Well, that was unexpected...

So, a bit of surprise news for today - some of you may already know (because, let's be honest, if you've seen me in person over the last seven months I haven't shut up about it) that I was supposed to have a book out in September. As it turns out this is no longer happening...

...Because it's coming out next week! Ta-da!

This has been an immense labour of love and in a lot of respects the culmination of several incredibly gratifying years as part of the Skwigly management team. It is about, as the title suggests, independent and auteur animated filmmaking in today's climate, compiling 50+ interviews and a multitude of case studies where artists have relied on, primarily, their own resourcefulness to get their films made, oftentimes pushing several envelopes along the way. Part textbook, part cultural study, my hope is that there's enough here to appeal to both animation enthusiasts and those wishing to take the plunge (or already have and are looking for fresh inspiration for the next project) themselves. As this blog and my work with Skwigly indicates, this is obviously a subject I've been passionate about for a long time and it's driven my own work in many respects. In truth it was writing this book that inspired me to break the dam and finally finish a fourth film that's already paddled its way around the world (with a fifth, 'proper' film already brewing). For their invaluable time, insight, encouragement and overall assistance I want to extend the warmest gratitude to the book's interview subjects Adam Elliot, Signe Baumane, Jeff Chiba Stearns, Ant Blades, Kieran Argo, Bjørn-Erik Aschim, Sam Taylor, Philip Brookes, Elliot Cowan, Emma Burch, Seb Burnett, Joe Wood, Dan Emmerson, Adam Wells, Michael Frei, Robert Morgan, Daniel Greaves, Alex Grigg, Jake Hobbs, Ruth Lingford, Daniel Gray, Melissa Johnson, Robertino Zambrano, Dice Tsutsumi, Robert Kondo, Kirsten Lepore, Aidan McAteer, Tony Johnson, Sam Morrison, Jonti Picking, Bill Plympton, Mike Rauch, Tim Rauch, Doug TenNapel, Nina Paley, Adam Pesapane, Sarah Phelps, Benjamin Arcand, Rosto, Chris Shepherd, Thomas Stellmach, Matthew Walker, Tünde Vollenbroek, Jason Sondhi, Aaron Wood, Andy Martin and Garrett Michael Davis (at this point I'm sure you can appreciate why the working title was Project Group-Hug).

Damn fine folks, the lot of 'em

The book also draws on prior Skwigly interviews with Peter Lord, Nick Park, Don Hertzfeldt, Greg McLeod, Steven Woloshen and John Kricfalusi, not to mention how much is owed to those who helped out, primarily my technical editor Katie Steed, the brilliant Corrie Francis Parks (who also recently wrote her own book and played a role in getting the whole project off the ground), Julia Young who lent a helping hand with interview transcripts, Lauren Mattos, Haley Swann, Sean Connelly and the rest of the team at Taylor and Francis. Of course it has to be said that without the tremendous support of a sea of ever-brilliant friends and family it couldn't have come together at all, so a million thanks to all of you who put up with me.
Supplementing the book will be a whole heap of new content that will go online via Skwigly to keep up with the talents involved as well as others cut from a similar cloth, plus special events and other good stuff being cooked up. Be sure to check out the site as well as my Facebook page for future updates.
While I didn't design the front cover myself, here are some mockups I had done around the time of the manuscript submission using images provided by some of the talent involved:

This is a promo image from Rosto's Splintertime that I fell in love with, but ultimately it would be better suited to a book about...well, Rosto.

Image from Everything I Can See From Here by The Line

Another Rosto image, this time from Lonely Bones

There were a few variations on this layout with different arrays of stills (this one features Kirsten Lepore's Move Mountain, Bill Plympton's Cheatin', PES's Submarine Sandwich and Tonko House's The Dam Keeper) but from a marketing perspective erring on the side of simplicity with just one made more sense.

Image from Adam Elliot's Ernie Biscuit

Ernie again

As you can see, the last one is the most similar to the cover image they're going with (see the top of this post) and is from Adam Elliot's first venture into indie territory following such acclaimed work as the Oscar-winning Harvie Krumpet and the gorgeous feature film Mary and Max. Readers of this blog will know I'm a huge Adam Elliot fan and am delighted that the publishers have gone with his work as a cover (it's also fitting as his work, wisdom and creative approaches are perhaps the most prominently featured throughout the book).
The book is currently scheduled for release August 8th (this Monday) and can be pre-ordered now from all reputable retailers, though you're probably best off going through the CRC Press site directly.

The World is Yours

I hope you're all geared up for a weekend of eggy chocolate Jesus zombie antics. I myself am rebuilding myself emotionally from an intense end-of-March deadline while cracking on with what's proving to be a rather therapeutic day-job. I don't think I can talk about it until it's done but I'll just say it involves lots of wavy lines that have proved to have quite a calming effect. Right this second I'm waiting on a bit of client feedback to come through so I'll take the opportunity to do a li'l update post.

I have two new interviews up on the site I hope you'll all enjoy. The first is with directorial duo Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano who made Love in the Time of March Madness, one of my favourite films from last year. It's essentially a docu-memoir about Melissa's own romantic misadventures as a uniquely tall athlete, with Robertino putting together a host of truly impressive visual interpretations that really showcase how much more effective animation can be when it comes to communicating abstract concepts within non-fiction. Have a read here.

Speaking of abstract concepts, Don Hertzfeldt released his new film this week. It's called World of Tomorrow and is more than worth the price of admission; You can stream it for a month for a paltry rental fee on Vimeo, and I can't recommend doing so enough. Like most of his recent work, such as the graphic novel The End of The World and his independent feature It's Such a Beautiful Day, it solicits a huge gamut of emotional response and, primarily, is goddamn hysterical. Gladly I also got an interview with Hertzfeldt himself, something I've been angling for really since day one. Good times indeed.
Also I've noticed that Shaun in the City, the arts project that will see a whole gaggle of oversized Shaun the Sheeps dotted about London (similar to the Gromit Unleashed project in Bristol a couple years back) is now in effect. So there's no harm in putting up some of my own submissions, all of which were sensibly rejected:

Counterclockwise from top-left: Shaun as a Blue Meanie, Shaun as Wallace, Shaun as an old-timey cartoon and Shaun that'd go great with a side of mint jelly

I can appreciate 'Blue Shaunie' may have been a bit thorny, rights-wise, and while I assume 'ShaunWallace' wouldn't have been as big an issue it's a bit on-the-nose (see, he's Shaun, but he's all coloured in and dressed like Wallace geddit? Teeheehoho etc). That being said I quite liked 'Rubberhose Shaun' on the bottom right and, my personal favourite, 'Mrs. Bleaton's Cookbook', top right. Like all truly great artists I'm sure the genius of them all will be more appreciated after I'm dead. It's a fine cause so check out the Shaun in the City site to find out more.
Completely changing the subject, this wonderful new item of vinyl Faith No More-ery is now in my possession:

It's been a month since the song debuted and I still can't fully convey in words how goddamn in love with it I am. It's worth mentioning that the vinyl version sounds better, and I don't mean that in that douchey way vinyl enthusiasts insist upon; It's actually a different, less 'produced' mix that feels more traditionally FNM to my ears. Adrian at newfaithnomore.com put up a little comparison analysis I made (which you can also listen to here).
Let it not be said that I don't give back to my community.

Skwigly Showcase - Wednesday Flier

Our Skwigly Showcase event is tonight at the Looking Glass in Bristol! If you're free, come by around 7:30, say hello and watch some free toonage of an evenin'! More info on Facebook.

Skwigly Showcase - Tuesday Flier

Hopefully see some of you sexy folks there tomorrow!

Fringe Inducing

This year Skwigly's media partnership with the Bristol Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival is a little more involved and has extended to its Fringe Events programme. To that end I was approached a little while back to put together a screening of short films on behalf of the magazine, which was a lot of fun and made fine use of our recently-launched Skwigly Showcase.
If you're not aware of it, the showcase on the website is basically a means to get any animation work someone has already posted online to the Skwigly audience. It's gotten a lot of great feedback so far and been a wonderful insight into how talented our readership is. For the showcase evening we've picked some of our personal favourites and I've also reached out to a few filmmakers whose work, while not available to the general public as of yet, has really bowled me over.
I think it'll be a fun night, so if anyone's around Bristol this Wednesday (28th), swing by the Looking Glass just next to St. Nick's Market, around 7:30-8ish. You can find out more info on the event at Skwigly or on Facebook. It's also totally free, so don't say I never treat ya right!
Here's an e-flier to whet your whettable bits:

Making Pests of Ourselves

I'm all a-quiver with girlish glee as I get prepped for my first jaunt to Annecy next week. It's one of the top five major fests on my wishlist I've yet to get a film in, along with Ottawa (the other three being Encounters, Clermont-Ferrand and Stuttgart, who all threw me a bone). Despite making it into Annecy Plus in 2011, my plan had been to make the jaunt when/if I got something into the main festival - but frankly that could take years, if it ever happens at all. Luckily I now have a fallback position: Journalistic scumbag.

"We don't need no stinkin' - well, they are quite nice..."

 Given the surge of positive Skwigly developments since myself, Steve and Aaron took it over, it's only logical to show my face at one of the industry's most important events. We're hoping to get some podcast and written content out of it, obviously, with maybe some video footage to boot. We're also aiming for some extra reach in general, so to that end we'll be pestering folks with fliers, badges and other tote-filling goodies. For our flier design I really wanted to pool resources and convey the community vibe Skwigly's cultivated over the years. I reached out to some of my favourite animators and illustrators for character designs I could group together in a big crowd shot. Here's how it came out:

Front

Back

I'm really pleased with it and feel happy to have so many talented friends and associates involved. Here's a breakdown of their contributions - click their names to see more of their work as they're all smashing pumpkins worth checking out.

Francesca Adams

Jamie Smart

David Hutchinson

Jane Davies

Joanna Hepworth

Kat Michaelides

Katie Steed

Matt Walker

Robyn Liebschner

Sam Morrison

Seb Burnett

Signe Baumane

Sophie Klevenow & Darren Walker

Steve Henderson

Tanya Scott

The remaining designs are from my own archive of characters I threw in to fill in some spaces. And because I'm an egomaniac.
Given how much fondness people have had for the Skwigly Podcast I've also produced an exclusive sampler CD of some of our personal favourite moments from our first year. It's borderline-impossible to group all of them and have it fit on an 80 minute disc but hopefully this selection does justice to all the amazing interviewees who've given us their time and insight. It's nice to have a little physical souvenir to show for an endeavour I had no clue would still be going strong after a year, especially in these last few days before the entire planet completely forgets what CDs are. Here's the sleeve design:

Front

Back

If you'll be at Annecy yourselves drop us a line at skwigly.com!

New look...

...Sort of. Actually the layout's exactly the same, I've just switched up the colour scheme and brought in a new design motif. The ol' pre-"Throat" concept sketch of me on the pishadoo was starting to seem a little out of place now the book's out and the character's technically not supposed to be me.

Adios, old friend...

One of the eighty billion current projects I have on the boil right now is another website redesign that'll hopefully make the accrued creative projects I've put out over the years a little more navigatable and less scattershot. It occurred to me that about half of them have vectorised logos for the purposes of EPKs and similar such promotion, so I've been designing some more for the remaining half. This way each film, album, book or whatever will have its own associated image. A bit like OS application icons or, as a friend pointed out the other night, video game achievements. It's just one of those staples of web design that I never really embraced so figured it'd be worth a shot. No idea when said website will actually manifest itself though, but I expect it'll be far less of an undertaking than my last site overhaul which got a bit out of hand; though fun to do, the pages were so densely packed they each took like a minute to load.
Will keep you posted. It's what I do.

Back in the real world - Bosnia & Herzegovina, to narrow it down a little bit - I'm very chuffed to say that "Ground Running" has been included in the line-up for this year's edition of the Banja Luka International Animated Film Festival. The 2009 edition of the festival threw in my first film "House Guest", and much like I was back then I'm amongst some pretty superb company this year. Other films being screened include "Oh Willy..." (Emma de Swaef & Marc James Roels), "Kuhina" (Joni Männistö), "Luminaris" (Juan Pablo Zaramella) and "Bendito Machine IV" (Jossie Malis), all of which I'm a big fan of. My screening is Competitive Program 1 which will be at 10pm tomorrow, repeated on the 24th at 2pm, both at the Dječije pozorište Children's Theatre. Apologies for the short notice for those of you who are too far away and may have been interested, I didn't get the memo and only just now found out about it by chance. Just in case you're a Bosnian or Herzegovinian (or both, I'm not sure how it works) and fancy giving it a look there's more info here.

Reprazentin'! (...sorry)

It's that time of year when I take stock of where I am and where I'm going with this cartoon malarkey. This year was pretty strong, work-wise as well as for personal projects, but my hopes that this may have been indicative of an industry upswing have been dashed for their childlike foolishness by an increasingly bleak forecast. Work out there in 2012 seems sparse and if it weren't for "Bullies" keeping me occupied for the next couple months I'm not sure what I'd be doing with my time. Come January I could be up the proverbial creek, scrabbling about for the proverbial paddle.
So, in true 'keep calm and carry on' tradition of head-in-sand denial this nation is so famous for, I'll plod along and do all I can do. To that end I've revised my showreel:

There isn't a whole bunch of replacement footage as I want to keep what "Bullies" animation I've done under wraps until I start promoting it. I've also brought my animation CV up to date with various work commissions since the summer, as well as developments with my films and an additional screening history section.

Ben Mitchell - Animation CV (.pdf, 3.3mb)

To supplement all this is a mini-portfolio I'd put together not that long ago to showcase my graphic design, character design and illustration work in brief:

Ben Mitchell - Design/Illustration Portfolio (.pdf, 5.3mb)

So there you go. That's me and the brass tacks of what I've been up to. Help a fella out, folks.

Cashin' In

While I endeavour to tie all the creative loose ends in my scattershot life, my new album "The Book of Women" is gradually garnering some positive feedback. I have an outline for a marketing plan that will be put into action in April (four months after the release, which is traditionally not the way to go but I just don't have the time right now). This will consist of the usual batch of associated merchandise, a mini-site and exclusive tracks/remixes, plus I'd ideally like to release it as a digital download to keep up with the yoof. Until then all's I have are two new poster prints, both with the same album cover artwork (which I blathered about last month) that's cropped for the actual CD but lends itself rather well to portrait dimensions.
There's a large print (35" x 23") and a medium print (20" x 16") both available to buy online. Pick one up and cover that blank space on your wall/door/soul!
As I'm always keen to jump on any opportunity to showboat, there are also posters available for two prior Struwwelpeter albums, one for the somewhat-nightmarish "Rapeseed" (2004) and three for the pinkier, bunny-ier "Agnosticaust" (2006):

Alright then, what next?

The endless ocean of mediocrity that is the internet has been added to by yet another self-described 'creative': the cuddly, strokable, sweet-smelling rapscallion that is me. Massive pulsating yayness!
Intents and purposes, my new site is as done as it can be for now, save for some teensy-weensy kinks that need to be ironed out. These mainly concern links to external sites and video content which will be uploaded and amended shortly. In general though, the functionality of the site seems to be on track. For now I've opted to go without sound but I may throw some little bits in here and there at a later date.
While this blog is still probably going to remain the most reliable and candid news source, I feel the two sites work well alongside one another. Also, there's a bunch of extra info on stuff I did pre-'House Guest' that I rarely - if ever - bring up here.
Go visit me already!

Asset Mismanagement

My continuing battle with Flash CS4 is getting to be significantly less stressful through the trial and error of putting this new website of mine together. Fortunately, I'm the kind of person who rarely fucks the same thing up twice (except in the case of relationships, friendships, eating habits, drunk dialing, sexual practices, professional conduct, bill-paying, general spillage and the ever-terrifying sitting-on-one's-own-balls).The main issue, now that I've sorted out most of the coding problems, is the visual motif I'm going with, having all the information - such as popups, buttons, headers etc - printed out on torn scraps of paper that either crinkle, unfurl or boil depending on how the mouse interacts with them. The torn paper look is something that I've always been fond of aesthetically and it's appeared in several previous projects, such as my short film 'Narcissus', the 'Agnosticaust' album artwork and the 'House Guest' graphic novel to name a few.To make it authentic I'm designing the assets, printing them out and scanning them back in, several times in some instances depending on what kind of animation is required. The process is tedium incarnate, but it does look pretty good once it's done. The popups themselves consist of six books, fourteen music projects, seven short films and seven music videos, along with bio information and several other elements that have no function other than being ornamental.The site has five sections, the main page which incorporates some personal info, links and news updates; Music; Film/Animation; Design/Illustration; and Books/Comics. Each of these has a different backdrop, a collage of visuals tailored to each section (eg. the 'Books' section features imagery from various comics and graphic novels, 'Music' features album artwork and so on). The sub-sections have the same opening animation to help stick with the theme, a reverse paper-scrunch that quickly smooths out.I'm liking the way it's coming together although I'm a little concerned that, with all the visual elements, the loading times for each page may frustrate visitors. Gonna file that one under 'bridge to cross once gotten to'.