Creative freedom can sometimes feel like a pipe dream when the demands of the client get in the way. But when that client hands you the chance to create spots for a series hosted by horror aficionado Rob Zombie, pretty much anything goes.

'Anything' for New York-based design/production studio Freestyle Collective, includes women with fish heads, a multi-eyed zombie/Fonzie hybrid and a bleary-eyed, gun-wielding maniac.

The six animated spots promote Underground, Turner Classic Movies' cult film showcase hosted by Zombie. The series is a hub for the askew visions and B-movie aesthetic of directors like Suzuki Seijun and Ed Wood, so the spots had to be equally off-kilter.

"When they came to us they already had an existing Underground print campaign," says designer/lead animator Mark Bellncula. Those print ads, illustrated by Mike Dixon for Leo Burnett, Chicago, were the springboard for the spots. "Our idea was that those original drawings were done by some kid in detention in high school."

Excited by the idea of tapping into the demented mind of a high school teenager, Freestyle took up TCM's challenge to animate the print campaign. The final product is a mix of comic book-style animation and DIY collage, incorporating 2D illustration and live photography that brings the quirky and downright rebellious movie-going exploits of its zombified characters Roth, Zomzie, Herb, Coffee, Moe/Curly and Vincent to life.

According to Bellncula and CD Victor Newman, the inspiration for the spots came from the macabre illustrations of Edward Gorey, 1970s comics such as Tales From the Crypt and Eerie Publications' horror anthologies.

"I remember watching the Edward Gorey opening to [PBS's] Mystery! as a kid and I always loved that," recalls Bellncula. "In the boards, we had a laid-back Edward Gorey style and a crazy punk rock style and TCM liked both of them. They said, 'Instead of picking one style, let's do both'."

Staying true to the aesthetic, the team, which included designer Keng-Ming Liu and illustrator Devin Clark, tried to create as many of the spot's elements as possible without computers. "This looks like a bunch of kids using scissors and a glue stick and we literally did that," says Bellncula.

They also called on the generosity of friends to provide the scribbled-over faces in the collage. "Somebody was having a Christmas party and we took a bunch of pictures," recalls Bellncula. "We came back to the studio and thought, 'These are nutty pictures, let's treat them and put them in the spots'. Victor's on one of the movie screens with a samurai sword and Devin's somewhere in there too."

Freestyle Collective http://www.freestylecollective.comTCM Underground http://www.tcm.com/underground