Bill Peet

Here's a great site about legendary story artist, illustrator and children's author, Bill Peet.

RTS/Screen Yorkshire careers event

Animation censorship

Here's an absolutely fascinating article about censorship in golden-age Hollywood animation. I've giving this article from the letterbox and widescreen advocacy page a rant alert but it's well worth a read.

There are plenty of articles about "Tom and Jerry" and "Song of the South", but I never knew that the pastoral symphony in "Fantasia" was cropped and digitally manipulated to remove black centaurs in typically racist caricatures from the time. I understand why Disney feels the need to remove these for a family audience today, but as a piece of cinema history it is a shame it's not available to see in another version. However some of these clips are available. Click on the still to see a clip of the black centaur polishing the white centaurs hooves. I find it a disturbing scene but I'm not sure that means we should blot out the past. As the author says, if we do not learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat it.

RAUL GARCIA

I've just discovered this website from French ex-Disney animator Raul Garcia. If you've had fun animating and are wondering how you to make it that bit better, this site has some good tips and tutorials from an animation master. It's also has art galleries featuring drawings and cel paintings from classic animation history.

It is a shame that some of the lessons, like the man getting up from the chair, suffer from some classic mistakes (like twinning) when Raul Garcia knows much better. Nevertheless, it's still a very good site. I've added the site to my links.

Louis Labeck

I managed to find some time over Easter to knuckle down and do some character design work for what's probably going to be my next short film about a mime artist. The inspiration came from a brilliant 1 minute theatre play by Jack Goodstein which I saw at the 'Write On' 05 writing festival between Harrogate Theatre and Brooklyn College, New York. I think I like the (top) design, but please do comment. After all, that's the joy of blogging, right!
The sketch above was one my fist drawings. I like the rhythm and flowing lines but I've tried to achieve a more cartoony sense of caricature, particularly in the face.
I like the head in this concept (left) but I decided that definite bones, instead of 1920's rubber-hose arms, would make for clear poses. I've also settled for more minimal clothing which I think emotes a more impressionistic design. And I wouldn't want to get bogged down in all that CGI cloth!

Much more on this film over the next few weeks and months.

Live Music at Harrogate Theatre

My friend Mark, of Pumpleton Sonic Landscaping fame, has sent me this message. His work has contributed to the variety and vibrancy of the arts at Harrogate Theatre and is well worth supporting, wherever you live.

Hey up everyone. As you may or may not know we've been stopped putting music nights on at Harrogate Theatre. Please show your support by signing this petition to get live music back in the Theatre's programminge, and please pass it on to as many people as possible. This is as much about supporting grassroots live music as it is about our specific cause.

It's a small world after all!

I've just got an email from an old friend from animation college at Bournemouth. Andy Grisdale, who now works as an animator at Blur Studios in LA, saw my blog and got in touch. Fantastic!

The last time I saw Andy was in London when I was working on "The Tigger Movie". It was the opening weekend of Star Wars Episode 1 and everyone was hoping it might be good. Tickets sold out in Leicester Square for the show, so I went to idle some time away, get an ice cream and sat under a tree in one of London's parks - and bumped into Andy and some other friends by complete chance! Weirder still, they just happened to have a spare ticket for the very Star Wars performance I wanted to see. Crazy! We had such great day it took another viewing of the film to decide it actually wasn't very good!

Andy has a fantastic website and blog with some brilliant short films. Well worth a look.

John Paul II remembered

I was listening to the news yesterday about the 1st year commemorating the death of Pope John Paul II.

I was in Lithuania last year when he died so and I've found these photographs.

It was extraordinary and really very moving to be in Lithuania at such an important moment for so many people in the country. It was at that moment that Lithuania stopped being merely a place of cultural interest and actually became something incredibly powerful and tangible. It's one thing to do the tourist thing but it's quite another be caught up and be part of a national experience. Some of the images I will never forget.

Vernic in Warrington!

There seems to be no stopping Vernic. The latest tour date is at the Warrington Film Festival, taking place on the 7th/8th April 2006. For more information, check out the the festival website.

Super Short Film Festival over at last!

The mammoth 2005/06 Super Shorts Film festival is finally over, with so many films it made your eyes water. From premieres, to classics like Puleng, (Dir: Ali Taylor, Nexus Productions) and How to Cope with Death(Dir: Ignacio Ferreras, Tandem Films) the latter of which I received an effects animation credit on.

It was a rare opportunity for audiences across the country to see films absolutely free. A true people's festival, with lots of films you're unlikely to see anywhere else. I'd like to take my hat off to Andrew and the Festival Team for providing a great showcase to the short film format and new talent. The good news is (A) the 06/07 festival is on its way and (B) most films (including Vernic) will be staying online till at least the end of the year.

Joseph Gilland on hand-drawn Special Effects

There is an interesting article on AWN at the moment by effects animator Joseph Gilland about the virtual extinction of hand-drawn special effects. What sets this apart from the usual 'end of an era' reporting is his observation that the classical skills that made effects animation an art from; design, exaggeration, posing and dynamic timing, are not being carried over into the visual effects industry like the classical skills of character animation.

For me, effects animation has always been about sharing with an audience the wonderful elements of nature, that fascinate me so much, in a creative and artistic manner. I think Gilland's words resonate in the world of traditional 2D and mixed media animation. I've seen so many examples of drawn animation over the last few years that have been diminished by replacing hand-drawn effects with unimaginative particle simulations which not only look out of place, but fail to bring the richness in design that drawn animation can.

It is not limited to TV projects with limited budgets. Tim Burturn's "The Corpse Bride" is an example of a film that, as great as it looked, would in my opinion would have looked richer still with drawn effects. In his earlier masterpiece, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", smoke and fire took on highly abstract shapes that complimented and enriched the stylistic world Burton created. I certainly miss working on animation projects like this and I miss seeing them in the cinema.

The title sequence for "Thunderbirds" made brilliant use of drawn animation to support the design. Trying the find a spare place to put my light box amongst all the computers (really!) I felt like something of a museum piece even then.

There is a huge amount of exciting work being produced at the moment. Exciting design is being pushed like never before, and I don't think I'm being hopelessly old fashioned to sugest that drawn effects could have an exciting role to play in that. But without, I suspect, all the needless tones and shadows of the 90's.

You can read Joseph Gilland's article here:

Smith & Foulkes scoop 3 BAAs

I got an email this week from my friend Reece Millidge at Nexus Productions, proving that directors Smith & Foulkes are a truly unstoppable duo. Having worked with them on the 'Thunderbirds' title sequence, that's really no surprise. They scored a hat trick this week at the British Animation Awards winning the Award for Best Commercial: Direction for their Honda ‘Grrr’ campaign- above (which they actually directed at the same time as 'Thunderbirds') picked up a BAA for Best Film/TV Graphics for Motorola Classics and gained the Public Choice Award for Favourite Ad for the Observer Monthly Music Magazine: From ABBA to Zappa. Congratulations to all!

Wedding Photography

It was my absolute joy to act as the unofficial photographer for my cousin's wedding. Katy wanted me to take photo journalistic images that reflected the atmosphere of the day. It was a wonderful day to be able to share with them and I wish them all the love and luck in the world. I adore photography and I've set up another blog dedicated to the wedding which you can access on my profile page if you are interested in seeing some of my photography.

Voodoo Magic

I really enjoyed creating this company branding animation sequence for TV company Voodoo Magic. Bringing to life an anaconda snake was a monumental challenge I relished. I thought I'd share this still from the final sequence with you.

Hand gestures

Hands are so versatile and can add so much to the characterization and richness of character animation. I saw this spoof advert following Dick Cheney's rather unfortunate accidental shooting of his hunting partner. A perfect example of how much hands impact on expression.

Theatre tour

I've been a naughty blogger. Doing a rural tour of FairLy Tales really was a lot of work! I had a wonderful time and this photo from a rehearsal at the Pateley Bridge Playhouse was my favorite night. It is a beautifully intimate theatre with a stage that jets out into the audience - almost theatre in the round.

The Journal of Edwin Carp

I've just heard from ex-Disney and "Iron Giant" animator Richard Bazley, who's currently working at Aardman. He's releasing his short film "The Journal of Edwin Carp" on DVD (NTSC format), which features Hugh Laurie in Richard Haydn's quintessentially English story about the misadventures of the pompous Carp who manages to turn a simple chore into a humorous escapade. Remarkably, he produced the short in his spare time while animating at Warner Brothers Feature Animation. I was fortunate enough to see a clip at Richards’s home studio and, needles to say, it looks amazing. Incidentally, the hand drawn look, perfectly capturing the whimsy of Ronald Searle's distinctive style, belies the fact that it is thought to be the first film created in Flash to have a theatrical release. Richard used the Software to save time and it just goes to show how versatile Flash is when used by such a talented artist. DVD's cost £8 and are available through Bazley Films.

FairLy Tales

A few weeks ago I posted some early designs for a poster for Harrogate Theatre's production "FairLy Tales". Well, its now finished and the marketing campaign is underway, so here's the final result together with the original design scamp! You can see the design process the witch went through in my December post. I'm since been cast as the King, a bear... and Prince Handsome! We tour February and details of the production can be found below:
http://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/ht05/production.asp?prodID=114

Mother Mary

Here's a short storyboard for Cliff Richards song for It's a boy. It's not often you get to see a pregnant women in animation. I was interested in the idea of developing the growing bond between Mary and Jesus while he is still in her womb and the opportunity for subtle acting with every day tasks becoming that little bit more complicated. The film has been distributed to every junior school in the country, and features in this BBC article below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4475358.stm

Shooting Hoops

I've found these early doodles for "Shooting Hoops" doing spring cleaning on my computer. JD had enough on his plate and didn't want to get into modeling a complicated character so I was interested to see just how simple you could take a design. Before all that though I had load of fun thinking of other possibilities, such as an animal playing basketball! I still think it could make a cool short film, and I may perhaps take up the challenge sometime. You can see the final film on the link below. JD is a technical god, currently working at Mill TV and was an indispensable hand on Vernic. I've put his website on my artists web-links section.
http://www.jonathandavies.co.uk/project_hoops.php