A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR TIME AT FLATPACK
We spent a week squeezing in as many weird and wonderful events as possible at this year's Flatpack Festival in Birmingham. We experienced an array of brilliant short films and some spectacular live events. Here's what we got up to:
VERTIGO: SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Hosted at The Mockingbird Cinema in Digbeth, Vertigo was a screening of eclectic shorts of different styles and themes. The audience were able to participate in a vote for their favourite film. These included a range of interesting themes and ideas, with a few of our favourites including a Man who confused himself for a tree and a thought provoking tennis ball. Choosing only one winner wasn't easy.
The winning short was the beautifully surreal, 60s style animation 'Goodbye Jérôme!'.
[Goodbye Jérôme! by Chloe Farr, Gabrielle Selnet, Adam Sillard]
ICHI ANIME SHOW
Bristol based Japanese musician and performance artist Ichi took to the stage to perform songs and sound effects over Japanese animations from the 60s, 70s and 80s. The music was commissioned by Flatpack for this event and it certainly did not disappoint. Ichi's style is comically scratch with the feel of a one man band on stage. His music is made using uniquely altered and hand-made instruments. The aural absurdity paired perfectly with the avant-garde animations, and the surreal elements of the anime bled into reality with the bizarre novelty of Ichi's presence and creation of sounds.
[ICHI performing at Flatpack 2022]
BOXER SHORT FILMS
Taking place at The Printmaker's Arms in Digbeth, this excellently curated selection of shorts from around the world stood out as a perfect storm of animation styles. Though many of them were routed in humour, there was always more nuance, usually with a dark undertone or complete tonal shifts. 'Night Bus' by Joe Hsieh stood out to me as a short film that evoked a myriad of reactions from the audience.
[A still from Night Bus by Joe Hsieh]
TATTERED EARTH
Here's where things get chaotic...
Birmingham's king of tat (Tat Vision) and his team (The Tat Mongers) performed an unconventional comedy show set in a dystopian future where the new currency is tat and sentient beings made of plastic live amongst us. This performance had a pantomime for adults feel to it, consisting of audience participation games, original songs and videos. It was a comically messy show with an explosion of charity shop tat and a giant paper-mâché head as a backdrop.
[Tattered Earth, Flatpack 2022]
BUILDING A COMMUNITY - DISCORD
Whether you are just starting out and want to learn more, looking for feedback on your work, an industry professional with valuable tips and tricks to share, or you just want a place to chat about software, industry news and what people are getting up to...come and get involved! Bigtooth Studios have a new Discord channel...a community for those with an interest in 3D, Animation, Film, Game & TV.
Follow the link for your invite to join and get involved in the community...See you there! https://discord.com/invite/QMr49j5TfA
