“The Wrong Block” by Sam Chou

By
on

Last year in Ottawa I met animator Sam Chou who is working on an independent animated film, The Wrong Block. His film is an animated, action/thriller about a detective that takes on a kidnapping case, only to discover that his sordid past has come back to haunt him. His website for the film went live today and a new trailer has been posted. I really look forward to seeing this when it’s finished. Here’s a taste:

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  • http://www.classicparamountcartoons.blogspot.com ParamountCartoons

    Though i haven’t seen this sneak peek yet embeded (personal reasons), will this ever have Oscar potential?

  • http://jessicaplummer.blogspot.com Jessica Plummer

    Looks awesome! Love this look; there’s something very enjoyable about character design so simplified and slightly abstract, with bold and readable shapes. Adds to the reality and grittiness somehow. Part of why I loved the look of Tekkon Kinkreet so much. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the crew worked on or were inspired by that film. Look forward to this being released.

  • http://exitplanetwhom.blogspot.com doctorwhom

    wow, looks stunning. Beautiful designs, bgnds, colour… And it looks like there’s only five people involved, one of which is marketing.

  • http://austinpthings.blogspot.com Austin Papageorge

    I don’t know what the budjet of this project is, or how many people are working on it, but the whole production looks very presentable. It has a nice atmosphere, obviously influenced by Bruce Timm/ Eric Radomski’s Batman. (I will say though, that the character’s heads are weirdly proportioned. Totally unprofessional opinion of mine.) It is inspiring, though, that an animator like Chau has found a way to start to make an more authentic artistic work than any major cartoon studio is making right now.

  • MichaelHughes

    I like that Studio 4C-looking stuff. Is this feature length or what?

  • http://www.jeff-pert.com Jeff P

    Love the design and the animation, and the idea that someone’s doing an animated noir. The narration’s a little too overwrought, though, more like a parody. I look forward to its completion.

  • Carolyn Bates

    Sam, the trailer looks killer. Beautiful styling. I can’t wait to see more!

  • http://thatssokraven.livejournal.com/ Kelly Tindall

    Wow, really cool. I’d buy a ticket for this.

  • Mark

    Looks cute. It’s not rated PG-13, though–although some day it could be.

  • http://aalong64.blogspot.com Aaron Long

    Wow, this brings back memories!

    During my co-op internship at Chuck Gammage Animation, Sam let me animate the shot of the dead rat flying towards the camera, and the bees in the final scenes. I also did a bunch of colouring on this (just the characters, not the backgrounds). I’m glad to see it’s still going ahead. I look forward to seeing it done.

    Hi Sam, if you’re reading this! Good luck with the Wrong Block!

  • http://andrewtclarke.blogspot.com/ Andrew

    The Character designs and BGs remind me of the Studio 4C’s film Mind Game.

  • jason

    Sam is a really talented animator who worked with Chuck Gammage for a few years eventually co-founding and running Style 5.
    He is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
    I hope he finishes this and look forward to it.

  • http://blog.theartcenter.edu/ Emmett

    Fantastic work! Can’t wait to see the finished result.

  • http://www.arielvillaverde.com Ariel

    Beautiful marriage of 2D characters with photo backgrounds. Great use of panning photos across with a cool graphic style. Cant’ wait for this to come out.

    Congrats!

  • JMatte

    Really beautiful- great style, very nice esthetic look and feel to it.
    Definitely would love to see the whole story finished one day. Best of success to Sam!

  • http://instantdoodles.blogspot.com Seo

    It looks sooooo gooooood!

  • dadinger

    Hey, these are Firas Momani’s designs. Looks great!