Slothfulness

Slothfulness by John McGowan, John speaks about his graduate film below…

Who?
Slothfulness was created by me (John McGowan) as my graduate thesis project at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. All music and sound effects were produced by the talented Elliott J. Marshall.

What?
Slothfulness is the story of a young sloth who dreams of flying, like the tropical birds that live in his tree. When a blubbery bully tries to squash this goal, the sloth looks for an unconventional way to make his dream come true.

Why?
I wanted to make a film with a positive message that children and adults alike could enjoy and (hopefully) relate to.

I draw inspiration from a wide variety of artists, but one of my animation heroes is Nacho Rodriguez. He is a master of squashing and stretching, and his pliable characters are only limited by the breadth of his imagination. His music video Ça Ça Mirlaquerr is one of my favorites.

How?
Slothfulness was created primarily in Adobe Flash using a Wacom Intuos tablet. I then used After Effects to stitch it all together and add some finishing touches.

Next Project?
While I’m looking forward to making another short, I don’t have any plans on the immediate horizon. In the meantime, I’ve been concentrating on mini-projects and illustrations to help hone my skills.

Which animated film would you like to have made?
This year I was truly inspired by Late Night Work Club’s Ghost Stories anthology. Not only were all the films spectacular, but they were produced by independent animators who created these amazing shorts while simultaneously working other jobs and/or taking classes. This is definitely a work-ethic to aspire to, and makes me want to animate another short real soon.

To check out more of my work please visit my website john-mcgowan.com or Tumblr.