Animators drawn to storytelling
‘Documation’ takes NZ to the world
produces THE SIMMONDS Brothers launched their own animation studio on the Kapiti Coast 10 years ago. The operation has expanded to the point where it produces documentaries, short films and advertising clips for a wide variety of clients.
Phill Simmonds, a self-taught illustrator and cartoonist, has created a colourful array of characters including Jeffrey the pirate, Kahu the kea and urban Maori ‘‘Rangi’’ to educate and entertain.
Based in Raumati South, Phill and his team create animated movies that tell extraordinary stories, often about ordinary people, through ‘‘documation’’, a term Phill coined to describe his unique style of film-making – a merging of documentary and animation.
The company also cartoon illustration.
Stories told by real people are filmed, then turned into handdrawn 2D animations. Original audio recordings of interviews are used for voices, providing authenticity to entertaining, often comic, visuals.
‘‘If you want people to entertain your idea, your idea should first entertain them,’’ Phill said.
Some of Phill and Jeff’s early animations include Pearl, Florrie and the Bull, the story of 80-yearold Paekakariki twin sisters who fended off a bull at a local pony club; Noise Control, the tale of a raucous Raumati South Kindergarten rooster being shot by a noise control officer, and Kahu the Kea, commissioned for a Government conference.
Pearl, Florrie and the Bull was selected for the 2004 New Zealand International Film Festival and proved a hit.
In 2007, the brothers’ film A Very Nice Honeymoon won the top award at the Show Me Shorts film festival. It depicts New Zealand’s third-worst maritime disaster through the eyes of the brothers’ great-grandparents, who were travelling from Croatia on the SS Wairarapa when it was wrecked on Great Barrier Island in 1893.
Government departments have provided a steady stream of commissions – one of them featured an animation of former minister Steve Maharey launching a Government-funded website.
The Film Commission has also funded two short film projects.
‘‘Rangi’’ the urban Maori made his debut on Maori Television in 2004, and the comic character has now been launched online, fronting weekly Maori-language episodes with subtitles.
In 2007 the company
was named Filmmaker of the Year by screen industry organisation SPADA.
Five of the Simmonds Brothers’ animated DVDS, commissioned by the Health Ministry to outline safety procedures for small water supplies, are now being distributed world-wide.
Recently the brothers created an animated weekly reality show that followed local band ‘‘The Volunteers’’ and was broadcast on stuff.co.nz.
About seven people – animators, illustrators and Mac operators – are needed when major projects are under way.
‘‘It is extremely timeconsuming – all hand-done,’’ Phill said. ‘‘A mix of video and animation has become very popular. We usually allow three weeks per minute [of animation].’’
A series of animations created for the Ministry of Health has been translated into Croatian.
‘‘This is one of the benefits of using animation rather than live action – different-language versions can be created relatively easily. The series now features little Croatian-speaking bacteria freaking out in the midst of a protozoa invasion.’’
The brothers started up the business with a computer and a few programmes.
Although the materials in hand-drawn animation are cheap, the production process is laborious and this is where the costs add up.
They produce the animation on a laptop and use off-the-shelf programmes like Flash and Photoshop.
Last year just about all their work was from government departments and corporates, but they are now focusing on the rapidly expanding market of mobile devices including ipads.
‘‘As more and more people have mobile devices, there are more opportunities for animation.’’
They are also exploring digitally projected images, including ‘‘whacky graphics projected onto to sides of buildings’’.
‘‘The main thing is to continue to produce innovative animation,’’ Phill Simmonds said.