Content Providers

This week on Skwigly we have a nice, stodgy clump of new content to rub into your ears and eyes. Firstly there's a slightly overdue new podcast featuring special guest Tim Searle, currently working on Mr. Bean whose other credits include Warren United, 2DTV, I Am Not An Animal and Have I Got News For You. Also on the podcast Laura-Beth chats to up-and-comer (well, to an extent he's both upped and come, but I'm sure there's plenty more upping and coming ahead for the fellow) Eamonn o'Neill on his work including I'm Fine Thanks and Left, while Steve and I keep things topical by giving The Return of Jafar the dressing down it deserves.

I'm also happy to say that this week sees the launch of a new video strand which we'll be hosting on our thus-far-underused YouTube channel. Dubbed Lightbox, it will serve as a series of mini-documentaries on all things animation. As with the site itself, this will span TV shows, interviews, major feature films, independent projects, behind-the-scenes goodness, all that jazz.

The first few weeks will mainly consist of videos we've already showcased in some way or other, after which we'll be keeping them as their own separate thing, with our Vimeo channel reserved for longer-form content like documentaries and such.

Fine young panelists

On a not-entirely-unrelated note, the Bristol Comic Expo panel events I participated in over the weekend were a success, so thanks again to Dani Abram for the invite and getting it all sorted. We managed to get it recorded so there's a good chance some of it will materialise in some form or other soon.

The Not-So-Shortlist

Rutger Hauer's Italian festival "I've Seen Films" is incorporating an online competition, and 'House Guest' is amongst the competing films. As it's among over 300 international entries I can't honestly say it's a shoe-in (much as I love that mangy l'il anatidae) but for the next little while the film will be viewable online in its entirety. So if you can bear the youtube compression, watch it, spread the word and tell your friends. There are a fair few decent shorts amongst the others included, so have a good ol' browse of the site while you're there for some free entertainment.
Watch 'House Guest' online here. In fact, what the hell, let's just hotlink the mo'fo:

Case Study #1: The Greatest Show on Earth!

I figured that to help shape an impression of where I'm coming from, I'd include in this blog case studies of numerous visual and stylistic influences on my work. So here's the first one. Hooray! As I'm sure you are all aware, YouTube is an invaluable resource for incredibly rare footage, shows you can't buy or watch, hard-to-find interviews, concerts etc. At least, it would be if those fuckin' narcs didn't constantly delete videos because of copyright infringement. In all honesty, how much damage could having a crappily-compressed YouTube video online do to DVD sales or HDTV viewing figures?

But I digress in that interminable way I often do. I had put online a video that got deleted as it's comprised entirely of clips from The Ren & Stimpy Show, the genius creation of contemporary animator John Kricfalusi, with me babbling about how great it was. I think that message frankly needs to be heard still, especially in this era of Loonatics Unleased, 6Teen and all manner of other uninspired dross. This was done as part of my MA course, as an ungraded exercise in putting together a presentation on our creative influences for the sake of getting comfortable with the concept. I decided to do it in a kind of documentary style so I could cram as many points and visual gags as I could.

Painting by Bill Wray, the show's distinctly nifty background artist

If I were to actually post a blog entry as to why Ren & Stimpy was the best thing to happen in animation since the Looney Tunes, it'd be the length of a goddamn novel. So I'll spare you all and stick with the 6 minute summary. My regret with the vid is that I sort of dismiss John K's ill-fated revival 'Adult Party Cartoon' as an afterthought at the end. This is mainly because I consider the two shows to be entirely separate beasts, and 'Adult Party' is laudable in its own right. I may very well give it an entry later on as a separate case study. Adding to the absurdity of Viacom ordering that the presentation be removed, when it was up I got a ton of feedback from people who had never seen the show - or had forgotten it - that had decided to go buy the DVDs after seeing this. So by having it up I was making the company money. Anyway... Have a look (wmv format)

As an addenda, back when this was on YouTube I was frequently asked why my voice was so affected. Unfortunately I really do speak in one of those not-quite-anything hybrid accents. Sorry folks.