The Robin by Tom Sanders & William Long
The Robin wants nothing more than to devour a seed ball for breakfast but two stubborn pigeons stand in his way.
The first animated short by London-based artists Tom Sanders and William Long, The Robin is so simple in storytelling and design that it seems a 5-year-old could do it (but don't try it at home).
A single desire which is abandoned the moment it is fulfilled (in order to support a more humanistic cause) proceeds as a matter of course, with pigeons only registering as shadows that inhibit the robin's aim. But the real obstacle is robin's own pride. Music by Jamie Long gives the necessary gravitas to the seemingly effortless (but accomplished) animating style.
Here's Tom Sanders describing the process of animating The Robin:
The story is set in the morning, this allowed for a rich colour scheme. Making the sky orange created an instant warm and friendly outlook. By having the sun rise slowly over the course of the story meant that we could include long shadows adding to the depth and overall colour scheme. Going back to the simplicity of the film I tried to limit the palette both in saturation and amount of colours. Sticking to greens, oranges, yellows and browns really helped to set the tone for the film. I have always been a fan of loosing a lot of the saturation in the backgrounds and adding it in the characters. I feel that it makes the animation pop and your focus is more on the action rather than the aesthetics of the world.
See more at The Robin page.
CREDITS
Directed, Animated and Designed by Tom Sanders – www.tomsandersanimation.com
Directed and Written by William Long
Music Composed by Jamie Long – www.soniczest.com
Sound Design by Jake Sanders - jsaudio.tumblr.com
Coloured by Hannah Lott