Sheeped Away, my animated graduation short

[Junaid]

Well, after 7 months of posting a LOT of concept art in the art thread, my film is finally done! Check it out in HD at http://vimeo.com/28551506 and let me know what you think!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IAo5_EeVJeA/TmKEPuJBDXI/AAAAAAAAA2s/xIsZ-JRw1GE/s1600/Sheeped01.png

About Sheeped Away
Sheeped Away tells the tale of a farmer who just wants to be with his beloved sheep. When a giant UFO enters his life to claim his sheep, what will he do to keep them safe from harm? And can he do this without waking his monstrous wife?


The whole point of making “Sheeped Away” was to make a tribute of sorts, to the old American cartoons I grew up with. They were not necessarily made for children but neither were they unwatchable for them. I wanted to make something just like that; something for both adults and kids. And adult kids like me.

It was a difficult process of 7 long months, but with the help of a lot of awesome talented people, I made it. I can’t thank them enough.

[Ribs]

Well, Junaid... four words for you (just replace map with 'short'):
http://www.telltalegames.com/files/blogs/vday/valentinwinslowyb.jpg

Seriously, though, that was great!

[Alcoremortis]

That was a fantastic little short and I enjoyed every minute of it. I think you succeeded in creating something that both adults and children can enjoy. Congratulations.

[yoshiwam]

Cool werk, dude!! Is dit vanuit de HKU in Hilversum toevallig?

[Junaid]

Thanks guys! Jup, HKU Hilversum all the way!

[puzzlebox]

Junaid, that was absolutely gorgeous! Congratulations. I think you've made something to be proud of.

[jeeno0142]

I absolutely adored that! Now that you've finally done that though, what will you do now?

[Junaid]

Sell myself for food probably.



Nah, I just started as a freelance animator/illustrator :)

[yoshiwam]

Haha, awesome! There's this UU / HKU collaboration project coming up where we are going to create some game at the HKU for the next six months, that ought to kick some ass :)

So what are your plans after your graduation? :3 Are you going to contact the DGG to do some game-related work? :p

[Junaid]

I'd love to do some game related work! But it'll probably be some small commercial animation assignments at first

[RetroVortex]

Faantastic... :)

[yoshiwam]

Cool ^___^ I just started working at the DGG actually (at Headcandy), I can keep my eyes and ears out for you if some 2D artist position becomes vacant somewhere. If you'd like, of course xD

[Junaid]

That would be awesome, thanks!

[Falanca]

That was, from beginning to end, fantastic. I'd watch this repeatedly instead of anything cartoon channels/saturday mornings offer me these days.

[Wolfstar27]

OUTSTANDING, really enjoyed every bit of it, and cant wait to see future projects from you, and if you need anybody for voice over work, Id be more than happy to lend me voice for future work :)

[GuruGuru214]

Wow. Junaid, I knew you were absolutely amazing, but you've really outdone yourself this time.

[Tjibbbe]

Like I already told you Jun, this is absolutely amazing. It almost makes me mad, knowing that I'll never make something as cool as this.

[WarpSpeed]

I'm going to agree with everyone else here. Great job! I hope you find a good professional position, so we can see more from you in the future!

[DrRocketGenius]

This is wonderful. Great job.

[Trenchfoot]

That was beautiful! Congratulations on your work, you should be proud! :D

[Remolay]

I wish I had a younger sibling so I could show this to them

Why can't TV be like this anymore?

[RetroVortex]

This reminds me of those lovely short cartoons you used to get on Cartoon Network, but much better in terms of animation and image quality.

Heck, it could even be a starting short to a Pixar movie, its that good! :D

[Junaid]

Thanks for the kind words! :)

[Avistew]

I really liked it, I liked the style, I liked the gags and I liked the fact that it doesn't have words, which makes it more universal. It's generally very cute. Thanks so much for sharing this with us so we could enjoy it :)

[Vainamoinen]

Strange day at work. One of the biggest insurance companies in Germany started to promote their new services with sheep (http://www.bring-mich-ins-trockene.de/index.html) recently. There's a German figure of speech, roughly translated "bring one's sheep to a dry place", which means "save enough money" or "feather one's nest". The advertising draws on that meaning.

My company has some ties with this campaign, so a large batch of their promotional materials arrived today. My colleagues went nuts with the stuff. Imagine your place at work, from one day to the next, flooded with sheep! Posters, plush toys, magnetized minisheep, lifesize sheep cardboard prints to stand on their own or to be stuck into shelves, lifesize window stickers and so on. So I emailed Junaid's animated short around, which of course added to the frenzy.

Thanks Junaid for all that madness today!!! :D

[Harald B]

Would it be too late to work the short into the campaign? I smell opportunity.

[Junaid]

Strange day at work. One of the biggest insurance companies in Germany started to promote their new services with sheep (http://www.bring-mich-ins-trockene.de/index.html) recently. There's a German figure of speech, roughly translated "bring one's sheep to a dry place", which means "save enough money" or "feather one's nest". The advertising draws on that meaning.

My company has some ties with this campaign, so a large batch of their promotional materials arrived today. My colleagues went nuts with the stuff. Imagine your place at work, from one day to the next, flooded with sheep! Posters, plush toys, magnetized minisheep, lifesize sheep cardboard prints to stand on their own or to be stuck into shelves, lifesize window stickers and so on. So I emailed Junaid's animated short around, which of course added to the frenzy.

Thanks Junaid for all that madness today!!! :D


Hahaha great story, glad I could help ;)

[Ribs]

WHAT!

The Daily What just posted a link to your short on their Tumblr! Linky (http://tumblr.thedailywh.at/post/10045937243/animated-short-of-the-day-junaid-chundrigars)!

[Junaid]

Nice!

[Laserschwert]

Great work man!

Looks like Paco got a follow up ;)

[Junaid]

Haha Paco actually helped me a lot with the story and designs :D

[lombre]

Brilliant! I absolutely loved it. :D

[doodo!]

Brilliant, and I really like your alien technologies. Nicely done.

[Guinea]

If there's one thing I love it's animation graduation shorts. And yours is no exception. For some reason there's always so much creativity and energy in those.

[Martin McFly]

Absolutely amazing. You truly are a creative genius. The story and the character designs really appealed to me and it made me wish that something of this calibur was being aired on TV. I loved every second of it. Excellent work!

[Junaid]

Thanks guys!

If you like the movie, please give it a high rating on http://www.goshort.nl/online_oktober/ where it was nominated for best short film :)

[Davies]

Wonderful, glorious, hilarious, sublime and highly entertaining...

... are all words which I'd use to describe Fawlty Towers. However, I would also use those words to describe Sheeped Away.

Seriously, that was superb. I humbly applaud your talent, even if I was a tad concerned about where the story was going when the farmer was sneaking out and rolling around with his sheep! :p

I think a bright future in animation awaits you, this easily could have been a Pixar short, except your approach used 2D animation, which makes it even better. I salute you.

[Junaid]

Just thought I'd give a little update, six months later...

The short has over 376k views on Vimeo! (https://vimeo.com/28551506)
It has also sceened at a couple of festivals all around the world. I believe Canada is next if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway the feedback has been really great and it also got me some work so that's always good :)
A Dutch animator working at Aardman told me he liked it and even Joann Sfarr, a French comic artist and film director, e-mailed me right away with some kind words. :D

You should also check out another graduation short from my friends: Mac 'n' Cheese (https://vimeo.com/27127177)
It's not really for children but it does have some cool visuals.

[Jon NA]

I finally got to watch it. I loved every gag and background and how all the background colors were reflected in the animated characters themselves! It was absolutely wonderful! Congrats Junaid! Looking forward to your next animated short. Here's to more success!

[Irishmile]

I think I may have a nonsexual crush on you Junaid.

[Darth Marsden]

Wait - how the f**k did I miss this?

That was amazing. Just... amazing. Also: EXACTLY what I needed after the atrocity of my latest review subject. You, sir, are a god amongst men and I applaud you and everything you do. Bravo, that man. Brav-o.

[Junaid]

haha wow thanks guys :D

[Sean A]

Just wanted to say I popped in here and checked out your short and I really dug it. Great work! There's something super appealing those cartoons where a guy communicates only with grunts. (I might try that at work tomorrow.)

[Irishmile]

favorite part... when the sheep juggled HIM.

[Junaid]

Just wanted to say I popped in here and checked out your short and I really dug it. Great work! There's something super appealing those cartoons where a guy communicates only with grunts. (I might try that at work tomorrow.)

Awesome! Yeah I wanted no dialogue to make it watchable for everyone.
Should you guys ever do a 2D game, be sure to give me a call! :D

favorite part... when the sheep juggled HIM.
That dream sequence was added to animate some more weird stuff, which I love. And of course, to animate the 8 or so frames where his wife turns into a monster :)