Compensation

After the low note last week ended on, I've had a bit of a turnaround in disposition being presented with a couple of reasons to cheer up.

Firstly I was very happy to see that, for the time being at least, one of the animated segments I produced for Channel 4's SuperMe project is the first thing you're presented with when visiting the production company Somethin Else's website.

That's right, I screengrabbed it. I'm that type of person.

Nice to have the extra exposure while I can get it.Next up is the very welcome and sooner-than-expected news that my third animated short 'The Naughty List' will be making its festival debut this October at Internationales Köln Comedy Festival, with a TV broadcast thrown in. Merry xmas!What makes this especially good news is it gives me an excuse to visit my Cologne-based friend and frequent collaborator Veronika Broscheid whose own film 'The Lonely Socks Club' makes a cameo in mine, playing on Santa's TV.

The film within the film.

She also helped out a lot with the film in cleanup/post and provided some last-minute German subtitles for the screening copy, so it's really fortuitous that it's first screening will be in her city.
Festival specifics to follow, as always. It's looking to be a good week.

Chavettes

Another one of the SuperMe animations I produced for Channel 4/Somethin Else is now online, this one was visually a lot simpler and came together under a pretty tight deadline. It deals with the fairly relatable topic of teenage girls talking nonsense.

I really enjoyed doing the character designs on this one, it's a huge departure from my usual style and it was a lot of fun brainstorming.

Fine tuning during the concept art stage.

Here are some of the original sketches the two girls were picked from:

Self-Esteem (or "A Transvestite's Journey")

In recent months I did some animated segments for a project as part of Channel 4's education department. It's called SuperMe and is targeted primarily at teens to bolster their self-worth and whatnot. A noble cause, although none of the cocksure, swaggering packs of adolescents that roam my neck of the woods seem to need any encouragement in that regard - if anything the irascible scamps need taking down a peg or several.
For the benefit of the less visible (holed up in their rooms with the curtains drawn, no doubt) shy'n'introverted contingent, the SuperMe site went live this month. Here's a fairly detailed Guardian article on it:
SuperMe: Channel4's plan to make the world a nicer place for teens
Personally this has been one of my most positive industry experiences to date. I had a lot of creative freedom for the visual side of things while at the same time being actively encouraged to explore some new visual styles. You can see as much from the development of the concept art:The final animation is now online on YouTube and also as part of the site. Have yourself a look: