The animation game
Richard Bevan talks to Francis Vose of Cosgrove Hall.
Mention the name Cosgrove Hall and, depending on what era you watched kids, TV, a plethora of animation shows spring to mind – from Danger Mouse and Chorlton And The Wheelies to more contemporary fare such as the quite bonkers Eddie Retractorhead.
Cosgrove also produce stop-frame, 2D and CGI animation shows for clients such as the owners of the Postman Pat and Rupert Bear franchises but basically it’s a company that is as near to a fully operational studio as you can get outside Pinewood and Ealing.
Walking through its doors on the outskirts of Manchester and being confronted by a giant size Count Duckula, certainly stirs up the big kid in you. A glass cabinet in the foyer pays tribute to countless BAFTA and Royal Society awards for the company’s achievements and contribution to children’s TV that include the award-winning Wind In The Willows series and its original 1983 special.
I spoke to Francis Vose, Creative Director at Cosgrove Hall, about the role of scriptwriting for animation shows. Francis has worked in the industry for twenty-five years and joined Cosgrove in 1983. His credits include Rocky And The Dodos, Animal Shelf , the multi-award winning Albie, Little Robots, the Emmy-winning The Fool Of The World And The Flying Ship and the new series of Rupert Bear - Follow The Magic.
Richard Bevan: Has technology, particularly digital developments, changed the nature of animation?
Francis Vose: Digital technology allows programme makers greater scope and can save on time and costs, which allows you to create a bigger sense of dynamism for studio work. It frees you up both imaginatively and physically because you’re not just linked to the set alone. At Cosgrove Hall Films we still use stop-frame and 2D drawn animation as well as CGI. What we’re concerned with is producing quality and often digital technology helps to make a show slicker and seamless. Rupert Bear is a good example, where we combined stop-frame and 3D animation with CGI.
What kind of skills should a writer have when it comes to a children’s animation show; what are the ‘tools’ required in comparison to live action?
It’s really taking into account the limitations of what we can actually do. Most of animation is driven by budget, so if you have a group of characters you must set yourself by them. Half way through the series you can’t just introduce new ones, mainly because it’s extremely expensive to add new characters during production. The same rule applies to settings. Unlike live action where you can decide to go to different locations, in animation you can’t just decide to set your scenes in a wood one minute and then a seaside resort the next – because everything has to be created ahead of the production.
So there are parameters a writer must try to keep within?
Yes, right at the very beginning that you know you’re going to work within and build your world for however long the series is, which could be anything from 50 to 100 or more episodes. You have to be consistent. Also because you’re aiming at children you have to be aware of their age group and their learning and entertainment requirements.
What are those age requirements?
If the show is pre-school and very learning-based then we would be looking at how to structure the show to fill it with the correct messages. If it’s purely for entertainment value then that’s a different form of storytelling. But even then you have to be aware if it’s boy or girl orientated. Because at pre-school age you’re definitely aiming it at one or the other. If you hit both then that’s great. Both will watch, but retail will usually sell for one or the other.
Can you give any examples?
Postman Pat (created by John Cunliff and Ivor Wood) is one where both boys and girls like the show equally. Most boys want to be Pat but the show also has a lot of girl characters and lots of pink and blue. More importantly it’s a happy town, a lovely environment for a kid to hopefully relate to.
Is it important to get the ‘education’ message across in the script?
If it is a programme that was specifically about a subject like ‘counting’ or ‘nature’, then we would research it carefully to make sure we hit all the right buttons. I think it’s important not to be too clever or confusing for the young viewer. But most of the time you should be looking at how to entertain in the most politically-correct way. Not that I’d want anyone to get bogged down in PC but you should be aware of sending out the right message. It’s important to tell a good story and try and get the kids to trust the characters. If you can do that then you’ve achieved something.
What is the main difference with pre-school shows as opposed to those aimed at primary and young teens?
It’s more formulaic in the way that you only really have one thread – a beginning, a middle and an end. There’s only one thing to deal with but with the older groups you have an A and B story and can afford the writing to go off in different directions. Danger Mouse (James Bond style mouse with a mission to save the world, created by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall) is an example and it’s as successful now as it was when we first made it 25 years ago.
How does the development process take place - what should a writer expect if an animation company likes an idea?
If we like the subject and we believe that we can make the idea into a successful series we will develop the concept, main characters and locations. We would commission three scripts, combine all the above in each script and develop the characters’ dialogue and personalities. It’s a huge investment for us to make and of course there’s no guarantee that a project will be greenlit. But when we are totally happy with the overall concept (sometimes backed up with a pilot episode) we’ll pitch to the networks.
What do you expect to see in a treatment?
I’m quite a visual person so I like to see an idea backed up with a design even if it’s not a very good sketch. I need to see somebody’s idea of what they think it should be like. Some people pitch full documents that they’ve spent a fortunes on but quite often they’re not as good as the one-pagers and a little sketch. It’s all about the idea.
Do writers have to be aware of merchandise possibilities with their concepts?
To be honest it’s far more important that the idea is a good one.
Can a writer afford to be quite specific when it comes to the culture and country the show might be set in?
I don’t think it’s great to be too generic but also you don’t want to regionalise too much either. You certainly wouldn’t go out of your way to do a particular voice or an accent that made someone sound stupid or even one to make a character sound super intelligent. Character traits with voices really should be on par with all the other characters.
This article first appeared in the Guild's magazine, UK Writer (Winter 2008)
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