The Making of Longbird: a fake documentary that won a real BAFTA

Deconstruct animation by making its construction the film itself: a personal 'making of' that blends fact and fiction.

Fifteen minutes of live action mixed with animation, produced by White Robot in the UK. Longbird is voiced by fellow animator Vitalij Sicinava, born in the former USSR, with dialogue recorded conversationally to blur the line between fact and fiction.

Won the BAFTA for British short animation in 2013 and was featured by Short of the Week in June 2013.

The Making of Longbird, by Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson, presents itself as a documentary: a young filmmaker attempts to revive Longbird, the 'legendary' creation of trailblazing Russian director Vladislav Aleksandrovich Feltov — and discovers his long-necked star isn't so keen on being reinvented.

In reality the whole backstory is invented. Anderson started from a nonsensical sketchbook character and an old ambition to make a 'making of' film, merging the two: since animation is completely constructed, it seemed logical to deconstruct that construction and make it the point of the film. The fiction was written 'so that it was as believable as possible, although in reality it is completely unbelievable. That's what I think animation is all about, making the unbelievable believable.'

Much of the humour rests on Longbird's antagonistic personality, voiced by animator Vitalij Sicinava, whose USSR-born knowledge of Russian history shaped the character. The 15-minute film, produced by White Robot, won the BAFTA for British short animation and found a wider audience through Short of the Week.

Deconstructing the medium — a making-of about nothing real — is both the joke and a craft lesson in what animation is.

Casting a USSR-born animator as the voice gives the fake history an authentic grain.

A genuine power struggle between creator and creation gives the mockumentary real dramatic stakes.

The most honest way to show how animation works is to lie about it: fabrication with total commitment becomes its own documentary truth.

After the BAFTA win and its 2013 Short of the Week release, Anderson joked that Longbird, 'is real now', and might pop up online now and again to express himself.