Channel Frederator Blog

You guys, you guys, you guys… FOUR WHOLE YEARS! That’s right! In this episode we celebrate Channel Frederator’s fourth birthday with a wild bunch of four-second films depicting what Fredbot would do to throw down!

I suggested that he enroll in pre-K, like I did when I was four, but animators have big, sexy imaginations and came up with way better ideas than that. Plus, you get to watch a fab film from animation collective, Vurup. Lucky you!

“Insert Coin”, by Vurup - Super cool, surreal, hand drawn goodness packed into a minute!

“4-Second Fredbots”, Various - A sa-weet tribute to Das Bot (LOL), the one and only Fredbot, from the raddest of the rad: Art Grootfontein, Ben Smallman, Brandon Ray, Ned Wenlock, Niko Anesti, Pedro Eboli, Rich Chapple, Sam Caudill, Steve Stark, Victor Courtright, & Zhivko! Whew!

Animators whose work is shown on regular episodes of Channel Frederator will receive cash! Learn more [Read more…]

This week, Channel Frederator features a unique animation that combines puppetry and green screen magic called “The Land Eaters” by Brandon Ray. Lucky for us, Brandon documented his process, and called it -

Read. It’s awesome.
-Bailee

The Land Eaters is my most recent animated digital short. There wasn’t a whole lot of cerebral planning involved… my inspiration for the story stemmed from my fundamental concept of nature- consumptive, cruel, yet somehow beautiful (much like Werner Herzog’s assessment of nature in Grizzly Man). My starting point for the narrative came from a series of paintings my wife Lisa did while she was in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year studying abroad. In front of those gorgeous landscapes, I could see some sort of dark & twisted plot unraveling.

In terms of aesthetics and technique, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone a little, so I limited myself on what I was allowed to ‘animate’ [Read more…]

This week kicks off our new podcast format, starring your new host Justin Johnson at Frederator HQ in NYC!

He and The Robot tag team hosting duties for “Machu Picchu Post” and “The Land Eaters”, two fantastic, far out films. Let us know what you think of the new digs!

“Machu Picchu Post”, submitted by Margaux Durand-Rival – Colorful, unique student film by three graduates of Supinfocom Arles - Clément Crocq, Margaux Durand-Rival and Nicolas Novali.

“The Land Eaters”, submitted by Brandon Ray – Puppetry and animation are combined in this surreal prehistoric tale.

WARNING: Change is good. You know what hasn’t changed? The quality of our content. Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Some of this stuff is pretty grown up. Get your parent’s permission prior to viewing.

-Bailee DesRocher

Animator/director Brandon Ray turns his love of Russian literature into the very interesting (and creepy!) short film “The Deal”.

Channel Frederator: Where did you get your animation education?

Brandon Ray: I received a degree in film from The University of Texas in Austin. But all my animation know-how comes from many late nights with my sketchbook and computer.

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

BR: I love Dostoevsky’s writing, especially The Brothers Karamazov, but always had a hard time reading the part of the book about The Grand Inquisitor, the one who turns Jesus in (I actually skipped most of it). I’d always wondered what significance this character had to him, since he rambles on and on about it. I read somewhere Dost himself had a religious epiphany midway through his life, and some serious Orthodox guilt that followed as well. I started thinking of guilt and damnation, and the images of [Read more…]

Is this episode gonna to be boring? Nyet.

Is is gonna be pretty amazing? Da, Dahling!

It’s true! All of this week’s films are inspired or created by some great Russians! From The Brothers Karamazov, to flowers, to pop music, it’s a (insert Russian word for smorgasbord here) of awesomeness!

“The Deal”, submitted by Brandon Ray – A unique Dostoevsky inspired film. You’ll never guess who plays the Grand Inquisitor.

Masha and Bears “Parabellum”, submitted by Pasha E – Super cool music video for popular Russian band Masha and Bears. Keep an eye on the blog for some rad photos.

“Flowers Motion”, submitted by Ivan Rybkin – A film about the love and hardship of a family of flowers. What’s the Russian word for super cute?

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Spring has sprung, people. You don’t know what you’re gonna see. Just promise us you’ll get permission from a parent or guardian prior to [Read more…]