Animation team, Rowdy, are extraordinary! But don’t take our word for it! Please read on to find out more!

Rowdy is an exceptional animation collective with close ties to Clapham Road Studios, and bags of ingenuity and talent. Essentially a group of friends, artists, technicians, problem solvers and storytellers who collaborate to bring award winning content to the fore.

One of their most recent projects for the Dutch biking brand VanMoof puts a claymation spin on the heist genre titled ‘Super Thieves’. We caught up with one of the founders of Rowdy Thomas Harnett to discuss how it was made.

You are one of the founders of Rowdy - What role did you play in VanMoof and do you collaborate on all Rowdy Projects?

I was involved in the early stages of production, setting up the project and putting the pitch together. Once the job was awarded we had a fun few days filming and editing together some hilarious live action reference footage where Tobias plays all three bike thieves. This was then used as the basis for the claymation action for our most recent spot for VanMoof.

This latest promotional film for the Dutch biking brand VanMoof, titled ‘Super Thieves’ (note that at the time of writing the spot had over 2million views on YouTube) Directed by animation guru Tobias Fouracre at Clapham Road Studios. The stop motion claymation film is filled with comedic one liners and strong performances from three individuals who hold themselves in high esteem when it comes to the art of being a thief. Skills which didn’t hold much truck against the mighty VanMoof anti theft measures! The skillfully crafted spot, is set to put another pin in the map, making Rowdy a go-to collective for all things animation.

How did the process of Rowdy getting on board with VanMoof affect the creative?

It was really brilliant because VanMoof were so open to suggestions, it meant we could really get the best of the characters and the script. Tobias had some really funny ideas and moments to add – the final shot of the art thief coming down for last attempt at stealing actually came during one of the last calls we had before the shoot. The fact they were so open and Tobias and the creatives got on so well just made things like that possible, it’s the collaborative way!!

VanMoof Director Tobias Fouracre is an animation veteran and stop motion specialist, having worked on films such as Fantastic Mr Fox, The Corpse Bride and more, along with his role as Animation Supervisor on The Isle of Dogs, which made him the perfect choice at Rowdy to Direct this wonderful piece for VanMoof.

One of the ingredients that really elevate the film and bring these wonderful characters to life, apart from the excellent animators, were the voices. Rowdy worked with Voice Agency Vocal Point, and workshopped the script and scenes with the Actors. Robbie Stevens gave a beautiful performance as a bumbling heist hack, and Liz May Brice' European performance, put a new spin on 'Pink Panther' and Jordan Claire McCraw as the teenage hacker, all delivered beautiful performances which ROWDY then animated to.

Vanmoof themselves interviewed Tobias and we thought they were pretty good questions so!

Here they are!

What was it about the concept of Super Thieves that attracted you to the film as a director, Tobias?

The interview format grabbed me instantly. Because in stop motion, characters are often jumping around and it's full of action – but personally, I've always found those intimate moments when characters talk much more interesting and challenging. And when a puppet’s acting is done correctly, an audience can be really captivated. So when this script first arrived, I was interested straight away.

Where did the ideas for the characters come from?

They each evolved as the perfect nemeses for our bikes’ three most significant security features and our current Peace of Mind offer. One key element is our anti-theft tracking, which means our Bike Hunters can track down our bikes when they are stolen and return them. For example, we wanted to create a character who can steal expensive art and make it disappear – but when confronted by a VanMoof e-bike’s built-in tracking is totally stumped.

And what about the miniature VanMoof ? It’s so realistic! Was that also made from plasticine?

No, that was 3D printed. Because the bike’s such an important part of this commercial and it's the product, it should look like the real thing. It was spray painted by hand. They had to build the spokes themselves so that would've been the hardest part of building that bike.

What’s the creative process itself like when producing a stop motion film?

When many people think of stop motion, they might think it's one lonely person in a dark room who builds little puppets and little sets and animates them like some sort of alchemist. But it’s not like that at all – there's a whole team, just like live action. You have a cameraman, an assistant cameraman, and even a puppet-making team that’s split up into loads of different departments. You have people doing fabric, sculptors, and people building the armatures – that’s the skeleton inside of the puppet.

We heard that you acted out each scene yourself first in place of the characters – do you typically model the puppets’ movements on your own?

Yeah, that's become more and more common these days because we can video ourselves before we put it into our software. As you're animating, you can see the live action footage that you've taken of yourself. On a job like this where it's very performance-based, it's perfect to work it out by videoing yourself.

How big are the puppets themselves? And what are they made from?

The Master Pick-Locker was 14 inches tall. They're usually that sort of height. The puppets are made from a variety of materials. There are plasticine sections for the eyes and mouths, but the rest of the heads are made out of resin. The hands are silicone, clothes made from real fabrics, and they all have ball and socket armatures inside them.

It’s all so intricate. Are there painful parts of the process that come with having to create that level of detail? I think plasticine animation lip sync is the most painful part of the process. Shooting in five days meant that we didn't have long to build the puppets. Instead of preparing a huge set of replacement mouths, I was sculpting as I went along, so it was a bit like being on the front line.

And how long did the one-minute film take to shoot?

So we shot for five days, and I did some maths and it was like, "Ok, that would be like eight seconds a day. So we need two animators so it's four seconds a day." So for Super Thieves, it was four seconds a day – which is quite a lot.

And what about the miniature VanMoof ?

It’s so realistic! Was that also made from plasticine? No, that was 3D printed. Because the bike’s such an important part of this commercial and it's the product, it should look like the real thing. It was spray painted by hand. They had to build the spokes themselves so that would've been the hardest part of building that bike.

And finally the big question: are you happy with the final result?

I'm really happy. It's brilliant. I love seeing the simplicity of the studio and the characters sitting there and interacting with the bike. We all struggled to cut it down so we had a minute's worth of footage. But I think all filmmaking is like that and you can keep tinkering forever, can't you? A film’s never finished. At one point, someone has to say, "Stop, you can't do any more." But you could keep tinkering forever.

We caught up with Daisy Garside, Rowdy founder and producer and all round ‘Make it happen-er’ who produced the latest piece of work for VanMoof Directed by Tobias Fouracre.

Daisy, you produced VanMoof - tell us a bit about the process for you?

The process of producing VanMoof was a brilliant one. Everyone working on this project both at VanMoof, and all the crew, made it lovely from start to finish. It was super collaborative right from the beginning and I always find that the nicest way to work. We had a really quick turnaround – just over 5 weeks (including Christmas and New Year!!) so everyone had to hit the ground running, I was a bit worried about that at the beginning, how easy it would be to get the main bulk of the build done over the festive holiday but it could not have gone better, we had some of the best puppet builders working with us and they smashed it – my worries were very quickly squashed. We had a lot to get through on the shoot as well, 60 seconds of animation in 5 days is a lot, particularly with the lip sync in plasticine, but we managed it!

Here at Lemonade HQ, The piece of work that first alerted us to Rowdy, was their iconic Wind In The Willows piece that they did for the Wildlife Trust. Directed by Thomas Harnett O'Meara the spot depicts the destruction of England’s green and pleasant lands shown by the iconic Wind In the Willows characters Toad, Ratty Badger and Mole voiced by a star cast: Stephen Fry, Assam Chaudry, Catherine Tate and Alison Steadman, all the while gently narrated by the dulcet tones of David Attenborough.

The message, shown in the most charming way, is utterly chilling… making it doubly impactful.

Thomas, you directed the Amazing Wind In The Willows which was what first caught our eye and informed us of Rowdy. Tell us a bit about the project?

The film was a real labour of love and the first project made under Rowdy productions. There were a lot of parts that fell into place, we had an amazing concept, a great crew, and who could ask for a more impressive cast.

How long did you shoot for?

We shot for three weeks but it was over very long days. I don’t think I slept until the project was completed.

How long did the production take to complete?

The production took around two and a half months from award to it being on cinema screens. This is fast by any standard but we love what we do, and it was all hands on deck.

Have you considered a sequel trailer?

I have not! Although another project that bears even a slight resemblance would be incredibly welcome.

What passion projects do you have on the horizon?

I have just finished shooting a live action short film based upon the Belfast bank robbery that took place in 2004, we are currently in the edit. Alongside this I am soon to start on a BFI funded stop motion short called Niko and the Fox.

How do you feel the Rowdy brand has developed since being conceived in 2018?

I feel like Rowdy has come a long way, I think we’ve really found our flow in working with each other. We’re really lucky we are all a group of friends as well as colleagues and I think that shows in our approach to projects, each director has got their own style and crew they’ve known for a long time and it’s those relationships that always make work fun as well as work!

What do you think Animation can bring to a project that makes it a far greater choice than Live Action?

I think the brilliant thing with animation is the scope you have to create set designs and characters that might be out of reach if we were to attempt them in a real world live action setting, it’s almost like anything is possible. There are so many different styles within animation too that it means you have lots of different techniques at your disposal and I love finding the right one for each project. There’s obviously pros and cons to both approaches and it can be very project dependant, but I just love the whole process of watching inanimate objects - that you’ve spent weeks seeing come from paper designs to an object you can hold - and then suddenly you’re seeing them walk or talk or dance, it’s amazing!

The individual spin that each animator has and can put on characters is another thing I love, everyone’s got their own flair and you could give two animators the same character and section of a script and each one might approach in a different way – just like acting – it’s another part I really like.

Where would you like to go next with Rowdy?

I would love to just be consistently making wonderful projects and carry on growing with each of our directors.

Are there any brands that you would love to be working with?

Oh gosh – loads! I’d really love to do some music videos, there’s loads of dream bands I’d love to work with.