Channel Frederator Blog

Argentinean animator Leo Campasso’s “Wild Wind” is a neat animated throwback to the pixelated 8-bit goodness of the 80’s.

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Leo Campasso: I studied animation in Argentina at the “Image Campus” Institute. I graduated this year.

CF: What gave you the idea for this film?

LC: One of these moments in the daily routine, my hair - it’s too bad!!!

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I’ve had the great pleasure of watching LA based artist Nan Lawson’s artwork grow from shy water-color illustrations to beautiful pen and ink drawings, color prints, and photography over the course of the year. With her Etsy store selling more of her work than ever, you should give it a browse and snatch up as much of her art as you can! I’ve seen white elephant gift exchanges get very ugly as participants clamor for her pretty prints…

CF: Where (if at all) did you study art/design?

Nan Lawson: I took a figure drawing class when I was in college, does that count? I have a degree in film from Syracuse University, so I was never formally trained as an illustrator. I’ve been drawing my entire life, I honestly can’t remember a time when I didn’t have some kind of sketchbook lying around.

CF: What or who influences your style the most?

NL: I find I am [Read more…]

Dave Carter, the awesome Aussie animator that brought us this week’s Cartoon Hangover ‘toon, tells us about his series “Psychotown”, his favorite drink, and his favorite diss.

Channel Frederator: What gave you the idea for “Psychotown”?

Dave Carter: I’ve always been a fan of sketch comedy and wanted to mix it with animation. It’s little problematic making it work because part of the appeal of watching Monty Python or Saturday Night Live was that you’d see John Cleese or Will Ferrell play a knight in one skit and a proctologist in the next. In animation, once you draw them in different costumes, they’re different people. It’s no longer a show but a series of short films. With Psychotown I used a shoe-box as a stage set as the ‘reoccurring element’, to bridge each episodes together. But big props to Mike Judge’s Animation Show, it was their commission that allow me to develop [Read more…]

Tom DesLongchamp’s short film “Kid Show” is an homage to the wonders of being a kid and his nostalgia for VHS mix-tapes. Here, he gives more insight into the process of developing the film and its characters - plus, he reveals his superpowers.

What gave you the idea for “Kid Show”?

Well, the short answer is that I very much enjoyed childhood, and I was very fond of the childrens shows I grew up with (Mr. Dress up, Fred Penner’s Place, Mr. Rogers, etc.) The detailed answer is that my mother used to record those shows, as well as whatever cartoons were on TV, onto VHS compilations. There were two main tapes that I watched over and over again. They were titled “Kid Shows I” and “Kid Shows II.” These tapes were beautiful collages of stories, commercial blips, out of context scenes, static washes, and silent visuals.

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This week’s cute and creepy Edward Gorey-inspired “Dead All Along” comes to Channel Frederator courtesy of animator Giles Timms.

Channel Frederator:This is your second film featuring Ceri Frost’s music. What is your relationship to him as an artist and what draws you to his music?

Giles Timms: Ceri is the brother of one of my friends from art college in Wales. The family also owns and runs an organic farm, Blaencamel Farm, near Aberaeron in South Wales where I worked one idyllic summer and hung out with the Frost family.

I really like working with Ceri because his music inspires me and he’s very trusting of the creative process. I feel very fortunate to have worked with him [Read more…]

Belgian production company Volstok Telefunken (Wouter Sel and Thijs De Cloedt) is home to “De Monsters”, dozens and dozens of shorts featuring animated monsters interacting with real people. Here, Wouter and Thijs tell us how they go to be so stinkin’ rich and famous.

Can you tell us a little bit about Volstok Telefunken?

Thijs and Wouter teamed up a few years after they graduated in animation from KASK, Gent in Belgium. Wherever that is. A failed career of pouring beers and changing tires forced them to pursue professional silliness in character animation and motion graphics.

What gave you the idea for De Monsters?

We were looking to create something of our own, because it was the time of the great job scarce. Animators were dying of dehydration and we weren’t ready for full-on prostitution, so we came up with this illustration of a monster having a beer in a very common setting. This started [Read more…]

Halloween is here. It is HERE!!! You like weird monsters goofing off with humans? Then you’re gonna love this. This episode of Channel Frederator is a trick and a treat.

Just like your mom.

“De Monsters” Volstok Telefunken - A sampling of the 115 “De Monsters” films from Belgian production company Volstok Telefunken. They all feature animated monsters hanging out and doing some crazymaking in the real world.

Animators whose work is shown on regular episodes of Channel Frederator will receive cash! Learn more about the changes we’ve made here.

Leave lots of comments and follow us on Twitter!

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Man, monsters are so *bleepin’* scary! Oops. Sorry. Some content on CF is pretty grown up. If you’re under 18, get your parent’s permission prior to viewing.

-Bailee DesRocher

CalArts graduate Daron Nefcy’s “The Terror From Mars” is here just in time for Halloween! Below, she answers very important questions pertaining to candy and imaginary creature fights.

What was the most useful thing you learned about animation when you were in school?

To understand what you’re going to do before you do it. Learning to act out the movement beforehand, creating thumbnails, and then keeping the key frames rough so that you don’t waste time doing things over and over. School was a series of looming deadlines, so getting things close enough to the way I wanted them as accurately and as quickly as possible was great preparation for me.

Any cool stories/accidents/explosions involved in the making of “The Terror From Mars”?

Hmm… I’m not sure I can remember any. There were always happy accidents, but this film went from an idea to completed product in 5 months. I don’t remember much aside from [Read more…]

This weeks episode features “The Flower Lion” from animator Sehwang Heo. Here he tells us about the unique origin of the film’s premise, and why he won’t fight for his food.

Where did you study animation/film?

Sehwang Heo: I took a one year animation course in South Korea.

What inspired the story for “The Flower Lion”?

I traveled in India two years ago. I was joining a Vipassana meditation course. During the course, suddenly an image popped out from my head. That image was a lion with flowers. The story started from the image.

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Our 200th episode ‘toon is “The Owl and the Squirrel” courtesy of animator Nick Bachman. He graduated from MCAD in May and is now gainfully employed at PUNY Entertainment in Minneapolis. Woot! Read on for all you ever wanted to know about futzing with clay, Ticketmaster, and Pee Wee Herman!

We featured your stop motion short “Chocolate and Mices” earlier this year - what have you learned about animation or about yourself as an artist since then?

Nick Bachman: I think I’ve learned to take breaks from working more often. If you work on something constantly and think about it 24/7 without taking time for yourself, the quality of your work, health, and life will deteriorate and you will become a sad, lonely little hermit. True story.

The gags in “The Owl and The Squirrel” are Sylvester and Tweety-esque. What gave you the idea for the film?

NB: I was trying to write a story to [Read more…]