A BOLTON computer animation firm has produced a short film to be shown a festival in Manchester.

Olmec Studios's three-and-a-half minute short film, Spring Heeled Jack, is about a goblin who steals voices from naughty children at night.

Olmec is based at the University of Bolton's, the i-zone business incubation centre.

Managing director Hasraf Dulull said: "Olmec Studios was approached by film director Geoff Wolfenden to produce a film.

"He chose us because we could create a dark and moody style that fitted his vision perfectly.

"The film is based on a myth and fable called Spring Heeled Jack."

One of Olmec's challenges was to create a cold Victorian-style setting including a "skeletal rig" for the character to move around in.

Mr Dulull took the role of animation and visual effects director for the project, planning each shot and devising new ways to animate the character.

He also developed ways in using three-dimensional tracking tools to follow visual effects such as smoke and the cold breath of the character.

Olmec Studios' Jay Peters, who served as the internal producer for the film, said it was finished within its tight five-week deadline.

He said: "We liaised closely with the executive producers of the project and used our innovative management tools to monitor the schedules and make sure everything went smoothly.

"The team of six at Olmec Studios worked hard to develop new ways to make the vision happen."

Two companies from Liverpool - Igloo, which deals with music, and Fubar, which specialises in grading and transferring to tape - provided the final elements.

Mr Dulull said: "It was great for Olmec Studios to be the lead in working with several North-west companies, each offering their own speciality to the project such as music and post-production."

Spring Heeled Jack was funded by North-west Vision and the UK Film Council.

It has been considered to be the most polished and original short animated film to be made in the North-west Vision Digital Shorts Scheme.

Director Geoff Wolfenden said: "Olmec deserves a big pat on the back - without them, it would have been some lame animation that looked like an old ZX Spectrum game."

Spring Heeled Jack will be featured at the Short Circuit Film Festival in Manchester and Liverpool next month.