“Our short film is an homage to nature shows like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
In reality, we are all just animals looking to find a connection."
- Director Kirk Kelley

an animated pseudo-doc investigating the world of armadillo mating

From world-renowned animation studio HouseSpecial and Director Kirk Kelley comes Armor del Amor – a kind of nature ‘documentary’ that follows the mating rituals of Dasypus novemcinctus to discover the dark underbelly of modern mammalian dating.

The narrative follows a nine-banded female armadillo as she emerges from her burrow and into the lonely Texas landscape. Our researchers captured footage of this modern animal’s efforts to find a potential mate until finally, after a few missed opportunities, a match is made.

Read the press release.

Screenings:
March 28 - April 14, 2019: Mecal Pro, the Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival
March 18-24, 2019: Festival international du court métrage d'animation de ROANNE
Feb. 28 - March 3, 2019: Boulder International Film Festival - Boulder, CO
Feb. 22-14, 2019: Oregon Short Film Fest - Portland, OR
Nov. 9-11, 2018: The Portland Comedy Film Festival - Portland, OR
Oct. 31 – Nov. 5, 2018: 45th Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival - Portland, OR
Oct. 25 – 28, 2018: SPARK Animation Festival - Vancouver, BC
Oct. 18-20, 2018: Eastern Oregon Film Festival - La Grande, OR
Oct. 12-13, 2018: BendFilm Festival - Bend, Oregon - Screening before the feature In Reality
Sept. 25-30, 2018: Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival - Bristol, UK
Sept. 16, 2018: Austin Comedy Short Film Festival - Austin, TX - Won Best Animated Comedy Film
Sept. 14-23, 2018: Outdoor Digital Animation Festival - Denver, CO
Aug, 17, 2018: Montreal International Animation Film Festival - Montreal
Aug. 16, 2018: We Like 'Em Short - Animation and Comedy Film Festival - Baker City, OR
Aug. 10-11, 2018: Overmountain Animation Festival - East Tennessee State University - Won Best of Professional Award 2018
July 29, 2018: Animation Block Party - Brooklyn, NY
May - July 2018: The Hollywood Theatre's PDX Micro-Theatre in the Portland International Airport, C Concourse
July 15, 2018 - 6 - 9:30 pm: Austin Micro Short Film Festival - Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lakeline
May 27, 2018: NW Animation Festival's NW Animators Showcase - The Hollywood Theatre, Portland

Concept Art

Creating an armadillo that looked and moved realistically was the main goal and challenge. They are funny little creatures with very distinctive movements that switch rapidly between languorous to twitchy.

Armadillo Variations

Behind-the-scenes Live Shoot

The biggest challenge was finding a location in Oregon that looked enough like Texas to work for the film. We landed in Dufur, Oregon, which is near the eastern Columbia River Gorge. 

Short Stills

Meet Director Kirk Kelley

Kirk’s a big-gun Director, and not just because he’s a Texan. A multi-talented designer, storyteller and restaurateur, Kirk has directed and supervised many of our premier ad campaigns since 1995. He is Supervising Creative Director for our fleet of M&M’S and Boom Beach content and brings his visually and technically innovative talent to collaborations with agencies including Barton F. Graf, TBWA\Chiat\Day’s Media Arts Lab, Amalgamated and BBDO Worldwide. He has solid mastery over all storytelling mediums plus a wry sense of humor and a strong point of view. His sense of composition is fine-tuned and his timing’s right on the money. When he can, after sundown, he likes to sneak out back and work on short films.

Credits

Director: KIRK KELLEY

Executive Producers: LOURRI HAMMACK,
KIRK KELLEY, ALVARO CUBILLAS
Producer: KARLY RICHTER
Editor: CAM WILLIAMS
Director of Photography: ERIC EDWARDS
VFX Supervisor: REX CARTER
Art Director: GEE STAUGHTON
Line Producer: ELLIOT FREEMAN
1st Asst Camera: NOEL ADAMS
Grips: CLAY CONNALLY, JAKE HAUSWIRTH
Wind Whisperer: CLAY CONNALLY

Stage DP: JOHN NOLAN
Prop Fabricators: KATIE MELLO, MARGARET MEYER
Set Fabricator: ROBERT MELCHIOR
Art | Stage Dept Manager: ERICA JOHNSON

CG TD | VFX Artist: KARL RICHTER
Animators: BEAVAN BLOCKER, GREG KYLE
Modeling Artists: JOSH TONNESEN, KENDRA PHILLIPS
Texture Artist: NIKIE MONTELEONE
Lighting Artist: MATT RESLIER
Rigging Artist: TERENCE JACOBSON, JOHN LALLY
VFX Artist: WALTER BEHRNES
Compositor: JOHN CORBETT
Texture Artist Intern: TYLER BAY
Lighting Artist Intern: JOHNNY NAM

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