Build Me Up

Now available online! Please scroll down to watch.

It’s here!

After a successful festival run, where we picked up 8 international awards - including a coveted MPSE Golden Reel - I’m very proud that our film is now available to all online.

Watch it right here via Vimeo, or click here to be taken to YouTube, where we’re proud to be included in DUST’s renowned catalogue of sci-fi films.

Introducing Vera & Sprocket

***Build Me Up*** tells the tale of Vera & Sprocket, two robots who exist in a perilous ice age in the not-so-distant future of Earth. After the death of their beloved father and creator, they must learn to work together if they want to survive.
The film screened around the world, winning eight awards including a coveted **MPSE Golden Reel**; more on that in this article from Wavelength Magazine.
**Read on for more information and behind-the-scenes content!**

17 months in the making…

There was a time - at the start of the pandemic - when we just didn’t know if it would happen

Fast-forward to May 2021, and it was premiering at the BFI Southbank in Central London

The Covid-19 pandemic was a strange ride, for sure. When it began, myself and seven other animation directors - part of the NFTS Class of 2021- were just beginning pre-production on our graduation films. We had been to the 2020 NFTS Showcase, at Picturehouse Central, and felt the massive weight of responsibility that comes with matching the impressive quality of NFTS animated films. We had producers, writers and crews attached, and were beginning full-scale work on the animatics, when disaster struck. Luckily, at this point, I had already removed part of Build Me Up’s backstory… The part that explained that humans had become so fragile and susceptible to disease, they were forced to interface with the world through robots, from the comfort of sterilised shelters or dwellings.

That subsequent period of emotional turmoil and general instability fed directly into Build Me Up, and we ended up with a powerful sibling duo and an emotional core that became stronger as the film came to fruition. Most of the team experienced some sort of struggle during this time, and by putting our emotions into the film, we were able to ground it in reality and feel more of a connection to the fictional world we were constructing.

As lockdown ended, the NFTS was able to reopen - one of the only film schools to do so, to the best of its ability - and allow us to finish pre-production. With such complex puppets to create for the film, this was no easy task. Thankfully, the model making department at the NFTS is led by renowned, veteran model maker John Lee, of Star Wars and Moon fame, who is assisted by tutors from Mackinnon & Saunders and Aardman, to name a few. Compound this with a brilliant art department, led by Kate Beard, a curious and inventive cinematographer - Jamie Touche - and the best producer anyone could ask for in Emma Hanson… It seemed like we could still pull it off.

So we went big; after all, we couldn’t go home. It still wasn’t allowed! Off we went, and despite a great many challenges and setbacks caused by other lockdowns, restrictions, equipment issues, etc… We made Build Me Up. A 20,000+ frame, ambitious and ridiculous animated adventure.

This film would not be what it is without the amazing team that worked on it. Everyone put so much time and love into making it, and we could not be prouder of what we’ve made. Whilst I hope that there are more adventures to be had with Vera & Sprocket, for now, please enjoy this one!

HOD Credits

Director: Steve Lawson
Producer: Emma Hanson
Story: Steve Lawson, Emma Hanson, Ben Mitchell & Richard Fullerton
Writers: Ben Mitchell & Richard Fullerton
Cinematographer: Jamie Touche
Production Designer: Kate Beard
Composer: Moritz Wanger
Sound Designer: Grace Wong
Editor: Oli Bauer
Colourist & Online Editor: Nigel Tadyanehondo
VFX Producer: Jake Calcutt
VFX Supervisor: Siân Drury
DFX Dept: Wu Junyi, Terence Hughes, Pietro Abati,
Lead Modelmakers: Jonathan Thrower, Claire Smithson