TRUCKIN’ – A SHORT BY NEIL STUBBINGS

By Ollie in the category Friends & Projects
Story date
2. Jun 2017
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The first film of our non-commercial TARP BLANCHE series is out now!

TRUCKIN’ – THE FILM

In the style of a classic Looney Tunes cartoon, TRUCKIN’ combines a moving family drama with an inspiring coming-of-truck story. It’s just about five minutes long, yet the film doesn’t just tell the exciting story of the creation of the first FREITAG bags – like all true works of art, TRUCKIN’ also asks the big questions about humanity, trucks and the recycling economy: Where do we come from? Where are we going? And how are little trucks really made?

TARP BLANCHE – THE INITIATIVE

Five animation artists illustrate the FREITAG bag production process as they see it. TARP BLANCHE is a series of five short films appearing this year, created with 100% artistic freedom, 100% entertainment value and around 53.258% truth.

See the details and the upcoming projects here

NEIL STUBBINGS – THE CREATOR

Neil is an award-winning animated film director. He’s Swiss-British, lives in Zurich, and is something of a pioneer in our little country, having founded the motion design agency LeMob. Neil draws on an incredible range of characters and styles, and, with his film TRUCKIN’, he’s our first TARP BLANCHE artist.

Why did you become a motion designer?
I learned to be a graphic designer, but I got bored quickly. I was always interested in moving images and special effects, so becoming a motion designer came naturally.

What’s your favorite special effect?
Special effects from the 80s. They were made in-camera with models and real stuff. They mostly didn’t use any computer effects. Everything is made with computers and is completely over the top nowadays. I think the overly perfect and exaggerated effects have lost a lot of charm.

How did you approach the Tarp Blanche film for FREITAG?
I’d had this idea of the trucks being raised like pigs for quite some time. All I had to do was figure out the rest of the story.

Making-of

What was your first step when approaching the project?
To come up with the main characters. So in this case it was the truckers, who of course stand for the FREITAG brothers. And the trucks in their specific stages: baby, teen, adult. Then I built the world that the story takes place in. The design of the farm and the basic look of the whole movie.

«I had this idea of the trucks being raised like pigs for quite some time.» Neil Stubbings

How did you get inspired to build that world?
It takes place in Switzerland, so I tried to build an exaggerated, almost kitschy, version of my surroundings.

What was the idea behind the grayscale identity?
In the end, the movie is all about the FREITAG bags. The bags have a very specific look. I wanted the bags to really stand out in the movie, so I used black, grays and white to reduce the surroundings. I like the look of American cartoons from the 30s, where everything was black and white. This style was the perfect thing to emphasize the colorful bag design.

«First, there was a really rough sketch on a napkin. Luckily I didn't lose it!» Neil Stubbings

What was your technique to establish the trucker?
First, there was a really rough sketch on a napkin. Luckily I didn't lose it! I probably came up with the trucker somewhere between 1 and 3 am. The next day I did a nice 2D version of it. In the end, I decided to build everything in 3D but with a vintage 2D look.

How long did you work on the project?
The whole thing took me between 600 and 700 hours.

Which is your favorite part of your film?
After so many hours working on the film, it’s hard to judge. I guess my favorite part is the black and white style, since everything is in color nowadays.

Matching bags

TRUCKIN' inspired us to put together a selection of the most beautiful colourless bags currently tob e found in our online store.

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