Joel Strong Makes Amusing Stop Motion Videos Replacing People’s Heads With Cutouts Of Celebs
There's no denying that social media artist and stop motion animator Joel Strong's videos are a labor of love. The photographer's latest topical series Heads of State hilariously imagines the presidential front-runners as ordinary New Yorkers and follows them on a day out. And why not, i feel we all need some election humor.
For it the New York based artist used around 80 to 90 heads of Trump, Hilary, Obama, Sanders, and more all with various expressions that he could hold atop actors' bodies and film. Strong uses forced perspective so it looks like the bodies and heads match—well, as much as they can.
According to this post he made on Imgur it all started back in 2014 when he started taking photos holding celebrity cutouts over people's faces.
He then started doing videos, mainly of people dancing with celebrities' heads placed over his friends', sourcing the heads from old magazines. Each video was around 140 frames and used around 10 to 15 cutouts.
And now the videos have grown a little in terms of props and the different cutouts he uses.
He's been posting the results to his Instagram @mydaywithleo, which include photos as well. He also says he's currently working on a collaboration with Netflix.
Check out some of his work below and head to his Instagram for more.
i for one welcome our new female overlords with @shondaevette_
have a good weekend. get it? weeeeeee kend. like pee. WEE kend? yeah? no? ok i'll show myself out. part of my video for @popupmagazine w @la_ratalia. ?: donovan the pee song #trump #stopmotion #pee
collab w @beck. sneakiest preview of his new song. does this mean new album coming?!? #beckWOW w @meredithadelaide
new interview with @wired about how i make my videos. they put the interview up on the internet. i think if you google me and wired you'll find it. @popupmagazine @berniesanders #MDWLlilmovies #stopmotion #feelthebern
part 2 #mydaywithlegs ft @SorayaYd + @kendalljenner ??❤???. @mydaywithleo after dark. #MDWLlilmovies #stopmotion
part 2 heads of state for @popupmagazine, or the part where i use two hands. full video up at the youtubes. ?❤???#MDWLlilmovies #stopmotion #newyorkprimary
okay ill bring him back just this once but only because you guys asked nicely. enjoy your weird boners you lovely sickos. we're all very exited over here. w @la_ratalia ❤
for @americantwoshot modeled by @drakesnoelle styled by @pkkozak and she even helped me with the cutouts. she used scissors but you could barely tell ? #MDWLlilmovies #stopmotion #americantwoshot
#MDWLlilmovies
couldn't find a delorian. or a hoverboard. sorry you guys. i let you down. i found one of those sideway motor skateboard thingies but i don't like them. this is the best i could do.
part 7 oprah on date #mydaywithoprahonadate. happy monday. hope you're having a good time growing out that mustache. or writing that novel. or whatever it is they're telling you to do this month. im doing both because im a man who does remarkable things. like steadily grow facial hair while im sitting at a coffee shop slowly typing on my livejournal. truthfully both are pretty thin and unimpressive at the moment. the novel lacks a general structural basis. so does the mustache. i don't think either will get better but im gonna do my best. have a good day.
some forces awaken slower than others. @starwars tonight! #theforceawakens
part 1 #mydaywithaswimsuitcalendar im thinking of making my very own swimsuit calendar. i think this would be miss august. would you buy one? is this a good idea? or did all the california girls melt my brain into strange juices that cant think of anything more nuanced than betty white and boobs and bikinis?? i look forward to your feedback. with @britthearmerawrr
with @cmcuse who takes really great pictures and emailed me about doing some fun pics so we met up yesterday and got this one. we went to the hollywood sign but you can't get super close right now because of some water shortage or something so we had to hike up another trail and i got all sweaty and out of breath. we walked by some horsies and i said the last time i rode a horse was a couple summers ago at an old friends wedding. it was at a horse ranch and there were horses and i kept pestering the property owner about letting me ride a horse and she kept saying no which was probably smart. most times a drunk man in a suit begs to ride your horse you should probably say no. finally when i was drunk enough and maybe she was drunk enough too she let me get on a grey horse named bucky and he had a steady temperament and i knew he'd take good care of me even though i was three sheets to the wind as they say. i saddled up and rode bucky out of the stable and near the wedding party. i got him near the dance floor and was feeling pretty good about myself since being the only person on a horse is usually a pretty good way to have everyone think you're really cool. i figured the next best thing would be to ride ol bucky onto the dance floor so everyone could touch him and maybe i could make eyes at some bridesmaids but he wouldnt get near the party. he'd just stay still on the edge of the dance floor. i kept hiya-ing as best i could but bucky was no fool. so i just sat there and waived at everyone and tried to make small talk which i think would be easier if everyone else was on a horse too and not just me. i did that thing where you lean forward on a horse with your hands around that saddle knob thing and have a chat but then i realized that being on a horse that won't do what you want is a pretty bad way to stand out so i turned bucky around and had him horse saunter into the woods never to be seen again. id like to think i had a good clint eastwood vibe that day but it's really tough to say. anyway none of this has anythin to do w jack nicholson or hollywood but its what ive been thinkin about today bc @troprouge and me have been plannin somethin special
watch me nae nae. with THE @CHEKESHAJ who is gorgeous and tall and can hoop but i could totally woop at a game of ?. i think. mostly because my jumpshot is ? and she couldn't stop it. from my nae nae whip video the other day. xx. if you didn't see it click back a day or two. it's my life's work.
if you don't wanna spend time with yerself who else will??? part 6 #mydaywithbffs couple things. 1) searching through nic cage insta accounts lookin fer people to tag was a lot of fun just now. you should do it. 2) i was hangin with my new buddy lassen (503!!!!) gettin some pics and we saw this girl eating crepes down in LES on this red bench and we both thought she'd be perfect for the double headed nic cage monster that i was holding in my pocket. we walked up to her which is weird and she was mid bite which made me feel bad for mistiming my approach then i pull out two nic cage heads which i knew was just making everyone uncomfortable (poor girl on this bench just trying to eat a crepe and heres some weirdo with two lil nic cage cutouts i thought) and i said what i always say when i walk up to strangers as fast as i can because it never doesn't feel strange hi i do this thing where i hold celebrity heads over peoples heads and i take pictures of them would you mind if i took a picture of you your face won't be in it. and olivia said oh my god i totally follow you youre leo right? and i said actually joel but a lot of people call me leo but thats so cooooool! and she said this is awesome and she was really happy to be nic cage and then she said i have hairy armpits do you want me to hold my arm up and i said hell yeah let it flow olivia! and then we took this pic. anyway. it's really nice when i meet a stranger who already likes my stuff. i know it's totally bragging right now to say this but sometimes i don't tell you guys enough that being able to do this makes me really happy and my life is stranger than i ever thought it would be and that makes me super happy and i love all the cool people i'm meeting in this super talented and crazy city. you guys keep being you. thanks so much.
"cara in the city" for @metal_magazine #carainthecity part 10 #mydaywithsidejobs
best part about a birthday is makin all yer buds go roller skatin. #mydaywithleo