Caged wins an award at FLIP 2011

So FLIP festival 2011 was held this weekend where i attended the event on Friday and Saturday. Considering the festival was in danger of not being held this year, the FLIP team pulled off an awesome festival that in my opinion was better than previous years that I've been to.

It was an honour meeting industry figures Bill Plympton, Barry Purves, Cosgrove Hall (they made Danger mouse!!!) and Aardman. Bill Plympton's masterclass was amazing and very informative. He also showed a pencil test from his upcoming film " Cheatin' " which I cannot wait to see. I recognised him more for his Hot Dog film so will definitely catch up on his past films such as "Idiots and Angels".

From left to right: Me, Bill Plympton and Josh


BrothersMcleod also premiered their latest film, Isle of Spagg, which was awesome. I love the style and the humour was great. I enjoyed the scenarios the little boy was put in and couldn't stop laughing.

Caged was shown on Saturday during Open shorts 5 and I am proud to announce that it won the award for best film from open shorts 5 (Each open shorts session had its own winner based on public vote).

The ringmaster sting that I made with Sector5 Studios was also shown on Friday to open the first event of the day, Open shorts 1. Unfortunately I missed it by 10-20 seconds as I was in the queue to go in to the cinema room. The winners of the sting competition will be announced online later on, so fingers crosswed we win.

Caged at Shorts on Walls

A quick update to announce that Caged will be screened at Shorts on Walls today at the Lighthouse (Wolverhampton) which starts at 7:30pm. Looking forward to going there tonight so hope to see everyone there.

Caged to be screened at FLIP festival

A short update to announce that Caged will be shown at the FLIP festival on Saturday 29th October.

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The 3D project I introduced in my previous blog entry is complete and ready to view online. Over on the sector5studios blog, we announced that it was our entry in the FLIP 2011 stings competition. If you haven't seen it yet check it out below:



I will go into depth on the process behind this project in future blog updates.

Graduation Ceremony

My graduation ceremony was held yesterday at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton. I was quite nervous about the event but it ended up being a great day, despite wearing a suit and gown (former being something I'm not used to wearing).

Me on the far left.

The graduation for the school of art and design began at 2:45pm with my animation class being seated on the front row which meant that we got to go up on stage to collect our degree first. Luckily I didnt fall over, drop my hat or make a fool of myself on stage so all went well.

It definately felt weird as this ceremony marked the end of my university life which I've enjoyed alot and will definately miss.

Impressions of Bridgnorth Animation Festival

Taking place at the Majestic Cinema today, the Bridgnorth Animation Festival was held as a part of the Bridgnorth Music and Arts Festival.

Caged was screened during the local animations segment which were also the animations up for nomination for the public vote award. Every animation shown was amazing so it wasn't clear who would win the most votes. it was also great to see some familiar faces too. This was the first time that Caged was shown on the big screen so it was just as special for me. In the end, I did not win the award which I lost out by 1 vote. Still, I'm very proud of coming in second place and it serves as a big motivation for me to do even better next time. (The animator who took 1st place was from Wolverhampton University which was awesome, a big win for our university).

I thought it was great that they gave animators the chance to speak to the audience before their film was shown. I have experienced this before last year at Shorts on Walls (where Sentry was screened) so I was expecting to talk to everyone with no hesitation, strenghtened by my enjoyment of doing presentations. To my surprise, I was still nervous! Perhaps the bigger audience was a factor in this but it felt like this was my first ever screening so it was both a brilliant experience and a little scary too. To be honest, I dont want that feeling to ever go away either when it comes to screening films at festivals.

This was also my first time in Bridgnorth which was quite a surprise with just how different the setting was even though it was next door to the city I live in. it felt a world a part but a great inspiration for ideas too.
Overall, I enjoyed the festival and look forward to going back next year. Hopefully I'll have something new to submit there.

Bridgnorth Animation Festival begins tomorrow!

Caged will be shown tomorrow at the Bridgnorth Animation Festival as detailed in my previous post. Looking forward to going there as this is the second festival that Caged will be screened at. There will also be public voting event for all animations screened, I'm going up against a ton of awesome animations so looking forward to the outcome of that.

I have also sent Caged to Flip Animation Festival and Canterbury Anifest 2011. Really hoping it gets selected for these festivals too.

My university has also advertised the animation course using three screenshots of Caged and allowed me to take one with me as a souvenir:



Scan of the Course leaflet featuring 3 stills from Caged



Caged selected for Bridgenorth Festival

Caged will be shown at Bridgenorth Festival's (which begins August 26th) Animation Mini-festival (on August 27th). This will be the second festival that Caged is screened at. 

The venue is the Majestic Cinema. I've provided the program and location details below. I would also like to thank the organisers of the Animation mini-festival for giving me the opportunity to screen Caged.

Sector5 Studios will also be present at the animation screenings too so we're looking forward to meeting everyone there.

----- Details on the festival----

Animation Mini-Festival

Date: Saturday 27 August 2011

Time: 14:30 - 17:30

Location:Majestic Cinema; Whitburn Street; Bridgnorth;  WV16 4QP

The Majestic Cinema has toilet facilities and a car park to the side. 

Link to google maps:http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=majestic+cinema,+bridgnorth&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=majestic+cinema,&hnear=0x4870620b148ed607:0x642e0ce0d512b195,Bridgnorth&ei=7KAqTpjGJoOq8APewKT0Cw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&ved=0CAQQtgM&cid=0,0,4941450602442334377 

Parking Information: This website details Bridgnorth Car parks:

http://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/bridgnorth/

Event Running Order (subject to change)

14:30 - welcome

14:35 - 15:00 - James Clarke - Animating the World

15:00 - 15:30 - Screening of local animated shorts compered by James Pearson

15:30 - 15:50 - Q&A discussion

15:50 - 16:05 - Audience vote & break

16:10 - 16:35 - screening of animations from Autour de Minuit

16:40 - 16:50 - Forward For screening

16:50 - 17:00 - Present audience vote award

17:00 - 17:20 - The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan

17:20- 17:30 - Additional screenings - TBC

My impressions: Drawn from Life

Last Wednesday, Jonathon Hodgson gave a talk in Birmingham, Drawn From Life, which was hosted by Animation Forum West Midlands. I'm a big fan of AWFM's events so this was a must to go to.

I enjoyed the event and it was very informative, definately an eye opener into the world of animated documentaries. It's a genre I would now like to try out in the future. I love telling stories with my animations so it was motivating when Jonathon spoke about telling a true story almost like a fantasy with different plot devices available in animation.

I also enjoyed the networking opportunity that followed after which was perfect since it was the first day for Sector5 Studios (which is the new animation company I have formed with 3 other animators).

Sector5 Studios

Its been a busy month but I can atlast reveal what I've been up to which is starting a new animation company known as Sector5 Studios. It's a very exciting time for me as I'm also working with 3 animators that i've become great friends with during my studies at Wolverhampton University.

As well as being an animator, i am also the head of social media meaning it's my job to keep our online presence up to date. This is perfect for me as I enjoy online networking too.

each of the animators at Sector5 Studios are bring their own specialities forward so that we are able to work on a variety of animation forms: stop motion, 2D and my speciality: 3D.

Visit our website at:
www.sector5studios.co.uk

as well as showing your support and following us at:

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Vimeo

The Cut 2011 Impressions

Decided to go against my original plan of going on the last 2 days as I didn't want to miss the debut showing of Caged.

The cut 2011, being a part of Mosely festival, took place in a pub similar to past screenings I've been to like Shorts on Walls. After a minor hiccup with the projector the screenings opened with the Brothers McLeod animation, THe Moon Bird. Even though I have seen this multiple times already at other festivals it's still a treat to watch.

My film was the 8th film shown during the 12:30 screenings and I was glad that the screening room was dark and the projector worked great as some events have shown films in lit rooms or next to a window with street lights having an effect on the visibility. I was however, slightly disappointed in the turnout with only a few people turning up. I hope the amount of people coming to the screenings improves for the next 4 festival days.

I will try to come in for next week's screenings but will definately be back for next year.

The Cut 2011 Festival begins tommorrow!

Caged will have its festival debut during The Cut 2011, showing on all four days.

The venue is The Prince of Wales Pub in Mosely. Screenings will take place on the ground floor.

My film will be shown during the following screening times:
Saturday July 9th -
12:30 Screening

Sunday July 10th -
12:30 Screening

Saturday July 16th -
2:30 screening

Sunday July 17th-
screening suitable for kids (must be accompanied by an adult)
12:30

Caged Selected for The Cut 2011 Festival

Pleased to announce that Caged has been selected for its first festival screening at The Cut 2011.
The festival begins on July 9th and continues running on the 10th, 16th and 17th.

The festival program can be found here:
http://thecut2011.blogspot.com/

Caged will get shown four times (in other words once per festival day):
Saturday July 9th 12:30 Screening
Sunday July 10th 12:30 Screening

Saturday July 16th 2:30 screening

Sunday July 17th 12:30 screening suitable for kids (must be accompanied by an adult)

I will post more details on the festival itself in a future post (such as the location of the festival).

Student Show Photo

Finally got a decent photo of my booth for the degree show. The Life size cut out of Enzo and Bird to the right of the image is barely visible unfortunately.



Caged was shown on the left monitor whilst my extended showreel was shown on the left monitor

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I have also submitted Caged to the OneDotZero festival, making that the fourth festival that I have submitted it to. Fingers crossed that my film is picked for the screenings.

End of Uni and the student show + My Degree

Delayed post as I was trying to get a photo of my booth from the student show. I will hopefully have a photo of it in my next blog post instead.

Last Saturday the student show came to an end as well as my time at University. I enjoyed the student degree show and had alot of interest from others which was great.

So what now?

Apart from looking for a job I will also be pushing my film, Caged, in to festivals. So far I have sent my film to three events and hoping to be selected:

The cut 2011
Smalls Film Festival
Encounters

I'm hoping that the FLIP animation festival is continued this year too so that I have a chance of having my film sent by the Univserity.

I also got my degree and it was as I had predicted:

"You have been awarded a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Animation First Class on 7 June 2011."
Really happy I got what I had hoped for and I will make sure to keep improving.

Final Grades and my Student Degree Show experience

Still two days left for the student degree show and then my time at university comes to an end (which is both exciting and upsetting as I'll miss the 1st and 2nd years as well as the lecturers, its been an awesome time).

Last Friday marked the start of my student degree show with a private viewing for the evening. It was a very busy night and I got a lot of attention. I was extremely pleased with the evening, especially with the new contacts that I made.

The student show then opened for the public this week and closes tommorrow (Friday 9th June). The past three days have been great and whilst it's no where near as busy  I've still had a lot of interest in my film and gained more contacts.

I also got my final grades for this year which I'm definately proud of and my degree is definately a 1st by looking at my grades (13 grades out of the 14 that make up my second and third year have been A's). I was also told that the examiner found my film to be the best student film he has seen which is very motivating for me to keep animating.

I already have some ideas for new films although these will be shorter than Caged.

In my next blog post I will include a photo of my booth at the student degree show.

Student Degree Show 2011

So it's finally time for the student degree show, something I've been looking forward to since last year's degree show. It's been fun preparing for the show especially since I've been one of the main organisers of the event for my class.

It's been an interesting experience pitching for a budget, organising posters and life size cut outs as well as helping with the designs for the promotion of the animation show.

The degree show begins on Friday 3rd June with a private viewing from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. This is an invite only day so to attend and to have the chance to see Caged, you must print this e-invite off:

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/files/images/newsletters/sad/4/degree-show-invite.pdf
(allows 4 people to attend)

or you can

RSVP to:
E: art-design@wlv.ac.uk
T: 01902 322058
The degree show will then be open to everyone on Monday 6th June to Friday 10th June (no invite needed).

First Screening of Caged

Today was my final presentation at Wolverhampton University and also the first time Caged was shown in a completed state. Really enjoyed the presentations for my year and seeing everyones hard work paying off.

The presentation for me went well although I had planned on showing extra content in case we were required to show more. In the end, it wasn't required so the extra content prepared was not shown. Good news is that I will update the blog instead with these.

With only an essay to complete for my course, I will now begin to focus on the student show as well as planning what film festivals I will be submitting Caged to.

Caged Trailer now online!

With my film almost complete, I have uploaded the first trailer for Caged:



I will be re-editing and spending more time on the trailer once my film is finished, for now I quickly put this together to promote my presentation on May 10th. Can't wait!

Len Lye Exhibition - The Body Electric

Visited the Len Lye exhibition at the Ikon (Birmingham) today. Unfortunately I can't post any photos as I had to sign a form saying that I will not publish them, Took photos of some of his drawings/ paintings/ stills that would prove quite useful for the end credits of my animation in terms of inspiration or influence.

My favourite bit of the exhibition were the big installments that warped steel to create different sound and light like Blade and Fountains. The best being the piece, Zebra, which involved a thin rod spinning until it was fast enough to create the illusion of vase like shapes.

I was impressed by the animation as well considering the years that they were made in.

Although I was hoping for a bit more, it was still worth going...I just wish I could post the pictures though.

New semester starts

Has been a really busy holiday (for me it just meant working all day at home). The big presentations are now done and provisional grades are coming in which have been awesome for me so far; really motivates me to work even harder and to do better than what I've achieved so far as theres always tons of room for improvement.

Project Enzo is the biggest project I am working on and it is a huge risk but its the result of constantly pushing myself further with each semester. I've reached a point where I have to outperform myself from each previous semester and its something I really hope doesnt bring me down in to a mess as even I can understand just how difficult the road ahead is. But Project Enzo is more than this as it is a chance to prove to myself that I am capable of reaching my life dream.

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Will be attending "Breaking into animation, armed with a crayon" by Curtis Jobling. Looking forward to it as it's quite intimidating with the end of the 3rd year quickly approaching.

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Don't have much to show since my last blog update, my body caught up with me and I couldnt concentrate on work for the past few days thanks to going to sleep at 3am-4am daily and a few 2 hour nights in between. It's annoying as I want to keep working but I find myself falling asleep. So a few days rest and I'll be back to normal as I want to get as much ready for 2nd semester which starts next Friday.