aving found these phrases in the 1970 publication 'Donkeys' by Robin Borwick I was inspired to make a film. I was also shocked and appalled at some of the donkey information provided, which included a heartbreaking depiction of an "example of a really ugly donkey". I decided to make a film about the cruel world of donkey aesthetics which in turn, mirrors the shallow culture of celebrity and body image. Time to get angry.

people with long ears

Been there, done that... got the t-shirt//

Look Around You is a British comedy show which parodies dated 1970s educational programmes. The show is the brainchild of Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper, who are both comedy writers. The show utilises its mise-en-scene to create the look of the era it parodies. Colour scemes maintain pastel and washed out tones and the costumes, hair and make-up are appropriately dated. The camera work is basic; replicating filming styles of the era, as does the soundtrack which although sounds authentic, is composed entirely by Srafinowicz. Humour is derived from the voice over which contextualises the imageary. Most noteably with blatent lies.These "facts" are combined with equally ludicrous footage of what is being explained.

Write that down in your copybook now.

start with an excotic donkey

donkeys were then almost unknown

immense variety of brown shades

they merge imperceptibly

Inspirational phrases of triumph and dexterity:

A BRAINWAVE...
I'm going to create a short animated
guide to donkey's (or 'People With
Long Ears') in the spirit of 'Look
Around You'.

This is a short film by the same people who make 'Look Around You'. It is a good example of the type of short film I am trying to acheive; A supposedly factual piece about wildlife.As mine is an animation, humour will be derived from both voice over and imagery.

"As you will see: here, here and here..."

'Tomorrow's World'was a BBC television series which focused on new and often bizzare developements in the science and technology field. It ran from 1965 to 2003 and in that time developed a number of characteristics which would later be parodied by TV shows such as 'Not The Nine O' Clock News' and 'Look Around You'.
One of the shows features was that it was broadcast live. This meant that demonstrations and experiments had the potential to go wrong and they often did. These failures were enderaingly became a rite of passage for any presenter as well as a trademark of the show.
Occasionaly dangerous experimants, such as testing a bullit proof vest, were shown live adding a bit of drama to the show. The theme tune to Tomorrow's World became a cult classic and during the 1970s viewing figures peaked at 10 million a week.
For a while 'Tomorrows World' was the BBCs flagship science program and presenters such as Raymond Baxter became house hold names.
This shows enthusiasim for new science in the face of technical adversity was part inspiration for my donkey film. I intend to use the shows' monumental 1987 theme tune as the audio backdrop to my animation.

People With Long Ears
To make my film I customized the same image of an anatomical diagram of a donkey taken from my chosen book and then edited it with a narration of phrases adapted from phrases I found in 'Donkeys' by Robin Borwick. I wanted it to look quite DIY and low-fi as a tribute to the old shows I was inspired by (and thier parodies). I purposefully included false facts as well as genuine ones and used the Tomorrows World soundtrack to give it a familiar sense of authenticity.