New Bennick - A Reflection of the Past

Hi there!

I see it’s been a little over a month since I’ve last posted an update. I apologize for my silence. In addition to taking in all of the news coming in around the world about the pandemic, I’ve been working on a new animation, which took up a lot of my focus. Plus, I am about to jump into recording a new course.

While I do plan to lay down my road map for the next courses I plan to record, I am going to take this post to focus on Bennick first. I’ll be posting another update on my tutorials soon.

A few months ago I revealed I was planning to animate a new series based on my old Binkee Flash series. It was meant to be a direct sequel to the old series I animated in high school. The idea was to create a series that wasn’t as serious as my other recent work, Bennick. I started work on a new episode which was a direct remake of a 20 year old idea. For a time I was having fun with it. But something happened. I realized, while parts of it were fun, I ultimately wasn’t very satisfied with the direction I was taking. It felt like I was trying to go back to a time that has long past. And as world events have started to unfold, I started looking back to Bennick, which is a series more grounded in reality, and one that takes pieces from my life to create the narrative.

Concept Image from the now on hold “The Great Asscape”.

The problem with Bennick is it’s hard to release it in it’s current state. I designed the series to contain short standalone episodes all the while building towards a more cohesive narrative. While I had the main pieces in place, the idea was to make up portions of it as I went. This was done to help retain some of the chaotic energy from my previous works. And I actually feel it does benefit the process. But I am now jumping around with the narrative: animating pieces that come later without animating what’s supposed to occur prior. This would be fine if I wasn’t releasing the series publicly. But, I released all the stuff I animated three years ago, so it’s already out there.

This particular piece takes place right after when our heroes get stuck in the rain. But it’s more of a direct followup to what happened to Zach in the mysterious house.

Previously in Bennick, Zach finds a mysterious old Hi-8 tape.

This animation has been completed for about a week. I was reluctant to release it due to those narrative gaps. This new part in particular takes place roughly halfway through the narrative. The impact of this scene isn’t really strong right now without the context. But I felt compelled to complete it. I’ve had it in my head for two years and it was therapeutic to finally get it out.

Image from the new part.

I have come to realize, while the series in its current state is hard to follow, I need to release this. I have a luxury right now: my animated works aren’t very popular. That’s not a good thing by itself. However, I feel it allows me more freedom right now. The smaller audience makes it easier to experiment, explain myself like I am right now, and play around with more complicated ideas.

So, with that said, if you’re here, and interested in my work, I invite you to check out my new cartoon. The full impact of this scene may not make sense till later. But check it out, you may find something in it you like:

You can also check out the older episodes using this playlist or visiting the series page on this site:

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for a long awaited tutorial update!