In The Room | A stop-motion short film

A darkly funny, surreal and ultimately hopeful story about friendship, death and, well, elephants.

A 20-minute stop-motion short film. In production with Blue Square Productions.

Ted, in his wheelchair, with a small bird perched on his hand

The story

Meet Ted.

Ted Reece lives on the 22nd floor of Winston Court. He would like the birds to stop flying into his window and breaking their necks.

Mrs Liu, upstairs, would like the birds to stop flying into Ted's window, so she doesn't have to help him bury any more of them.

Arge, downstairs, wants everyone to stop banging about so much, or he'll set Robert, his dog, on them.

But the creatures of the sky see that little square of blue and think they can just get through.

Pencil sketch of the Winston Court tower block — Sketch: set development, Winston Court

The film

Made by hand, on purpose.

In The Room is a 20-minute stop-motion short that explores the sources of hope that can be found in some very strange places.

In a time when hours of video can be generated at the push of a button, why would you take months to painstakingly hand-create a film? Because that's what humans do. We sweat and we graft to give things meaning.

Stop-motion is the perfect medium for Ted's story, because he is someone who cares deeply about doing things right.

Pencil sketch of Ted's flat, with the lounge, telly and balcony window — Sketch: set development, Ted's flat

From the sketchbook

Character development

Early designs for the residents of Winston Court, before they're built as puppets by Mackinnon & Saunders.

Colour character sketch of a man in a green jacket and cap

Line drawing of Ted in his wheelchair with a bird on his hand

The team

Who's making it

Puppet fabrication by Oscar-winning studio Mackinnon & Saunders, and costumes by the team behind Wes Anderson's Oscar-nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Geoff Walker

Director

Winner of a Royal Television Society award and the Ray Harryhausen Award. Recognised by BAFTA, the Emmys and Broadcast.

Andrew Shanahan

Writer & Producer

Award-winning author and editor, BBC Talent graduate, and creator of the original short story and script.

Marius de Vries

Music

Two-time BAFTA winner and Grammy nominee. Worked on La La Land, CODA and Moulin Rouge!, and produced Björk, Madonna and U2.

Paul Flannery

Character & concept art

Award-winning director and lead animator for Netflix, BFI and Mackinnon & Saunders, on Postman Pat, The House and Twirlywoos.

Karen Donnelly

Concept art

Thirty years of illustration for leading publishers and advertising companies.

Yolander Yeo

Visual identity

Award-winning graphic designer and creator of the In The Room brand.

Behind the scenes

Latest from the studio

TikTok

@intheroom.film on TikTok

Instagram

Puppets, sets and sketches from the workshop.

See @intheroom.film