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The Egotist network often does a feature called 'Agency Insider' where an agency sends us half a dozen pics of the office along with a bit of blurb about what it's like to work there and all the little quirks and foibles of the place. We asked Aardman if they'd like to join in. Aardman asked us if we'd rather pop down to Bristol and see the place for ourselves. Er... can we bring our kids?
Aardman has always been based in Bristol, moving around as they've expanded. They've occupied the current site on the harbourside for a number of years now and 4 years ago expanded still further, building new offices right next door to the banana-ripening warehouse they still use for shoots and model-making.
The first thing we notice are the tourists. We can't think of any other UK animation studio or production house that would make it onto an open-top bus tour. But Aardman is. On our bus tour, the guide proudly boasts that with 10 nominations and 4 wins at the Oscars, Nick Park is Britain's most successful director in history (if you judge careers by little statues - not a bad benchmark).
Outside, people are queuing up to have their photo taken with one of the 80 Gromits dotted around Bristol as part of the Gromit Unleashed project. The one outside the office is by Aardman designer Gavin Strange and features numerous stats about Wallace, Gromit and the people that created them. The end goal is to raise money for the Bristol Children's Hospital and everywhere we went, we saw the same queues - even at the entrance to our hotel (we had a 'Where's Wallace' Gromit in the lobby). That is brand affinity and a half. Clients take note. Give creativity free rein and the world's your oyster ("The dog needs a mouth. Where's the mouth?")
So, inside we go. The office is open and airy with a central staircase which oddly isn't attached to the floor, so it wobbles when you walk up it. There are half-landings with break-out spaces (and very large Aardman characters sitting about) while the windows running the length of the roof allow light to stream into the space below. It's bright and welcoming and already feels like great place to be.
The space below is full of props and models from Aardman productions new and old. In pride of place is a large set from the film "The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists!" and a small row of shops from "A Close Shave".
There's also the 'Top Bun' flour mill from 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'. Another point about Aardman - they're not afraid of a good pun - or indeed bad ones. We're all for that. And next to that there's a row of Gromits in bubble-wrap waiting to be shipped out somewhere.
In the course of our tour we take a ride in the world's only lift with Wallace's voice telling us which floor we've arrived at.
We're shown round all the suites and departments: grading, sound, transcoding, compositing, digital, creative. Props from films, half-built models, awards from all over and novelty gonks galore occupy every surface. A young Wallace and puppy Gromit sit on a shelf by W&G creative director, Merlin Crossingham.
He uses modelling clay like the rest of us use a biro for doodling. He has gridded boxes to house these 3D scribblings. One of them is the same head, animated in different expressions that graduate vertically and horizontally. It's so clever, it's difficult to explain. Perhaps a photo might help...
Merlin was a true gent, showing the little Egotists we brought along how they animate Gromit's face, for example. He says that a common mistake made by animators new to Gromit is to over-animate his expressions. Subtlety is key. He also showed us how they use drawing pins inserted into tiny pinholes in Gromit's eyes to make them easier to rotate and move around.
When he briefs animators for a scene, rather than breaking it down into a list of functional instructions on what physically needs to happen, he lays down what he wants to get from the scene in terms of emotion and storytelling, leaving the mechanics of it to the animators themselves.
At the far end from reception is the canteen. It's a world away from the red carpet glamour of LA and the Oscars, but it's an important crossover point in the building where people from all disciplines can mix and cook up serendipitous solutions - not just lasagne or a jacket potato.
The walls of the canteen are lined with thumbnail portraits of the Aardman team. There are too many to count and it proves that many 'non-creative' Aardmen and Aardwomen do have creative bones in their body. It's a nice reminder of everyone past and present and grounds the principle that everything starts with a hand-drawn sketch, no matter how big a project blows up.
There's a patio outside as an extension to the canteen - or indeed a place to work al fresco - and beyond that, there's a garden. At the far end is a pond with a small boat. The boat was used in their world record breaking film, "Gulp" - for the largest stop motion animation set. Apparently, if you can't find Nick Park in the office, this is a good place to look.
Fifteen yards across the car park is the old banana-ripening warehouse that was their home until they built their new offices. This original building houses their workshop and studios as well as Boffin City, where the tech people fix stuff the film makers break.
The corridor is lined with animation towers. They all have the same kit arranged on them: a monitor at eye-level, another one lower down with a computer (not a Mac in sight!!!) and a special keyboard that enables them to capture each frame and review what they've animated so far. In any one scene, the studio will have these dotted around - one for every character/animator in the scene.
And then into the workshop we go. This is where they make all the models. They have all the technology and expertise in-house - no sending bits off to Germany or China to have fur implanted. They can do that themselves (using electro-magnets or something...).
It looks remarkably like a college art department. Any student animators and model-makers would feel right at home. There's a trove of modelling clay in all colours under the bench and a big bucket where old modelling clay goes to die.
Through a door there's an old bubblegum mixing machine they use to mix the modelling clay into custom colours - Wallace for example has his own specific flesh colour which is colour-matched by eye.
Another bench has the sad sight of Wallace in pieces with a rather sinister pot of 'Wallace Flesh' close by. And on a table near the back there's a display of Aardman characters past and present, including the Duracell bunnies, the Cuprinol man, the keep-fit tortoise from Creature Comforts and of course Morph.
Taking up a sizeable chunk of one worktop were moulds used to create the current Change 4 Life campaign from M&C Saatchi.
A 30 second ad can take around 6 to 8 weeks to animate, so how do agencies and creatives in particular oversee such a long process (from the other end of the M4 corridor)? We're told that often they'll come for 2 or 3 days to kick the process off to make sure it sets off in the right direction and then it's just a case of checking in from time to time - sometimes in person, otherwise over the web.
By and large, London's creatives enjoy a grand day or two out in Bristol - it makes a refreshing change from Soho. Aardman also likes to have the clients on set to show the craft in action. It goes some way to showing why animation costs so much per second compared with more instantaneous film making techniques.
The sharper ones amongst you will know that Bristol is not London, where most of the action is. Aardman has not suffered one bit. They embrace their home town, believing the the city's culture makes Aardman a unique place to be, building relationships with local university courses and promoting from within, encouraging loyalty and long-service.
Joining Aardman from London for example becomes a lifestyle choice as much as a career decision, attracting the right calibre of people with a sympathetic mindset and outlook.
The tour over, we were able to put some questions to Heather Wright, who has the long but important title of Executive Producer / Head of Commercials and Branded Content at Aardman.
Every Wallace & Gromit film has won a BAFTA - that's consistent excellence an agency or brand would kill for. What's the secret?
It’s really down to the brilliance of Nick Park and his instinctive understanding of what’s funny and appeals to a mass audience. The stories are all carefully constructed and are authentic and individual to Wallace & Gromit’s characters and their situations, yet contain universal truths that everyone can identify and empathise with.
We work hard to scrutinise our stories at script and animatic stage to make sure they are working before we commit to production and the other great advantage is that we have a single purpose which is to entertain. We also have the final say editorially and aren't beholden to taking on the opinions of higher ups or clients in the way that agencies often are.
Is there an Aardman philosophy - written down or otherwise?
We aim for excellence in everything we do to create original, animated, comedy entertainment for all, based on strong, funny characters in compelling stories.
How does being in Bristol affect the business day to day and the culture of the place?
Even though we’re based in the West Country, naturally we connect closely to the wider industry. The culture of Aardman is the culture of the people who work here and live in Bristol. And as Bristol is a city which prides itself on being a multicultural, green, ethical, artistic and innovative, these are the kind of people who work here.
In terms of the day to day business it has very little impact as most organisations are used to working over the internet most of the time although we do still highly value face to face meetings and make sure we travel when it feels appropriate.
The 3 head honchos come in to work every day - how hands on are they and how do they affect the Aardman culture?
David, Peter and Nick do come into the studio every day and are regularly seen around the place talking to all sorts of people and generally keeping tabs on everything that’s going on. Obviously they are all film makers so that means that film making and storytelling is embedded in the DNA of the everyone who works here as it’s almost always the topic of conversation.
They are all very approachable and people are actively encouraged to say hi and share with them. It’s very common to see them sitting at different tables in the canteen at lunchtime passing the time of day with whoever’s there.
And with that, our time at Aardman is up. It was every bit as interesting, enlightening and inspiring as we hoped it would be. And we saw Peter Lord in one of his loud shirts. Cracking.
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