My Senior Thesis “Voyage of the Bagworm” Ringling College of Art + Design
May 1, 2010 Senior Thesis
Here is the final edit! 
My senior thesis, Voyage of the Bagworm explores the daily activities of these curious creatures. Bagworms are fascinating caterpillars of the Bagworm Moth which live in portable protective casings constructed out of silk and plant debris.
My entire life, I have been an admirer of nature. I also have a passion for telling stories through animation and documentary photography. So for my thesis I wanted to take a closer look at the microcosmic world of bagworms.
What began as a pure stop motion documentary organically evolved into an amusing insight into their interactions with one another. I photographed the caterpillars nearly every day for three months and I started noticing similar behaviors among them. They would also engage in behavior that I could only describe as recreational amusement. Usually when one crawls near another, it inevitably attaches itself to the other’s bag and enjoys a free ride! They would also climb to the top of a plant and repel back to the ground, just to crawl right back up and repeat the process several times.
This film is intended to show a different perspective of these extraordinary critters. The homemade sounds are meant to show my interpretation of their character. Instead of looking at them as pests that need to be destroyed, I want the viewer to understand that they are unique miracles of nature.
I showed my nephews and nieces, THEY LOVED IT! And it kept them entertained for the whole time, that is hard to do for those munchkins
Wow, that is amazing. My favorite hobby is insect watching and i found one of these on my front porch tonight. It looked like a barnicle with a little centipede in it. Glad to know what it is. Thanks for making this fascinating video and for taking such an interest in these cool little dudes