Once upon a time there were two large animators from Rochester named Fred and Dave. They made many short films and went to many festivals, but dark clouds seemed to follow them wherever they went. Sometimes tickets were hard to obtain. Pictures were printed in programs upside down. Shorts were shown without sound.

It was during a journey to one such festival that Fred, Dave, and their friend Bob brainstormed a storyline about two filmmakers who would do anything to get their animated shorts made, even if it meant dancing for money. Su and Mo were born.

Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

The original idea was to do a short about the ups and downs of shooting stop motion, using the technique of stop motion. At this time, however, the crew at Animatus Studio (Fred's home for wayward animators) were hard at work learning the new hot program, Macromedia Flash. So an interactive prequel was designed for the web: "A Night at Club Hippendale's." This was an ambitious piece that allowed website vistors to tip the dancing sumo wrestlers in unusual ways. The bulk of the animation was accomplished by Neil Brideau, with final tweaks and rendering done by Mike Boas.

Because the concept was to do Su and Mo in a rough cut-out style, they were designed like paper dolls. Every head and body part was drawn, scanned and colored. The pieces were put together on different layers in Flash and animated stop motion style. Not all Flash animation is done this way, but this worked particularly well for the style of these "crude" cartoons.

Photographic proof that once a month, on the night of the full moon, Dave and Fred turn Japanese.

People seemed to love these hefty guys and their ridiculous love for sushi and sandwiches. The popular cartoon site, Icebox.com, even featured the episode in their independent spotlight.

Soon, a follow-up backstage story was constructed. This was more linear, showcasing the personalities of Su, Mo, and an annoyed stripper who just couldn't understand the boys' popularity with the ladies.

Dave and Fred get into character.

This would be an epic that followed the creation of the brothers' film, their trip overseas, and their eventual film festival shenanigans. Sure, it could have been broken up into several web chapters, but it was decided (mostly by Fred) that this would cover everything. It would be done specifically for video and festival screenings, with (slightly) more sophisticated animation than its web based prequels. While most scenes were done with Flash, certain sections were accomplished with Adobe After Effects. Using different programs and frame rates was necessary for specific transitions and effects. More complex audio meant editing in Cool Edit and Video Toaster, rather than using the bare bones options offered in Flash. The raster nature of the final product makes it impossible to stream it as a simple Flash SWF file, but a Quicktime trailer will be online soon.

The twelve minute "Su and Mo: Lost in Animation" is now making the rounds to film festivals. It will be available on DVD in the near future.

DIRECTORS:

Fred Armstrong (AKA The Crack, AKA The Bulkster, AKA Little Ricky), has produced a multitude of animated commercials, industrials, and over a dozen animated cartoons. One of his first jobs in animation came as a result of an almost fatal display of inebriated fire breathing. He worked for many years as an animation cameraman in New York City before founding Animatus Studio, in Rochester. He is also founder of The Animation Workshop, which teaches the fundamentals of animation to young people.