TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA - THE TV SERIES
Production concept art, ‘The house of a sleeping girl’, courtesy of Flying Bark Productions
I was involved as part of a small writing team, developing a script which evolved over two or three years, as well as providing some character and environment drawings, a relatively minor contribution to the vast amount of design and animation work produced by Highly Spirited in Melbourne, Flying Bark Productions in Sydney, Siamese in Perth, and Digitoonz in India.
The TV series is very different in style and content from the original book, being a far more collaborative exercise and pitched toward younger viewers as a children’s television production (with all the practical and cultural constraints of this medium) while still dealing with subjects such as family separation, social anxiety and philosophical issues that might engage an audience of any age.
I’ve always been very open to adaptation of my work, with many books forming the basis of music, theatre and film productions. My approach has always been to allow any interested creative team to do their own thing, follow new storylines, re-imagine a world and its actors so long as the foundational tone and openness to interpretation respects the original material. That is, stories which are not overly explained or narrated, where an audience has space to consider their own impressions of a world that is both familiar and strange.
Much of the initial discussion with producers and the creative team at Flying Bark involved finding a suitable narrative and visual style along these lines, then testing multiple ideas through script, storyboard, design and animation. Many revisions later, with a lot of shifting characters, settings and storylines, the TV series found its footing and structure. Different artists, animators, voice actors, sound and lighting designers, composers and umpteen other creatives could then work within a common language, while still evolving its look and meaning, adding their own innovations.
I’ve certainly learned a great deal about TV production as a newbie, its complexity, logistics, limitations and possibilities. I’ve been hugely impressed by the work produced, even more so with an understanding of the difficult balancing act that goes on behind the scenes. Big thanks to all involved for their faith and commitment to this strange little world.
Further Links:
Flying Bark Productions: An interview for Animation Magazine, further discussing style, concepts and the adaptation process.
Resources for teachers (TBC)
PRODUCTION DETAILS
Tales from Outer Suburbia is a co-production between Highly Spirited and Flying Bark Productions for ABC and BYUtv, with major production investment from Screen Australia and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation in association with the ABC and BYUtv. Produced in New South Wales and Western Australia with Siamese and financed with support from Screenwest. International sales by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation. Adapted from Shaun Tan's book Tales from Outer Suburbia. Directed by Noel Cleary. Creative Director: Shaun Tan. Producers: Sophie Byrne and Alexia Gates-Foale. Co-producer: Francesca Hope. Executive Producers: Barbara Stephen, Bernadette O’Mahony, Andra Johnson Duke, Francesca Hope, Jeff Simpson, Julia Adams, Karen Vermeulen, Libbie Doherty.
A still from episode 2, ‘Broken Toys’ concerning a lost diver, courtesy of Flying Bark Productions.
An early preliminary sketch of prospective characters from back in 2020. The old lady is a grumpy neighbour, Mrs Katayama, from a story about broken toys.
Another early concept sketch. The Water Buffalo was always a central character, although its role and meaning changed through many script iterations.
Character drawings by Thomas Campi, our leading character designer, at Flying Bark.
A mysterious neighbourhood girl named Cat, drawings by Thomas Campi.
Another feline character named Esme (Thomas Campi / Flying Bark). Interestingly much of the script was developed around the idea of characters such as these, without knowing their story or meaning, based only on an intuitive sense of some role as satellite personalities orbiting central human characters.
One of many inexplicable, episodic characters, this one provisionally called ‘Junk Mum’.
Klara, the central character of the series; character design by Thomas Campi.
Landscape concepts inspired partly by my paintings of suburban Perth between 1995 and 2005, and small illustrations and drawings from the book painted in 2007.
A still from episode 3, ‘Distant Rain’, featuring a very large ball of unsent letters, bad poems and secret messages.