Channel Frederator Blog

“Does a Ross Bolinger animate in the woods?” Yes, yes he does. Here’s the scoop on your new favorite animated web series, Pencilmation.

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Ross Bolinger: I’m going into my senior year at the School of Visual Arts.

CF: What has influenced your style the most?

RB: Graphically, I would say a lot of early animation has influenced my work…the early Mickey Mouse and Felix cartoons–back when Ub Iwerks would sit down and whip out an entire Mickey cartoon single handedly, drawing straight ahead and not planning so much. Capturing that spontaneity interests me.

Buster Keaton sought to preserve that same spontaneity in film, and I try to aim for some of that as well since my style is so simple and because I am working alone. I also get a lot of influence from listening to music and reading. I read ten times more than I watch cartoons or draw. (Maybe [Read more…]

Super talented illustrator and animator Lindsey Olivares’ captivating thesis film “Anchored” blends different media together to tell one heckuva love story. Read on to learn more about her style, and the cool stuff she has lined up post graduation.

Channel Frederator: Where did you study animation?

Lindsey Olivares: I majored in computer animation at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida.

Channel Frederator: What has influenced your style the most?

LO: My older sister, Brooke Olivares, is a traditional painter/illustrator and through her I was exposed to illustrators such as Sterling Hundley, Malcolm T. Liepke, Dean Cornwell etc. After drawing/painting from life a lot I really wanted to play with ways of distorting and stylizing more and appreciated artists like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. After my second year at school I interned over at Disney Animation Studios and gained a greater appreciation for the beauty of drawing and design in classic Disney artists [Read more…]

I know what you’re thinking and no, Son of Robot is not the Fredbot’s illegitimate offspring. It’s animator Scott Coello’s kick ass band - comprised of himself, Matt Coello, Olly Simmons, Luke Holmes, and Sam Roberts. We caught up with them for a second to chat about their newest stop-motion video “She’s the Man”.

Channel Frederator: I’ll just go ahead and ask it - where did you get the Storm Trooper uniform?

Olly: From the Death Star, of course!

(The boring answer: Stolen from a flat mate, whose mate of a mate custom made it for him!)

CF: How long has Son of Robot been around? How did the group come into existence?

Scott: Well, I used to gig on myself around the depths of Cornwall. Just me, a laptop and my dad’s record collection!

Matt: As a band, we’ve been around for two-ish years. We sort of formed by accident… 13 members of pure accident! Naaaawwwhhh, we’ve had a [Read more…]

A music video. A 2D comedy. Some sweet CG.

We like variety. It’s the spice of life. That being said, this is one spicy episode! We’ve got a lovely student film, an episode of “Pencilman”, and a music vid for Channel Frederator favorite Scott Coello’s band, Son of Robot.

The long weekend is over, true. But the party doesn’t have to stop! Kick back and prepare for summer with our slammin’ selection of awesome ‘toons.

“Anchored”, submitted by Lindsey Olivares – Gorgeous student film loosely based on a parable, featuring beautiful backgrounds and fluid, emotive animation.

“Pencilman #3: MC Hammered”, submitted by Ross Bollinger – Super cool episode of the Pencilman series!

“She’s the Man”, submitted by Scott Coello – Wacky stop motion music video for the band Son of Robot!

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 [Read more…]