Channel Frederator Blog

Here’s an interview with Jon Humphreys, Creative Director of UK based animation studio The Neighbourhood. Be sure to scope out his film “Stories from the Neighbourhood” in this week’s episode of Channel Frederator and the cool “making of” video below!

Channel Frederator: Where did you get your animation education?

Jon Humphreys: I have done many things over the past 15 years, my education is a melting of all the activities I have been involved with. I studied architecture at University which gave me an understanding of 3D space, I have worked as a graphic designer and illustrator where I taught myself how to use digital tools communicate ideas. I first started using animation about 12 years ago making 2D medical animations for CDROM in Macromedia Director, hand crafting tweens and developing patience that animation requires. That naturally led to using 3D tools as they became more readily available, 3Ds4 which went on to become 3Ds max.

Most of my education has been through learning on the job: broadcast titles, brand films, CGI flythroughs, animated idents, I’ve done them all at some point which has taught me to enjoy the variety of situations that animation can be applied to and helped me develop a creatively diverse approach. My main job now is Creative Direction and overseeing the bigger picture of projects which I like- it also means I get to work with great animators who are more skilled at the technical and detailed side of things… you never stop learning.

CF: Who or what has influenced your work the most?

JH: Lots of things over the years, too many to list in areas of art/design/music/illustration etc- but I have noticed that I tend to like things that aren’t afraid to mix it up, twist ideas a little. The architectural group Archigram have always been very influential for me, the way they mixed architectural ideas with popular culture, comic books, space age technology.

The Pop Art cultural explosion that they were a part of in the 60s promoted dissolving the barriers between disciplines; performance art, graphics, film making, music, light shows- all forming a part of the same creative endeavour. All with a sense of technicolour surrealism One of my favourite films came out of that era also that contains these sensibilities… Yellow Submarine.

CF: How did you develop the concept for this film?

Stories from the Neigbourhood (the making of) from Fred Seibert on Vimeo.

JH: It started out as an idea for an animated Christmas card inspired by some 3 dimensional paper structures that I saw, the idea being you could go into the card and disappear into other worlds behind. The aesthetics of it started to change as the designs for the environments and characters developed. Other influences and things I like started to gradually seep into the process, Tiki culture, underwater cities, cardboard robots……pop up books which eventually became the container for the idea rather than a Christmas card.

CF: Are you working on any new projects you can tell us about?

JH: I am just starting a very exciting project with one of the world’s best chefs Heston Blumenthal. It is an online adventure through the senses based around a sweet shop.. that’s all I can say!

CF: What is your favorite story or book?

JH: Usually whichever one I am currently reading. At the moment I am loving The Lost Thing by the Illustrator/writer Shaun Tan. His ability to evoke surreal, strange yet familiar worlds is incredible.

Thank you so much for the interview, Jon! Check out “Stories from the Neighbourhood” right here on Channel Frederator!

-Bailee DesRocher