Welcome to Knights End

Hi.

I'm Darrell Claunch. Knights End is my studio.  I do a lot of creative work as an individual, but the nice thing about a studio space is that it invites other creatives in to work alongside you, and it seems like collaboration is where the most interesting ideas are born. Knights End is a place for ideas.

 I've composited muppets, werewolves, comic book heroes, dinosaurs, giant robots, gore, and pestilence aplenty. I have worked on summer blockbusters and arthouse indies. I have created pixel animations for video games sold across the globe and illustrated children's books, movie posters, concept art, and collectible card games. I have taught film and visual effects production at the university level.  I've worked on video installations that have been featured in the MET and the Louvre. It's all about range. At least, I hope so.

In looking at other folks' websites, I tend to see a lot of descriptors like creative, visionary, storyteller, guru; even artist can feel like a poor fit sometimes. I was the kid who was putting knickknacks on the shelves of my dioramas. Hiding little creatures in the background to be discovered the third time you looked at the drawing. I love detail. The little things that, when taken in from a few paces back, make up a huge, rich, complex world. That is the part of creativity that I love to lose myself in. A single word of a script.  A shadow in the short film.  The sky in the background of your commercial. Whether my project or yours, the details matter.

I spent years working within view of the Hollywood sign, but these days my studio lives in the Midwest, where I can charge less per project and still maintain the high quality my clients deserve.