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Press Archives - Page 4 of 12 - Trunk | Animation Production Company

10

Feb
2015

In Press

By Pip

Trunk’s Al + Jock create a short for the IMO.

On 10, Feb 2015 | In Press | By Pip

Trunk’s Alasdair + Jock create an engaging and joyful short for the mighty IMO.

Having previously enjoyed creating a film to celebrate the Day of the Seafarer for the International Maritime Organization, Alasdair Brotherston and Jock Mooney were chuffed when they were asked to create another short for this prestigious body (www.imo.org) This time a short was needed to draw attention to the IMO’s role in protecting the world’s ocean environment. Overseeing the transportation of 12 billion tonnes of freight to every continent on earth requires the IMO to actively work with environment, academic and government agencies to embed environmental protocols and best practice initiatives across the entire planet.

Building on the previous films success a concept, script and look were developed that gave the guys at Trunk a lot of creative freedom. The proposed short would form part of an educational pack that will engage and start a conversation about the oceans environment with children aged 9-14 in the classroom.

For Alasdair and Jock working on a film for this particular target audience was new territory as Jock notes. “ We have never created something entirely for children before but adapting our style to engage with such a young age group was a joyful process. Both me and Alasdair ended up putting a lot of work into the short that was not perhaps strictly necessary, but we became engrossed in the details!” For the sharp eyed there is a reference to ‘Blinky’ the three-eyed fish from the Simpsons while some of the hand drawn textures have been influenced by Japanese printed textiles.  Alasdair notes “The boat went through 15 different incarnations before we cracked it” the tooting funnel was lifted straight from the early Disney classic Steamboat Willie “We wanted a boat that was not babyish or too simplistic yet would not be too realistic” Jock continues “We wanted the short to be engaging without being schoolmarmish or preachy”

The short is certainly neither of those, and is a joy to watch, displaying a beautiful colour palette with plenty of trademark Alasdair + Jock elements. Jock’s favourite element in this piece was the pod of narwhals at the end. Overall the short perfectly informs and entertains.

A highlight for both Alasdair + Jock was working with the immensely talented Joanna Scanlan. Alasdair notes “It’s always frightening meeting someone whose work you love but Joanna was a true professional, charming and funny and we had a great time directing the voice over to our script, Jock even pitched in providing the whistling used on the soundtrack”. Trunk’s friend and internationally respected composer Daniel Pemberton provided a superb score that neither smacks of Blue Peter or Captain Pugwash! And as always Fonic provided the sound and mix.

Created using Photoshop, Flash and After Effects the short has become one of Alasdair + Jocks favourite works. They both emphasise that it was a great opportunity to work on a commercial job that enabled them to be involved in every element of the production from script through animation to sound design.

Click below for press coverage:-

Animation World Network

Animation magazine eu

Attention industry

Cloudkid

Creative planet network

DesignVid

Digital Arts

Flooby Nooby

Motionographer

Notcot

Skwigly

Wowmorning

Credits:
Directors: Alasdair + Jock
Animation: Stuart Doig, Alasdair Brotherston, Layla Atkinson
Illustration: Jock Mooney
Composer: Daniel Pemberton
Sound Design and Mix: Marty O’Brian @ Fonic
Voice Over: Joanna Scanlan
Producer: Richard Barnacles
Commissioner: Karine Langlois and Lee Adamson
Client International Maritime Agency (IMO.org)

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06

Jan
2015

In Press

By Pip

Trunk’s Alasdair + Jock create a 30 sec spot for Coca-Cola USA

On 06, Jan 2015 | In Press | By Pip

The super talented duo Alasdair Brotherson and Jock Mooney have created a festive video for Wunderman New York and Coca-Cola USA. This blue chip brand has been a fixture of Christmas holidays since they popularised the ubiquitous image of a red coated, white bearded and black belted jolly Santa Claus in 1931. The guys at Trunk were delighted to be part of such a continuing totem of pop culture.

Featuring Alasdair + Jock’s unique handwriting the short beautifully flows from scene to scene without any hard cuts. So, Coke bottle snowflakes seamlessly turn into wrapping paper that covers a bow tied present that is opened by Santa to reveal a host of hard working Elves. Throughout the short, elements fall, scatter and reveal patterns that are strongly campaign reminiscent of Christmas sweaters. This touch of humour sets the feel for the short that heralds Coke’s 2014 holidays. Jock stated, “The deceptively simple look of the short was achieved by a lot of hard work to ensure the transitions, reveals and flow looked effortless.”

This year’s campaign marries Coke’s two most famous associations – the holidays and sharing. But rather than just sharing a Coke the new spot focuses on sharing holiday wishes. For example by sharing your holiday traditions – what you are thankful for – or who makes you happy, Coke will reward participants’ with points that can be redeemed for items.

All the Trunk team really enjoyed working on the spot, and as Alasdair noted “it was great to do a nice festive character animation piece again, they’re always so much fun!”

As always the sound design and mix were carried out at Fonic in the capable hands of Marty O’Brien.
The short was greeted with delight by Coke who have commissioned a further two bumpers for this year’s campaign.

Click below for press coverage:-

Adforum

Animation magazine eu

Awn

Digital arts online

eideias

LBB

Mg25

Notcot

Page

Skwigly

Credits:
Directed by Alasdair + Jock
Produced by Richard Barnett
Animation by Stuart Doig, Layla Atkinson
Sound Design & Mix by Marty @ Fonic
Agency – Wunderman NY

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16

Dec
2014

In Press

By Richard

John Rutter | Angel’s Carol

On 16, Dec 2014 | In Press | By Richard

Seasons Greetings from all at Trunk and Fonic, hope you have a great one!

Director: Rok Predin
Producer: Richard Barnett
Animation: Ines Pagniez, Rok Predin
Audio Post: Marty O’Brien @ Fonic
Composer: John Rutter
Commissioner: Julian Forbes @ Decca on behalf of Classic FM

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16

Dec
2014

In Press

By Richard

Season’s greetings from everyone at Trunk! Hope you’re looking forward to the holidays!

On 16, Dec 2014 | In Press | By Richard

Once again it’s been a very busy year for us here, and thankfully an enjoyable one! Having  produced projects for the likes of Coldplay, Lily Allen, and Rita Ora, for Canon, Coke, BBC 4 and the IMO, and not forgetting Rok Predin’s lovely new film “One of a Kind”, I think we’re all about ready for a break!

But…. we have one final film to show you, and it’s a good one!

Decca records approached Trunk on behalf of Classic FM to create a film for composer John Rutter’s ‘Angels’ Carol’, one of the most beautiful Christmas carols out there! Inspired, Rok Predin immediately got to work to create a short that captures the spirit of Christmas and the festive holidays, with driving snow, treacherous roads, and the warmth of strange woodland creatures! His resulting wintery film is based on the classic tale of getting home for Christmas, something we can all relate to as we struggle with trains, planes and automobiles at this time of year. The story is presented in Rok’s unique handwriting of rich textures, layered depth and a mix of peril and humour. With a nod to Studio Ghibli’s Totoro his uplifting short walks hand in hand with the magnificent building nature of the song!

Rendered in Cinema 4D and After Effects the work owes a lot to the methodology Rok perfected this last year creating his widely acclaimed short ‘One of a Kind’; as Rok states “The fast turnaround of the short would not have been possible without working on ‘One of a Kind’. It also bought back memories of working on ‘Winter Poem’ especially when it came to rendering snowflakes and thinking of the magic creatures contained in wintery woodlands”

Fonic, who collaborated on Trunks previous Christmas Vimeo Staff Pick ‘Thin White Gelato’, once again developed the audio for this year’s festive outing. They’ve had a busy year themselves working on Studio AKA’s new series ‘Hey Duggee’ which has its first ep airing on CBeebies on 16th Dec at 17.25, ‘Ruff Ruff, Tweet and Dave’ for Collingwood and Co which goes out next year, and ‘On Angel Wings’ for Illuminated Films which is on BBC1 on Christmas Eve no less!

So from all of us here, in a year which Trunk HQ moved onto the Thames, we hope you all have a really lovely break, and look forward to catching up in 2015 when we hope to be at it once again!

Trunk will be on holiday from the 22nd of December and will be back to work on the 5th of January. But the Facebook and Twitter feeds will be active; you never know what will appear.

If you want something to snuggle down to on Christmas Eve, then this might be it! Angel’s Carol features on John Rutter’s new album ‘The John Rutter Songbook’ presented by Classic FM, you can get it below should you wish!

The John Rutter Songbook

http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Rutter-Songbook/dp/B00NUNQ0XU/?_encoding=&tag=classicfm0a-21

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-john-rutter-songbook/id926327151

Click below for press coverage:-

Arteyanimacion

Ceiga

Chouchou

Digital Arts Online

Everything animated.tv

Filmshortage

Interfilm

Kuriositas

LBB

Lesterbanks

Motioncollector

Robotmafia

Skwigly

MG25

Televisual

The Animation Blog

Vidque

Credits: –

Director: Rok Predin
Producer: Richard Barnett
Animation: Ines Pagniez, Rok Predin
Audio Post: Marty O’Brien @ Fonic
Composer: John Rutter
Commissioner: Julian Forbes @ Decca on behalf of Classic FM

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02

Dec
2014

In Press

By Pip

Pete Mellor directs another great commercial for The Car Buying Service.

On 02, Dec 2014 | In Press | By Pip

Trunk animation director Pete Mellor directs another great commercial for The Car Buying Service.
After the success of the previous TV Spot for The Car Buying Service Leeds based agency Propaganda approached Trunk Animation to create a further commercial. Once again the super talented Pete Mellor teamed up with Peepshow’s superb illustrator Spencer Wilson to create the gorgeous new TV spot.
The 30-second short is full of humour and colour and presents a strong graphic style that is mirrored throughout the Car Buying Service brand. The new short sets out and promotes the differences between the Car Buying Service and other larger companies in this competitive field. The lovely Ade Edmondson looked after the voiceover and delivered a pitch perfect performance, allowing Pete to perfectly pace the visuals!
Producer Pedro Lino at Trunk noted “It was great to work with the original team at Propaganda and Trunk again. It ensured we were able to turn the commercial around pretty quickly without any sleepless nights, if only all clients were as easy!”
Composer Ivan Arnold once again created the score, whilst J.M Finch at Fonic looked after sound design and mix.

Click below for press coverage:-

Animation magazine eu

Digital arts

Little Black book

Motional

Motionmojo

Credits: –
Produced by Trunk Animation
Directed by Pete Mellor
Producer: Pedro Lino
Agency: Propaganda
Art Director: Ben Bateson @ Propaganda
Animation: Pete Mellor, Leslie Dart
Illustration: Spencer Wilson
Composer: Ivan Arnold
Sound Design & Mix: J.M Finch @ Fonic
Voice Over: Ade Edmondson
Client: The Car Buying Service

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04

Nov
2014

In Press

By Pip

Trunk Animation has been getting behind AT&T’s #itcanwait campaign

On 04, Nov 2014 | In Press | By Pip

Trunk Animation has been getting behind AT&T’s #itcanwait campaign.
The rise of accidents caused by texting whilst driving is something AT&T is committed to eradicating. They started a nationwide campaign in 2010 to educate the public, especially teenagers, of the dangers of texting whilst driving. In 2013 with the successful advocacy of the campaign AT&T de branded from #itcanwait as it moved into social media. Using celebrities, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms they are raising awareness of the dangers of texting and driving by promoting the #X hashtag. Asking people to send a #X before they drive to pause a text conversation.
UNIT9 worked with Trunk Animation to create sixteen humorous gifs as part of the #itcanwait campaign. These along with the craziest text they ever received from a friend can be posted on social media to create a unique meme.
The scripts, design and direction of the gifs were by Michael Sugarman at UNIT9 based in London and New York. Richard at Trunk states, “ It was the first time Trunk had worked with UNIT9 and we certainly welcomed the opportunity to work on such an interesting interactive web based project something that UNIT9 have a well deserved reputation for”
Each of the gifs had to work with the four tag lines that the user chooses when creating their meme. They were ‘It Can Wait’, ‘Practice Safe Text’, ’Don’t Be Textperate’ and ‘Oh Cell No’. Naturally a selection of cat and dog gifs was included as social media would be lost without them.
Layla at Trunk notes “ Creating sixteen gifs over six days with the director based in New York would of seemed a challenge but having worked on storychangers, when we had to animate 40 stories over 3 days, it was a challenge we felt we would be up to. All the gifs started with images from a stock library. We cut out the parts that were to move, pivoting them like the joints on a shadow puppet, and then had to re-construct the cut out areas. We also created the backgrounds and colourised many of the black and white images. Even though the gifs were only 2 seconds long it sometimes took over twenty adaptations before Michael and myself were happy with the results. My favourite gif is of the women bashing a suitor with a book that perfectly chimes with the tag line “Oh Cell No”.

Click below for press coverage:-

Animation World Network

Little Black Book

Veooz

Credits-
Creative Director- Michael Sugarman
Agency Producer- Pierre Trocchu
Animation Producer-Richard Barnett
Animation Director- Layla Atkinson
Animation- John Harmer, Leona Hrvatska, Lesley Dart
Artworking- Jock Mooney
Compositing- Steven Azancot
Client- UNIT9

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04

Nov
2014

In Press

By Pip

Tom Fun Orchestra | Earthworm Heart

On 04, Nov 2014 | In Press | By Pip

Trunk animation’s Alasdair + Jock have created another superb video for Tom Fun Orchestra.
The Canadian based Tom Fun Orchestra and Trunk’s Alasdair + Jock have built up a great working relationship. This produced two fantastic multi award-winning videos from the bands previous album You Will Land With A Thud. Their beautiful new video is for the band’s title track from their latest album Earthworm Heart.
Superbly dark with a wonderful streak of humour the video is a perfect accompaniment to the track. Jock’s beautiful illustrative approach has echoes of Wind in the Willows and Beatrix Potter, a smooth soft style that gently rolls and bubbles with a subdued and subtle line boil. The video was being worked on at the same time as Alasdair + Jock were creating their wonderfully received short Gelato Go Home! and the lyric video for Lilly Allen’s Air Balloon. In contrast to these works Earthworm Heart has a quiet palette and a more claustrophobic atmosphere. Alasdair notes, “ It was only natural that whilst we were working on a lot of bright and expansive work we wanted to create something that was a reaction to that.”

The idea for the short came from Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter, The Story Of The Wild Huntsman. Alasdair explains, “rather than the traditional reversal of fortunes story we wanted to create a narrative that was more complex and less clear cut as to who was the hero or villain.” The short’s narrative is certainly more cyclical in nature than Hoffmann’s original. Without giving anything away, the clouds parting to expose a murder of crows against a glowing red hunter’s moon is one of the most beautiful and revealing shots in the short.

The video was created using a variety of software including Photoshop, After Effects, Flash and Cinema 4D. It was the first time that Alasdair + Jock created an animation entirely within the computer. Learning to build digital brushes that created just the right kind of feel that they required was an arduous yet rewarding process. Indeed as Jock observed “ the experience and skills we learnt creating Earthworm Heart were invaluable when we created the animated album for Coldplay shortly after”.

The duo was also very lucky to be able to utilise the talents of a host of animators that filed through Trunk’s doors working on various jobs. When a job was being rendered or awaiting clearance these noble animators offered an hour here and there to help out. One of these was Fran Puerto Esteban who was on a sponsored internship through the Da Vinci program. He worked exclusively on the crow within the short, which enabled the character to retain a particular style and personality.

The video was greatly received by the band who had been most gracious in allowing Alasdair + Jock to use sound effects to alter their track when needed for the film’s narrative. The talented people at Fonic once again worked with Trunk to ensure this process was conducted with sensitivity and great skill. Already the video has been selected for the International Music Video Festival awards in Paris, so let’s hope like its predecessors it also becomes an award winner.

Click below for press coverage

Animation magazine eu

Animation World Network

Canadian animation blog

Digital arts

Faaf

Flooby Nooby

Kuriositas

Lester Banks

Little Black Book

Mg25

Moarrr

Motioncollector

Page

Pegbar and Grill

Pigeon Row

Promo news

Skwigly

Televisual

The Animation Blog

White screen

Zhicg

Credits-

Directed by Alasdair Brotherston
Art Direction by Jock Mooney
Produced by Richard Barnett @ Trunk
Animation – Layla Atkinson, Alasdair Brotherston, Sam Cundall, Sasha Dale, Fran Puerto Esteban, Andy Hague, Aaron Lampert, Martin Oliver
Compositing – Alasdair Brotherston

Music – Tom Fun Orchestra
Record Company – Company House Records
Sound Editor – Chris Swaine @ Fonic
Audio Post Production – Barnaby Templer & Jake Roberts @ Fonic

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08

Sep
2014

In Press

By Richard

One of a Kind

On 08, Sep 2014 | In Press | By Richard

Trunk director Rok Predin completes his most ambitious film to date, “One of a Kind”.

Trunk’s director Rok Predin has just finished his eagerly anticipated film “One of a Kind”. It’s 3 minutes 40 seconds of pure richness and joy, from the near expressionist visuals to Jim Carter’s resonating performance, and from Daniel Pemberton’s dynamic music score, to Barnaby Templers sound design and beautifully measured audio mix!

The film is a contemplation about all the people who had to meet, all the tiny acts of fate and chance that had to come together, in order for you to sit here right now, reading this! Rok felt that this overwhelming question allowed ample opportunity for lots of humour, sentiment, and beauty.

Rok had the idea for the short over 2 years ago but commitments (like making other films!) delayed the start of the production to the beginning of this year. The story and script were developed with producer Richard Barnett, and as the epic task of designing over 70 characters took place, with costumes so beautifully designed and created by Sara Savelj, the team was carefully put together.

First on board was Ivor Novello winning composer and friend, Daniel Pemberton. In between finishing Ridley Scott’s “The Counselor” and starting his new Hollywood feature, now well under way, Pemberton got behind the story and the film. Rok notes; “we knew the music had a massive part to play, especially to help re-iterate different moods and time periods throughout the piece and felt very fortunate to have Daniel on board”.

Now with such a rich visual aesthetic, and a beautifully composed track, the team knew they needed a big performance from a commanding voice, and who else but the incredibly talented Jim Carter. A long illustrious stage, film and television career, which includes appearing at the National Theatre, starring in feature films such as “Shakespeare in Love” and a host of TV work including “The Singing Detective” and “Downtown Abbey”, ensured he had a voice with just the right kind of timbre, elegance and warmth.

At the recording the guys were bowled over, ‘It’s always so much fun watching someone with so much talent, doing their job.’ Before Predin and Barnett started the recording session, and having worked with numerous actors in the past, they re-assured each other that they wouldn’t get overwhelmed with the first take…..But, ‘it was just a joy to watch’ says Predin, ‘he was acting out each sentence with so much commitment and understanding and we knew when he had finished we had captured lightning in a bottle’.

A team of animators came on board, and with so many characters to get stuck into, there was ample opportunity to develop miniature narratives within each of the scenes, it was play time! Rok, then had the task of pulling everything together, with heavy renders coming out of Cinema 4D numerous techniques were put together in order to streamline the process. The compositing as always was a joy to behold, and a first chance to see the culmination of 6 months hard work!

Finally the call went in to long time collaborators Jake Roberts and Barnaby Templer at Fonic post production. Barnaby put together a team of foley and voice artists to create all the vocalisations and the plethora of sounds needed for the film. The balance was key, creating enough room for all the different audio elements to shine in their own right and do the job that they were designed to do. Needless to say when Rok and Richard sat in on the final mix they were blown away.

So, having had a blast for the past year, it’s time for the next one, let’s see which idea will get picked for production next!

Click below for press coverage:-

Animation Magazine eu

Awesome Robot

Animation World Network

Broadsheet

CEIGA

Digital Arts

Kuriositas

Little Black Book

Lidd

Motional

Motionographer

Page

Shots

Skwigly

Stash

The Animation Blog

The Curious Brain

3DVF

3D World

Credits:-
Director by – Rok Predin
Narrated by – Jim Carter
Music by – Daniel Pemberton
Producer – Richard Barnett

Story: Rok Predin
Script: Richard Barnett & Rok Predin

Animators -Will Thomas
Sam Cundall
Rok Predin
Seni Soetan

Sound design – Barnaby Templer & Jake Roberts @Fonic
– mix: Barnaby Templer
– foley artist: Sue Harding
-foley recordist/editor: Christopher Swaine
-voices: JM Finch
Sue Harding
Samantha Jones
Emily Snape
Barnaby Templer

Costume Designer – Sara Savelj

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07

Sep
2014

In Press

By Pip

IMO | Day of the Seafarers

On 07, Sep 2014 | In Press | By Pip

Trunk animation’s Alasdair + Jock create a beautiful short for IMO’s “Day of the Seafarer”

Each year more than 12 billion tons of freight is shipped around the world. That’s 90% of all household goods as well as over 2 billion tons of fuel and that’s even before we get to all the grain and food! Trunk’s director’s Alasdair Brotherston + Jock Mooney have been on this factual journey, whilst creating a short about ‘Day of the Seafarer’ which falls on the 25th June.  The minute long film is pure Alasdair + Jock. Initially taking inspiration from the beautiful illustrations of Charley Harper and iconic 1920’s and 30’s travel posters the work quickly evolved into a more painterly hybrid style that sits between the two sources.

Jock noted, “ We loved working on the project not only as it was for such a good cause but the IMO (International Maritime Organization) gave me and Alasdair a lot of creative freedom, allowing us to build on the style we had evolved creating our short “Gelato go Home”. We used the same brilliant composer James Orman who produced a soundtrack just the right side of Dire Straits and Barnaby Templer at Fonic who once again created the sound design. Alasdair introduced some lovely cuts and wipes my personal favourite was seeing the icebergs turn into the cat’s ears!”

The film is a visual journey that makes subtle connections between all the things we take for granted, from bread to rubber ducks, to the seafarers who risk their lives to deliver them. The last shot shows an entire town lit with the message “Thank You”. Alasdair stated “ We worked hard to get the balance right throughout the film so that it wasn’t patronising or too gushing we wanted to show the reality of the situation, all be it with a big dollop of artistic licence.”

The beautiful short reads like a panel book with each shot being perfectly composed and balanced, a subtle and detailed use of colour ties the short together. Remember the 25th of June the Day of the Seafarers it’s a great tribute to the 1.5 million seafarers who ply their trade to keep the world’s commerce and industry a float!

Click below for press coverage:-

Animation Magazine Eu

Animation World Network

Awardeo

Digital Arts

Frequency

Page

Skwigly

Televisual

Credits: –

 

Directed by Alasdair + Jock

Producer Richard Barnett

Production Company Trunk Animation

Client International Maritime Organization

Composer James Orman

Sound Design & Mix Barnaby Templer @ Fonic

 

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