"Just Shut Up!" A Saturday Morning Fun-Time Romp!

Before becoming an animator, I was trained in live action. It's always nice whenever I get a chance to go back to that world and play in it a little. This summer, just such an opportunity presented itself with Just Shut Up!, a web series produced by the guys behind Smosh. (For those who don't know, as of January 2013, Smosh had become the most subscribed-to channel in YouTube history!)

The concept for the show is simple; Andy runs a local Saturday morning kids show in the vein of Bozo the Clown or Captain Kangaroo (or my childhood favorite, Captain Chesapeake). With him are his co-hosts, Miss Wendy and Mr. Squirrel. Poor judgement and not-so-kid-friendly hijinks ensue.

Photos courtesy of Dan Levy
The dry wit of head writers Steve Murphy and Peter Meadows along with the natural reactions from the "kiddos" made for a really fun show. The show also features clips of cartoons from Smosh's successful Shut Up! Cartoons lineup.

Three-camera studio shoots present challenges that are very different from those in single-camera shoots and it was a great opportunity to explore this way of putting a show together. I feel lucky to have gotten a chance to work with a cast and crew who had such a strong enthusiasm to work together and commitment to get these made. Did I mention we shot all 20 episodes over the course of 3 days?

Here are two of my favorites Episodes, Death and Religion: