Mon, Aug 2nd 2010, 18:07
There's a free talk at the BFI Southbank on Saturday 7 August at 13.30. It's titled 'Collecting for Tomorrow' but is specifically about collecting contemporary films for tomorrow. Clips from various works including The Brothers McLeod's films will be shown as part of the talk.
Tue, Jul 27th 2010, 09:57
Here's some wallpaper I made for my iphone - feel free to use. The image is from an album cover I have designed for the fuzz enfused psychedelic soundtrack merchants - 'Barolo'. The album should be out in the autumn backed up with some fiersome live shows. We are doing all the artwork for the album in the form of a 16 page illustrated book. You can hear their ep 'Canal Duck Mafia', recorded live into a dictaphone, at the link below.
http://www.myspace.com/barolomusic
Lock screen
Menu screen
Mon, Jul 12th 2010, 10:05
Andrew Robertson at Eye for Film has reviewed our short film The Moon Bird very positively... Four Stars. Blush!
"Starkly monochrome, like chalk on a blackboard, sometimes appearing a negative, it is not only the animation that is dark; this fairy tale from the Brothers McLeod might be from the pages of the Brothers Grimm. Beyond its striking visuals, it has a soundtrack with piercing choral tones, a discordant but lovely score, and a story that is frightening and magical."
Read the rest of the review here...
Fri, Jul 9th 2010, 17:40
So James Cameron has pushed back the boundaries of animation technology with his 3D juggernaut about giant blue marmosets versus the forces of intergalactic tree surgeons. That’s almost exactly what we – The Brothers McLeod – are doing for animation too, except with coffee stirrers, conkers, felt tip pens and crayons.
Sticks is a slice-of-life detective comedy series about Detective Inspector Plank and his bungling crew that includes Constable Witch, Constable Sergeant and Sergeant Constable. And it’s all animated using various wooden bits of cutlery. Most of the characters are drawn on coffee stirrers, but we also have a yeti on a spatula, a zombie on a pastry baster, and an evil pencil sharpener. Oh yes. Beat that Mister Cameron.
The idea for Sticks first came about a couple of years ago when Greg (the illustrator-animator half of The Brothers McLeod) drew some characters on the coffee stirrers (as you do) and we had the idea of trying to do some ad-lib stuff using them as puppets. We recorded a bunch of off-the-cuff sketches onto our naff video camera and tried to make each other laugh. A lot of it was incomprehensible, but some funny characters did emerge. Our favourites were a collection of bungling Cockney coppers and some ridiculous French private detectives.
So we set to work getting to know our characters and writing some stories for them. They include DI Plank whose more paranoid than a coke addict in a hall of mirrors, Constable Sergeant who’s as green as oak; there’s Sergeant Constable – as cunning as he is lazy, and Constable Witch who has some unorthodox police methods.
Fast forward to now and we’ve delivered eight shiny episodes of Sticks which are filtering out on BBC Comedy online. The sticks have all been hand drawn, based on Greg’s designs, by illustrator and comic artist Lizz Lunney (whose own creations include the brilliant Depressed Cat and Dungaree Lion). These have been scanned into the computer and animated in Flash by animator Tom Evans (whose credits include BAFTA nominated animations for the Tate!)
The voices are supplied by a team of five voice artists including Shakespearian actor Sam Troughton (Robin Hood), Rachel Ferjani (Torchwood), David Holt (A Town Called Panic) and yours truly.
We were planning to do the whole thing in 3D with some helicopters, spaceships and sparkly jellyfish, but we decided that would be a bit over the top.
LINKS
BBC Comedy - Sticks
Facebook Fan Page
Sticks (test animations)
Mon, Jul 5th 2010, 10:56
The first longer episode (four whole minutes) of our online BBC Comedy series Sticks has gone live and so now it's really time to start shouting about it!So here is some shouting.
WATCH STICKS! YEAH STICKS! WAHHOO! STICKS!
Here are links to the first four episodes... please watch them and pass them on via Twitter, Facebook or good old fashioned talking!
And once you've watched them, join our Sticks Facebook Page. Nice.
