Corporate Animation Showcase 9 – An Interview with Kilogramme’s Jon Turner
Welcome to a very special edition of the Corporate Animation Showcase. We haven’t just got films this month but a living, breathing corporate animator and director Jon Turner from Manchester based studio Kilogramme. This is an exciting opportunity to learn firsthand what it’s like to run a successful animation studio where corporate animation is their bread and butter. So without further ado, let’s see what Jon had to say when we interviewed him on the ups and downs of corporate animation.
How did you find yourself starting up at Kilogramme? Was there a set path you wanted to go down in terms of content and style?
Kilogramme was set up in 2005. We wanted to keep a varied style to our work, as we didn’t want to be pigeonholed and thought it would give potential clients more choice and would make our lives more interesting.
Many studios see more corporate work as their bread and butter. Did you set out to create such content or was it more commercial work that you strove for?
We just wanted to make nice looking animation, but realized we still have to pay bills. There’s been no grand plan. People have asked us to make films for them and we’ve done the best job we can, whoever the client. If we don’t agree with the product we don’t make the film.
When corporate work comes in do you get a lot of creative control? Is it something you’ve gained more of over time as your studio has progressed?
It depends on the client. If they have no experience of making films they are looking for someone to give them guidance. Other clients might have a script, storyboards and designs and just need it all putting together. Usually there is room for our input. If you make a suggestion and they’re receptive, you can work something out with them. If they say no, you have to listen and see if it’s a definite no, or just no to that idea. There are several ideas I was sad to see discarded, but sometimes they just go on the back burner.
A very unique film that obviously wasn’t discarded is your film for Kaspersky where you managed to work with Juan Leguizamon as your style illustrator. Its a very artistically led piece, how did this come about?
We’d made the five MAX films for Kaspersky and needed to make one for a different product in their range; so with a different look. As we make 2D as well as 3D animation and had Juan on our radar as someone we wanted to work with, we pitched his designs as well as two others. Kaspersky were very receptive to our suggestions, even though they’re a large company, so it was all quite easy.
Your design and styles are very varied and unique, taking Kaspersky VSB, Splosh and Flee as great examples. Is it a conscious effort to forever change and adapt the way you work?
It is a conscious decision. We’ve been lucky to have designers who can work in different styles and want to. No one is happy if we are making more of the same, so we try to vary things if only for us. There is no ‘happily ever after’ with work. The next day it’s onto the next job, so you need to put something in there to make the process enjoyable.
Are there any corporate clichés and motifs that you personally – or as a studio – try to steer away from? For example, you have a distinct lack of the motion graphics-esque pieces that have flooded the market.
We don’t dislike motion graphics, it’s just not something we excel at. Things like money and global reach pop up in most videos, so we’re always thinking of ways other than a globe or spinning coin to show them. Sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t.
Overall in all your corporate escapades do you see these films as a proving ground for new styles/techniques that you may later take on to more story or commercial-led projects?
We made a self-funded short as a result of the team we’d built up on the Kaspersky films. Every job you do makes you a little better, even if it doesn’t feel that way at the time. The corporate films can help with the overall ambition of just trying to make nice work. Ideally we’d like to make something which breaks out and finds a large audience, or a small but passionate audience. Either way we’d like to know we’ve hit a nerve.
You can see more of Kilogramme’s work and keep up to date with all their goings on at kilogramme.co.uk.
Don’t forget to head over to the Corporate Animation Showcase Vimeo page to add your films and you could be featured in the next showcase: https://vimeo.com/groups/corporateanimation