drawing & painting

Our latest commercial work (now showing on TV) is another 10-seconder for the Guardian and Observer. Agency Wieden+Kennedy needed to promote instructional guides to drawing and painting to be included with this weekend's papers. The script called for an artwork to be created in reverse (i.e. from finished painting back to blank page) to highlight better the various stages involved.

The one-day shoot took place in TANDEM's basement studio last Monday. Director of Photography Simon Paul set-up a high-def camera shooting down (rostrum camera style) to capture the illustration talents of visiting artist Eri Griffin.


Eri creates artwork under the camera.


Eri's artworks at various stages.


D.O.P. Simon Paul monitors the shoot.

See the finished commercial here.

september 2009

Dave Daniels' monthly typographic calendar continues...

born at the end of august

Denmark's BornShorts Festival, held on Born Island on the 28th and 29th August will play host to 3 productions by TANDEM directors in the Animation screenings. TXT ISLAND will play at the Scala Cinema on Friday 28th and the following day's screening on the 29th will include 'Two Little Girls' by Peter Baynton and 'Simon's Cat: Let Me In' by Simon Tofield. Full details can be found at the festival website here.

august 2009

it's that cat again

Simon's Cat is back for the fourth time, this time witness the insect antics of 'Fly Guy'.

cinema dates

The London screening dates of the 2009 Rushes Soho Shorts Festival Animation category have been announced. This year the films will get showings at the I.C.A. (Institute of Contemporary Arts) Cinema.

Friday 24th July 6:30pm (Cinema 2)
Tuesday 28th July 9:00pm (Cinema 1)

Tickets for what promises to be an entertaining and engaging programme of animated shorts can be ordered from here. Oh yes, the show includes two films from TANDEM directors; Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner' and 'TXT ISLAND'.

online feline

The world's favourite internet pet now has a website www.simonscat.com was put together by TANDEM's Mike Cook and will become the official portal for all things Simon's Cat.

shortfuse online

We've just posted to our new YouTube channel a classic TANDEM film featuring Daniel Greaves' character 'Mr Shortfuse'. Click this link nowwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!  www.youtube.com/tandem 

july 2009

a right pair of shorts

The news embargo is now lifted; TANDEM has had not one but indeed two short films selected for the Rushes SohoShorts Festival in July. Festival audiences will be able to enjoy Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner' and TXT Island at various West End venues T.B.A.

june 2009

we've got a website, we've got a blog and now we've got a...

... YouTube channel.  

Watch out for our first high street store. (Only kidding.)

TANDEM ON YOUTUBE

www.youtube.com/tandem

txt trlr

TANDEM's multi-tasking director Chris Gavin celebrates his last few weeks of bachelorhood by completing 'Txt Island', his stop-frame pegboard opus. Click here to view the trailer and watch for updates on where to see the full-length film at a festival near you.

oliver, elbow and that

We're long-time fans of Oliver East's illustration work and recently had the pleasure of hooking up with him at TANDEM's London HQ.  Famed for his splendid cover art on the Mercury Prize-winning Elbow album, 'The Seldom Seen Kid' (another TANDEM favourite, in fact), Oliver recently made the journey from his native Manchester to show us a sneak preview of his latest book, 'Berlin and That'. Watch this space for a future collaboration - and in the meantime we strongly recommend his lively blog.

read all about it!

We've got to know Paddington Bear pretty well here since last year's Marmite ads, so the Evening Standard people called TANDEM when they needed to illustrate an article penned by Paddington's creator Michael Bond. The double page spread illustration was created by Jeroen Jaspaert over the weekend; just in time to hit the newsstands for Tuesday's edition.

Hold pages 20&21! Jeroen admires his handiwork...

may 2009

tandemfilms.com redux

The new TANDEM website is now live. Our own Mike Cook has reworked the previous site from the ground up, enlarging images and improving navigation throughout. See it now at www.tandemfilms.com

guardian on the box

This weekend's Guardian and Observer newspapers will contain 'Secret Britain' pull-out guides to quirky and 'off the beaten track' attractions to be discovered around the UK. Agency Wieden+Kennedy came to TANDEM for the 10 second television commercial now airing to promote the supplements.


Stop-motion animator Tobias Fouracre ponders his next move.

TANDEM provided a really joined-up set of expertise and facilities... Gordon's Art Department used our in-house workshop facilities to construct an 'attic' set and the main prop, an ingenious Union Jack puzzle box of sliding panels and drawers. Stop-motion animator Tobias brought these elements to life shooting ultra high res. digital stills in our basement studio space; compositing and sound design duties were also performed in-house.


The finished commercial, 'Secret Britain', is now on TV.

april 2009

orange maps

TANDEM Director Hélène Friren has just completed a charming 90 second promotional film for Orange. The mobile operator will use the film on-line to present the new mobile mapping service now available to Orange customers. Hélène and her team completed both English and French language versions of the film which offers a light-hearted illustration of various aspects of the new mapping service.
You can view Hélène's 2009 Director's Showreel here.

TANDEM is establishing a fine portfolio of production work commissioned specifically for on-line use. We've been bringing our film-making experience to the Internet for a while now; check out links to client sites, such as Tate&Lyle, Big Yellow Self-Storage and the RSPCA to name but three!

studio makeover

For the last few months we've had the builders in... (thanks Gary and Jack). The layout of our studio space is even better now; old walls have come down, new walls have gone up. Our main shooting area is larger, we've got brand new client space, edit suite and kitchen areas and Russell our in-house sound designer (a.k.a. Shrooty) has totally revamped his workspace too. All in all we're very excited about the improvements and will be adding details to the TANDEM website soon. Our Studio is an extremely versatile space ideal for film or stills use; it's also available for hire. Please call us or email Jo for further details.

march 2009

a whole lotta wholegrain

Dave Daniels has just completed a 20 second TV advertisement for Nestlé. 'Not All Cereals' promotes the Green Banner motif signifying wholegrain content across 6 of Nestlé's cereal brands. The commercial employs a mostly typographic technique lending maximum clarity to the message. See it online here.

puns just got cornea

Jeroen Jaspaert has directed 8 x 10second sponsorship idents for Acuvue promoting their 'TrueEye' disposable contact lenses. The idents will be shown every Thursday on LIVING during the new series of Grey's Anatomy.
Each short is a mini hospital drama illustrating an eye-based pun.
To see all 8 animations, click here

february 2009

steve moo queen

Tony Mines has directed a new 40-second commercial for Anchor Butter through advertising agency CHI&Partners.  Developing the stop-frame fuzzy felt seen in last year's Anchor productions at TANDEM, the new spot is a pastiche of the famous chase sequence from 'The Great Escape' starring Steve McQueen - except this time the part of the man on the motorcycle is played by a cow.  See the full story on Campaign magazine's website here. 

january 2009

TANDEM director Dave Daniels has just produced a calendar for 2009. Fortunately no nudity is involved; Dave has opted for some rather tasteful hand-printed wood block typography. Following a regime of compositional experimentation Dave has created a textual representation of each calendar month. A limited-edition run of the printed calendars will be sent out to friends and clients of TANDEM. For the enjoyment of our on-line audience, we'll be posting the pages monthly to this blog.
Best wishes for 2009 from us all.

simon looks good on radio

Simon was interviewed last night on BBC Radio 4's 'Front Row'.  He talked about his famous cat, the new RSPCA film - and the comedy merits of, erm, 'bodily function' sound effects...  If you missed it, go to www.bbc.co.uk/frontrow, find Listen to Previous Editions and select Thursday (this service will be available until 18th Dec).

rspca film

A new Simon Tofield film, in support of the RSPCA's campaign to tackle pet obesity, will go live on www.youtube.com/simonscat next Tuesday, 9th December.  Watch that space!

rspca tees

500 limited edition Simon's Cat t-shirts are on sale at www.simonscat.com, with proceeds going to the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).  

gosh spot

Helene Friren has directed a 60-second commercial for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.  A combination of live action testimonials from patients and their parents, and animated imagery designed by Helene, the commercial aims to invite donations of £3 per month to help fund research, equipment and beds for parents.  See the commercial at the GOSH website here.

suzie joins tandem

Just back from Amsterdam where we spent some time with our latest director signing, Suzie Templeton.  Suzie won the Oscar this year for her stop-frame adaptation of Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf' and she's now keen to develop her work in the context of commercial production. Here's a link to this week's news coverage in shots magazine.

birthday bear

Paddington Bear's latest encounter with Marmite sandwiches is now showing on UK television. Crafted at TANDEM, the production team was careful to use the same techniques employed in the original 1970s television series. This has resulted in an authentic nod towards a much younger Paddington Bear, who this year has hit 50 years old. Above you can see part of the painstaking work that was put into the TV commercial, with every single character being cut out by hand multiple times.

To see Marmite 'Birthday' click here.

design by daniels

Dave has just posted a microsite to contain his non-animated work, including design material that led to his animated productions for Honda, Led Zeppelin and NatWest.  Click here for inspiration.

the cat comes back

Big news! The third (and much-anticipated) episode of Simon's Cat hit YouTube last night. The internet release was timed to follow the UK television premiere on BBC2's Culture Show.

For anyone who missed The Culture Show, Simon's Cat 'TV Dinner' will be shown again during tomorrow's edition of The Culture Show Uncut (Thursday 17th July at 11.20pm! on BBC2). The screening will be accompanied by an interview with the director himself; TANDEM's very own Simon Tofield.

learn about learn direct

The Learn Direct team have posted this up to YouTube. It's a 'making-of' video showing TANDEM at work on the recently completed TV commercials.

cannes do

Greetings from Cannes, at the Lions Advertising Festival!
As a yearly tradition, Mike, Lynn, Dave and me went to wave the TANDEM flag during this holi.... erm, work excursion. As usual our days were filled with hard work at several parties on the beach and in the hills.
But this time, we felt like giving as well ... so bring forward TANDEM's mini-party at the Miramar beach. It was a popular and relaxed affair with a strictly 'no business card' policy. The only networking that happened was agency and production company mutually agreeing on the quality of the rosé wine, whilst discovering that the sea wasn't only to stare at.
So if you want to dip in the water with us next year, pre-book your tickets now! ;)

cultured

TANDEM got a mention on BBC2's Culture Show (Episode 2 last week). Ignacio Ferreras' short film 'How to Cope With Death' was shown as part of their new Friday animation spot. The folks at The Culture Show intend to programme more animation short films over the coming weeks, good for them!

dave direct

Dave Daniels has just completed three 30-second commercials for Learn Direct through Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R.  Taking their cue from the clarity of the campaign's message offering professional skills training, the commercials mix stop-frame and graphics techniques with a clean, uncluttered look and a gently comical lightness of touch.  The commercials were animated by resident stop-frame maestro Tobias Fouracre.  Click here to view 'Des', 'Jane' and 'Paul'.

strings attached

Following his work on Paddington for Marmite, TANDEM director Tobias Fouracre has brought another childhood TV favourite back to life for a major campaign, this time featuring the Thunderbirds in the latest spot for Specsavers.  

The commercial sees marionette hero Virgil Tracy being chased by The Evil Hood through perilous mountain peaks - but only one of them is equipped with Specsavers Reaction lenses.  

The commercial was shot using techniques exactly as per the Gerry Anderson 1960s production - including an in-camera explosion on-set - and we even got to work with one of the puppeteers from the original series.  F.A.B., as they say.  

Click here to view Specsavers 'Thunderbirds'.

petrol heads

Tobias Fouracre has just shot this ten second stop motion spot to promote the Guardian newspaper's Formula One racing guide for agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Representing the four British drivers in competition for the F1 title, the patriotic crash helmets treat us to a high-octane rendition of our national anthem.

Click here to see Guardian 'Helmets'.

and the winners are...

Great to see two TANDEM directors pick-up their British Animation Awards (BAAs) at last night's ceremony. Simon Tofield won 'Best Comedy' for Simon's Cat 'Cat Man Do', and Jon Dunleavy's film 'The Technical Hitch' won 'Best Character Voice Performance' for Robert Lindsay's narration.


Simon Tofield, the cat that got the cream.


Jon Dunleavy with TV funnyman Joe Pasquale.

simon's famous cat

We've just launched our new YouTube channel to feature the ongoing series of 'Simon's Cat' films from Simon Tofield.  The first film, 'Cat Man Do' (aka 'Wake Up Cat'), has now had approximately 5m downloads on only two of  the many postings, not to mention the dozens of other links all over the web, so it felt right to give the second film, 'Let Me In!', a proper home. Here's where to view, subscribe and comment: www.youtube.com/simonscat Could the second film be even funnier than the first?  Discuss!

congratulations suzie!

A massive congratulations from all at TANDEM to our friend Suzie Templeton, on her Oscar win for the beautiful 30-minute film 'Peter and the Wolf' in the Animated Short category.        

sweet

Tobias has just completed a stop-frame animated film for the landing page of the Tate & Lyle website, telling the story of the brand's Fairtrade sugar production using a mix of cut-out drawings and models. 

Here's a link to the site: http://www.tasteandsmile-fairtrade.co.uk

tokyo niff

Best wishes to our friend and Japanese agent Hide Ishibashi, as he launches the first ever Northern Ireland Film Festival in Japan. Dave Daniels and Jules Maxwell contributed a 'remixed' version of our film Colour Keys as the opening to each of the screenings. Visit www.niff.jp for details.

calpol

TANDEM director Jeroen Jaspaert has completed a new spot for Calpol. It demonstrates yet another side of Mr Jaspaert's diverse talents, with a richly rendered 'storybook' feel to convey the gentle reassurance associated with the brand. Also, speaking personally as a parent of young children, this is an example of our studio advertising a product I truly endorse! ;) Click here to view Calpol 'Dreams'.

that cat again

Simon Tofield's short film 'Cat Man Do' has been nominated in the 'Best Comedy' category at the upcoming British Animation Awards. Congratulations, Simon - again!! If you've somehow managed to avoid the 7 million downloads (and counting!) on YouTube, as well as the dozens of other links created over the last couple of months, take a look here!!

never felt better

A very Happy New Year to all and first, an apology - it's been an extremely busy period and therefore thin on the postings! TANDEM has completed several new commercial productions in the run up to Christmas and through January, including work for Calpol, Carphone Warehouse, Yoplait, Payback and a new brand campaign for Anchor butter which was directed by Daniel Greaves and Tobias Fouracre. All five commerials in the Anchor campaign were created in fuzzy felt, reflecting the brand's hands-on credentials (an additional apology for another bad pun in this posting's title).