Project Artistic Directors:Lawrence WilifordSteven Philcox© Canadian Art Song Project, 2025 ”