Channel Frederator Blog

Maybe it’s just me and the fact that this short by Dave Carter is an awesome cut out style piece, but this one seems slightly influenced by Terry Gilliam and his animated works for Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In such a good way.
Channel Fred sat down with Dave and picked his brain.

1) How long have you been animating Dave?
Ren and Stimpy blew my mind when I was 14 so I bought a light box and have been animating since, but it was just 2 years ago that I got into cutout animation.

2) Who are some of your influences?
Naturally there’s Terry Gilliam’s influence in ‘Say no to sex’, but I’m generally more inspired by auteur filmmakers and comedians. There’s usually something raw and personal that is expressed as if their sanity and survival depends on it. That’s how animating is for me.

3) How did you get the idea to do How Can I Say No to Sex at School and how long did it take to complete from start to finish?
I came across an article called ‘How can I Say No to Sex at School?’ in a Jehovah’s witness magazine, how could I resist? It took me 4 days.

4) What was your process in creating the short? How did you find the images? Was this a cutout short, or was it animated in Aftereffects? Either way, it came out absolutely great!
I had some Jehovahs’ at my door one day, bringing me a magazine. I found the article called ‘How can I say No to Sex at School?’ They were simply asking for it. I started cutting it up on the spec, and shot it all under a camera. I grabbed my housemate to say a few lines and his ex-girlfriend to say ‘slut!’ She hasn’t got a clue about this. Nor do the Jehovahs’.

5) What are you working on currently?
Right now, it’s a project called ‘Psychotown’, which is all animated inside a shoe-box. I stand up all day to reach inside the box. Lucky that my hands don’t have claustrophobia.

Look for more of Dave next week on Channel Frederator! That’s right! Back to back Action. That’s how we roll.
Thanks Dave!
-Jeaux Janovsky