With Halloween fast approaching, we thought we’d take some time to get to know one of the few people making feature-length, animated horror movies. What’s more Frank Sudol (a.k.a. FSudol), does it all on his own. Working out of his apartment in North Eastern Pennsylvania, Sudol has completed two blood-soaked zombedies, City of Rott and Dead Fury, and has a third feature nearing completion under his Blackarro Prods. Dead Fury was recently released on DVD just in time for All Hallow’s Eve.
Sudol admits that his films are not for everyone. If you’re 13 years old at heart and have discovered the joys of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies, City of Rott and Dead Fury are probably right up your alley. Some animation fans might find the pics too crudely animated to warrant serious consideration, but the filmmaker isn’t trying to be Walt Disney. Like Raimi, he’s taken gore to comic proportions and seems to get a kick out of mangling his animated characters in inventive ways. There’s also some great pop art to be found in these productions, if you like your art a bit on the gruesome side.
Animation Magazine Online: What’s your background and how did you get started with animation?
Frank Sudol: Before working on South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut as an additional animator, lip synch artist and assistant technical director (setting up scenes with a large team), I started drawing monsters while I was very young. Eventually, after deciding cartoons were my specialty and also learning quite a bit from my art teacher, Lance Sorchik (a well-respected hot-rod cartoonist), I decided to go to college for computer animation and graduated with a BFA. And speaking of Animation Magazine, I actually got the South Park job from an ad in the back pages of a 1998 issue, so a big thanks to Animation Magazine!
AMO: Describe your prodution pipeline. I know you’re using After Effects now, but previously you drew on paper and did everything else in PhotoShop?
FS: Just started using Adobe After Effects, a solid program which allows scaling and rotation effects not possible in my first animation program, Image Ready, which is a simple add-on program equipped with Photoshop. It allows for basic cut-out animation with linked layers and has some nice features that include the ability to duplicate and change layers quickly while animating. Prior to Image Ready, I used the traditional Cel Disney Animation Studio, on the Amiga 2000, which I got for Christmas one year ago. I used it to put together limited animation movies on home video, and occasionally created well-animated characters, something I’d like to get back to eventually when time permits.
As far as how it’s all accomplished, first everything’s hand drawn with much detail for shading and tone, then scanned into photoshop where I add color and separate everything into layers, then link them into one character, eyes, mouths, head, legs, arms, torso. After that, I place the characters into a scene and begin animating in Image Ready and After Effects. Both programs have their strengths, so for now, I’m still using them together to create “cut out” cartoons.
AMO: How do you create the great gore effects?
FS: The gore effects are inspired from my enjoyment of horror movies, mostly zombie and monster films. For the basic splattering of a zombie’s head, as seen in City of Rott, I start with the original head, then make a copy and cut it up into several gory pieces of tissue and membranes. On impact, I throw in some layers of blood, then spread them outward to give the sense of an exploding zombie head. I’ll include some animated blood squirts for a nice secondary effect. The gore effects are improving with each cartoon, mainly inspired by classics like Romero’s Day of the Dead and Raimi’s Evil Dead.
AMO: How would you describe your animation style?
FS: For now, it’s limited stop-frame animation, something like the early South Park cut-out style, only with high-level shading and texture details. Simplistic in motion, but it gets the point across. It won’t appeal to those looking for the brilliant flow of a Disney movie, but mostly to those looking for a gory, low-budget horror cartoon. I have skill doing traditional animation, and for my fourth cartoon I may decide to undertake such a giant task if time permits, as there’s never enough of it. I have no plans to expand beyond one animator at this time though.
AMO: A lot of your backgrounds are really great. Do you use photographic elements for some of these?
FS: The backgrounds in City of Rott were all drawn by hand and pieced together from various parts. Same for most of Dead Fury, except for the introduction, where I took original photographs and then converted them into cartoons by overlaying hand-drawn trees, rocks, plants and other objects.
AMO: How long did it take you to make City of Rott and Dead Fury?
FS: City of Rott took over 3000 hours between my day job, and Dead Fury about the same, so close to 6000 hours for both. Seems hard to believe looking at those numbers, but many 12-hour marathons into the night made it possible, working solo.
AMO: You mentioned bein inspired by Sam Raimi and George A. Romero. Who or what else has greatly influenced your work?
FS: Plenty of inspiration from movies, TV shows, artists and cartoons over the years. Some that pop into mind include Terrahawks, a sci-fi puppet show featuring many of Zelda’s monsters, including Zelda herself, an android hag and her two offspring fighting Tiger Ninestein over planet Earth. Inspiration in the animation field comes from shows like Garfield and Friends, Voltron, G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Hanna Barbera toons like Yogi Bear and The Smurfs, South Park, King of the Hill, plus other cartoon series, especially Dungeons & Dragons, the arcade game Dragon’s Lair and movies like Antz and The Lion King all inspire me to make cartoons. Though my style is obviously different, those are a few that greatly move me to animate.
AMO: Did you get a distribution deal, or is Unearthed Films your own banner?
FS: Unearthed Films, an independent horror label, specializes in unique horror movies with a lot of gory effects, and I’m grateful for the opportunity they’ve provided, giving me my first break into the industry with City of Rott. They also have the classically animated film Rock ‘N Rule in their line up of films.
AMO: How have sales been? What’s your marketing strategy?
FS: City of Rott reached a wide audience in the U.S. and overseas, had a nice run in Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery for rental, and is available online as well. Dead Fury was just released in August online, so things are just getting started. The cartoons are featured on many horror websites, through reviews, interviews, preview articles and trailers. Details and advertising can also be found in the pages of Rue Morgue and Fangoria Magazine on occasion, with more outlets in the future. These cartoons are solely geared tohorror audiences ages 17 and older, due to the animated gore.
AMO: What can you tell us about your new cartoon? Is it a feature?
FS: The third cartoon is nearing the final stages of animation, and is a feature-length science-fiction/horror film set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with alien beasts and monsters. The human race is all but eliminated when the story begins. It’s the first film that includes some After Effects work, so I’m excited about that as well. Solid improvements in gore, story and more will be on hand, hopefully released in late 2009, pending distribution. My fourth cartoon will likely shift the visual style, perhaps more anime in terms of visuals and animation. I’m very much looking forward to pre-planning and taking it to another level beyond the first three horror cartoons, with much more time invested.
Visit Black Arro Prods. at www.blackarro.com, and order your copies of City of Rott and Dead Fury at www.unearthedfilms.com.
