As a director and a professional animator, I know how hard it is
to get your work not only made, but seen,
so I was delighted to hear that BBC Four,
and the British Film Institute had offered grants for the
creation of 30 new animated films by new and emerging talent.
Tonight, we're going to see the TV premiere.
What's unique and really important about this particular scheme
is that BBC Four are being brave and allowing film-makers
so early in their career to have their work shown on mainstream TV.
What's interesting is that even today,
in the era of smartphones,
is that we can still make films one frame at a time,
to tell these personal stories and how we relate to each other.
And animation can do that in a way which can almost...
In a microscopic level, and use highly imaginative devices,
through magical moments, through stop-frame, through 2-D,
through CG techniques, all created one frame at a time.
It's a very laborious process,
but it yields really interesting results.
This collection of animated films that have been made by a cohort
of new film-makers say something very specific about society today.
Not only are they personal stories about relationships and how
we interact with each other, they're looking outside at the world
and how we engage with society, and, dare I say, the word Brexit.
These films show the wealth of talent here
working in Britain today.
The first three films we're going to see tonight are all
stories about animals.
Of course, they are telling us
something very human about ourselves.
They're allegories for life.
It's a theme that's been used
from Halas and Batchelor in Animal Farm,
it's been used recently with Wes Anderson and Isle Of Dogs.
But these film-makers -
today's animators - are using the theme to really investigate
confinement, and to look at who we are when we escape.
These aren't cartoons. These films are serious entertainment,
that provoke further debate and conversation.
PENGUINS CHIRP
Oh! Oh! Oh...
Oh! Oh!
Oh.
Ohh!
Oh...
Ohh. Oh!
HE GRUNTS
Ugh.
HE GURGLES
THEY LAUGH
Oh, oh.
Ohh!
CRACKING
Gah!
Oh...
Hmm.
Hm? Hmm.
Ohh!
BANGS AND CRASHES
ALL: Oh!
EXPLOSION ALL: Oh!
DOOR HANDLE SQUEAKS
A-ha!
RATTLING
BANG
Ahh.
HE LAUGHS
WAVES LAPPING
# Some glad morning when this life is over
# I'll fly away...#
WAVES LAPPING
# To a home on God's celestial shore
# I'll... #
ALARM BUZZES
# Some glad morning when this life is over
# I'll fly away
# To a home on...#
ALARM BUZZES
# Some glad morning...#
# Some glad morning, when this life is over
# I'll fly away
# To a home on God's celestial shore
# I'll fly... #
# Some glad morning...#
THEY GASP
# Some glad morning
# When this life is... #
# Some glad morning
# When this life is over
# I'll fly away
# To a home on God's celestial shore
# I'll fly away. #
CREEPING MUSIC PLAYS
PERCUSSIVE BEATS
CHEERY FOLK MUSIC PLAYS
CREEPING MUSIC PLAYS
DRAMATIC STRINGS PLAY
HE PLAYS TUNELESSLY
TUNE WHISTLES FROM AFAR
TUNE WHISTLES AGAIN
HE PLAYS MORE TUNEFULLY
HE PLAYS EVEN MORE TUNEFULLY
FANFARE STOPS SUDDENLY
FOOTSTEPS
WHISTLING
HE PLAYS TUNEFULLY
The next three films you're about to see are all about other worlds.
They range from the Arctic to distant, far-off planets and moons,
all the way back in time to 1980s Nigeria.
They use a combination of techniques.
They use 2D experimental animation,
they use 3D digital technology
and they use puppet stop-frame animation.
All of these worlds are about human survival, memories.
Pay attention not only to what you can see
but what you can also hear
by the way the animators are working with sound designers and composers
to make these other worlds utterly compelling and immersive.
My earliest childhood memory was
when I went back to Nigeria with my mother.
I was four years old.
I was born in Lagos, and lived there until I was one.
That's me in 1988, when I was four.
Walking through the busy market street,
I start a rhythmic dance to
the colourful sounds of people shouting and laughing.
I recall eating barbecued corn on the cob from the street sellers
who were surrounded by foggy smoke.
I was frightened by the giant snails.
The most desirable would be seasoned
and tossed into a tantalising spicy stew.
The taste from eating raw plantain in a treehouse is still delectable.
Summer was youthful, and unfamiliar surroundings were comforting.
It felt like home again.
My mother bought me two toffee sweets
covered in gold and pink wrapping.
I wanted to share the sweets with my cousins,
resisting temptation in what felt like the longest car journey.
My cousins lived in Lagos Mainland.
Their strong Nigerian accent was mesmerising,
almost like poetry.
I wanted to play with them all day long.
My grandmother lived on Lagos Island.
She was more beautiful than I'd imagined.
She sat under the burning orange sun, wearing traditional attire.
I noticed that she was barefooted,
so I asked my mother if I could remove my sandals.
She replied with a firm, "No!"
But my grandmother told my mother to let me, and so she did.
I wondered, "Who is this woman who my mother must obey?"
Running around the compound in excitement,
my feet were absorbing the warmth of the foreign land,
my body jerking like a ritual dance to the drumming of my grandmother
using a wooden spoon, mixing together water and dried cassava.
The past can hold us captive when we miss the things that have changed.
This was the last time that I saw my grandmother.
She passed away a few years later.
But her spirit lives on through my mother and me.
These are some of my most beautiful memories.
WOMAN SINGS IN YORUBA
DOOR OPENS
SCREECHING
SAD SOUNDS
ROUSING MUSIC
JARRING CELLO PLAYS
WIND BLOWS
WAVES TRICKLE
HE SIGHS
STOMACH RUMBLES
HE SIGHS
HE GROANS SOFTLY
FIRE CRACKLES
HE GROANS SOFTLY
FIRE CRACKLING INTENSIFIES
HE SIGHS
HE GROANS SOFTLY
DOG PANTS AND WHIMPERS
DOG DRINKS
DOG PANTS AND WHIMPERS
HE GASPS
JARRING MUSIC
ECHOED BARKS
DOG BARKS
SQUELCH
GURGLING
SOMBRE MUSIC
The next three films take us deep into the interior life
of three very, very different characters.
They range in tone from sci-fi, to a dark fairy tale, to farce.
They use a combination of 2-D animation drawn over puppets
to 3-D digital techniques.
All in a way that takes us deep, deep, deep
below the skin of characters in a way that live-action cannot,
and they explore obsession and paranoia.
Ham sandwich.
Ham sandwich!
3am, and here I am, once again sinking into a whirlpool of
if onlys and Oh, God, whys?
My mind stuck on a loop, a broken carousel, a never-ending record.
I just want to sleep!
But no, 11 hours 23 minutes later,
the hippocampus, that little nugget deep in my brain,
is furiously toiling away, hellbent on keeping me awake,
reliving what I did today over and over.
LAUGHTER
Oh! It's funny, isn't it?
Ha-ha! Yeah.
THEY FALL SILENT
Ah, me. Er, right...
HE COUGHS
Good one, good one. That's funny.
You know, I actually heard quite a good one the other day.
A ham sandwich walks into a bar and tries to order a drink,
and the barman says,
"We don't serve food here".
Ha!
HE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY
SILENCE
WIND WHISTLES
HE WHIMPERS
PHONE RINGS
THEY START TO TALK AGAIN
Oh! Why did I say anything?!
Why a joke?
They all stared at me like I'd murdered their cat, or something!
171,476 words in the English language to choose from,
and that was all I could think of!
Oh, God! I'm going to have to quit.
Yes, have a fresh start.
I'll move to Germany and start an alpaca farm.
The alpacas won't judge me.
Or would they?
I'll never look at a ham sandwich in the same way again!
Memory is so strange.
I know all the British monarchs, and recognise every nautical knot,
but birthdays elude me.
I remember capital cities, but not the name of someone I've just met.
Running over the same tired memories like a hamster in a wheel.
A never-ending cycle of deja vu.
Someone once told me that deja vu was us briefly connecting
with our past lives.
That it was a spiritual sign we were repeating the same mistakes.
She never did like facts.
We don't serve food here.
Oh!
If only we could choose to forget.
So many memories that keep coming back.
Ones that just stick with you.
LAUGHTER
Mum! My hamster!
SOBBING
Oh, Frank. I think we should just be friends.
But we're in the bath.
Nice cup of tea.
SLOWED DOWN: But the Barman says,
"We...don't...serve...food...here".
Ahhhh!
The more we think on a memory, the more it distorts.
The more we focus on the details, the more they blur and fragment.
My nan had dementia when she died last year.
She couldn't remember.
I only have a handful of memories left of her now.
Am I forgetting who she is, the more I try to picture her?
Am I changing who she was?
Sleep is the only way out of this.
I don't think I have ever felt freer than when I dream.
Like whatever's happened gets swept clean.
I can think clearly again.
If I could sleep, then I could bury today in the back of my...
SHOUTING: A ham sandwich walks into a bar and tries to order a drink!
But the barman says, "We don't serve food here!"
Ham sandwich. Ham sandwich.
MUSIC AND WORDS JUMBLE
..tries to murder a cat...
A ham sandwich. A ham sandwich.
And the barman says...
I've got an allergy, take the cat out.
Ham sandwich.
UNINTELLIGIBLE JUMBLE OF WORDS
Ham sandwich! Walks into a bar, tries to order a drink!
Oh, my grandma! Grandma!
WHISPERING: "..don't serve food here."
SILENCE
A ham sandwich, a ham sandwich, a ham sandwich, a ham sandwich,
a ham sandwich...
HE STRAINS
A ham sandwich, a ham sandwich, a ham sandwich, a ham sandwich,
a ham sandwich...
Ohhh!
Oh, no!
Ahhh!
Oh, no.
No.
Frank?
Are you all right? The joke, James.
I can't stop thinking about it.
Everyone thinks I'm an idiot.
The entire office was there.
You heard it.
I don't know what you mean, mate.
Maybe get a couple of hours' sleep before work, eh?
If I was a monster...
You know, a real, proper monster...
..I wouldn't go round the houses with big, old, nasty teeth
and horrible, long claws...
..making it bleeding obvious.
No.
What I'd do is I'd blend in.
Camouflage myself.
I'd be the last of all God's creatures anyone ever suspected...
..of eating them up.
Who knows?
Perhaps I'd blend in so well,
even I could not tell I was a monster.
Did you ever hear the story of the Three Crow Boys?
Being so ugly, the Three Crow Boys were to be killed at birth.
But once the doctors were being sick...
..they made their escape.
The Three Crow Boys searched the streets, all night.
Until, as luck may have it,
they found the house of a lonely old nightmare.
Oh, you poor little creatures.
I saw so many things, so many wild, incredible things...
They immediately liked the old man,
for he told them many terrifying stories about the war...
GROTESQUE WAR SOUNDS
..which made them smile.
Inside.
CROW BOYS CAW
The old man soon learned that crows are not only the most
intelligent of all birds,
but also the most vicious.
CROWS BOYS FIGHT AND THROW THINGS
And greedy.
CROW BOYS SNORT
But, being so lonely, the old man loved them...
Goodnight, my little ones.
SNORING
..as if they were his own.
As you might imagine, the Three Crow Boys became very curious
about the world outside.
And despite the old man's protests...
No, no, no, no, no.
..they decided to explore the city one night.
Oh, deary, deary me.
The next morning, as the Crow Boys slept,
there was a special announcement on the wireless.
Ladies and gentlemen.
A boy in the Whitechapel area disappeared from his bed last night.
There are signs of a break-in.
Police fear foul play and encourage extreme caution.
The old man just knew that the Crow Boys were involved somehow.
And he begged them not to go out again, the next night.
I'll you once, I'll tell you a thousand times...
But his words, they fell on deaf ears.
..it's a dangerous world round here.
It's got all kinds...
of terrible things!
Ladies and gentlemen.
Last night, a second boy disappeared from his bed in
the Whitechapel area.
The head of police claims they are following a promising lead.
Please stay vigilant and stay tuned.
The old man wondered why the things he loved most...
..always fell apart.
Every single time.
With tears running down his face, he awoke the Three Crow Boys
with their favourite camomile tea.
And he told them a particularly terrible tale...
..of how he lost his family...
..and his eyes...
CROWS CAW
..and with a smile on each of their faces, one by one...
..by one...
..the Three Crow Boys slipped away.
Oh, dear, dear, dear.
When the sun finally arose, there was another announcement...
..on the wireless.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
A third boy in the Whitechapel area disappeared last night.
Police say they have identified a prime suspect.
The game's up old man, come out!
We know you're in there...
Stay tuned for more updates on this tragic story.
We need a lot of dogs, right now.
This can't be happening. We know what you've done, you monster!
Monster!
Let us in right now. One, two, three, go!
HE SOBS
SOBS TURN INTO LAUGHTER
HE LAUGHS MANIACALLY
MACHINE RUMBLES
STATIC HISSES
MACHINE BEEPS
MACHINE CHIRPS
CLOCK TICKS
MACHINE CHIRPS
CLOCK TICKS
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
HIGH-PITCHED SONAR PULSE ECHOES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
LOW-PITCHED SONAR PULSE ECHOES
PHONE-LIKE RINGING
PHONE RINGS
PHONE CONTINUES RINGING
ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS
STATIC HISSES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
WHIRRING
STATIC HISSES
THUNDER RUMBLES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
LOW-PITCHED SONAR PULSE ECHOES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
STATIC HISSES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
LOW-PITCHED SONAR PULSE ECHOES
SONAR PULSE ECHOES
STATIC HISSES
PHONE RINGS
ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS
Hello?
Hello, Frank?
Are you there?
Tonight's four final films all explore the perennial theme of love.
They're not typical love stories.
They're unusual stories, perfect for the use of animation.
Love beyond the grave.
Love in a controlling relationship.
The desire to move on, and one is holding you back.
Erotica -
how do you use animation to communicate erotica
in a way that any other medium cannot?
Lost love, toxic love, failed love, perfect love...
Sit back and enjoy.
CLOCK TICKS
ERIC SIGHS
CLOCK TICKS
Dear Elsie...
..without you...
Without you...
..nights are cold.
Without you...
..Paree is not so gay.
HE PANTS
HE BLOWS HARD
HE COUGHS
RECORD CRACKLES
NO MUSIC PLAYS
Without you, life has no music.
Without you...
..my tea has no sugar.
Without you...
..seconds can take...
..hours.
CLOCK TICKS SLOWLY
GLASS SMASHES HE GASPS
WIND HOWLS
HE PANTS
HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH
HE PANTS
HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH
Oh!
With you...
ERIC CHUCKLES
All right, darlin'?
CLASSICAL MUSIC
ARCHIE: Mm... That's better, isn't it?
OPERATIC SINGING
SHE SIGHS
HE SIGHS
CAT MEOWS
CAT PURRS
Oh!
SHE GASPS
SHE SIGHS
Um...
Hmm...
SHE EXHALES
Mmm!
SHE CHUCKLES
Mmm...
SHE GASPS
CAT MEOWS, HE GROANS
You wouldn't believe the state of grooming nowadays.
Ugh! Disgusting!
SHE SIGHS
Well, at least I get to come back to you.
Argh! Get rid of it! Get rid of it!
SHE BREATHES DEEPLY Oh...
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Archie...
..it's gone now.
HE EXHALES DEEPLY
I'm sorry. It was just...a stressful day.
Anyway, we'll soon have enough.
Mm-hmm...
Hm!
SHE MOANS WITH PLEASURE
Mm...
CAT MEOWS
SHE CHUCKLES
Hello!
SHE CHUCKLES
Mm...
ECHOED: What are you doing?
Archie! I...
Ugh!
Right, in the bathroom.
HE SNORES
Uh...
HE CONTINUES TO SNORE
SHE GROANS
Mmm...
Mary? SHE GASPS
Mary?
Mary!
I'll do that today.
It's fine. I've already done it.
It needs taping.
It's OK, I can do that.
Mary...! SHE GROANS
Give...
..it...
..here!
Ugh!
HE GASPS AND QUIVERS
What have you done with it?
That's it!
CAT MEOWS
CAR HORNS BLARE
Please, Archie. Come here!
MAN GRUMBLES
Huh...
Archibald, stop!
I don't want to.
But it's disgusting, Mary! It's... It's horrible. It's...
VOICE QUIVERS: It's un... It's unnatural.
WOMAN GIGGLES
Everybody's hairy, Archie.
HE GASPS
Mary!
Wha...?
ELECTRONIC PULSING
EERIE WHOOSHING
CREAKING
I could feel his hand in my... in my hand, but then...
..it felt like the rest of my body was really far away.
I remember looking down at my hand...
..and I was just looking at this moment, because it felt like
a more profound moment
than just simply holding hands.
I think... I think this is it.
I think I'm actually in love.
ECHOING: Actually in love.
This is so intense. Overwhelming.
Sick. Sickening. En su tete.
It is the animal inside.
Freed from the mind. Just purely...
..animalistic.
It's a force, it's a life force.
RAPID BEATING
ECHOING: Animalistic.
All love is a kind of ruinous enslavement.
I want this person to be me.
PLATE SHATTERS
Our world was getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
It's all just destroyed so easily.
It's all so fragile,
and it can all burst apart.
DOOR CREAKS
I did fall out of love,
and it was rather...
..full of guilt and regret.
And, erm, a failure.
So intense. ECHOING: So intense.
Panic. Desperation.
Y-You're just so empty.
My guys.
My guys, my guys.
How are we today?
Hm?
Me?
Oh, I'm good.
I'm good.
3D scan complete.
I've got tits from space.
And an arse from hell.
I've never been better.
3D print in progress.
I've got a good feeling about this one.
It is a pleasure to meet you.
PULSATING MUSIC
# Slug life is my only life
MUSIC STOPS
RAPID CLAPPING
FLIES BUZZ
CHUCKLE
Good to have you back, friend.
Two weeks is too long without our Tanya.
Where have you been?
I've been...
..working on a new project.
CHUCKLING Can't wait to meet him.
I think I've finally found the formula...
for total perfection.
Me?
Oh.
Are his proportions divine?
Yeah.
But most of all,
they just really get me.
You know?
GUFFAWING
I can really be myself around him.
GUFFAWING
Come here, you little pervert.
No, no, no!
GUFFAWING
DOOR SLAMS
What a beautiful day.
THUNDER ROLLS
Stay out of my room, Marcy.
I'm going to be on the...
DOOR SLAMS ..radio in five minutes.
No, no!
Tanya, as your partner...
..I would like to get a grip on your gestures and inflections.
Puzzle you out a little.
I'm not fussed on getting a drink.
Let's make it caramels, or whatever.
Sure, baby.
Tanya, where are my bones?
You don't want bones, slug.
They just get in the way.
RADIO: 'And now, in it to win it,
with his rendition of Are You Contagious,
'we have Marcy on the line!'
'This is a dedication to my flatmate.
# Tanya, I'm curious
# No doubt about it
# So curious
# No doubt in my mind... #
Tanya, am I a freak?
Yes. A freak of nature.
Like me.
# Look right through me, baby, now
# Are you contagious?
# Contagious
# Contagious... #
Everybody having a good time?
He's the one, ladies.
Whoa!
Not bad.
Reminds me of myself as a young man.
Lady, you are a vision and your big friend seems nice.
Ha-ha, I'm the Sun, you damn fool!
GUFFAWING
Come and join us, Marcy.
# Nice face
# Shame about the haircut
# Good body
# Bad conversation
# Nice face
# Shame about the haircut
# Good body
# Bad conversation
# Nice face
# Bad conversation
# Nice face
# Bad conversation
# Nice face
# Bad conversation
# Good body
# Good body. #