What do the movies The Exorcist, Titanic and cute little bunny rabbits all have in common?
The answer is Jennifer Shiman. Jennifer is a Flash artist and movie buff who has condensed some of the best cult films into
30 second movies all starring...bunnies. Seeing is believing. Visit the first bunny movie The Exorcist (2003) and see for
yourself! www.angryalien.com
We recently caught up with Jennifer Shiman to get her thoughts on Flash, success and bunnies....
Jennifer, your 30 second Bunny Theatre has really captured the world's imagination. How did the idea to do a movie
spoof with bunny characters come about?
The project started as a fluke; I wanted to create a little entertainment-related sample cartoon to solicit steady
work of that sort. The concept of "summarize a movie in 30 seconds" has been floating around pop culture, but I
thought it'd be funny to take it a step further and have some manner of gentle forest creature perform said synopsis.
The Exorcist bunny movie started out as a portfolio piece but ended up being a real favourite on the internet. Was
it mainly word of mouth that generated so much online interest (over 25,000 unique hits per day)?
Yes! Word spread via people sending the link to their friends, and the effect multiplied. People cited the link
to Exorcist Bunnies in their blogs, many of which saw lots of traffic. Additionally, some organizations added
the link to their newsletters which would reachmailing lists of thousands of users. And people continue to discover
the site and spread the bunny love. Presently the site's average daily unique visits exceeds 42,000.
It wasn't long before you were at the drawing board again and created classic parodies like 'Jaws' and 'Titanic'.
How do you choose your subjects?
I was choosing films I enjoyed and that I believed would "bunnify" nicely. I made a list for myself and started
picking them based on what I felt like bunnifying at the time. When Starz began commissioning re-enactments, we
worked together to pick films that would work well with bunnies, and also corresponded with their broadcast line-up.
What sort of preparation goes into making one of these movies?
To begin, I watch the chosen movie once for fun, again to take mental notes, and a few more times to condense it.
Then I revisit it constantly for direction on expressions, scenery, and so on. I sketch thumbnails and notes and
then draw and ink everything by hand on paper using a lightbox. Next I scan the drawings into the computer.
You and your friends do most of the voice work in the movies. What comes first, the animation or the audio?
Usually I record voices at the beginning of the process and then lipsync to the animated drawings using bunny mouth
symbols I keep in a library in Flash.
Is the recording done in your home office prior to the animating? What software is used?
Yes, I record the voices in the home-office (it's a pretty lo-fi setup). I use the software Peak and sometimes
Audacity on a Macintosh g4.
We understand that you hand draw all the artwork using a lightbox and scan the drawings into Adobe Photoshop. After
converting the bitmap art to vector art using Adobe Streamline, the images are ready to be used in Flash. Everyone
has a different way of getting the art into Flash. Why did you choose this method?
I have been drawing cartoons on paper since a young age, and I still enjoy the feel of pencil on paper. I find that
when I use Streamline, my art imports into Flash already-grouped for layering, versus importing the bitmap images
into Flash and using the "trace bitmap" feature. Just a production preference. I want to try the Wacom tablet
eventually to see how it feels.
Though many animated shorts are created by teams of trained professionals, you have been a one woman production crew
since the beginning. You write, storyboard, do some of the voices and animate each short. How do you juggle all
these roles and stay on time and organised?
I wear a lot of hats and sometimes struggle to maintain a balance, but since it's work that I love, I don't mind
working long and/or odd hours to complete it. Also, creativity doesn't always adhere well to a schedule, so there's
a need for flexibility. I'm growing accustomed to and enjoying the process.
In 2004, STARZ! movie channel approached you about doing the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (2003 version), 'Scream'
and 'Freddy vs. Jason' for their Halloween marathon. Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) is one of the largest
providers of premium movie services in the United States with approximately 167 million pay units. Was it a
surprise to be commissioned by such a large company?
Yes, it was a surprise to me! Basically, Starz sent me an email via my website and asked if I'd be interested in
creating additional re-enactments.
Originally the movies were created for fun on the internet. Did they have to be "reworked" to be seen properly on
t.v.?
Yes! For instance, I needed to resize them for broadcast and make sure all important action took place within
certain boundaries, so it wouldn't get cut off on television.
What advice would you give to Flash designers who want to show their Flash movies on different mediums (i.e.
internet, t.v., film screen)? Should different versions of the project be made to cater to each or does size
really not matter?
If you don't want to see your Flash movie squashed or distorted on other mediums (TV, film), you will need to
resize it to the proper specifications. You can find helpful resources online for such technical guidelines.
According to STARZ!, your work was a great success and in 2005 they commissioned ten new movies. Parodies of
classics like 'Highlander', 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and 'Pulp Fiction' are now seen by an even larger,
paying audience. How has this working relationship helped you?
Working with Starz has given me the opportunity to create an entire library of bunny re-enactments, which I
wouldn't have had the time or resources to continue otherwise. Plus, I can pay my bills!
Are there any downsides to working for a large corporation?
In the past I've found that sometimes within a large corporation, communication can break down, or you can encounter
micromanagement. Working with Starz has been remarkably free of such issues - they've been great about letting me
do my thing, but have been very helpful and supportive at the same time. I greatly enjoy working with them.
It was our understanding that you work from a home-office based in Los Angeles. So working from home is not an
impossible dream?
It is not an impossible dream! I often conduct business in my pajamas until noon.
You are a native of Illinois and spent many years working successfully in Chicago. Did relocating to L.A. make a
difference in your career? Or does the global use of the interent make physical location a non-issue?
I think timing played more of a role in the bunnies' success online versus where I live, although since moving to
L.A. I've had the opportunity to meet talented animators and creators working on very cool projects - it's
professionally inspiring and motivating to live here.
Proximity to Hollywood must have helped facilitate some of the guest voices to be found in various bunny movies.
Didn't animator/screenwriter Mike Dougherty and his writing partner Dan Harris contribute voice work on the 'Alien'
and 'Jaws' spoofs? How did that come about? Are you planning to offer more guest spots in future projects?
Yes! Mike had contacted me right after I released the Exorcist bunny spoof, and we stayed in touch. I decided to
have the bunnies re-enact 'Alien,' and Mike and Dan graciously agreed to help out with voices. Turned out they
didn't live too far away, so being in the Hollywood area literally made their participation a lot easier. Though if
we didn't live in the same area, we probably could have worked it out remotely, whereby they'd have emailed me
various takes of their soundclips.
One of the hot topics in the news in recent years has been about getting permission/clearance for parodies. Are
there any hard and fast rules?
One rule is to consult with people who know those rules.
Jennifer, thank you for taking time out to answer our questions today. It has been a real pleasure. We look
forward to viewing your work for a long time to come! All our best to those hard-working bunnies...
Thank you for the opportunity! And the bunnies send their best :)
