Every so often when someone is looking through an archive box, they find things that were best left hidden away. This week we came across some photographs of Brown Bag Films when we were just a start up company back in 1994. Given the laughter that these photographs provoked in the office, I thought I would share a selection of snaps from Brown Bag Films back then.
It all kicked off when Darragh and myself first went to the Galway Film Fleadh with a short film. We went back together every year afterwards with a new short, and this photograph shows the two of us having our first board meeting discussing our master plan to establish an animation studio:
Our first studio was 500 square foot and we bought a photocopier before we bought a computer (invoices went out from an electric typewriter!). It was so grubby I think Amnesty international wanted to close it down.
Today, I’m cringing looking at the state of the old scruffy office and I’m sure tomorrow I will want to pull this blog offline. But I guess it’s the past that makes you who you are.
Thankfully, hairstyles from the 1990’s have improved (ie receded!) and I have since lost that ridiculous fringe. (Clearly I had no friends at the time because any friend would have told me how awful my fringe looked)
They say a picture tells a thousand words, and this image shows Darragh and myself discussing strategy at one of our first board meetings.
Its hard to believe that when we started off, animation was entirely an analogue process. We used to hand draw, then hand paint individual sheets of acetate them shoot each frame under a 35mm rostrum camera, a technique that hadn’t changed since Walt Disney brought us Snow White back in 1937. I have zero nostalgia for the antiquated process that animation once was and now find myself a self confessed technology nerd.
That’s all the photographs I’m prepared to share with you for now!
In case you haven’t seen our new studio, I feel obliged to show you some recent photographs proving that we have improved on our office accommodation since 1994 and board meetings with Darragh and myself are much more civilised nowadays.
16 comments so far
looks like you kidnapped Mick Hucknall, stole his hair and divvied it up between ye
23 July 2009
4:39 pm
Classic stuff. Tent and hairstyles – hilarious!
23 July 2009
5:14 pm
ahh, the good ole times.
They don’t make animation like that anymore….:)
23 July 2009
8:38 pm
Classic pics lads! How did denim shirts ever go out of fashion?!
23 July 2009
9:06 pm
very nice working room guys.
23 July 2009
10:29 pm
Amazing Change, it’s a great feeling when people succeed like this, starting from practically a garage to this beautiful studio 10 years later. the looks though hahahaha!!! too much for me.
Congratulations for all you success.
24 July 2009
8:23 am
Think there’s more stories you should be sharing from “board meetings” yourself and non executive director Alan Byrne used to have
24 July 2009
11:05 am
Cathal that’s so funny. Fair play to you for coming so far so fast !
24 July 2009
11:25 am
Flippin eck! It really was a mess. I remember coming in one morning and finding Cathal asleep on the floor from the night before. I learnt from the best.
24 July 2009
12:35 pm
From the strategy meeting with Darragh, if you’ve got that red phone, how is Chief Gordon going to get in touch with Batman?
24 July 2009
4:45 pm
That red phone is a classic…. note the slightly squared late 80’s design.
25 July 2009
9:30 am
I rem taking your acetates and scanning them into Photoshop, batch debablizing them, running them through an action to make the outlines sharper and then animating them in Director. Thank god things have moved on since then!
28 July 2009
12:45 pm
brilliant snaps Cathal! its great to be able to look back and see how far you’ve come. But also great for new companies like ourselves to see how far we can reach!
truly inspirational post;)
30 July 2009
12:39 pm
Ye sure have come along way since 1994, somehow I preferred ye with the bit of hair!
3 August 2009
6:04 pm
Thanks for all the comments and emails on this post. There are a lot more photographs that I didnt post because they are way too embarassing/incriminating!!!
10 August 2009
3:43 pm
Cathal was the old office (31) all that bad?
13 August 2009
7:19 am