Jan 12, 2012

Trailer: "The Last Bell" by Neil Boyle

Fifteen years in the making. 35,000 hand drawn, hand-painted cels. Shot onto 35mm movie film on a rostrum camera.

This is Neil Boyle's The Last Belle, a recently completed short that will be playing on the festival circuit in 2012. If the mind-bending subway shot in the trailer reminds you of Richard Williams's The Thief and the Cobbler, that's no accident. Boyle worked as an assistant animator to Williams and the layout artist on Boyle's short, Roy Naisbitt, also laid out the wild perspective scenes in The Thief and the Cobbler. Boyle discussed the path he's taken to making this short on his website:

More info and a blog with fascinating making-of details can be found on TheLastBelle.com. Enjoy it while you can because this will surely be among the last hand-drawn, cel-painted films shot on 35mm.