Group Session

OFFF Festival 2024

Handmade sets, an all-star cast of peculiar puppets, silly jokes, and a ridiculously catchy song. Those are the ingredients of our fun and lighthearted short.

This handcrafted film shows puppetry in a refreshing and playful way, with meticulous attention to detail. The story is written for the curious and sparks creativity.

This film was made together with Setreset Films. It premiered as the opening film for the 2024 edition of designfestival OFFF Barcelona, the largest international festival for creativity, art, and digital design.

Direction | Concept | Production | Scripts | Film | Character design
D&AD Awards Graphite Pencil
ADC Awards Silver & Bronze Cube
ADCN awards Silver & Bronze lamp
Kaboom Animation Festival Best Commisioned Short
Motion Design Awards Video of the Month

Storyline

This handcrafted short film introduces Geoff, a young and creative individual who is struggling with his feelings. Is there something wrong with him?

In a group session with his favorite tools – an all-star cast of peculiar puppets – and through a ridiculously catchy song, he finally discovers what has been going on all this time…

Music

We had no idea we were writing a hit song while making this film, but hey, here we are! Mister Pencil loved it so much, he insisted we put it on Spotify. So… we did!⁠

Go give this monster hit a spin. It’ll be stuck in your head for days. Guaranteed!

▶︎ Play on Spotify

We premiered the film at OFFF Barcelona to kick-offf the 3-day festival. On the mainstage, in front of more than 2000 curious people.

It was surreal to see our film on the big screens and to give a 45-minute talk about our process. Our creative choices, production challenges and the valuable lessons we’d learned. We shared all of it.

The response from the audience was overwhelmingly positive. Many attending creatives connected to Geoff and his search for creativity.

Behind the scenes

Since the film is completely made by hand, the design process from beginning to end might even be more captivating than the film itself. From crafting the puppets to building the sets, the craftsmanship and dedication is documented in a snappy behind-the-scenes video.

Take a deep dive into the creation of the film, on-set adventures and funny outtakes.

Take a look

Written + Directed Studio Mals Setreset
Production Studio Mals Setreset
Production Assistant Eileen Boeijkens
D.O.P. Koen Berkhout
Script + Screenplay Koen Berkhout Martin van der Molen Eddie Contento Shaun Leyden
Lighting Koen Berkhout
Character Design Silas Nout Koen Berkhout Max Peterse
Lead Puppetmaker Silas Nout
Puppetmakers Marlice van den Oord Anne van den Berg Eileen Boeijkens Paula Paduraru
Puppeteers Silas Nout Martin van der Molen Koen Berkhout
Setdesign + Art Department Martin van der Molen Randy Beker
Edit + Colorgrading Koen Berkhout
VFX + Rotoscoping Koen Berkhout Silas Nout
Eye tracking + Animation Koen Berkhout
2D Animation Max Peterse Tinus Kardolus Koen Berkhout
Sound design + Voice Recording Lars van Leeuwen @ Elephant Ears Audio
Voice Actors Eddie Contento Shaun Leyden
Music Composer + Lead Vocals Maarten Smeele
Backing Vocals Eddie Contento Shaun Leyden
Songwriters Koen Berkhout Martin van der Molen Maarten Smeele Eddie Contento
Mix Koen Jansen
On set Assistants Inge Groeneveld Paula Paduraru Lotte Cremers
Behind the scenes Paula Paduraru
Special Thanks OFFF Barcelona Hector Ayuso Matt Jackson

Dreaming of your own puppet show? Let’s make it happen!

Behind the scenes