‘Sausage’ Sizzles with Hat Trick of UK Awards
Skwigly
‘Sausage’, the animated short by London based designer Robert Grieves is off to a sizzling hot start, picking up top awards in all three of its UK festival appearances to date.
The charming, retro piece which was self-funded and animated entirely by Robert himself picked up gold for ‘Best Short’ at PROMAX UK and ‘Best Animation’ at both the UK and Foyle Film festivals. The latter securing ‘Sausage’ a coveted place on the Oscars consideration list and proving that independent films can indeed compete at top level.
‘Sausage’ is guaranteed to delight audiences young and old with a powerful combination of cheeky humour and political satire, offering ‘…a wry look at the cut-throat world of capitalist consumerism’ (Counterfeit Magazine, Nov 13) as it deals with the issue of food ethics. A topic that has been very much in the headlines, prompted by the recent horse meat scandal.
Having written as well as animated ‘Sausage’, this seven minute film is Robert’s first narrative creation, which makes the current praise being heaped on the film even more impressive. Eavan King (Foyle FF Competition Manager) cited the strength of storytelling
as the standout factor that really impressed the judges, while Murray Woodfield (UKFF Artistic Director) said it was the films sheer ability to entertain that gave it the award. And, according to Matthew White (Festival Director PROMAX SFF) it was the blend of creative ambition, artistry, timing and humour that helped make its selection a unanimous decision.
The warmth and nostalgia that is evident in every frame of Sausage reflects the love that Robert has for mid-century design and not only creates a sumptuous feast for the eyes, but whisks the audience away to a time and place of traditional values. However, creating
this vintage setting with limited resources was was no picnic, as Robert explains:
“For the viewer to be swept back in time the design and animation had to feel as authentic as possible, and that requires hand crafting to avoid the digital feel. In contrast the zero budget meant that computerised shortcuts were essential to create 7 minutes of animation. The challenge was set to make the most of what ‘traditional analogue’ and ‘cutting-edge digital’ can offer, blending these disparate approaches to make one believable world.”
Working as a motion designer, the project was born from Robert’s desire to create work that was not client lead, “as corny as it sounds I just needed to make a true expression of my own ideas, without any commercial compromises. I was also desperate to get stuck in with narrative and character and there are few paying gigs that would allow me that. And rightfully so, I needed the time and space to fully embrace these challenges, and ‘Sausage’ forced me to learn more than I can currently even remember” reflects Grieves.
While the visuals were a solo affair, Robert turned to an unconnected trio of composers to create a distinct soundtrack that plays similar games, embracing mid-century influences while exploiting the technical advantages available to composers today. Paul Worsley and Mahyar ‘Mario’ Bordbar each contributed several quirky tracks, but the majority was the creation of pop mastermind, UTTERS (aka Dan Radclyff).
Of his experience working with the successful producer, Robert says, “working along side UTTERS for days on end in his eccentric London studio is my favourite memory from this project. His responsiveness to my suggestions and boundless creative energy was mind blowing. In fact all the composers echoed my vision in wonderful ways I’d never dreamed.”
The final piece of the production puzzle is sound designer and mixer Leaf Troup who was involved throughout the creative process. Robert offers high praise, “Sound design doubles the impact of any animation, it’s the difference of a good and bad film. Having an
incredible pro like Leaf on the project from the start not only offered me confidence, but gave the project the cohesion it so needed. His ears are 20 times better than mine, and essentially on this project, balanced all the audio sources I threw at him.
Further influence came in the form of advice from trusted people around Robert. Although this project was about expressing his own voice, it soon became apparent how much others were needed to help that dream.
“Initially I expected character animation to be my biggest hurdle, but the real challenge turned out to be storytelling. In the initial stages I received essential advice from script
writer friend Steve Moles and author Peter Morfoot. The benefit of having a wife who works for major cartoon channels was pretty darn handy! But the main contributor was Simon Williams, a professional storyboarder who showed me the finer points of storytelling
(not a quick lesson). What I learned from him was a Masters course in itself”.
So, after many years of working into the night and weekends, does Robert think this magnum opus has been worth while?
“If you asked me 2 months ago it was a simple “NO”. I was ‘Sausaged-out’, frustrated and lonely amidst the silence that comes when festivals just aren’t replying. But now I’m loving it! Packed audiences laughing at what you’ve created and the drunken buzz of festivals.
Let’s just say I’m very grateful to my wife in supporting me throughout a project that involved way more time and effort than I ever expected. The payoff is she gets to fly to all the festivals with me, so we’re both hoping ‘Sausage’ lands exotic screenings”.
There’s no doubt this is a truly exciting a start to its UK festival run. With screenings at the London Short Film Festival and Bath Film Festival in the coming months, let’s see if the rest of the world shares the UK’s taste for ‘Sausage’…