David Tennant and '365: One Year, One Film, One Second a Day'

...in which we go on a quest to find David's part in it!

Today’s exploration into David’s wild, weird and wonderful career is a little gem of a short film called 365: One Year, One Film, One Second a Day. Have you heard of it? No? Well, you’re about to.

Now I’ll say upfront that I know the path towards understanding what it was, how it was made, and how David got involved with it is a bit of a convoluted tale. Ah, but dear readers, it’s worth it.

So hang in there, and follow along with me as the tale gets told!

It begins in 2010, when the RSC commissioned the Brothers McLeod to create a series of short animated films to celebrate the reopening of its main theatre after a multi-million-pound restoration project. The Brothers McLeod is an animation studio established in 2004 and founded by brothers Greg McLeod (an illustrator and animator) and Myles McLeod (a writer). Together they direct animated shorts, commercials, books, TV and web series, and even comics, and have won both BAFTA and Webby awards.

The first set of shorts the Brothers McLeod did for the RSC were released throughout 2011 and introduced audiences to Billy Shakespeare and his pet pig, Francis, as they explored some of the bard’s greatest works. The RSC liked the pair’s work (and the character of Billy) so much, in 2012 they commissioned them to work on two other projects for 2013 - a series of videos for Young Shakespeare Nation (an initiative to introduce Shakespeare's plays to school children across the UK), and for a month-long, interactive social media collaboration between Google+ and the RSC called 'A Midsummer Night’s Dreaming’ (you can watch how it worked here.)

This is where the lives of the Brothers McLeod came together with David’s. David was already involved heavily with the RSC, both in his upcoming starring role as Richard II (even today he is an Associate Artist and on the RSC America Board of Governors) and in his interest in making Shakespeare accessible to youth. In 2012 and 2013, David was involved with filming Shakespeare Uncovered as well as contributing a number of sonnets for Shakespeare’s Sonnets, where actors and performers read the Bard’s poems for an interactive iPad app featuring the works from a number of critical, theatrical, and academic points of view.

The Young Shakespeare Nation video I mentioned above? The Brothers McLeod animated it, and David was a featured character!

Given their interactions, it’s no surprise David turned up for a one-word part in 365: One Year, One Film, One Second a Day. But what, exactly, was this film about?

Well…other than what it says on the tin, it’s best described as a series of peculiar, disjointed narratives which “chart the comings and goings of the year, real and imagined.” It was a project born out of an idea Greg McLeod had to create an animated, second-by-second visual diary to document his year 2013.

In a 2014 interview with Animation World Network, Greg McLeod explained his inspiration for the film in more detail:

Something during the day would catch my eye, or it would be something I’d read or overheard. Or it was my children who sparked an idea, or perhaps a dream I had, or an interesting building. A painting or image from a book or magazine sometimes provided the source material. Sometimes it was even a sound that informed the visuals.

Greg had a remote set-up so he could animate wherever he was, and there were only a few rules he worked out with his brother Myles (which is why Myles has a “rules” credit in the short): each segment had to be a second, and he had to post a still from the animation on Facebook with a short explanation. Myles then went through each day's work to make sure he didn't reuse anything. And finally, after each month was completed, Greg would post that month’s completed chunk to Facebook.

A selection of some of the 365 animated images included in the film 365: One Year, One Film, One Second a Day

The project took an incredible 1000 hours of work to complete, as animation-wise, some of those moments took half a day to do and others took only a few minutes. All of that work was eventually narrowed down into a film which clocked in at 6:53.

The Brothers McLeod also tried an interesting way to release the self-funded film. They decided to go with Vimeo’s On Demand service, and charged $3.65 for it when it was released in March 2014. They made plans to use any earnings to send the film to International Film Festivals.

Speaking of festivals - my goodness, this film got around the circuit! In 2014 it was screened at over forty film festivals. It won Best Animation at the Anchorage International Film Festival, the Session Award at the Melbourne International Animation Festival, the Jury Award and the Audience Award at the Animated Exeter Festival, and the Audience Award at the Flatpack Film Festival.

But on Vimeo? It only sold a few hundred copies. The Brothers McLeod attributed that to a number of factors, but certainly that viewers expected to see free stuff online. Going forward, many of their future projects were crowdfunded.

The film was posted online for free beginning on 12 January 2015.

So now most of the film’s story is out of the way, before we go any further into David’s teeny little bit of participation in it, you might want to watch it. Spoilers are about to happen if you read any further past the break!

Oh, and as you watch, try to find David’s addition to it. Keep in mind where it was if you find it!

And….we’re back! I’ll presume you’ve watched it. So have you figured out in what month and day David appeared? And did you understand what he said?

If you struggled, here’s some help. The month and day David appeared was the last day of August (at 4:26 in).

And the word he uttered? Plebiscite.

A plebiscite - for those of you who don’t wish to look the term up - is a direct vote by eligible voters to decide an important public question. It’s often used synonymously with a referendum.

David in the recording studio for '365'; the animation corresponding to David's contribution

Since it was McLeod’s life he was animating and he was animating it daily, it seems a safe bet to assume the word was something he thought of which was relevant to that particular part of the year. Whether he asked David to utter it or gave David a choice with regards to what he would utter is anyone’s guess. We really don’t know. As far as I know, David’s never been asked about it for any specifics.

But for what it’s worth, as to what it means? I have a bit of a guess. David’s addition to this little film came in on the last day of August 2013 - an interesting period of time, one which might help to explain why the word was even used.

So…what had just happened in August 2013?

WELL.

At the time, Scotland had been pushing hard for the right to hold a referendum vote on its independence from the United Kingdom. And just a few weeks before David’s contribution, the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act of 2013 had received a Royal Assent - which meant Scottish voters could go ahead and schedule a vote - a plebiscite! - to make Scotland an independent nation.

It’s my bet this is what the little piece of the film means…and if so, it would also make sense to have David say it. But who knows if I’m right. I could be way off base.

It would be a great question to ask David, though, wouldn’t it?

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(Oh, and they also released a trailer for the film. I didn’t want to include it before now, because it gave away David’s part in it! So click here if you want to watch that!)

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365: ONE YEAR, ONE FILM, ONE SECOND A DAY

A film by The Brothers McLeod

Design, Animation and Sound: GREG McLEOD

Rules: MYLES McLEOD

Sound Mix: PAUL JOHNSTON

AUDIO CONTRIBUTORS

Gary Yershon

Caroline McLeod

Satnam Rana

Louis McLeod

Myles McLeod

Toby Smith

David Kamp

Lyla McLeod

Rowan + India

Gaf Evans

Rob Blackham

Adam Buxton

Tom Angell

James Henrick

The Sonnetman

Mum and Dad

Jobe Steele

Barolo

Cookie Gross

Polar Bear

David Tennant

Lucy Montgomery

Harry McLeod