As we’ve become used to the post Covid-19 new normal, it’s been a joy to be back animating again for ‘Nobody is Normal’ – Childline‘s mental health awareness campaign. I’m very proud of this beautiful short film directed by Catherine Prowse who made this her passion project throughout Lockdown.
Scroll down to catch behind the scenes photos & videos & see how we brought all this to life!
Remember, nobody is normal, and however weird you feel inside you’re not alone.
Thank you to all the wonderful people at Clapham Road Studios & the team at Rowdy, Blinkink & The Gate London. Plus huge love to Radiohead for use of Creep which perfectly embodes the emotion we were after!
Credits:
Director: Catherine Prowse
Production Company: Rowdy and Blink
Rowdy Producer: Daisy Garside
Blink Producer: Joe Byrne
Agency: The Gate
Chief Creative Officer: Lucas Peon
Creatives: John Osborne, Rickie Marsden, Sam Whatley
Agency producer: Susie Innes
Account director: Sam Dempsey
Strategy Lead: Kit Altin
Media agency: OMD
Director of Photography and Colour Grader: George Warren
Animators: Tim Allen and Tobias Fouracre
Puppet Builder: Adeena Grubb
2D Animator and Compositor: Tom Fisher
Rig Removal: Ieuan Lewis
BTS: Joe Eckworth
Art Department Runners: Feiyang Yin and Stella Chapman
Shot at Clapham Road Studios
Sound:
Major Tom: Jake Wheeler
Grand Central: Gary Turnbull, Molly Butcher
Music companies: Beggars, Warner Chappell, Concord
Soundtrack: Radiohead
This lovely look behind the scenes was shot by Joe Eckworth
Adeena Grubb did a fantastic job as always on the puppet build. I worked with Catherine to plan out the replacement heads for the zipping & unzipping of costume shots
Tobias Fouracre animated these promos intended for social media ‘Stories’. I animated the film itself with the exception of 2 shots which Tobias covered for me.
The film was a really fun challenge to get right. It had so many quick shots that didn’t allow much screen time to convey the emotion we needed from the characters. I needed to maximize the frames that I had, make the action clear whilst also giving the characters the space they needed to convey their feelings & connect with the audience. We needed viewers to care about who they were watching & be drawn into the journey of anxiety from rejection, a need for belonging & the eventual sense of kinship in the film’s resolution. The film is short so this was a lot for us to squeeze into the precious little time we had.
At it’s core this film is about the need to bond with others & be loved. A primal need that we all share & can relate to.
