The Lepidopterist

Natty, British and short: young UK animator Nick Franklin recalls his four-year struggle to get his stylish, insect-themed animation made on a budget of just £200

FACT FILE
Title: The Lepidopterist
Animator: Nick Franklin
Running time: 320 seconds
Software used: Cinema 4D
More information: www.thebutterflyfilm.co.uk

Featured in the Exhibition section of 3D World 67, this cautionary tale of why monkeys and entomology don’t mix tells the story of an unfortunate butterfly collector’s encounter with one of his hairier neighbours. Despite the film’s attractive, painterly style, it was created entirely in Cinema 4D on a budget of just £200, as animator Nick Franklin explains:

“I have always been into art in a general sense, and started experimenting with animation when I was around 12. I went on a stop-motion course at Media Arts in Swindon (now Cre8 Studios) which helped to get me started, and where I went on to make two short films with the help of a Southern Arts grant scheme.

I started writing The Lepidopterist during the summer of 2001, when I was 16. Right from the start, my intention was to use computer animation. I had been messing around with Cinema 4D for a little while and saw that it wouldn't be an impossible task. Also, around the time that I was starting out, Brian Taylor had just got going on his film Rustboy, which gave me confidence that it was possible to create great stuff on your own, using only minimal resources. I think the total budget of The Lepidopterist was a couple of hundred pounds.

By the beginning of 2002 I had finished the storyboards and moved over to the computer. I was still in school, so I worked on the film in my spare time for about a year. By June 2003 I had begun studying animation at the Art Institute of California in San Francisco, where I lived until 2004, but ended my degree prematurely as the scholarship I was on was only enough to pay for a year’s tuition. Since my return to the UK, I have picked up where I left off a year earlier, and finally finished The Lepidopterist.

The music, which was composed by my friend Allie Goldacre, adds a lot of life to the film - and helps make up for my less-than-perfect animation. While the project took a lot longer than I would have liked, leading me to rush some of the character animation, I’m pretty pleased with the final results. The most exciting time was the week after I had finished, getting feedback from friends and people who viewed it on my own website.

Now I've finished The Lepidopterist, I'm going to spend the summer having fun in France before I start a new degree in September 2005, studying illustration at the University of Lincoln. When I graduate, I hope to pursue a career in the arts, probably related to film and animation.”

Download the film here.