Freelance animator Kenny Frankland’s blend of murky inventiveness and grimy cartoons have been a hit on the short film festival circuit – not bad for someone who started out making cartoons on a Commodore Amiga (vintage gaming bonus points). We tracked down the Manchester-based filmmaker to chat grafitti, technology and why animation is a bit like being God.
I got interested in animation from being a child. I was always fascinated by the stop motion work of Ray Harryhausen and Phil Tippit. The creatures these guys brought to life in various films gave me a little obsession and I would try ( unsuccessfully) to replicate these with plasticine and my granddads 8mm camera and later a camcorder. I gave up animation for a while in defeat and went to making really cheesy home movies with friends until I got a Commodore Amiga and some software called Deluxe Paint IV which is when I got bit by the bug again. Soon after that I went to Film School and started using the first edition of 3D Studio and it’s been love ever since. The thing that appeals to me most is the fact that you can do anything your imagination permits in animation. You can create wonderful worlds and fill them with wonderful characters. I get to play god and to some extent most of my films have strong themes of creation in them. Something is usually growing or evolving.
What inspires you as a filmmaker?
Music, technology, people and the world around us – but mostly nature. As I touch on in the previous question I am sort of obsessed with evolution and the development of things – I enjoy showing something evolving and growing or going on a journey. I also love mixing organic and technological themes together and then mixing all this up and telling a story.
I love the Black Noise video – the mix of grungy and cartoonish works really well. What was the inspiration for the video?
The music was a big inspiration – I knew I wanted a strange creature walking about but the look was mostly dictated by a small budget and tight deadline. Instead of creating everything from scratch in my 3d animation software I decided to cut corners and film the ‘Rex walking backgrounds. I made the characters stylistically simple – basing them of graffiti characters and made sure a lot of the animation was looped and reusable. I think the most time and work went into the boom box and the area that sat in, which was created in 3d animation.
Without a doubt it would be the video I did for Mistabishi – PRINTER JAM. I love the movement and the feel I got in that video and it’s one of the few I think that works perfectly with the music. The video took quite a bit of planning but that’s an element of the job I really enjoy. I love getting a track to work with where the video appears clear as day in my head on the first listen and I then just have to figure out how I’m going to animate it. The finished video has gone down extremely well, especially on the festival circuits and I still get several screening requests a month even though I did the video almost 2 years ago.
Outside of filmmaking and animation, what excites you?
I’m quite interested in natural and popular science. I’m fascinated not only by the world around us but space and beyond. There are lots to get excited about on this topic. Cakes and biscuits will also make me giddy. No, really they do.
To find out more, check out Kenny’s website tinspider.com.
