David Black interviews Braeden Kennedy for The Australian Short Film Network Journal
We’ve covered so little in the way of animation here that it is my pleasure to be interviewing Braeden Kennedy today. I first met him at the Westside Shorts short film night. Braeden was an enthusiastic supporter of the night for years. There are many people who benefit from our short film nights, but only a small, dedicated handful actually show that vital support that keeps them going.
DB – Hi Braeden. Thanks for taking the time to chat to me today. I think that the very first short I saw of yours was at Westside Shorts, on the night that I met you. If I’m wrong, then it could have been “I Have Gustave” at Boogie Nights. I love the simplicity of your animations and was wondering how you got into it all?
BK - I grew up watching cartoons and animated films from most mainstream media like Disney, Nickelodeon, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. The earliest memory was at 4 years of age with Captain Planet by Turner Entertainment right through to my early teens with anime like Dragon Ball Z, Crush Gear Turbo and Zoids. During my childhood, I actually didn’t think of being an animator as I was focused on wanting to be a carpenter or a wood craftsman. That all changed when I was 13 years old after a visit to one of my best mates home one Friday evening for a sleep over. The classic viral looped Flash animation meme “Badger Badger Badger” by Jonti Picking was playing out loud on his computer as I walked through his front door. He was having a laughing fit over it, and then myself at the first sight of this catchy meme after watching it loop for about 5 minutes.
At that moment, it blew my mind to see an animated cartoon of sorts appearing on a webpage on a computer screen and not on a TV screen. That’s when I thought it would be cool to one day learn about the use of the Flash program and make funny cartoons either at home or school. Two years later I got that opportunity when a school mate lent me a copy of Flash to install on my computer . I played around with it trying to figure out how to basically animate on the program and understand how to animate smoothly and fluently while finding my art style.
Two years later, I gained my Bachelor Degree majoring in Animation at University. I was invited to a private test screening of the comedy drama film Marital Problems produced by Reel Merit Films. After the screening was finished, I had some great conversation with the cast and crew and they asked me what I did for a job . I mentioned that I did freelance animating and I was instantly offered my first freelance animation gig. I never thought that live action film would be the avenue to get my start as a freelance animator. I couldn’t walk away from an opportunity like this.
DB – Is there one particular animated piece that you’ve done which you feel stands above all the rest?
BK – That happens to be my unreleased series pilot, Bowler And Bandage
DB - Can you tell me more about this project?
BK – Bowler And Bandage Is practically my baby which I have been working on for a long time. It began during my mid-teen years when I was a late bloomer while watching Beavis and Butthead from my DVD collection. I was inspired by how unique the show was with the friendship between Beavis and Butthead and their humorous antics. Their characters were based on the creator’s real daily life.
It was after this that I gave myself a challenge to create a quirky little series inspired by Beavis and Butthead called Holz ’N’ Tanker which I animated three episodes. I decided it was of poor quality and had no character build with weak storylines. However I ended up showing the episodes to my school classmates at school, and other friends at home which gave them all a good laugh, in the end, and so encouraged me to keep doing animations.
Around 2009, I started getting serious about making a series and I began doodling some quirky looking characters. I came up with the character drawings of Bowler and Bandage one summer day. I started developing the storyline which was set at a beach in the early stages.
Braeden doing the Q&A at Filmonik
Looking back , the title of this series was called Daggy Dressed Dude Duo pilot. I realised that the portrayal of the characters, the narrative etc all came across as unauthentic. Overall I had no direction to how the series was going to play out with the character and storyline development so I put it on the shelf for good.
Fast forward nearly a decade later in 2018, Bowler and Bandage… was revived. It was all thanks to my Mum who one day stumbled across my Bowler and Bandage mock promo poster that was intended for portfolio purposes. I explained to her that I had completed a pilot based on them but it wasn’t suitable, so I thought. She encouraged me to recreate the pilot by calling the series Bowler And Bandage and she came up with an amazing idea to develop a storyline into a pilot.
A still from "I Have Gustave"
During 2019, I began writing the script, storyboards, the animatic as well as the voice-acting for all the characters. I completed the work in my spare time and decided to present the first 15 minute rough cut at West Side Shorts to get feedback.
Then last year… Covid-19 was unleashed across the globe and hindered my plans to begin pitching the series to numerous animation studios across Melbourne.
So for now, I plan on starting a crowdfunding campaign to get people to chip in with assisting me to produce episodes of Bowler and Bandage once I have completed my latest creepy animated short film Cruel Summer.
A still from "Cruel Summer"
DB – I’m going to leave this question open to you Braeden because you intrigue me. Choose one of your projects to chat to us about. Say anything about it that you feel is important.
BK – That project happens to be my short film Cruel Summer which I’m currently working on since last September. I say this is important, because it is a project that keeps my mind balanced and well stimulated during this pandemic chaos. Experimentation is what it is all about while animating Cruel Summer. I’m animating with frame-by-frame assets using digital art drawings on Photoshop which is challenging and new for me. I’m not afraid now to do something new for once as an animator using a different art medium.
A still from Bowler and Bandage
DB – What are your future plans Braeden?
BK - My future plan is to get Bowler and Bandage out there as a successful series. Hopefully by being green lit by another animation studio, or go down the direction of crowdfunding the series online myself.
A still from "Renewed Flesh"
DB – Where can our readers follow your work?
Website: www.bak-animations.com
Instagram: bak_animations
Facebook: BAK Animations