Tinywatch Productions was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal.
The crux of the article details how do-it-yourself animation is gaining more and more prominence.
These DIY animators/talented writers are using online software like Montreal-based Xtranormal and GoAnimate (New York/Tokyo). The ease of use seems to be the biggest feature. So “…all a person has to do is sit at a computer and type.”
Like Woolf + Lapin’s Tinywatch Productions, talent is getting picked up by agencies and scouts, because of the numerous clicks their clips are getting on Youtube or elsewhere. The humor, usually targeting an under-35 crowd, seems to follow one code: the snarkier the better.
Here’s an excerpt lifted from the WSJ: “It’s a quick, down-and-dirty way to get smart writing and observational comedy on the Internet,” said Richard Appel, a veteran of the Fox TV shows “Family Guy” and “The Simpsons” and a creator and executive producer of “The Cleveland Show.” Homemade cartoons can riff off the news easily, he said, unencumbered by the time-consuming production demands of an animated TV show.”
Continuing in their trailblazinng vein, Xtranormal has just launched a contest for the best video.
The WSJ article also talks about the Hong Kong company Next Media, who is making about 50 such videos a day spoofing the news from around the world.
Definitely more than a trend.