WATCH: Once Upon A Blue Moon by Steve Boot
Once Upon a Blue Moon is the animated short film directed by Steve Boot. It tells the tale of a lonely alien on an isolated planet who is visited by a robot programmed to take pictures of rocks. It’s a charming tale made using limited resources with the assistance and enthusiasm of the Manchester animation community that the short was created within. The short follows a long line of part time projects started by classics such as The Sandman and more recently Slumberless to come out of the area which is known for it’s animated television productions.
Made with the assistance of Mackinnon and Saunders and Flix Facilities, the film has been screened at over 20 international festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival, London International Animation Festival, International Trick film festival (Stuttgart) and winning best independent film at Festival Stopmotion Montreal.
The films seems aimed towards a young audience, where did the idea originate?
Collage design
It’s based on an idea have had a few years ago to make a very simple pre-school series. Originally it was set on a small island and was about 2 characters who lived in a lighthouse would investigate and find uses for the items of junk that would wash up on the beach.
The show is very minimal with cotton wool for smoke and plasticine aliens, was that a budgetary thing or is it the exact story you wanted to tell?
It was kind of both. The story was developed on the idea it needed to be as quick and simple to make as possible. I allowed myself one armatured character to build, one set and few props as possible. As working with no money and in a small time frame so I needed to take everything back to the basics and see what I could do with as little as possible. Well I say “as little as possible” but it helps when you’re surrounded by an incredibly talented studio crew who are willing to help out and you have old sets and bits of armature and studio space with lights provided!
You’re Manchester based working on TV shows mainly, theres booming TV industry but not a huge amount of animated shorts coming out of the area, why is that, is everyone just too busy working on telly?
The set
Err, basically yes. I do know of several other animators who have made or are making there own films so that culture is trying to grow in Manchester. The TV series provide us with long term contracts and most people want to go home at the end of the day and not animate, you’ve gotta be a glutton for punishment to want to carry on in your spare time! The short film industry seems to go more hand in hand with advertising, it’s more experimental, shorter contracts, sometimes with the shorts working as a calling card to advertisers. Maybe that’s just an excuse, I’d like to see more of a short film industry up here and I reckon the new Manchester Animation Festival is going to be a huge bonus which will help with that.
How did you manage to juggle making the film and keeping your job as an animator going?
It was good timing. The show I was working on was coming to an end, I had a bit of downtime, a bit of holiday left, a strong chance of a new contract with only a short break and a simple idea which I was convinced I could work into the break. I got a lot of help from other crew members in shaping the story and making the puppets. Found an old set I could repaint. Then managed to film the whole thing in about 3 weeks when I wasn’t working and the studio was free. After that my producer at Mackinnion and Saunders got in touch with a musician for me, then asked the guys over at Flix Facilities if they would edit it all together and sprinkle it with there magic post production fairy dust. A couple of weeks after that it was back to work as normal.
You can follow director Steve Boot and see more of his work on Vimeo.