What’s the difference between

a Cigarette and a Gun?  

‘FEAR THE SMOKE!!!’ is a coming of age animated short film that delves into the mind of Robin, a teenage girl who is obsessed with her crush but too afraid to confess. However, one day, something to truly fear gets in her way…

Update, April 27th 2026

A short update… It’s DONE!

FEAR THE SMOKE!!! Is officially completed. I will probably go back and tweak some things. I was in a bit of a time crunch at the end, so some of the drawings didn’t quite come out in the most ideal form. However, I’m incredibly proud of what I managed to achieve in the 3ish months of production/post production.

Speaking of proud… I am so incredibly proud and grateful to all four of the amazing actors who have brought my characters to life. I couldn’t have done this without them. They each brought something truly unique to the table and I’m absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to get to know and work with them. Once they send me all of their headshots, I will make another post here dedicated to thanking them.

The amazing composer for the film is my own dad! So, thank you dad! He did an outstanding job on the original soundtrack. Somehow, he was able to follow my very wordy brief…

The release date is still TBD. I’m going to submit to a bunch of animation festivals. If they all reject me, oh well!

There isn’t really much else to say, You can see the updated key visual/poster above (and on the homepage)

The… TRAILER!!! Can be viewed just below… and… I think that’s it!

Thank you so, so much for reading my updates, staying tuned to this production. It really means the world to me!

Please enjoy!

Update, March 14th 2026

Hello!

Sorry for the long gap, but I finally have more news to share. A lot has happened since my last update. So let’s break it down.

  1. Firstly, we are deep into the production process!

    I am the sole animator and visual artist on this project, however, I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing and extremely hardworking student actors in order to bring the characters to life! I’m incredibly excited for you all to hear their work as we have almost completely wrapped dialogue production, we only need to record one more little bit of background speaking! Speaking of hearing, I am also happy to announce that the original soundtrack is coming along very nicely, and I have learned a lot about working with a composer. I’m very fortunate to have a talented musician and composer in my family, so I can’t wait for you all to hear his work! The animation side of production is coming along very nicely, I am having a blast drawing as fast, and as well as I can. I believe this will be a great showcase of what I can do, so I hope you’ll all be patient for just a little while longer.

  2. Secondly, ‘FEAR THE SMOKE!!!’ will now release as a slightly shorter film than originally intended.

    I had always known that this would have probably been the reality of this project due to its timeframe. However, I still wanted to give it a shot. So, with that in mind, what's been cut? The synopsis you will find at the top of this page details this as an action film. Although, I have taken the liberty of removing the action sequences along with other unnecessary cuts in order to focus the plot and give more polish to the overall quality of the film. It’s still very hard work, and every day I find myself wondering if I’ll actually be able to do this by the deadline. But, I not only think it’s possible, but very likely, and I will continue to work as hard as I can whilst taking care of myself. I am determined to get this done!

  3. Thirdly, and finally, I am excited to share some stills from the production as well as character designs!

Please take a look:

Meet Robin! The main character!!!

She’s desperately trying to deal with her overwhelming crush on… Crush… But she can’t cope, so she falls back into her smoking habits. Hopefully she’ll find the courage to say how she feels!

Meet Crush! Is that her real name? idk.

She’s mean, but Robin doesn’t care. She’s the perfect cool, calm and collected teenage girl. She’s totally not projecting!

Thank you as always for reading. I deeply appreciate your time and attention. And once again, thank you for your continued patience and support!

See you next time! I hope to have one more big update before we wrap this journey up!

-Huw :)

Update, November 22nd 2025

Hi!

I have more to share!!!

That’s right!!! I’ve been hard at work on this project since I began turning it into an animated film in September. I am extremely happy to say that it’s all going smoothly, the project is on schedule, and I’m more excited about it than ever!

And, to top it off, I’m super happy to announce that the storyboard is half way complete! It’s filled with very messy drawings, but I'll show off some stuff below anyway.

As a thorough update: I've been working on all kinds of research, adapting the short story into a script, redrafting that script, character redesigns, environment designs, colour and lighting development in After Effects, animation experiments using 3D assets, mixed media experiments and storyboarding! (in case you didn’t know that).

These shots come from the first few minutes of the film.

That’s all for now, I will continue to update this page when I have more fun stuff to share.

Thank you for reading!

Update, September 28th 2025

FEAR THE SMOKE!!! Is turning into an animation! I’m a student if you didn’t know, I want to focus on my schoolwork and my projects, so FTS!!! is transforming! Don’t worry, it’s the same vision, just with much more freedom.

An update would be boring if it were just that, so please enjoy these early pieces of concept art! I’m hard at work getting things done, so please stay tuned!

More Information coming soon.

Please Stay tuned!