Green light for Astronomers Sun

Yippiee! After months of hard work of story development in script and storyboard, "The Astronomers Sun" has been given the green light and will be moving into production for 4mations Digital Shorts, backed by the UK Film Council’s New Cinema Fund, Channel 4 and Screen Yorkshire.

Alongside my co-producer Peter Kersahw, it has been my pleasure to consult and offer guidance to writer/directors, Simon Cartwright and Jessica Cope , as they worked through the executives story notes and crafted their story. It is only by going through the blood sweat and tears of story development that you can really feel the accomplishment of approval as I'm sure Simon and Jess would tell you. A debt of gratitude must also go to editor Dave Long, who's brought pathos and a filmmic structure and to the story reel working to intense deadline.

Be sure to check out the production blog of the Astronomers Sun, and the 4mations website.

Flipbooks

I love flipbooks and have a huge collection from all over the world. There is something nostalgic in flipbooks that captures the essence of animation. In fact some of my favourite workshops I teach use them. As we are getting into the festival season, I'm getting excited about the joy of flipbooks once again. I'm ordering a new batch of flip pads in preparation and thought wouldn't it be fun to add a cover with a few simple tips. I was keen to capture the nostalgic qualities of flipbooks. However my first design looks too old fashioned. It could have been made in the 60's!

Whilst I wanted to embrace the nostalgia, I also wanted to convey a fun and contemporary message that flipbooks are just as cool as they ever have been. So my final design uses hand drawn hands to bring a more cartoony feel, and in doing so I think feels less old fashioned. By the way, the character on the flipbook is from my short film Riffs of Rage made at Bournemouth University!

For all the information you could ever want to know about flipbooks, check out http://www.flipbook.info/

If you want to catch me at my flipbook tent over the summer, check out the Culture Shock festival in Pickering on 4th July.

Fantastic Films Weekend

I'm looking forward to seeing Cinema of Horror which is playing at the Fantastic Films Weekend this weekend in Bradford. From Friday 12 – Sunday 14 June 2009, it’s the festivals eighth annual trawl through the vaults of new and classic sci-fi, horror and fantasy movies and television at NMM, Bradford. Cinema of Horror will be playing in the short programme every day. I directed the opening animated title sequence for Duchy Parade Films.

In the name of art!

The things I do! Here's me being directed to scream by Jessica Cope for scratch track for "The Astronomers Sun". I asked Simon what type of scream he wanted and said he wanted 'to hear the sound of ultimate suffering'. Dutifully I provided. Well, we've just finished the second story reel on Friday during a marathon editing session at Duchy Parade Films. There's been many changes but my screams are still in. While we wait to hear back from the script editor and the executive producers Jess and Simon are gearing up so we are ready to go into production. Check out the production blog for the latest.