Sunday, January 27, 2008

New Year resolution

One of my New Years resolution is to devote more time to my short film. I was so busy last year that I realised that a shot I completed in January 2008 I started animating in Jan 2007! I just kept picking it up when I got a spare minute, which wasn't too often. In fact the original design concept for the shot was created in Oct 2006. And it should be noted that Leeds based artist Brian Edmunds, who helped create the original design, got a Migraine in the process. Yikes! And yet the wait and pain, I hope, is worth it. The animation was all done in time honored drawn animation although most letters are on separate levels so I could build up a variety of cycles - there's still a heck of a lot of pencil millage in this scene. That also allowed me to have more control on the colour and compositing of the letters as well as the timing. Some elements, for example are on 1's. You'll see that the letters are spaced and balanced better in the final colour shot. You'll have probably deduced that the film is about Migraine. The colour shot is longer and starts with flashes of the scene herald the onset of migraine before the letters fire up. If you look carefully, you'll also see the cycle of the M is longer, and more refined in the colour shot. It kicked about in the line test too much for my liking. Sadly you loose a lot of the detail with the small size of these video images, but you'll get an impression of it. The shot featured in my exhibit at the Aardman talent showcase.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

BioMation Aspergers film now online!

The Directors cut for BioMation aspergers syndrome is now online, and well worth a look!

BioMation is an exciting animation, sound and creative writing project for young people based in York, UK. Exploring health issues through digital art. BioMation is a collaboration between Arts Action York and York Hospitals NHS Trust, funded by the Welcome Trust.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Aardamn Talent Showcase



Exciting news this week! My work is currently being exhibited at The Aardamn Talent Showcase. The exhibition at their studios holds work from colleges, internal recommendations, people Aardman have worked witheld in the past, talent from festivals, staff and local top creatives.

As well as my animation clips, my work features storyboards, character designs and effects art, including the above artwork.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Stepney School

It was great to be back at Stepney Primary School this month doing a staff training day. After the huge success of my residency last year with Creative Partnerships Hull, we are embarking on a new programme called Animated Learners, exploring the impact of embedding animation across the curriculum – in teaching and learning – for staff and pupils. This creative learning programme has been developed in collaboration with Creative Partnerships Hull, an Arts Council England initiative. I will be saying goodbye to the school after Easter, so we are looking for ways to successfully build an animated legacy by giving the teachers the tools they need to be enable them to use animation as a creative learning tool. So to mark the new year, we spent a fun day watching cartoons and analysing animation in the classroom. In the afternoon they brainstormed and animated their own film - Pink Puking Pigs! I'm back in the school in a weeks time. More news soon!