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Second to None: Vincent Gallagher's animated film that shows you're never too old to settle a score

"You're never too old to settle a score," reads the description of Second to None, an award-winning animated film by Irish writer and director Vincent Gallagher.

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Produced by Damian Farrell at Dublin's independent production company, Caboom, the stop-motion film focuses on the ambition of the world's second-oldest man. When Frederick's twin brother becomes the world's oldest man by a mere minute, Frederick finally sees his chance to take first place, by whatever means necessary.

Shot over six months with a core team of just four people. Everything you see on screen was meticulously handcrafted specifically for the film. It was animated by Jason Watts, characters were designed and fabricated by Pierre Butler and sets were designed and built by Aoife Noonan of Bowsie Workshop.

What inspired the film? "I was looking to explore ideas about ambition and harmful determination when I read an article about Jiroemon Kimura becoming the world's oldest living person," Vincent tells Creative Boom. "He succeeded Dina Manfredini who only held the title for 13 days. So that got me thinking about how someone would go about orchestrating their own success in that very niche area."

Stop-motion animated character Frederick wearing a gold crown and black suit with a pink nose and white-striped eyes, set against a library background filled with books
Animator Jason Watts works on a character figure in the workshop where Second to None was produced, with handcrafted sets and props visible in the background
An animator wearing headphones works on a stop-motion figure in a dusty studio workshop filled with handcrafted sets and materials for Second to None
Black and white overhead shot of a workshop interior with a figure standing beside a large blackboard covered in sketches and drawings
Filmmaker operating a camera on a tripod while photographing a detailed miniature set featuring tiny houses and structures for stop-motion animation
Animator working on stop-motion set surrounded by handcrafted vegetation and props, viewed through tree branches in the workshop
Black and white stop-motion scene showing an elderly man in white clothing sitting at a table with miniature buildings, with a blurred figure in the foreground in Vincent Gallagher's animated film Second to None
Behind-the-scenes shot of stop-motion animation process for Second to None, showing animator at work with camera equipment and handcrafted set
Frederick, an elderly animated character with a paper crown, oversized spectacles and pink nose, sits at a table in a vintage living room in Vincent Gallagher's stop-motion film Second to None
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