# animate! › Films › Dad’s Dead by Chris Shepherd › synopses

Canonical: https://animate.org.uk/films/dadsdead/synopses

Discovery terms: 2000s animation, live action and animation, digital compositing, memory, friendship, violence, peer pressure, psychological thriller, filmmaker, animation director

The following is the archived page text; discovery terms above are separately sourced metadata.

Archive status: restored in 2026; historical calls, deadlines and services are closed.

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**Dad’s Dead** a film by Chris Shepherd

2002, 6 min 36 sec

### animate! synopsis

Fights, camera, live action. It’s dark days in sink town. Teenage kicks all through the night, for sure (peer pressure you see: balancing fear and admiration). Friends for life? Well, maybe not.

### short synopsis

A compelling story of friendship and denial, told through a series of ghostly reminiscences and visual flashbacks of a young man’s fragmented memories from the past.

### long synopsis

A compelling story of friendship and denial, told through a series of ghostly reminiscences and visual flashbacks of a young man’s fragmented memories from the past.

His memories are triggered by admiration for his best friend Johnno. As the story unfolds, hero worship turns to revulsion, as the web of deception and violence that Johnno creates is revealed, pulling narrator and audience in its destructive wake.

Manipulated live-action mutates and combines with ghostly digital animation, creating intense and original visuals. This emotionally dark, thought-provoking journey is narrated by Ian Hart.

**Dad’s Dead** film, stills and other materials © Chris Shepherd 2003