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Hi Frank, can you tell us a little bit about yourself for those who don't know who you are?
Thanks for the City of Rott interview for DVD Resurrections! I'm 31 years old and really enjoy horror movies
more than most other genres. As a kid, Horror always left a lasting impression, no doubt from the scares.
What's the history and how did BlackArro Productions begin?
Always dreamed of running my own cartoon studio, making animated films with my illustration style. BlackArro
Productions got started once I got the hang of the software I wanted to present City of Rott with. Being one
man, I'm not going for Disney style animation, but something more simplistic.
Where did the ideas for City of Rott come from?
I watched Day of the Dead as a kid. The movie stuck in my head ever since, thanks mostly to the grisly zombie
hordes tearing apart the survivors like I've never seen. Many years later, it's still my favorite zombie film and
the main reason I wanted to make an animated zombie gore film.
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What was it like creating City of Rott?
It required a lot of commitment and focus to complete the cartoon, as with any long term project, since there's constantly outside distractions that seem
to pull you away from your goal. I'd say I was able to complete an average of 1 minute of animation per day. Once the whole film was animated, the
music and sound effects developed much faster. My favorite scenes to work on are the gore and action scenes.
Did anyone else help you out with the drawing and animation work?
I always liked the idea of a one-man show, where one guy works on every single aspect, as was the case with City of Rott. There's room for
improvement, but it's nice to know it can be done, and I hope it inspires other filmmakers in some way. Plus the fact I'm just getting started without a
lot of connections or money, which was another reason it's all done by myself.
There must of been many hours and days you must of put into City of Rott?
Yeah, I clocked well over 3000 hours of sitting in front of my computer, putting it all together. The "dream" keeps me seated when my mind loses focus.
All of it was first hand drawn, then scanned into the computer for animation using Adobe Photoshop software.
Did it take a few years to complete, how long do you think it would of taken to finish?
From January 2005 through till the very end of December 2005 to complete City of Rott, in my spare time. There were many 14 hour nights working on
it. I originally believed I could finish it in six months, but that time doubled. There is no one to tell you to "get to work", so it required a lot of
self-motivation.
What films inspired you the most to create City of Rott?
George A Romero's Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers,
Tales from the Darkside's "A Case of the Stubborns", Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last Man on Earth, those types of films mostly. They Live, The Stuff,
plenty more... Blade 2's gory Reapers and awesome fight scenes...
Are you a big fan of Southpark?
I definitely get a kick watching Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, when he was alive, go through all kinds of hell. The show's style and execution has
definitely been an inspiration. The fact the show is still kicking ass ten years later is very cool to see.
Has Southpark's creators Matt Stone or Trey Parker ever contacted, or even congratulated you on your fine work doing City of Rott?
While working on South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, I never really had the chance to speak with them much other than say hello and a few words as
a fan, since they were super busy working on the script and fine tuning everything. If they did see City of Rott on their own, I hope they'd like it. If not,
that's cool too. Their show has been an inspiration either way.
I personally love City of Rott, when it was released on DVD i had to grab it and check it out. And i can't thank you enough for creating a
unique animation masterpiece. City Of Rott has to be one of the most goriest cartoons i have ever seen in my entire life, will there ever be a
sequel to City of Rott?
I LOVE zombie films, so yes, it's definitely possible. I'd like to focus on a small team of two this time, rather than just one survivor. I was first thinking of
going back and showing Fred when he was younger, but since I rather watch things move forward, not in reverse, I decided against it.Not a big fan of the
prequel concept. When? Maybe a couple films down the road, maybe sooner. Some of it also depends on how well COR does in the long term.
The story to your movie is somewhat strange, the main character/hero was an old man (Fred) who talks to his walker and loafers. While on
a mission to find a new pair of loafers, and always on the run from hordes of flesh eating zombies and parasite worms?
Yeah, strange is the right word. When I made the plot for City of Rott, I wanted to give an old guy a shot at kicking zombie ass. Since it was a story of
solitude in a dead world, Fred needed someone to bounce ideas off of- Okay, someone to bitch back and forth with for the most part, namely his Walker,
which is an extension of his screwed up mind. The simplistic story of searching for shoes is a metaphor to the "Mindless Zombie searching for Meat"
concept. The need for shoes consumes his mind. The simple story is mostly a tragedy with hints of humor, and wasn't made to appeal to everyone.
You did all the voices in City of Rott, where did you get the inspiration to do all the voices?
Besides my brother, who is a talented actor, I'm inspired by Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Mike Judge and every cartoonist who's ever done their own
character voices. So why didn't I get my brother to help? He lives in another state, and doesn't really go for horror much, but I'd like to have him work on
a future cartoon sometime. As far as my own voice acting skills, they've been improving.
Fred was truly a tripper of a character, at one point he kinda had the hots for the young nurse at the beginning of the cartoon. If she didnt
die do you think he would of got to tap that?
If Fred tried anything, she'd take his walker and shove it up his ass.
Did you have any problems while creating City of Rott?
Setbacks, yes. A few times I animated a scene, and the computer crashed, other times, there'd be glitches with the programs, forcing me to re-do a good
number of lip syncing scenes. Delays in total, about a week's worth of work, so it wasn't too bad.
How much did it cost to create this animation?
"Limited Animation", which doesn't focus on creating life-like movement, but rather focuses on cartoony, simplistic motions, like something you'd see in
a 70's Hanna-Barbera Cartoon. That was always the goal, being one guy with little money but for software and computer upgrades. I like the simple style,
but there's always room for improvement. My films are designed not so much as feature films, but extended Cartoon episodes with tons of gore.
Parasite worms were a really nice touch to the whole zombie theme, i don't think in history that any filmmaker has ever thought of doing
that in their films, its usually to do with voodoo, chemical spills, nuclear war, aliens and all that. But never something so basic as parasite
worms?
Well, I've always been really fascinated by parasites. Tape worms especially. Just the idea that there's a living creature feeding on the host and laying
eggs really puts the world in perspective: Life feeds on life. I've seen the concept in a number of films, like The Stuff, which was a yogurt-like parasite
that took over the mind. After COR was finished, I watched Slither, a cool parasite slug movie. A few more parasite films I've yet to see. An industrial
music act, Carbon 12, made a song Parasite, which was also an inspiration to my artwork.
From an artist perspective, who would you love to maybe have work with you in future projects?
Well, I can say I'm inspired by George Romero, Sam Raimi, Del Toro, Stephen King, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton and so on. I'd like to work with any one of
them, as I'm sure there's plenty I could learn. It's not a goal, but it would be great.
Can you explain very quickly how animation works, was it done frame by frame kinda like South Park did back in the day with paper cut
outs, or was it mostly done with a computer?
Yeah, a lot like that, where I first draw the characters by hand, then scan them into the computer. Stop frame animation uses pieces of objects, which
are then moved frame by frame to create animation. I really like it cause I don't have to redraw each picture over and over again, and it doesn't
compromise my illustration style, though there's still things I want to improve.
How will you feel, if a filmmaker wanted to turn your cartoon into an actual movie?
If I had the final approval of it, that would be very cool to see a real-life version of Fred kicking zombie ass. Maybe Leslie Nielsen (Naked Gun) as Fred? A
video game would be cool too,but I'll continue to dream.
After finishing and releasing City Of Rott on DVD, now looking back is there anything you'd maybe like to change?
Yes. The final twenty minute act would have been blended into the story earlier, and designed to flow better with the overall theme of Fred. It was created
after Unearthed Films took interest. It did feature some of the best gore in the cartoon, so even if the final act wanders like a mindless zombie, I enjoyed
the gory moments. There's always room for improvement, looking back. I'd also improve the voice acting on Jon, add a bit more sound effects, stuff like
that as I get better and my software improves. Better storytelling is important too.
Did you go to any colleges or schools for art and drawing, to become an professional animation cartoonist?
All self taught, always loved to draw monsters with sharp teeth, dripping blood, Star Wars creatures, werewolves transforming, robots... Some school
teachers offered great tips, Lance Sorchik in particular, who draws incredible Hot Rod vehicles. I went to college for computer animation, which helped me
get the job at South Park in 1998, since Alias/Wavefront was the same software they were using to animate.
What does a person have to do, to get into the type of work you do?
If you want to be an animator and work for a big studio like Blue Sky, PDI or Pixar, you have to be great at capturing movement and drawing people,
giving your characters plenty of personality through animation. Just pretend you were trying to get a job as a Disney animator, they have very high
animation standards. Obviously, that didn't work out for me, as I never wanted to change my own cartoon style for the sake of working for someone else,
which I'm glad about now that COR is on DVD. If you want creative control, create your own studio.
Any tips you can give other artists, who are trying to make a career out of doing animation cartoons?
Take your dream and make it happen with whatever you have to work with. Challenge yourself to improve. Make your style unique and keep trying when
you feel stuck. Those are goals I set for myself.
Are you involved in any other artistic pursuits?
Right now, I'm getting close to the final phase of animating my next ultra gory horror cartoon, yet to be revealed. Then the sound effects and music are
next before it's ready. I'll keep you updated.
What are your top 5 zombie movies of all time?
1. Romero's Day of the Dead
2. Romero's Dawn of the Dead
3. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
4. Return of the Living Dead
5. The Beyond
And plenty more, especially the slow moving, really gory zombie films, like The Dead Next Door and Bone Sickness.
City of Rott can make a good drinking game, i had a few friends over one day and they wanted to play a movie drinking game and get really
shitfaced. So i grabbed City of Rott and the game was, for ever zombie that gets killed we have to take a mouth full of beer (laughs). We
were all talking shit not even half way though the movie, City of Rott is definitely not a movie you wanna play as a drinking game, let me tell
you that. Have you ever used your movie as a drinking game at a party?
So that's how you made it through the final act of City of Rott... "Wink" Glad you had a good time! I haven't tried that, but I'll have to go back and count
the total amount of zombies 'killed' on-screen. I know its up there in the hundreds, which is something I was going for.
What's the one thing you like horror fans to think of, when they watch City of Rott for the first time?
I would say, "Remember, Fred's crazy and has lost his mind, which explains his brainless quest for shoes. This is his story as it happens during his final
days. If you don't like Fred, you won't like the movie. It also helps if you're a fan of animated gore and zombie video games, like Dead Rising. And dont'
forget to check the water for worms."
Is there anything you would like to say before we end this interview?
Thanks for the interview, and thanks to the "City of Rott" fans! Keep up the great work with DVD Resurrections!
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