How did you come up with characters for the Chat Room as well as the idea for the short?
Bob Rivers, a Seattle-area DJ known for recording song parodies, commissioned the company that I work for to animate his “Chatroom” song, based on the 70’s song “Convoy.” I’m an animator/illustrator for a Seattle Animation Company called Tooned In, which now goes under the title Global Wonder Entertainment.
How long does it take you to make Chat Room? What was the process?
The cartoon was made in 2000 and I was fairly new to Flash at the time. The piece as a whole was finished in about a week. A lot of the characters were simply drawn with a Sharpie and scanned in. Another artist, Jay Barber, and I did the best we could with what little Flash knowledge we had at the time. 3D pro Luke Allen helped with the house at the beginning.
What were some of the challenges in making the short?
Trying to create a movie in Flash before really knowing how to animate or create a movie in Flash. Jay and I both were really just starting to learn about the frustrating world that is computer animation back then. That same year we wound up animating another Bob Rivers song, “Twisted Chipmunk Song,” and then “White Trash Christmas” in 2002, which has become a seasonal favorite on Atom Films.
Do you have any another animated shorts in the works?
Tooned In (aka Global Wonder Entertainment) has a wealth of animation projects either in production, waiting to be launched or currently being passed around. The website is being updated at the moment but you can check out more Tooned In movies at www.toonedin.com. I have a personal website at www.acb3.com, which consists mostly of examples of my illustration/concept design work.
What are some of your favorite animated shorts?
I have fond memories of Liquid Television and early Bill Plympton shorts.
What led you into the animation?
I can’t recall.
What advice can you give to a person wanting to make an animated short?
Just make the cartoon or short and worry about what to do with it afterwards.
