Manchester Animation Festival 2023

Meet Will Becher! MAF 2023 Ident Creator!

3 October 2023

Every year at Manchester Animation Festival we like to give a creative associated with the event the opportunity to give MAF a new look for our posters and ident design.

This year friend of the festival Will Becher jumped on board and made the 2023 ident his own! Known for his pathos and wit in his own short films such as The Weatherman and Off Beat, Will has also carved a name for himself in feature stop motion animation working on titles such as Early Man in 2019 he directed A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon which garnered him an academy award nomination.

Having been involved in MAF since the first ever edition, Will has presented talks on Shaun the Sheep the Movie, Early Man, Shaun the Sheep Farmageddon and even found time to sit on our jury as well as taking part in one of our character animation roundtables – we like to keep him busy!

Speaking of busy our 2023 ident features a busy, little bee finding it difficult to catch up with the crowd. Festival delegates can catch not only this film, but others which will be played randomly across the festival so you never know which misadventures you’re going to see.

We caught up with Will Becher to talk about his animated world!

You work predominantly in stop motion and your personal work utilises the look and feel of clay, what appeals to you most about working in this medium?

I’ve loved clay since first experimenting with it in the late 80s… It is perfect for creating little characters and bringing them to life through stop motion. I was inspired by the Aardman character Morph and Nick Park’s clay animals on his short film Creature Comforts, which proved to me it could be a uniquely funny medium to work in. The thing I love most about clay is the way it responds during animation. Because it is a natural medium, there is a level of uncontrollability about it – sometimes it’s too hot or cold to do what you want – that keeps it challenging. The tiniest movement in clay can change a character’s emotion entirely and that idea continues to amaze me.

MAF 2023 Poster

Your films such as off beat and the weatherman have a huge dollop of pathos to them. Tell us about the use of comedy in your work.

Thank you! I love working on short films and this MAF project has really taken me back to a time before large scale directing – where everything was done by a small team of people working together. I love acting and performance and the truth is I love making people laugh. Many animated films have a serious subject matter and as much as I respect the use of animation for telling serious stories – I just want to know that the end result is going to be fun. I think comedy can often be seen as simple but getting a good gag to work well takes a lot of hard graft.

Will Becher animated the MAF 2023 sting!

Your day job involves working with some of Aardman’s biggest clay celebrities, from the cast of Chicken Run, The Pirates, through Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit, do you have highlights working at the studio? 

Working with clay celebrities is one of the highlights I never get tired of…. I am reminded of their stardom on the rare occasions when visitors enter the Aardman studio, or when I take the miniature characters out to talks and events. The joy on people’s faces when they come eyeball to eyeball with the 10cm high Shaun the Sheep is priceless and it really doesn’t matter if you are 8 or 88 years old. Another huge highlight is that I get to work with some of the loveliest and most talented people in the industry and that is probably the greatest thing about working with such a famous studio. My personal work has grown in confidence over the years as I’m reminded by the big studios for the need to pursue great characters.

What inspired the 2023 MAF Sting storyline? 

I loved Izzy’s film from last year and I knew I needed to make something with character animation which would feel very different. So, I set about designing the MAF Bee character in my own style. The initial story idea began with Bee driving a tiny motorbike up a ramp in an attempt to fly. I liked the idea of the audience hearing something funny before seeing it. This spiralled into a sort of Looney Tunes style montage with as many ways as possible for my bee to get airborne. I decided natural objects would suit this best, so most of the Bee’s attempts use found natural objects (and the occasional discarded firework or pack of bubble gum) made by the brilliant Hannah Greenhouse. I ended up with too many attempts to fit into one film and, knowing it would be repeated with every screening during the week, I decided to create a trio of films – to keep the MAF audience on their toes.

What’s next for Will Becher?

I have collaborated with some wonderful people on this little film – many of whom I hope to work with again. I’m very excited to be working with my partner Eve on a few projects in development. We set up our creative animation outfit Paper & Clay just over 8 years ago and are building up our development slate ready to pitch in late 2024. I would love to direct a music video one day. Oh and there’s this little Wallace and Gromit film project I’m working on too… That should keep me busy!

Find out more about Will Becher by going to his website willbecher.co.uk

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