Our latest signing, director Gergely Wootsch has a mesmerising style, but he's also a talented animator, so here's his animator's reel. It includes animation he's created at other studios, under different directors, so here's a quick credit list: 00:02 - Personal work 00:06 - 'This is Not Real' (RCA, 2011) 00:12 - 'Ordaemonium' (RCA, 2010) 00:31 - 'Matter Fisher' [...]

We present the Trailer for director Gergely Wootsch's graduation film from the Royal College of Art, 'This Is Not Real'. A staggering mix of heady digital graphics and beautifully atmospheric character animation, the film has been shown around the World, including Anchorage (where it was runner-up), Anilogue, onedotzero and Raindance. A young boy's chimerical journey [...]

The soon to be released animated feature film 'A Liar's Autobiography' has been a major project here at Beakus' studio in London. We have created 10 minutes of the film which is derived from the autobiography of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, and will be screening on American TV in early 2012, before getting a cinema release here [...]

Beakus were asked by fimmaker Mike Paterson to create three unique videos for the National Maritime Museum's 'Old Weather' project. The aim is to promote the campaign to crowdsource volunteers to transcribe the weather recordings in hundreds of old ship's log books. The data will feed in and augment existing data of weather patterns through [...]

We have been working hard on two new installments of time-travelling Eric's animation series for the BBC 'Day In The Life'. The first, 'Victorians', is online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory/victorians.shtml This is the fifth episode, and Eric is joined by his younger sister Mona in travelling back to the Victorian Workhouse where the intrepid duo are put to [...]

Beakus' Spring-themed idents for CBeebies went down so well we were asked to create two more as Summer approached. Sarah Orenstein and Matthias Hoegg directed and designed one each and we present here Sarah's poetic visualisation of Kaysie and her brother's back yard fun, involving  paddling pool and lots of water.. You can watch Matthias' [...]

Here is the third of four lovely sequences for CBeebies by Matthias Hoegg. George just loves watching chicks hatch at school in Spring.. They can get in to trouble, but are generally quite well behaved – the chicks, not George.. Director & Designer: Matthias Hoegg Animation: Matthias Hoegg & Leo Bridle

Beakus were asked by fimmaker Mike Paterson to create three unique videos for the National Maritime Museum's 'Old Weather' project. The aim is to promote the campaign to crowdsource volunteers to transcribe the weather recordings in hundreds of old ship's log books. The data will feed in and augment existing data of weather patterns through [...]

Here is the second of four lovely sequences for CBeebies by Matthias Hoegg. Little Ollie explains why he like Spring so much, especially the little rabbits his Auntie looks after, and their imaginative secret lives… Director & Designer: Matthias Hoegg Animation: Matthias Hoegg & Ian Sargent

The studio has been full of the joys of Spring working on a series of animations for CBeebies… BAFTA nominated director Matthias Hoegg and new signing Sarah Orenstein took turns in visualising the cute yet surreal thoughts of several kids as they wax lyrical about the onset of Spring.. As we write, two of the [...]

Matthias Hoegg's 2011 BAFTA nominated film 'Thursday' is stylistically fascinating, full of digitally-inspired patterns and geometric compositions. It tells the story of what will happen on a random Thursday in the near future, when two people finally get together on a lift to space… Director: Matthias Hoegg Sound Design & Music: Marian Mentrup Sound Mix: [...]

A perfect piece of pop-ography from Sarah Orenstein for Nickelodeon's Mega Music Fest. With sharp graphics (elements designed by 'Friends With You') and bold colours this kaleidoscopic mosaic animation adds sparks to a live-action plate. Art Director, Design & Animation: Sarah Orenstein Production Company: Cause & Effect Live Action Director: Jamie Hubbard Raw Elements Design: [...]

Windows Masks Doors is the enigmatic title of new Beakus director Sarah Orenstein's thesis film from the renowned Rhode Island School of Design. It's played to over 50 festivals worldwide, and is a unique mechanical vision made with cut-out animation and texturous artwork. Director: Sarah Orenstein Sound Design: Chris Lane Music: Ari Picker and Lost [...]

Season's Greetings! Click on the image below to see our interactive Christmas card, co-created by director's Leo Bridle and Matthias Hoegg.

Merry Christmas from BEAKUS! Here's a clip our director Matthias Hoegg animated for CBeebies all about Christmas… Guaranteed to make you feel warm and tingly…!

Fabulous stop-motion animation from director Leo Bridle to announce the arrival of chanteuse Sherie Oh. Beakus morphed in to a stop-motion studio for Leo to spend hours in the dark creating and animating a paper plane letter, birds, flowers, balloons and fish… The result is a sensitive, optimistic and colourful journey in to the heavens [...]

This is the second in our series about Eric, a 10-year-old animated boy who can travel back in time. 'Day In The Life' was created to accompany a major new BBC series ‘Hands On History’ that encourages kids to find out more about historical periods through the BBC’s website. The first episode, ‘The Normans’ can [...]

Steve Smith's idents for Russian Channel 'Bibigon' scooped a British Animation Award for their diversity and broad appeal. We thought we'd show a little of how they were made, focussing on the 3D ident 'Eel'. You can see the finished ident here.

Starring Eric, a 10-year-old animated boy who can travel back in time, 'Day In The Life' was created to accompany a major new BBC series ‘Hands On History’. This is in fact the first of a series of tales that will encourage kids to find out more about historical periods through the BBC’s website. The [...]

Leo Bridle put together a typographic musing on the practicalities of being a Nudist, following the excellent advice on wikiHow.com. Just remember – close all curtains! Director: Leo Bridle Text from WikiHow.com

Leo Bridle entered Dorito's competition to make the most beguiling ad for their new campaign. Typically thinking outside the box, or jar, Leo and fellow directors Ben Thomas and Joe Dennis cooked up this sensual – even a touch erotic – hot tub scenario. Shot on a tight budget in live-action and blue-screen stop-motion, the [...]

All 5 episodes of Steve Smith's irreverent comedy 'Stuffed' are online at the BBC Comedy portal! To make your browsing easier we've collected them here – but be warned, they are downright rude and quite vulgar..! Featuring the voice behind Aleksander the Meerkat, 'Stuffed' is an animated series following chipper young deviant Brat and his [...]

'Je Suis Jalouse' is the title of Leo Bridle's music video for French artiste Emily Loizeau. Shooting on blue-screen and then fabricating an entire world from photographs and collaged materials, Leo deftly tells the story of our green-eyed chanteuse and her circus-man. Director: Leo Bridle Commission: Narcisse Films

Drops morph into various aquatic lifeforms on their way through the watercycle in this elegaic hand-drawn animation by Matthias Hoegg. The film was awarded 1st Place for Screen-based Design at the Norwegian Association for Visual Communication, 'Grafill', in 2006.

Everyone's favourite time-travelling square-jawed kid Eric is back, this time way back in Stone Age England… Beakus' third outing with Eric for BBC History is online now at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/handsonhistory/day-in-the-life_ancient_britain.shtml, but you can watch it right here! In this episode Eric's whole family goes with him, including his unfortunate sister 'Bird Poo'… Together they travel by dugout [...]

Two spots for 7Eleven in Australia, commissioned by Clemenger and animated using traditional puppet stop-motion. Director: Steve Smith Producer: Richard Barnett for Trunk Commission: Leo Burnett, Melbourne

Leigh Hodgkinson's dark, atmospheric and texturous puppet animation 'Stalk' was created for the Pulse Scheme. Deftly weaving model animation of the director's favourite and well-loved childhood bunny (who gratiously had her stuffing replaced by armature for the shoot…) with composited photographs and delicate lighting and smoke effects, the film plays out like a modern urban [...]

As a reward for their diligence and outstanding Million-plus hits on You Tube, Leo Bridle and Leo Powell were invited to make a second viral for online media mag 'First Post'. On a similar theme to 'Web 2.0' they take us headlong in to the heart of a PC to see what makes it tick. [...]

Nominated for a D&AD Award, and with over a million hits on You Tube, Web 2.0 is a viral for online media magazine 'First Post'. It was created by Leo Bridle and Leo Powell and takes us in to an interesting world where your lowly grey-box PC delivers everything you need to digest the day's [...]

A TV spot for Pepsi and 'Dance with the Stars' in the US. Directed, designed and animated by Sarah Orenstein at 'Favorite Color'. Director: Sarah Orenstein Production Company: Favorite Color Additional Design: Diksha Watwani, Jeff Welk Producer: Meredith Binder, Carson Hood

Matthias Hoegg's elegant, subtle and poetic short 'August' drops us in a caravan park where ants busy themselves beneath boozed-up sun-worshippers and reddened hedonists. The two worlds reflect one another as all the while the summertime passes slowly. Hoegg's stylistic use of 2D and 3D design, his strong, structured framing, and sumptuous colouring, add up [...]

These British Animation Award, and Annecy Crystal winning spots for Russian kids channel Bibigon, were directed by Steve Smith. Crafted by an eighteen-strong team of gifted 2D animators, with two weeks per clip, the process was fun and furious. Each clip illustrates a bizarre fact, making science and education fun for children. Commissioned by Red [...]

Leigh Hodgkinson's zany, energetic, and foul rendering of Kayvan Novak's 'Fonejacker' sketch 'Talented Mouse' is hilarious. Created using a myriad of photographs and some clever compositing it was the standout skit from Series 1, gaining Leigh an Annecy Crystal (and Kayvan a BAFTA!) Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Maria Manton for Slinky Commission: Channel 4, Hat [...]

'Brat & Bear' is a 3-part mini-series created by Steve Smith for Channel 4. It stars a vindictive, experimental spike-headed kid and his set-upon yet optimistic toy bear. The action takes place each night in the shed at the bottom of the garden, where Bear lives. Inanimate yet cursed with strong cognitive emotions, Bear is [...]

A charming music video for Domino Records' two-piece electronica band 'Psapp'. Shot in and around the director's garden and featuring a bouncing mix of pixillated objects, puppetry and clever compositing a story unfolds between a grown-up girl and her cutlery…

Here is an immensely exciting sneak preview of the new short in development at Beakus. It's being designed and directed by Steve Smith and takes our 3D visualisation on to another plane. The stylistic, dark and yet humorous film follows the breakdown of a family in the far-reaches of the windswept Norfolk countryside.

Joe and Mary live in a fish & chip shop on the south coast. When Mary falls unexpectedly pregnant on a stormy night, Joe thinks their may be something fishy going on with Him upstairs… This is Steve Smith's funny and intelligent 3-minute hand-drawn film commissioned for Channel 4 through it's AIR scheme. It was [...]

Director Steve Smith was asked to put together a title sequence for a documentary about the 40-year anniversary get-together of the seminal Beatles' Sgt.Pepper album. Bands such as Kaiser Chiefs and Magic Numbers recorded all the track afresh, which is echoed in these titles, put together with After Effects. Director: Steve Smith Producer: Richard Barnett [...]

The title sequence for 'Bringing Up Baby', a documentary showing how rearing a child has changed over the decades. Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Liz Chan for Slinky Commission: Talkback Thames, Channel 4

Leigh Hodgkinson's series of Greene King sponsorship idents to bumper Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV. Can you guess the name of each pub? Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Liz Chan for Slinky Commission: Greene King

A short 15" spot for Whiskas, via TBWA in Netherlands. Following the success of Trunk's campaign for Whiskas, TBWA wanted to re-visit the cloth-puppet fishes from an earlier spot "Taffy". Trouble is, there was no fish anymore… So, 3D artist Darragh Mason had to re-create the fabric fish in 3D CGI, and duly animate it [...]

Beakus director Steve Smith took on the challenge to create the visuals for Issue 7 of 'specialten' magazine, including all the menus, the cover, and this introductory animation. Taking a graphic approach, each menu boiled with flickering light and scattered imagery from the collection of films on offer. Highly regarded by Marcus and Fabio at [...]

Working with Red Bee Media, Steve created a series of lyrical emotive idents for Ren TV. Emotions included Astonishment, Fear and Excitement. Created in 3D they extrapolate on the idea that colour and line can express any emotion. Director: Steve Smith Producer: Richard Barnett for Trunk Commission: Red Bee Media

Domino Record's fantastic combo 'Psapp' were searching for a team to put together their 'Hi' video with a certain homemade aesthetic. Beakus and the team at Trunk began pulling apart musical electronica to obtain diodes, sparks and bulbs that would come together to form mutant circuit-board characters who awake in Psapp's studio after dark – [...]

Title sequence to 'Twiggy's Frock Exchange', a series in which wardrobe makeovers take centre stage, fronted by the fashionista model. The cut and paste attitude of the show was complemented by the punch-out kit graphics. Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Maria Manton for Slinky Commission: Silver River

Beakus director Steve Smith was commissioned to make a 1-minute short for MTV's 'Load' mobile platform. 'Leap of Faith' follows the perils of being a box-headed robot in a post-apocalyptic cityscape.. Made entirely in 3D it features music accompaniement by Julian Wilson, and was actually used by BAFTA as an example of how to make [...]

An unusual project flew over from Melbourne – animate an interactive web-book illustrating the story of Save The Children. Beakus director Steve Smith and Trunk worked together to quickly animate the scenes, transitions and interactive elements needed, which were pre-designed in Australia. Take a look at the interactive movie HERE>. Director: Steve Smith, Trunk Producer: [...]

This animated sequence formed part of the fantastic 'Mrs de Ropp', a fiction drama by Sam Hobkinson based on the writings of Saki. Sredni Vashtar is a ferret who is imagined to become fierce and kingly by a little boy who seeks vengeance on his overbearing Aunt de Ropp… Dark and shadowy cut-out animation was [...]

A spot for MTV and Condomi, to promote the "Staying Alive" AIDS awareness charity. With illustration by Jasper Goodall and co-direction from Trunk the silhouettes are actually rotoscoped dancers, composited with graphic motifs and gradients. Director: Steve Smith, Trunk Producer: Steve Smith for Trunk Commission: Point Blank Creative

The insanely popular Mitchell & Webb approached animators (via the BBC of course) to visualise some of their radio sketches. Beakus director Steve Smith designed and animated 'Pit Ponies' about a couple of old nags down a mine who realise life isn't all it's cracked up to be…

Modern folk doesn't come much heartier than London's 'Adem'. This video was a collaboration between Beakus' Steve Smith, Trunk and designer Lynn Hatzius, who created the amazing artwork for the album and the mechanical birds seen here. Combining ghostly live-action of Adem in his 4-roomed crumbling abode and 2D cut-out animation of the tiny birds [...]

Leigh Hodgkinson's humorous short for the Channel 4 AIR scheme features a little girl and her pet cow who, desperate to get her attention, jumps over the moon… well… almost. Harangued by an incensed bee (voiced by Little Britain's Matt Lucas) who has been taken for the ride, the cow starts eating all the stars [...]

To promote and bookend a documentary about Toyota's F1 team on the Discovery Channel, Steve directed a small team of 3D animators to create 4×50-sec spots. Uniquely rendered in outline, the CG car was stripped down from the actual engineer's model. Conceptually, commissioner Andy Fowler from Brothers & Sisters wanted each spot to follow a [...]

Exploding from Domino's stables in 2004 came Archie Bronson Outfit, with a mix of guitar drudgery and belted lyrics. Beakus director Steve Smith and Trunk worked hard to realise a complicated video involving a shoot with instantaneous back-projection and a hefty arsenal of animated and composited effects. The result shimmers with detail and light – [...]

This Depict! prize-winning film by Leigh Hodgkinson takes a look at butterfly speed dating… With only a short time to live, they'd better find a date – pronto! Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Leigh Hodgkinson for Skillset Commission: Skillset, UWN

Beakus director Steve Smith was fortunate enough to join the Trunk team in creating the Magic Numbers' first video, which shot them to chart success. "Forever Lost" is an ode to doomed relationships, which is translated through the video in to a story of missed opportunity, and the stupidity of being overlooked. First onboard was [...]

Americana band 'Grand Drive' wanted a follow-up to the successful video for "Firefly", also by Beakus director Steve Smith and Trunk. This time the concept was based around antique automata – Victorian mechanical machines that perpetuate themselves. The location was a dog track, and our hero is a white hare, who is doomed always to [...]

"Firefly" is a beautiful faery tale based on Rapunzel. Created digitally but with a graphic cut-out puppet technique, a story of winsome romance and determination unfolds, taking us from the city to the countryside and back again. Beakus director Steve Smith worked alongside Trunk to craft, animate and composite this highly acclaimed video. Director: Steve [...]

Fantastic director Richard Fenwick's film 'Albert's Speech' needed bespoke sequences of animation to sit in with the live-action narrative about a guy unable to deliver a bestman's speech.. Beakus director Steve Smith provided the titles sequence and subsequent rabbit carnage, all taking place in Albert's summery escapist imagination. Director: Steve Smith Producer: Richard Barnett for [...]

Leigh Hodgkinson's title sequence to a new series hosted by Hardeep Singh Kohli, where the comedian investigates British culture. Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Maria Manton for Slinky Commission: Tiger Aspect for Channel 4

Title sequence to introduce an evening of eclectic new animated films on BBC3. Director: Leigh Hodgkinson Producer: Liz Chan for Slinky Commission: BBC3

Vessels are, or where, an Americana band featuring love-lorn lyrics and an earthy pop feel. This, their first video, was created by Beakus director Steve Smith and the team at Trunk. A combination of scribbles, diaries, sketches, graphics, photos, and even a spot of super 8 footage, the result is an affable always-changing visual smorgasbord [...]

Commissioned by Cbeebies, Leo Bridle created the opening titles for a new show ‘Green Balloon Club’. So impressed were his clients that they enrolled Leo to make 10×3-minute stand-alone sequences for the show as well, featuring Skipper the dog. Director: Leo Bridle Commission: Cbeebies

Leigh Hodgkinson's tale about an attention-seeking peacock, Larry, to be published by Orchard later this year. Limelight Larry is delighted when he finds an empty book – he can be the star of the story! Then a whole host of storybook characters arrive and Larry – much to his outrage – is pushed out of [...]

This short clip features Sunny McCloud and her family who feature in Leigh Hodgkinson's picture book 'Smile!'. What would you do if your smile completely disappeared? Look behind the sofa? Under your bed? It could be anywhere! When Sunny McCloud loses her nice big made-to-measure smile, she spends ages looking for it. Will her smile [...]

CBBC Newsround commissioned a small number of animation directors to create bespoke 3-minute sequences to illustrate the stories of several children living below the poverty line in the UK. Beakus directors Leigh Hodgkinson (through Slinky) and Steve Smith (through Trunk) both created work for the programme, which went on to win a BAFTA. Below is [...]

Made in just 2 weeks at the Royal College of Art, we thought this is worth a look for it's inventive technique whereby facial animation is added to a live-action figure. The clip is based on an interview provided by the Imperial War Museum, London, in which Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein remembers her first encounter [...]

Matthias Hoegg's short film following nightbusses on their way into the big city. Abstract shapes are silhouetted against light in the dreamy dead of night.

Matthias Hoegg's graduation film from Kingston University is an elegant and atmospheric nocturnal encounter between garden wildlife and a biology book. It was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award and plugged in Aardman's Talent Showcase 2006.

Asked to help out a youth-orientated media event, Leo Bridle had to act fast to create this ident. Vibrant colours and scenes linked by roving lines found their way to screen in just 2 weeks. Director: Leo Bridle Commission: Youth Media

CBBC Newsround commissioned a small number of animation directors to create bespoke 3-minute sequences to illustrate the stories of several children living below the poverty line in the UK. Beakus directors Leigh Hodgkinson (through Slinky) and Steve Smith (through Trunk) both created work for the programme, which went on to win a BAFTA! Below is [...]

A fascinating insight in to the techniques involved with creating 'Train Of Thought', Leo Bridle & Ben Thomas's latest film, made entirely in paper… Director: Leo Bridle & Ben Thomas Commission: Arts University College Bournemouth Music: Portico Quartet Starring: Napoleon Ryan & Marie Thomas Galvin

'Change in C Minor' is a short typographic film exploring the concept of change as a positive motivation. Using a ticker-tape style of flickering type and photographic collage, Sarah brought the film alive whilst at Loyalkaspar for the BDA 20/120 Showcase. Concept, Design & Animation: Sarah Orenstein Production Studio: Loyalkaspar Creative Directors: David Herbruck, Beat [...]