Channel Frederator Blog

We got such a boatload of submissions for Channel Frederator’s 2-Second Cartoon Contest and it really looks like everyone put a lot of work into their shorts. Thanks to everyone for submitting! I would love for everyone to to win, but we did promise a prize, and that prize goes to Jeff Gill for his short, “First Kiss”. Congratulations, Jeff!

I asked Jeff a few questions about himself and what inspired his 2-second short. Check out his answers below!

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I’m originally from Seminole, FL, but after attending school in Savannah I moved out here to Los Angeles and have worked at a number of really fun studios, including Jib Jab and South Park. Currently we’re hard at work on the 13th season, but during our mid-season breaks I enjoy working on my own side projects including music videos, experimental films, and updating my daily art blog, goodbyespacebar.blogspot.com

What inspired yoru 2-second short?

The 2-second short was suuuch an awesome idea… really great way to crank out some animation without getting too nit-picky about it! Since for St. Patties day, I wanted to try and avoid the obvious ‘lepercaun’ animation and come up with something different. So other than shamrocks and green beer, the only other thing I could think of was those ‘kiss me I’m Irish’ shirts I’ve seen people wear. (tho I must admit, if it was a ‘3-second’ competition, I would have ended with rainbows shooting out of the empty eye sockets and a leprechaun doing a jig)

Who/What are some of your influences?

I love really bouncy/cartoony stuff, but I also have a lot of respect for limited animation too. Keith Harring is someone I always think of influencing my work, and recently I feel like I’ve had a lot in common with Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time, etc) and Don Hertzfeldt (animation show). But growing up I watched a lot of Looney Toons and Doug, so I have a feeling those can be to blame, too.

What is the first game you will buy to play on your Nintendo DSi?

Oh man… I don’t think I’ll even buy any games for it. After seeing footage of being able to warp video with the stylus and the new camera, what else could you want? But that’s like getting a computer and playing nothing but solitaire, so I’ll probably pick up some Final Fantasy games for my girlfriend, or some brain academy for myself. (I hear that’s like Wii-Fit for your mind, and God knows my brain could loose a few pounds)

Thanks, Jeff, for your great short and all of the info. And thanks, again, to everyone who submitted. You guys really outdid yourselves! - Carrie