We’re making a short film!
In our 2020 wrap-up post, we mentioned that in 2021, we’re aiming to release a short film that we didn’t make in 48 hours. We’ve made a few films in 48 hours, and they’re really fun! But we want a project we can really sink our teeth into. A project that we have time to revise and redraft. A project that has more than two people in the credits!!
In 2019, we started working on a film called Eternity Shores, which is an environmental horror film set on a holiday resort island. We put together a pitch document, had two executive producers on board, and commissioned a pop song that would play in the film and form the basis of the score. We were so excited about it!
Then, you know. 2020.
Eternity Shores is a film about, like, demons and fraught relationships and holidays and how humans are killing the planet. Nobody needs that right now.
Luckily, we had another film that we wanted to make. It’s inspired by the feeling of being really cold and getting a pile of warm laundry out of the tumble dryer and wanting to faceplant right into it.
As a carbon-aware company, we can’t actually advocate for the use of tumble dryers (and our new flat doesn’t actually have one, which we will pretend was a conscious choice in the name of the environment). Washing lines and clothes horses all the way! We love to air dry! The planet loves to air dry! Our film? Loves to tumble.
This is actually from another laundry-related film we made in March 2021. Please consider it Phase 1 of the Laundry Cinematic Universe.
The working title for our upcoming warm-pile-of-laundry film is Get in the Washing. We don’t want that to be the final title, but we’ve been talking about this film for around two years and have yet to come up with anything better. Some ideas we’ve played with so far:
As much as we dearly love and miss the Post-Dryer Warm Laundry Faceplant, the film is actually less about the joys of warm clothes and more about the warmth of other people.
A lot of mental health messaging at the moment is based around things like “Reach out to your friends! Let them know you’re there for them!” and this is great! But this film will explore what’s it like to be a person who does have someone reaching out to them – but who doesn’t feel like they can accept the help and love that’s being offered.
Growing up in the north of England in the 90s, as both of us did, we were often told “don’t be so soft” or “stop mithering” or “shut yer cake hole, Corrie’s about to start” – so accepting offers of help is something we both struggle with. It can feel like it’s more grown-up or strong or commendable to handle things alone, whether that’s writing, directing and animating an award-winning short film completely solo, or more serious mental health issues. But a problem shared is a problem halved! There are no extra points for suffering more! People don’t like you better if you overcome a tough situation without telling them about it! (In fact, people often like you more if you are open and vulnerable and give them the opportunity to be a good friend! This is still a wild concept to us.)
The temporary name for our main character is Elsa (because she’s cold). She lives alone in a messy, cold flat, and she’s not having a super easy time.
After forcing herself to finally put all her stinky laundry in the washing machine, Elsa accidentally turns on the tumble dryer (because she never usually uses it! Save the planet ✌️🌍). When the laundry comes out, unexpectedly toasty, Elsa has been cold and alone for so long that she can’t help but dive right into it. But she keeps falling – and finds herself inside a warm, friendly, magical place that we’re calling Washing World.
Art by Izzy Burton
To help us find the mood of the film (and because we’re just big fans of her), in February 2020, we commissioned illustrator Izzy Burton to create two pieces of concept art for the film. The first is above – showing Elsa’s room as she begins to fall into Washing World. The second (which we’re keeping to ourselves for now!) shows the climax of Elsa’s Washing World adventure. We love these pieces of art so much that they’ve been our desktop backgrounds for over a year.
Over a year, you ask? What have we been doing? Why isn’t the film made yet??
Well, there was a global pandemic, which meant that suddenly, nobody was commissioning fun, frivolous animation work, and we had to prioritise jobs that would pay us money. We also wanted to make sure that this film got the care and attention we think it deserves, which meant a lot of planning, a lot of research, and a lot of revisions.
A gif from another film we made in Phase 1 of the Laundry Cinematic Universe. We don’t know why we keep doing this? We have a normal relationship with washing machines, we swear.
As of right now (April 2021), we’re on revision 8 of the animatic, and we think we’re pretty close to the final version. In the interests of following our own advice, we reached out to a bunch of our friends in and out of the industry and showed it to them so we could collect their comments and questions. This was so, so useful – and not one of them told us to shut our cake holes because Corrie was about to start.
We’re also in touch with a knitting expert, because honestly, we’re making a film about clothes and we have no idea how they work. One of the main “characters” in the film is going to be a big, cosy, funky-looking jumper, and we’ve enlisted the incredibly kind, patient and knowledgeable Michelle Kim to help us work on its design.
This is where we’re at so far, jumper-wise.
We’re also finishing up some projects that have kept us occupied for the last few months. We’re still available for work (so don’t hesitate to get in touch! We don’t have that much £ saved up lol), but we’re hoping that over the summer, we’ll be able to spend the majority of our time making the film.
Our next big hurdle in the pre-production process will be to nail the character design – for both Elsa and the supporting cast (i.e., clothes). We’re intending to keep posting our process on our Twitter and Instagram as we figure this out, because being open and vulnerable is hard, but we’re trying.
After that, it’s further look development, and then full steam ahead into production. 😬
“Full steam ahead.” Do you get it.
We’re so excited to dive into the warm, comfy arms of Get in the Washing! But until we have more updates, please enjoy this pop song from Annabel Grace Steele that we commissioned for Eternity Shores, the horror holiday (horriday?) film that we had to put on pause. It’s been in our heads for the last eleven months – and a problem shared is a problem halved. Right?
