Channel Frederator Blog

You guys, you guys, you guys… FOUR WHOLE YEARS! That’s right! In this episode we celebrate Channel Frederator’s fourth birthday with a wild bunch of four-second films depicting what Fredbot would do to throw down!

I suggested that he enroll in pre-K, like I did when I was four, but animators have big, sexy imaginations and came up with way better ideas than that. Plus, you get to watch a fab film from animation collective, Vurup. Lucky you!

“Insert Coin”, by Vurup - Super cool, surreal, hand drawn goodness packed into a minute!

“4-Second Fredbots”, Various - A sa-weet tribute to Das Bot (LOL), the one and only Fredbot, from the raddest of the rad: Art Grootfontein, Ben Smallman, Brandon Ray, Ned Wenlock, Niko Anesti, Pedro Eboli, Rich Chapple, Sam Caudill, Steve Stark, Victor Courtright, & Zhivko! Whew!

Animators whose work is shown on regular episodes of Channel Frederator will receive cash! Learn more [Read more…]

Belgian production company Volstok Telefunken (Wouter Sel and Thijs De Cloedt) is home to “De Monsters”, dozens and dozens of shorts featuring animated monsters interacting with real people. Here, Wouter and Thijs tell us how they go to be so stinkin’ rich and famous.

Can you tell us a little bit about Volstok Telefunken?

Thijs and Wouter teamed up a few years after they graduated in animation from KASK, Gent in Belgium. Wherever that is. A failed career of pouring beers and changing tires forced them to pursue professional silliness in character animation and motion graphics.

What gave you the idea for De Monsters?

We were looking to create something of our own, because it was the time of the great job scarce. Animators were dying of dehydration and we weren’t ready for full-on prostitution, so we came up with this illustration of a monster having a beer in a very common setting. This started [Read more…]

Halloween is here. It is HERE!!! You like weird monsters goofing off with humans? Then you’re gonna love this. This episode of Channel Frederator is a trick and a treat.

Just like your mom.

“De Monsters” Volstok Telefunken - A sampling of the 115 “De Monsters” films from Belgian production company Volstok Telefunken. They all feature animated monsters hanging out and doing some crazymaking in the real world.

Animators whose work is shown on regular episodes of Channel Frederator will receive cash! Learn more about the changes we’ve made here.

Leave lots of comments and follow us on Twitter!

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Man, monsters are so *bleepin’* scary! Oops. Sorry. Some content on CF is pretty grown up. If you’re under 18, get your parent’s permission prior to viewing.

-Bailee DesRocher

CalArts graduate Daron Nefcy’s “The Terror From Mars” is here just in time for Halloween! Below, she answers very important questions pertaining to candy and imaginary creature fights.

What was the most useful thing you learned about animation when you were in school?

To understand what you’re going to do before you do it. Learning to act out the movement beforehand, creating thumbnails, and then keeping the key frames rough so that you don’t waste time doing things over and over. School was a series of looming deadlines, so getting things close enough to the way I wanted them as accurately and as quickly as possible was great preparation for me.

Any cool stories/accidents/explosions involved in the making of “The Terror From Mars”?

Hmm… I’m not sure I can remember any. There were always happy accidents, but this film went from an idea to completed product in 5 months. I don’t remember much aside from [Read more…]

This week Carl tackles the annual, all important question, “What will you be for Halloween this year?” Channel Frederator’s answer? “Awesome. We will be awesome this year.”

And our featured film is…

“The Terror From Mars” by Daron Nefcy - An alien with hunger pangs lands on Earth for a snack. Whaddya know - I get my snacks from Earth too! Wild.

Animators whose work is shown on regular episodes of Channel Frederator will receive $50 cash! The animator that receives the most views in their debut week wins $200! Learn more about the changes we’ve made here.

Follow us on Twitter!

WARNING: Channel Frederator is rated EXPLICIT. Man, candy corn is so *bleepin’* delicious! Oops. Sorry. Some content on CF is pretty grown up. If you’re under 18, get your parent’s permission prior to viewing.

-Bailee DesRocher

I know it might not seem so, but I’ve always tried to make sure that we listen to what you’ve got to say about Channel Frederator. It’s why the Terms of Use page ends with:

“If you have ideas for how to improve these Terms of Use, please share them with us. Our user community is always changing and the Terms of Use should evolve as appropriate to accommodate the community.”

The other thing about me is that I can be kind of a flake about things, doing too much and paying attention too little. Recently, you’ve pointed out that the legalese in our Terms of Use sounded scary. And when I looked into it, I realized that I’d let it get that way. That stinks, and I’m very sorry.

So, we wanted to change the Terms of Use, which gives me a chance to clear up a few things.

* Channel Frederator has [Read more…]

This weeks episode features “The Flower Lion” from animator Sehwang Heo. Here he tells us about the unique origin of the film’s premise, and why he won’t fight for his food.

Where did you study animation/film?

Sehwang Heo: I took a one year animation course in South Korea.

What inspired the story for “The Flower Lion”?

I traveled in India two years ago. I was joining a Vipassana meditation course. During the course, suddenly an image popped out from my head. That image was a lion with flowers. The story started from the image.

[Read more…]

Our 200th episode ‘toon is “The Owl and the Squirrel” courtesy of animator Nick Bachman. He graduated from MCAD in May and is now gainfully employed at PUNY Entertainment in Minneapolis. Woot! Read on for all you ever wanted to know about futzing with clay, Ticketmaster, and Pee Wee Herman!

We featured your stop motion short “Chocolate and Mices” earlier this year - what have you learned about animation or about yourself as an artist since then?

Nick Bachman: I think I’ve learned to take breaks from working more often. If you work on something constantly and think about it 24/7 without taking time for yourself, the quality of your work, health, and life will deteriorate and you will become a sad, lonely little hermit. True story.

The gags in “The Owl and The Squirrel” are Sylvester and Tweety-esque. What gave you the idea for the film?

NB: I was trying to write a story to [Read more…]

Our 200th episode is here!  It’s hard to believe we’re closing in on 4 years of Channel Frederator.  And to celebrate we’re shaking things up.  Episode 200 marks the debut of our one cartoon format, new host, and ongoing contest.  Anyone who is featured on our weekly Tuesday show from here on out receives $50.  At the end of the month, the animator with the most views in their debut week, wins $200.

But, why switch format?

With a one cartoon format, we can dote on each animator individually.  Which means shining a bigger spotlight on them.  And our viewers can do. For the first time, an audience can help reward an animator.  Like a cartoon?  Twitter it.  Facebook it.  At the end of the month, we’ll tally it up and reward the animator with the most views in their debut week.

Nothing would please us more than to see an animators’ work [Read more…]

Hey there, Channel Frederator Fans!

We want you to help us throw down for our 4 year anniversary with a slew of fantastic films for one big, bad episode! We’re looking for 4 second animations of what you think the Fredbot would do to celebrate his Happy 4th!

Upload your film to the submissions page. Please type “4 SECOND FREDBOT BY (your name)” in the title box. Best file size and type is 640×360 .mov Done and done!

Deadline is October 12th!

If you have other films you’d like featured on Channel Frederator, check out this article! We can’t wait to show your work, and in addition to interviews and hype for you - with our new format there’s cash available to anyone that gets their work shown!

Woo!