While the loose storyline was established early on (a flightless bird), Angela tells us that she actually began the creative process by researching what music might accompany the short before diving into anything visual. Music has always been a focal point in Angela’s work, whether she’s animating a saxophone-playing puppy or making music videos for bands. Scrolling through Bandcamp’s jazz section eventually led her to the song Espejo by the Belgian band Ottla. “Their song feels playful and upbeat to me, but also spontaneous and everywhere,” says Angela. “These were qualities I could imagine in the main character of the film, so the two felt like a perfect marriage.” While listening to the song on loop, Angela then tried to imagine what Marvin might look like, and worked on some color scenes and what the general tone of the film might be.

When it came to fleshing out the finer details of the storyline, Angela worked with partner Andy. “It’s the first time we’ve formally worked on a project together and it was really liberating to have someone to bounce ideas off of. We’d come up with individual scenes and then try to stitch them all together,” she says. “We knew a suggestion was good if it made us both laugh!” Aspects of the song—a clash of symbols or a particular rhythm—also played a role in influencing the plot and shaping Marvin’s actions.

As you might expect from Angela, Marvin is joined by a host of endearingly wacky characters – all sorts of kin, with long necks, fluffy feathers or odd beaks – a development she explored further during our Nicer Tuesdays event last December, which you can watch here . “I think the characters come largely from aspects of myself (mainly my neuroses!), and sometimes from the quirks of other people that I’ve observed,” Angela says. “It’s definitely not a conscious decision on my part, more just having a feeling and trying to channel that through a certain facial expression or an exaggerated movement.”

While Marvin is made to soothe very personal feelings, Angela thinks it can also tap into a broader, universal sentiment, the feeling of being an “outsider” or a little “weird” about yourself. She hopes that Marvin and his band of birds can evoke some recognition in her audience, allowing them to connect with and celebrate these unique aspects of their being.