The Stirrer's Easter Movie Treat………….Part One

WILLIAM THE COG (Paul Martin)

07-04-2007

This being a holiday weekend, we thought we'd give you the chance to enjoy some of the extensive archive on Stirrer TV - our unique local news and entertainment service - and tell you more about the people behind our films. First up, Paul Martin, creator of the sinister animation William The Cog.

We first came across this amazing film at a screening of local film-makers at Warwick Arts Centre promoted by John Gore, who puts together the cinema programme at WAC and MAC.

It turns out that Paul Martin is a 35 year old unemployed artist and animator from Oldbury, currently living at home with his girlfriend and who's currently eking out his savings to follow his dream.

Good for him, we say.

“I'm a mature graduate from Wolverhampton University and I left in 2002” he tell us.

“I've obviously got a passion for film, and if I could make films for money I would love to do so, but it's such a difficult business to get into. It's not easy, but I will keep doing it regardless.”

To prove the point, he's got a follow-up to William The Cog in the works, while an earlier film - Cyst - will shortly be added to Stirrer TV.

Paul's story is that of a man who's found his calling relatively late in life. He left school at 16, and worked in a variety of shops and offices, before realising that he didn't suit the world of conventional work - a theme which underscores William The Cog's dark world.

That said, he's not exactly workshy; a three and a half year stint as a proof-reader for a Birmingham-based pharmaceutical firm only recently came to an end when he was made redundancy following a takeover by an American company.

He could do with getting pack into employment, if only to fund his time-consuming film-making addiction - “Cog” took him a year and a half to produce.

“When you're working with computer animation people think that you just push a button and it's there, but it's slow and difficult. You start with a storyboard, then design a character, and then the sets. It's model making, but in a virtual environment.”

So far, the recognition that any artist craves hasn't been forthcoming; Paul sent a DVD of “Cog” to a Birmingham-based animation company and they haven't even replied. Yet everyone we know who's watched the film on this site agrees that it's wonderful.

For our money, Martin is the closest thing the West Midlands has to an animation genius - but beware - Walt Disney it ain't!

Check out William The Cog here and leave a comment in the Music And Arts section of our messageboard.