Project · Direction, Design, Animation · Short film · Hybrid

The Hungry Corpse

A short animated film about a talking corpse and a pigeon in London.

The corpse in profile with white hair, seen in falling rain.
A tiny figure climbs a stone plinth beside a tall column under a dark sky with street lamps.

The Hungry Corpse is a short animated film about a talking corpse and a pigeon in London, written by James Pout and developed under Collabor8te, Rankin's 2012 short film support scheme. Beakus produced the animation, with Bill Nighy voicing the corpse and Stephen Mangan the pigeon.

I designed and directed the film and animated characters alongside a team of character, 2D, and 3D artists. The film played festivals through 2013 and 2014 and won Best Animation at the Limelight Awards.

The Film

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Stills

  • A figure sits on a stone plinth beside a tall column under a full moon and stars.
  • A tall thin figure looks through a telescope beside a column, a stone lion, a bus and circling birds.
  • The corpse, with wild white hair and a long wooden neck, stands in heavy rain.
  • A hunched old man in a dark coat kneels beside a gravestone, tending a small seedling in pale mist.
  • Close-up of the corpse lifting a telescope to his eye beside a stone lion.
  • A small black pigeon with a large round eye sits on a scratched gray surface.
  • A small figure with a pale head stands beneath a huge bare tree in fog, with rooftops behind.
  • The corpse and the pigeon stand before iron railings, with dark rooftops rising behind.
  • Close-up of the corpse with spiked white hair and a torn jacket under a starry sky.
  • A tiny figure climbs a stone plinth beside a tall column under a dark sky with street lamps.
  • The corpse stands with the pigeon perched on his shoulder, before street lamps and dark rooftops.
  • The corpse stands legs apart in a glowing haze, with the pigeon lying at his feet.

Making Of

The film was made by a small crew on a tight budget and schedule. I was one of seven character animators, working alongside 2D animators and 3D modelers. The images below show the studio, notebook plans for shots, feathers, and rigs, the sound mix, and the character turnarounds.

  • Animation software on a monitor showing a 3D scene beside a camera view of a character.
  • Seven members of the crew pose close together in a dark studio.
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Corpse character turnaround.
Notebook pages of handwritten shot notes on pacing, close-ups and the corpse and pigeon dialogue.
Shot notes.
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Pigeon character turnaround.
  • Notebook pages with plans for time-lapse opening shots and a sunrise, alongside a small storyboard sketch.
  • A man in a dark jumper sits in an armchair beside a folding bicycle and a flight case.
  • A long wooden desk with monitors, a drawing tablet and papers in the studio.
  • An animator seen from behind at a desk, with a second monitor showing a character model.
  • Notebook pages of rig math, with vector formulas and a target and locator diagram.
  • A fox with glowing eyes on a night pavement beside a wheelie bin.
  • Editing software showing an export dialog at four percent with 34 minutes remaining.
  • The studio at night with Christmas decorations, desks, monitors and office chairs.
  • Two men talk across a mixing desk in a dark sound studio, with three bowls between them.
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Corpse and pigeon close-up turnaround.
  • A sound engineer at a mixing console faces a screen showing a frame of the film.
  • Notebook pages with a pigeon sketch and notes on modeling feathers with particles.
A small figure with a pale head stands beneath a huge bare tree in fog, with rooftops behind.

Recognition

Screening 2014
British Shorts Summer EditionBerlin, Germany • August 8
Winner
Limelight AwardsBest Animation • London, UK • June 9
Screening 2014
City of London FestivalLondon, UK • June–July
Screening 2014
International Shortfilm Festival Landau - La.MekoLandau, Germany • May 5–10
Screening 2014
Newport Beach Film FestivalNewport Beach, USA • April 24 – May 1
Screening 2014
Stuttgart Festival of Animated FilmStuttgart, Germany • April 22–27
Screening 2014
Filmfest DresdenDresden, Germany • April 15–20
Screening 2014
Deadline_Award - Landshut Short Film FestivalLandshut, Germany • March 26–31
Screening 2014
MONSTRALisbon, Portugal • March 17–26
Screening 2014
16th MECAL Int'l Short Film and Animation FestivalBarcelona, Spain • March 6–30
Screening 2014
"British Shorts"Berlin, Germany • January 17–20
Screening
British Animation AwardsLondon, UK • January 17–20
Screening 2014
London Short Film FestivalLondon, UK • January 10–19
Shortlisted 2013
Bath Film Festival IMDb New Filmmaker AwardBath, UK • December 8
Screening
International Short Film Festival LeuvenLeuven, Belgium • November 29 – December 7
Shortlisted 2013
BUtiful Film FestivalBournemouth, UK • November 22–24
Screening
15th Cinessone - European Film Festival in EssonneEssonne, France • November 12–24
Screening 2013
Leeds International Film FestivalLeeds, UK • November 8–22
Screening 2013
Multivision FestivalSt. Petersburg, Russia • October 31 – December 10
Screening 2013
15e Rencontres Cinema et Video à NiceNice, France • November 28 – December 1
Winner
up-and-coming International Film Festival HannoverHannover, Germany • November 21–24
Screening 2013
10th London International Animation FestivalLondon, UK • October 25 – November 3
Screening 2013
KDIAF - The Kuandu International Animation FestivalTaipei City, Taiwan • October 20–26
Screening 2013
Colchester Film FestivalColchester, UK • October 18–20
Screening 2013
14th FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Horror Film FestivalUSA • October 17–20
Screening
7th BALINALE International Film FestivalBali, Indonesia • October 4–10
Nominee 2013
TOFUZIBest Film for Adults • Batumi, Georgia • October 3–5
Screening 2013
shnit ANIMATESBern, Switzerland • October 2–6
Screening 2013
BALKANIMABelgrade, Serbia • October 1–5
Screening 2013
Raindance Film FestivalLondon, UK • September 25 – October 6
Winner 2013
Leamington Underground Cinema FestivalBest Film • UK • September 23–29
Winner 2013
Van d'Or Awards for Independent FilmBest Animation • London, UK • September 19
Screening
Encounters Short Film and Animation FestivalBristol, UK • September 17–22
Screening
10th Jameson CineFest International Film FestivalMiskolc, Hungary • September 12–22
Screening 2013
Cally Fest - Caledonian Road FestivalLondon, UK • September 8
Screening 2013
Animacursed / ANIMALDIÇOADOSBrazil • September 7–15
Screening 2013
Peckham Film OpenLondon, UK • September 7
Screening 2013
Ars Electronica - TOTAL RECALL: The Evolution of MemoryAustria • September 5–9
Winner 2013
The Smalls Film FestivalBest Animation • London, UK • September 2–6
Screening 2013
14th Lucania Film FestivalItaly • August 10–13
Screening 2013
4th Anibar International Animation FestivalKosovo • August 9–14
Screening 2013
17th FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film FestivalUSA • August 6–11
Screening 2013
21st Anima MundiBrazil • August 2–18
Screening 2013
17th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation FestivalSouth Korea • July 23–28
Screening
2nd Scratch! International Animation FestivalThird Place • Italy • June 13–15
Screening 2013
67th Edinburgh International Film FestivalUK • June 19–30
Screening 2013
19th Palm Springs International ShortFestUSA • June 18–24
The Hungry Corpse poster: the corpse with the pigeon on his shoulder above a printed credit block.
Film poster.

Credits

Voice Of The Hungry Corpse
Bill Nighy
Voice Of The Pigeon
Stephen Mangan
Original Story And Screenplay By
James Pout
Designed And Directed By
Gergely Wootsch
Producer
Steve Smith
Senior Executive Producer
Rankin
Executive Producers
David Allain • Jess Gormley
Music Composed By
Tim Goalen
Sound Design And Mix
Barnaby Templer • Fonic
Casting Director
Amy Hubbard
Production Manager
Laura Thomas
Technical Assistant
Emanuela Gatto
Story Editors
Tristan Goligher • Valentina Brazzini
Collabor8te Head Of Development
Will Massa
Thanks To
Andras Hamori • Oscar Rickett • Alex Searle • Joseph Tate
Script Development In Association With
The Bureau