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Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta -UK. Mostrar todas las entradas
Richard Webber
Purple and Brown - "Spaghetti" Muchos mas videos de esta serie en youtube.
Even Purple and Brown recognise Bristol’s importance to the World of Ballooning, but will Brown’s ‘personal’ balloon technique catch on?
Purple and Brown are two high-spirited blob-like creatures whose world is visited by weird and wonderful plasticine characters. Each episode they greet their new friends with infectious laughter and an innocent curiosity, which often ends in one or both of them sustaining injury. Nothing seems to wipe the grin off their faces - not even hungry zombies, grumpy aliens or scary monsters. It seems the more they manage to damage themselves, the happier Purple and Brown appear to be!
Created by Aardman’s Richard Webber, the 10 x 1 second interstitials and 20 x 10 second stings will broadcast on International Nickelodeon channels from this autumn and will also feature on Nickelodeon UK’swebsite.
Richard Webber (Writer/Director) graduated in Animation from Newport Film School in 1991.
He joined Bristol-based Cod Steaks as a set builder and went onto to work for CMTB Animations as an animator on Tony Hart’s Art Box Bunch and other series and commercials. He continued to animate on various short films and more commercials for Bolex Brothers, before becoming a member of the animation team for Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire for the BBC.
In 2000 Rich joined Aardman Animations, working as a key animator on Creature Comforts, Angry Kid, Morph, a short film for the World Wildlife Fund and numerous commercials. He wrote and directed his first short film Lens’ Lens in 2002, and added to his directing credits with some ‘stings’ for Channel 4’s E4 and commercials for The Countryside Code and Serta.
In 2005 he wrote and directed a series of shorts featuring his own characters Purple and Brown for Nickelodeon, and he is currently developing a full length series for his creations Munkee Duck and Stoat. (via)
Creature Comforts: "Suppose you Say" Muchos mas videos de esta serie en youtube.
Angry Kid Special pt. 4 Muchos mas videos de esta serie en youtube.
The Morph Files - "The Dog Show" Muchos mas videos de esta serie en youtube.
IMDB
Richard Webber en Digital Spy
Rich Webber en Aardman
Arthur Cox
ArthurCox is a Bristol based animation company that was born in 2001 when Sarah Cox met Sally Arthur and they set up a studio in a Clerkenwell cupboard. It was here that they produced the Bafta nominated Heavy Pockets, and the award winning AIR scheme film ‘Perfect’, as well as many commercials for the French TV market.
After the move to Bristol in 2004 they were joined by directors Matthew Walker, Felix Massie and Emma Lazenby and they continue to produce award winning films; ‘John and Karen’, ‘Don’t Let It All Unravel’ and ‘A-Z’.
Se pueden ver diversos fragmentos de ArthurCox en Youtube y en su WEB.
Sarah Cox studied Animation at the Royal College of Art graduating in 1992. She has since worked as a director of short films and commercials. This includes most notably REEL TO REEL in 1997 (Winner, Best film under 10 mins British Animation Awards) and PLAIN PLEASURES commissioned by Channel 4 and completed in 2001, winner of a Silver Dove at Leipzig.
PLAIN PLEASURES 2001
Her latest film is a 6 minute commission from S4C: HEAVY POCKETS which was nominated for the Short Film BAFTA 2005 and has been screened in festivals worldwide including RUSHES, Onedotzero, Message to Man, MIAF, LIAF, Tricky Women, Clermont Ferrand and Morbegno.
HEAVY POCKETS 2004
She joined Picasso PIctures in 1994 and her directing credits include campaigns for Boots No7 and Avaya Communications as well as individual commercials for Sanatogen, Benadryl and Virgin Megastores. A year was spent as Head of 2D Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia (1999 - 2000). Further teaching followed at the National Film and TV School UK (2001 - 2003) Exeter University, Bristol University and Newport. She is external examiner for London Met Animation MA and the National School of Film and Television Animation Direction course. Sarah left Picasso Pictures to set up Arthur Cox with Sally Arthur in 2002. Using a combination of live action and animation they have directed sequences for Channel 4 TV special WILDE STORIES as well as commercials for Coca Cola, Dasani mineral water, Nestea, Kelloggs Wheats and All-Bran. She directed Don't let it all Unravel a short knitted film about global warming for S.O.S./Live Earth 07 which was produced through Aardman.
John and Karen produced by Sarah Cox and directed by Matthew Walker has won several awards including Best Animation for Adults at Annecy 2007. She is currently producing the animation for a BBC Children's Newsround Special. Sarah is currently directing a short film Take Time - a short film about Bristol using archive footage, as well as developing ArthurCox's series Where's my Dinner? - a 52x7 adventure show with co-director Sally Arthur.(via)
Dear Nelson (2001)
3 Ways to Go (1997)
"A TIME AND A TIME" (2008) Sarah Cox
Sally Arthur
Since 2002 Sally has co-directed commercials, graphic sequences, idents and short films at Arthur Cox – a company she started with Sarah Cox – starting with Wilde Stories in 2002 and including ads for Oscillo, Dasani, Nestea, All bran and more – first in Clerkenwell Workshops and now in Bristol.
"Dear dairy" 2000
Arthur Cox are currently developing a series for children called Where’s my Dinner? and recently produced 3 short films.
"Perfect" 2004
Sally directed Perfect (fragmento 1) (fragmento 2) in 2004 – produced by Blackwatch for MESH / Channel 4 – about a suburban 70’ couple and their deteriorating possessions. It has been screened in many festivals including ANIMAC, Tricky Women, LIAF, MIAF, Anima Mundi, Animated Encounters, RESFEST. (via)
"A-Z" 2007 Sally Arthur
Fragmento de A-Z
Fragmento de A-Z en la bobina de los nominados al BAF 2008.
"A to Z" 2007
Emma Lazenby
Mother of many (2009)
After the move to Bristol in 2004 they were joined by directors Matthew Walker, Felix Massie and Emma Lazenby and they continue to produce award winning films; ‘John and Karen’, ‘Don’t Let It All Unravel’ and ‘A-Z’.
Se pueden ver diversos fragmentos de ArthurCox en Youtube y en su WEB.
Sarah Cox studied Animation at the Royal College of Art graduating in 1992. She has since worked as a director of short films and commercials. This includes most notably REEL TO REEL in 1997 (Winner, Best film under 10 mins British Animation Awards) and PLAIN PLEASURES commissioned by Channel 4 and completed in 2001, winner of a Silver Dove at Leipzig.
PLAIN PLEASURES 2001
Her latest film is a 6 minute commission from S4C: HEAVY POCKETS which was nominated for the Short Film BAFTA 2005 and has been screened in festivals worldwide including RUSHES, Onedotzero, Message to Man, MIAF, LIAF, Tricky Women, Clermont Ferrand and Morbegno.
HEAVY POCKETS 2004
She joined Picasso PIctures in 1994 and her directing credits include campaigns for Boots No7 and Avaya Communications as well as individual commercials for Sanatogen, Benadryl and Virgin Megastores. A year was spent as Head of 2D Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia (1999 - 2000). Further teaching followed at the National Film and TV School UK (2001 - 2003) Exeter University, Bristol University and Newport. She is external examiner for London Met Animation MA and the National School of Film and Television Animation Direction course. Sarah left Picasso Pictures to set up Arthur Cox with Sally Arthur in 2002. Using a combination of live action and animation they have directed sequences for Channel 4 TV special WILDE STORIES as well as commercials for Coca Cola, Dasani mineral water, Nestea, Kelloggs Wheats and All-Bran. She directed Don't let it all Unravel a short knitted film about global warming for S.O.S./Live Earth 07 which was produced through Aardman.
John and Karen produced by Sarah Cox and directed by Matthew Walker has won several awards including Best Animation for Adults at Annecy 2007. She is currently producing the animation for a BBC Children's Newsround Special. Sarah is currently directing a short film Take Time - a short film about Bristol using archive footage, as well as developing ArthurCox's series Where's my Dinner? - a 52x7 adventure show with co-director Sally Arthur.(via)
Dear Nelson (2001)
3 Ways to Go (1997)
"A TIME AND A TIME" (2008) Sarah Cox
Sally Arthur
Since 2002 Sally has co-directed commercials, graphic sequences, idents and short films at Arthur Cox – a company she started with Sarah Cox – starting with Wilde Stories in 2002 and including ads for Oscillo, Dasani, Nestea, All bran and more – first in Clerkenwell Workshops and now in Bristol.
"Dear dairy" 2000
Arthur Cox are currently developing a series for children called Where’s my Dinner? and recently produced 3 short films.
"Perfect" 2004
Sally directed Perfect (fragmento 1) (fragmento 2) in 2004 – produced by Blackwatch for MESH / Channel 4 – about a suburban 70’ couple and their deteriorating possessions. It has been screened in many festivals including ANIMAC, Tricky Women, LIAF, MIAF, Anima Mundi, Animated Encounters, RESFEST. (via)
"A-Z" 2007 Sally Arthur
Fragmento de A-Z
Fragmento de A-Z en la bobina de los nominados al BAF 2008.
"A to Z" 2007
Emma Lazenby
Mother of many (2009)
A Bristol film director is celebrating winning a Bafta for her short animation, Mother Of Many.
The film, from production company Arthur Cox, follows the rhythms of a baby inside the womb. Director Emma Lazenby said she was "absolutely delighted" with the award for the film, which was inspired by her mother, who is a midwife. "I had been thinking of retraining as a midwife but I think I'll stick with animation now," she added. Producer Sally Arthur was unable to attend the award ceremony on Sunday night at London's Royal Opera House because she is in the late stages of pregnancy. Ms Lazenby has lived and worked in Bristol for three years, after a career that has encompassed filming in the Scottish Highlands and working on pop videos and adverts in London. She also worked as a designer on CBBC favourite Charlie and Lola. Caroline Norbury, of South West Screen, which helped finance the film said: "It's fantastic news for Bristol that once again our talent is being recognised. "Last year, Esther May Campbell and Aardman both brought home awards so to achieve a win again in 2010 is simply exceptional."
The Bafta awards are given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. (via)
Thomas Hicks
"I graduated from Kingston University in July 2004 with a degree in Illustration. During my degree I specialised in Animation, working with drawn animation processes and live action. After I graduated, I was a Runner at Framestore-CFC in Soho, London for a few months and have more recently been working as a Junior Digital Lab Operator at Framestore-CFC doing restoration work on film projects such as ‘Fateless’, ‘Sahara’ and ‘The Constant Gardener’. In February I won a commission to make a music video for Warp Records as part of a competition run in Creative Review Magazine. It was for one of their new artists called ‘Gravenhurst’ for a track called ‘I turn my face to the forest floor’. I have just finished a new video and artwork for Warp Records for Gravenhurst once again and just finished the artwork for their new album – 'Fires in Distant Buildings' – out on October 24th 2005. I am currently working as a freelance – doing illustration and animation work. I have been 'festival hopping' with my film for the last few months which I have really enjoyed."(via)
Gravenhurst - "I turn my face to the forest floor" más info
GravenHurst - "The Velvet Cell" (el video para descargar)
Thomas Hicks Animation Montage 2007
DNTEL - "Rock My Bo" Directed By Jenny Coburn, Thomas Hicks and Will Perrens. 2007
Animation - Thomas Hicks, Music - Aaron Lampert.
Gravenhurst - "I turn my face to the forest floor" más info
GravenHurst - "The Velvet Cell" (el video para descargar)
Thomas Hicks Animation Montage 2007
DNTEL - "Rock My Bo" Directed By Jenny Coburn, Thomas Hicks and Will Perrens. 2007
Animation - Thomas Hicks, Music - Aaron Lampert.
John Robertson
Flea Circus was founded in 1994, specializing in 2D/3D design and animation for commercials.
New Zealand-born animator/artist John Robertson is a one-flea circus, working from his base in London. His commercial for Gordon's Gin won a Bronze Lion at Cannes in 2005.
Rexona: Paper Doll
Toyota Prius - Commercial
Fragmentos de sus obras en curiouspictures.com
New Zealand-born animator/artist John Robertson is a one-flea circus, working from his base in London. His commercial for Gordon's Gin won a Bronze Lion at Cannes in 2005.
Rexona: Paper Doll
Toyota Prius - Commercial
Fragmentos de sus obras en curiouspictures.com
Osbert Parker
Three time British Academy Award Nominated director Osbert Parker, is perhaps best-known for his signature style of using cut-out animation mixed with live action to create one-of-a-kind imaginary landscapes within commercials and short films.
For the past three years Parker has been experimenting and crafting two short films that are receiving great acclaim on the film festival circuit. “Film Noir” was nominated for best short animated film by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2006 and also was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was included at the Telluride Film Festival as well.
"Film Noir" screened in competition at Slamdance this year whilst his newest short film, “Yours Truly,” (aka "Head over Heels") is screened in competition at Sundance 2008. "Yours Truly" won best animated film at last years Aspen Short Film Festival, the gold plaque at the Chicago Film Festival, best animated short at both Melbourne and St. Louis before being nominated for his third BAFTA in 2008.
Parker is a freelance director who has worked at Quentin Tarantino’s production company A Band Apart as their first commercial director in 1995 and as Steve Barron’s second unit director on Hallmark’s TV feature length ARABIAN NIGHTS. In 2005 he was selected by writer/director Richard Curtis as one of the directors to create a special animated MAKE POVERTY HISTORY film.
Parker’s commercial credits include such clients as Coca-Cola, Nike, Budweiser, The World Wildlife Fund and MTV.
He is currently creating the third short in his “Noir” trilogy and developing a mixed media feature
while he completes 3 new NPower commercials due for release later this year in April 2008. (via)
Osbert Parker interview Level 4 Animation Bir Martin Tierney
Osbert Parker: television commercials (via)
One of the most creative exponents of cut-out animation, Osbert Parker uses a blend of this and live action video in his films and, as in the four examples today, television commercials. A graduate of Middlesex Polytechnic Osbert is perhaps best known for his award winning shorts Film Noir (2005) and Yours Truly (2006), the latter being one I intend to feature shortly in the next few days. His commercial work shows all his often dazzling array of live action harnessed to different animation technologies. Physiology (for Kinkos) has an array of landscapes, notably the litter strewn skies above huge towering filing cabinets and a guy with a rubber neck, not to mention marching men with raincoats, hats and umbrellas striding out on a paper document; then we embark on a voyage into an eye and a desert before we hit paydirt and enter the office of Kinko's who solve all mankind's filing problems. It does what every commercial should do - grab attention and then the sales. Blackboard (MTV) has us being exhorted to change what we do and say, by two blackboards and a whiteboard in a mix of computerised and stop-motion work. Shoelace Soccer (NIKE) and School House (Coca Cola) similarly succeed in a crowded market place in securing attention for the product. Just for fun I've had my classes working out how many techniques Osbert has used. Goodness knows what they will make of his longer films. In a studio with a fine array of talent, his employer Curious Pictures has a director producing cutting edge, distinctive work.
Review of Osbert Parker's shorts Film Noir & Yours Truly.
FRagmentos de sus obras en curiouspictures.com
WEB de Parker
For the past three years Parker has been experimenting and crafting two short films that are receiving great acclaim on the film festival circuit. “Film Noir” was nominated for best short animated film by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2006 and also was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It was included at the Telluride Film Festival as well.
"Film Noir" screened in competition at Slamdance this year whilst his newest short film, “Yours Truly,” (aka "Head over Heels") is screened in competition at Sundance 2008. "Yours Truly" won best animated film at last years Aspen Short Film Festival, the gold plaque at the Chicago Film Festival, best animated short at both Melbourne and St. Louis before being nominated for his third BAFTA in 2008.
Parker is a freelance director who has worked at Quentin Tarantino’s production company A Band Apart as their first commercial director in 1995 and as Steve Barron’s second unit director on Hallmark’s TV feature length ARABIAN NIGHTS. In 2005 he was selected by writer/director Richard Curtis as one of the directors to create a special animated MAKE POVERTY HISTORY film.
Parker’s commercial credits include such clients as Coca-Cola, Nike, Budweiser, The World Wildlife Fund and MTV.
He is currently creating the third short in his “Noir” trilogy and developing a mixed media feature
while he completes 3 new NPower commercials due for release later this year in April 2008. (via)
Osbert Parker interview Level 4 Animation Bir Martin Tierney
Osbert Parker: television commercials (via)
One of the most creative exponents of cut-out animation, Osbert Parker uses a blend of this and live action video in his films and, as in the four examples today, television commercials. A graduate of Middlesex Polytechnic Osbert is perhaps best known for his award winning shorts Film Noir (2005) and Yours Truly (2006), the latter being one I intend to feature shortly in the next few days. His commercial work shows all his often dazzling array of live action harnessed to different animation technologies. Physiology (for Kinkos) has an array of landscapes, notably the litter strewn skies above huge towering filing cabinets and a guy with a rubber neck, not to mention marching men with raincoats, hats and umbrellas striding out on a paper document; then we embark on a voyage into an eye and a desert before we hit paydirt and enter the office of Kinko's who solve all mankind's filing problems. It does what every commercial should do - grab attention and then the sales. Blackboard (MTV) has us being exhorted to change what we do and say, by two blackboards and a whiteboard in a mix of computerised and stop-motion work. Shoelace Soccer (NIKE) and School House (Coca Cola) similarly succeed in a crowded market place in securing attention for the product. Just for fun I've had my classes working out how many techniques Osbert has used. Goodness knows what they will make of his longer films. In a studio with a fine array of talent, his employer Curious Pictures has a director producing cutting edge, distinctive work.
Review of Osbert Parker's shorts Film Noir & Yours Truly.
FRagmentos de sus obras en curiouspictures.com
WEB de Parker
Joan Ashworth
Joan Ashworth studied puppet animation at the National Film School in the mid-80s, graduating with her 18-minute film, The Web, using puppets made of soft leather and adapted from Mervyn Peake´s Titus Groan, the first book of his Gormenghast trilogy. She then went on to co-found the studio 3 Peach Animation, which became a highly successful producer of stop-frame animated commercials and title sequences. Finally becoming frustrated at working with such short formats, and wishing to return to more personal creative work, she moved to become the Head of the Royal College of Art´s highly respected Animation Department, which has won many international festival awards both for individual student films and for ´Best Animation School´. This has enabled her to continue her personal filmmaking, which has seen her move from traditional puppet animation to working with 3D computer technology. (via)
"The Web" (1987)
How Mermaids Breed (2002)
WEB de Joan Ashworth
"The Web" (1987)
How Mermaids Breed (2002)
WEB de Joan Ashworth
Selina Cobley
"Crow Moon" (2006)
Crow Moon was directed in 2006 by Selina Cobley, a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. It is based on a North American myth in which a flock of crows are so terrified by the onset of dusk and its predators that they call on the services of Raven Chief to conjure up a moon to save them. (I believe the fable is a native American one about the time when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter.) Crow Moon really is a remarkable film; I would call it beautiful, with silky whites and shadowy blacks - the black ravens with highlights tinged in white. When the moon appears it is a bowl of light, at once a refuge and aesthetically perfect. Selina has orchestrated the inhabitants of her world into patterns, with the threats abstract and the birds themselves beautiful in flight and yet possessing of a curiously endearing quality particularly when perched or moving on the ground. The original music by Leila Dunn is generally percussive, at once both ethnic and modern; and synchronised to the music exactly. Selina has her own website, whilst her movie can be viewed in full here. She provides detail of the techniques she used to create the unusual shimmering quality of light in the movie, including using oil and paint and some "scrunched up bits of tin foil" as well as studio lighting. Sponsorship for the film was obtained via the UK Film Council, BBC Scotland and The Arts Trust of Scotland. Should you have enjoyed Selina's movie you can treat yourself to a further nicely animated tale, the 60 second Beachcomber, alongside her longer work that she herself has placed on YouTube. I have seen Beachcomer before though I am unable to recall in what context. Her work is an absolute delight and after surveying some Czech wonders over the past few days it is pleasing to see new talent emerge nearer home - which, by the way, leads me to some of Ian Mackinnon’s work I have just been viewing, kindly sent to me on DVD. More about that at the weekend. There’s some talent about in the UK at the moment. (via)
"Takuskanskan" (2002)
This endearing animated short about the life-cycle of a cloud and those who come into contact with it is engaging and enjoyable.
In Dakotan North American Indian mythology Takuskanskan was a wind spirit or trickster. He comes across as quite a nice guy here and the impressionistic-looking pastel animation gives Cobley's short a real feeling of movement which makes it easy to imagine yourself being carried along on the wind with the action. She also strikes a neat balance retaining a primal feel despite the film's pretty animation.
Aided by a lilting and uplifting guitar soundtrack by Dirk Markham and Ross Taylor this short and sweet innovative animation leaves you wishing there was more of it. (via)
WEB de Selina
Yibi Hu
Yibi Hu is a visual artist, animator and filmmaker. He works on his own concepts and has created an exceptional portfolio of short films including, A Friend I Know, KEG, A Day at Dunjanez, Josie's Lalaland and Palingensia. Among these films many have won prestigious awards. His film KEG won a 2005 Adobe Design Achievement Award and Palingensia has won this year's top prize at the iStock Future Now! Contest.In 2006 Yibi was invited to compete in Reelideastudio at the Cannes Film festival where he won Best in Show. His other works have been shown in numerous film festivals, such as Onedotzero, Bitfilm festival, Bristol International Short Film Festival, Sundance Festival and many others around the world.
Yibi is also an experienced and awarded broadcast designer and works full time at UK's leading broadcast design company Redbee Media in London. Prior to working at Redbee Media he worked for BSkyB in London and SHMDS in Shanghai. As a broadcast designer Yibi has created many title sequences, content and on air idents on BBC Sport, BSkyB Sport, Shell, BBC Prime, UKTV, RTE, BBC World Wide and BAFTA among many others. (via)
Josie's Lalaland
IT'S ART: Could you tell me a little more about the history of Josie's Lalaland?
Yibi Hu: I first heard about a 14-year-old girl who was a blood cancer patient from one of my friends over in Asia. After 4 years of life in a hospital she stopped treatment and I was deeply moved by the girl's courage.I began to research children who are in the same situation as her and one day I read the story of Josie Grove in the newspaper. Josie was 16-years old and had been a leukemia patient for many years. She had two bone marrow transplants and a course of anti-cancer drugs, all of which were unsuccessful in beating Josie's cancer. When Josie was told that her condition was terminal she decided not to undertake any further treatment and went home to reunite with her family and enjoy a normal teenage life for her last 3 months. Not only because of similarity of two stories, but also the courage of these two different young individuals, I was inspired to create something that would capture such a spirit.
IA: Why have you chosen to relate this story using to video and C.G.?
YH: First, being a visual designer I naturally chose a visually rich route as my priority and CGI was an off the shelf solution.
IA: I really think you've achieved a very emotional short film. When watching it for the first time I experienced a lot of feelings, not only because of the story but also because of your artistic choices. Can you speak of these choices?
YH: I did consider the possibilities of filming or character animation. After thorough research of many leukemia cases I learned that what I was exploring was universal. For instance, the two cases that inspired me are remarkably similar yet occurred worlds apart.
This is why I decided not to make any specific figures or characters but to keep it as abstract as possible. I eventually made up my mind to create a fantasy world mixed with both dark and brightness, a world intersecting between reality and afterlife. Also I chose this because most children in the same situation would expect more outdoor action. Another influence was some of the jewelry designs done by Josie Grove. She was quite an artist and one piece she did was a silver dragonfly necklace. When I showed her family some of my early art work Josie’s mum saw my work as dragonfly rebirths from water, which gave me some ideas using more dragonfly like insects.
IA: There's something magical, ethereal in this short. It's a very sad story but on the other hand I felt that you tried to give to your short a happy touch. Are you agreement with this?
YH: I have to say I never see this story as a sad one. I was moved by Josie’s courage much more than anything else. There are certainly many different emotions mixed here but what I wanted to express more than anything is eternal happiness and love. It is true that the extreme condition of both kids destined their fate but encouraged by the love from their family and friends they lit candles for themselves in the darkest moments. Their take on their own case was indeed selfless, brave and pure.
IA: What have you learned from the experience of creating this short?
YH: I am happy with the treatment and solution. Somehow I am surprised that an abstract piece could also trigger emotional reactions just like a slow build up in a film. Maybe this could be explored more thoroughly in a proper feature film.Technically, as I have spent a great amount of time generating a HD 3D world in Aftereffect, I believe even more firmly that there is no clear boundary between software and hardware.
IA: Can you tell us a little more about the creative process? How have you elaborated the different scenes, chosen the creatures and colors we can see in your short?
YH: I did the whole thing following an imaged documentary route. I pretended that I was a cameraman wandering around in Josie’s world, taking random shots. I did many different scenes, each one describing its’ own emotion. I didn’t process further into editing until I had enough shots.
The color theme was decided from the beginning. I wanted a heavy atmosphere yet I also wanted it to be filled with delightful twinkling lights. The red clouds are something related to the nature of the disease itself and when I progressed further the red colors actually worked well against black. Most importantly I needed something to deliver gold seeds to the scene and red then became a perfect choice as it matches both gold and black. The creatures are mostly originated from outdoor insects. I designed them also based on experience.
I remember when I was living at Kingston I used to get annoyed by groups of flies along the river. After I moved into town centre I started to miss country life as well as the flies. Therefore, for me I associated the insects to life outside the city and when I had to design a symbolic “outdoors” or “suburbia” the flies made good choice.
IA: What was the most important thing for you while working on this film?
YH: Errr… don’t know how to answer this yet…but I do want people feel happy for Josie.
IA: What has been the reaction of the public to your short?
YH: I haven’t yet shown to a mass audience as I just finished it this August. I did show it to some of my friends and many of them got a bit tearful after watching it, which is a wicked reaction in my point of view.
IA: What are the tools you used? How long did you work on this project?
YH: Photoshop and Aftereffect are two dominate tools I used on this project. There are also some elements and camera reference I worked out in 3D.
It spent roughly 3 months purely on animation and post but a year on the whole film including all the developing work and sound. Because I have a daily I had to use my free time to work on it.
IA: Are you working on a new project? Can you let us know more about it?
YH: I am planning something focused on the fur trade industry but nothing I can talk too much about at the moment. I also hope to get some music video projects in the future. (via)
WEB de Yibi Hu
Yibi is also an experienced and awarded broadcast designer and works full time at UK's leading broadcast design company Redbee Media in London. Prior to working at Redbee Media he worked for BSkyB in London and SHMDS in Shanghai. As a broadcast designer Yibi has created many title sequences, content and on air idents on BBC Sport, BSkyB Sport, Shell, BBC Prime, UKTV, RTE, BBC World Wide and BAFTA among many others. (via)
Josie's Lalaland
IT'S ART: Could you tell me a little more about the history of Josie's Lalaland?
Yibi Hu: I first heard about a 14-year-old girl who was a blood cancer patient from one of my friends over in Asia. After 4 years of life in a hospital she stopped treatment and I was deeply moved by the girl's courage.I began to research children who are in the same situation as her and one day I read the story of Josie Grove in the newspaper. Josie was 16-years old and had been a leukemia patient for many years. She had two bone marrow transplants and a course of anti-cancer drugs, all of which were unsuccessful in beating Josie's cancer. When Josie was told that her condition was terminal she decided not to undertake any further treatment and went home to reunite with her family and enjoy a normal teenage life for her last 3 months. Not only because of similarity of two stories, but also the courage of these two different young individuals, I was inspired to create something that would capture such a spirit.
IA: Why have you chosen to relate this story using to video and C.G.?
YH: First, being a visual designer I naturally chose a visually rich route as my priority and CGI was an off the shelf solution.
IA: I really think you've achieved a very emotional short film. When watching it for the first time I experienced a lot of feelings, not only because of the story but also because of your artistic choices. Can you speak of these choices?
YH: I did consider the possibilities of filming or character animation. After thorough research of many leukemia cases I learned that what I was exploring was universal. For instance, the two cases that inspired me are remarkably similar yet occurred worlds apart.
This is why I decided not to make any specific figures or characters but to keep it as abstract as possible. I eventually made up my mind to create a fantasy world mixed with both dark and brightness, a world intersecting between reality and afterlife. Also I chose this because most children in the same situation would expect more outdoor action. Another influence was some of the jewelry designs done by Josie Grove. She was quite an artist and one piece she did was a silver dragonfly necklace. When I showed her family some of my early art work Josie’s mum saw my work as dragonfly rebirths from water, which gave me some ideas using more dragonfly like insects.
IA: There's something magical, ethereal in this short. It's a very sad story but on the other hand I felt that you tried to give to your short a happy touch. Are you agreement with this?
YH: I have to say I never see this story as a sad one. I was moved by Josie’s courage much more than anything else. There are certainly many different emotions mixed here but what I wanted to express more than anything is eternal happiness and love. It is true that the extreme condition of both kids destined their fate but encouraged by the love from their family and friends they lit candles for themselves in the darkest moments. Their take on their own case was indeed selfless, brave and pure.
IA: What have you learned from the experience of creating this short?
YH: I am happy with the treatment and solution. Somehow I am surprised that an abstract piece could also trigger emotional reactions just like a slow build up in a film. Maybe this could be explored more thoroughly in a proper feature film.Technically, as I have spent a great amount of time generating a HD 3D world in Aftereffect, I believe even more firmly that there is no clear boundary between software and hardware.
IA: Can you tell us a little more about the creative process? How have you elaborated the different scenes, chosen the creatures and colors we can see in your short?
YH: I did the whole thing following an imaged documentary route. I pretended that I was a cameraman wandering around in Josie’s world, taking random shots. I did many different scenes, each one describing its’ own emotion. I didn’t process further into editing until I had enough shots.
The color theme was decided from the beginning. I wanted a heavy atmosphere yet I also wanted it to be filled with delightful twinkling lights. The red clouds are something related to the nature of the disease itself and when I progressed further the red colors actually worked well against black. Most importantly I needed something to deliver gold seeds to the scene and red then became a perfect choice as it matches both gold and black. The creatures are mostly originated from outdoor insects. I designed them also based on experience.
I remember when I was living at Kingston I used to get annoyed by groups of flies along the river. After I moved into town centre I started to miss country life as well as the flies. Therefore, for me I associated the insects to life outside the city and when I had to design a symbolic “outdoors” or “suburbia” the flies made good choice.
IA: What was the most important thing for you while working on this film?
YH: Errr… don’t know how to answer this yet…but I do want people feel happy for Josie.
IA: What has been the reaction of the public to your short?
YH: I haven’t yet shown to a mass audience as I just finished it this August. I did show it to some of my friends and many of them got a bit tearful after watching it, which is a wicked reaction in my point of view.
IA: What are the tools you used? How long did you work on this project?
YH: Photoshop and Aftereffect are two dominate tools I used on this project. There are also some elements and camera reference I worked out in 3D.
It spent roughly 3 months purely on animation and post but a year on the whole film including all the developing work and sound. Because I have a daily I had to use my free time to work on it.
IA: Are you working on a new project? Can you let us know more about it?
YH: I am planning something focused on the fur trade industry but nothing I can talk too much about at the moment. I also hope to get some music video projects in the future. (via)
WEB de Yibi Hu
Cyriak Harris
Cyriak Harris is a British freelance animator better known by his first name Cyriak, and his B3ta username Mutated Monty.
A regular contributor to the British website B3ta since 2004[1], Cyriak displays a surreal and often disturbing animation style with a distinct British theme. Many of his animations are based on Z-List celebrities, television shows and his hometown of Brighton.
His work has been noticed by the BBC which resulted in a short interview[2], and the airing of his animation DeadEnders (based on the long-running soap opera EastEnders) on the BBC3 comedy series Comedy Shuffle[3]. He also received a special mention in the results of a photoshop competition run by the technology series Click[4].
me on the news
Cyriak's YouTube account features a compilation of his animations, which have been popular throughout the blogosphere and noted by Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk [5], and he was featured on the front page with his animation Moo.
As a freelance animator he has been commissioned by Coke for a Coke Zero advert[3], and by the video sharing website sumo.tv, among others. (via)
WEB de Cyriak
cyriak's animation mix
MOO!
Beastenders
Queenie
Beggin' - Frankie Valli video re-mix
Scratchzilla
messing with my head
A regular contributor to the British website B3ta since 2004[1], Cyriak displays a surreal and often disturbing animation style with a distinct British theme. Many of his animations are based on Z-List celebrities, television shows and his hometown of Brighton.
His work has been noticed by the BBC which resulted in a short interview[2], and the airing of his animation DeadEnders (based on the long-running soap opera EastEnders) on the BBC3 comedy series Comedy Shuffle[3]. He also received a special mention in the results of a photoshop competition run by the technology series Click[4].
me on the news
Cyriak's YouTube account features a compilation of his animations, which have been popular throughout the blogosphere and noted by Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk [5], and he was featured on the front page with his animation Moo.
As a freelance animator he has been commissioned by Coke for a Coke Zero advert[3], and by the video sharing website sumo.tv, among others. (via)
WEB de Cyriak
cyriak's animation mix
MOO!
Beastenders
Queenie
Beggin' - Frankie Valli video re-mix
Scratchzilla
messing with my head
Rob Chiu
Chiu has worked under the alias of The Ronin for 7 years in the field of motion design working for clients such as Leica Cameras, BBC, Channel 4, idN, Hybrid Studios and Digital Kitchen. His short narrative based films have been featured in a number of film festivals including Edinburgh, OneDotZero and Resfest while gaining awards along the way. He has given talks on his work at various design conferences such as Adobe Max, OFFF Barcelona, OFFF New York, Flash on the beach, FMX, Toca Me and now FITC Toronto and is regularly invited to run workshops at Universities and institutions around the world. Inspired by film, travel, and music, Chiu is constantly creating evocative stories with his work currently represented by London's Agile Films and Paris based Mr Hyde. (via)
"Black Day to Freedom"
En Curious Pictures se pueden ver diversos trabajos de Chiu e información.
Entrevista a Rob Chiu
www.theronin.co.uk Web de Rob Chiu
"Black Day to Freedom"
En Curious Pictures se pueden ver diversos trabajos de Chiu e información.
Entrevista a Rob Chiu
www.theronin.co.uk Web de Rob Chiu
Luis Cook
Following a degree in Graphic design, Luis has worked as an Art Teacher, Photographer, Art Director and Illustrator.
In 1992 he returned to study an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art.
After a stint at the BBC, he joined Aardman Animations in 1994. Since then, Luis has directed many commercials, promos and idents. His creative work has been awarded D&AD, British Animation Awards, Royal Television Awards and a BAFTA.
The Pearce Sisters is his first non-commercial film for Aardman. (via)
"The Pearce Sisters"
Información detallada de esta producción el su propia WEB.
In 1992 he returned to study an MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art.
After a stint at the BBC, he joined Aardman Animations in 1994. Since then, Luis has directed many commercials, promos and idents. His creative work has been awarded D&AD, British Animation Awards, Royal Television Awards and a BAFTA.
The Pearce Sisters is his first non-commercial film for Aardman. (via)
"The Pearce Sisters"
Información detallada de esta producción el su propia WEB.
Darren Price
Basado en una historia real, Potapych es un genial corto de animación que cuenta la historia de un oso al que le gustaba el vodka. Es obra de Darren Price, un australiano trabajando en Londres para Nexus Productions, y fue comisionado por Channel 4 tras ser seleccionado por el equipo de Mesh, una iniciativa de dicho canal para descubrir talentos de la animación por ordenador.(via)
"Potapych, The Bear who loved vodka" (2006)
WEB de Darren
"Potapych, The Bear who loved vodka" (2006)
WEB de Darren
Edward Foster
Edward graduated with a first class Animation degree from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside and won the Royal Television award for his graduation film "Pensioner Penny".
Before enroling at the NFTS Edward divided his time working as a
freelance animator for production companies Blue Sunflower and Klacto Veesedstene on various commercial projects including a twenty minute short for Sir Paul McCartney.
"Anna Spud" is his graduation film. (via)
"Anna Spud" (2003)
"Harold & Mabel"
"Pensioner Penny"
Blog de Ed Foster
Before enroling at the NFTS Edward divided his time working as a
freelance animator for production companies Blue Sunflower and Klacto Veesedstene on various commercial projects including a twenty minute short for Sir Paul McCartney.
"Anna Spud" is his graduation film. (via)
"Anna Spud" (2003)
"Harold & Mabel"
"Pensioner Penny"
Blog de Ed Foster
Siri Melchior
The Dog Who Was A Cat Inside directed by Siri Melchior was made in 2002. It is one of those movies that is distinctive for reasons of style as much as content. A dog has a cat inside. It's not that he/she was born into the wrong gender or anything, it's just that the two quite different characters exist in the same body and fight it out. The hand drawn and painted artwork is drop dead beautiful with dramatically 2D sets and some city shots, either from ground level or looking down, all with vibrant use of colour and a Cubist influence in style. When it is night there is a softness and romance, when it's day the bright blues are uplifting. There is a beauty here that refreshes, as well as making a statement about reconciling the inner conflicts that plague us. The rhythms of Julian McDonald at Sanctuary Townhouse Studios, together with the perfectly matched music of Tanera Dawkins, add a great deal to the atmosphere. It was commissioned by Channel 4 Television. Siri was born in 1971 (Copenhagen, Denmark) and initially obtained her diploma and degree at the Danish Design School and University of Copenhagen. She is another of the celebrated post graduate students at the Royal College of Art. Siri works in London at Passion Pictures and taught animation for a short time at the London College of Printing. (via)
The Dog Who Was A Cat Inside
The Dog Who Was A Cat Inside
Gaku Kinoshita
Gaku Kinoshita nació en Tokyo en 1977 y se trasladó a Inglaterra en 1997. Terminó un curso preparatorio en la Escuela de Arte de Camberwell en 1999, una Licenciatura en Diseño Gráfico por la Escuela de Arte y Diseño Central Saint Martins en 2002 y un Máster de Animación por el Royal College of Art en 2004. Ese mismo año trabajó en Passion Pictures, en el Reino Unido.
"for your blossom" (2004)
tomonomoto.com es la web de Kinoshita
bbc.co.uk
"for your blossom" (2004)
tomonomoto.com es la web de Kinoshita
bbc.co.uk
Richard Williams
By general informed consensus, Richard Williams is probably the finest animator alive—in Chuck Jones's words, "the only 'genius' genius to come along in animation in years." His style—fluid, dynamic, assured, painstakingly detailed—consciously harks back to the golden age of full animation, when the Disney studio was at its creative peak: the years of Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. Williams himself, though heartily sick of being dubbed "the new Disney," readily acknowledges his indebtedness. "Nobody has ever surpassed Disney. . . . He did everything. We have to go back and study him." No other contemporary animator is more constantly aware of the tradition he inherits—though it may be that this awareness has served to inhibit as much as to inspire him.
"An animator," Williams has said, "should be able to draw like Degas." He has never been shy of invoking the highest possible standards, both for himself and for those who work with him: not only Disney, Jones, and Max Fleischer, but the weightiest names in the whole field of human art. "I don't think in terms of animation. . . . My standards come from music, painting, and literature. . . . I'm in the same business as Goya and Rembrandt. I may be rotten at it with nothing of the same quality and talent, but that's my business." Not surprisingly, his view of the cheap, limited-animation material prevalent on television is dismissive. "It's like the three-chord trick in music. It's quick, easy, and you don't need any real training to do it. . . . But don't call it animation."
Williams's first film gained him immediate and worldwide renown. The Little Island, which took three years to make (and is said to be the longest film ever drawn and animated single-handedly), is a half-hour philosophical allegory; Roger Manvell called it "at once absurd and violent, madly serious and wildly funny." Three small, pear-shaped people land on a desert island. They personify, respectively, Goodness, Beauty, and Truth. Goodness and Beauty, dangerous monomaniacs, soon clash, piling increasingly grandiose structures on their rival concepts, until they metamorphose into ferocious monsters whose vast collision shudders the globe. Truth, meanwhile, bemused and conscientious, keeps score on a blackboard which takes on the shape of a nuclear bomb. The film uses no words; the most complex abstract ideas are brilliantly conveyed in purely visual terms. The Little Island picked up a stack of awards, and Williams—who founded his London studio on its success—was hailed as an animator of infinite promise.
More than 30 years on, that promise still awaits fulfillment. The films that Williams has completed on his own account—Love Me, Love Me, Love Me; The Dermis Probe; The Sailor and the Devil—though accomplished, are relatively banal in content, lacking the dazzling originality, the sense of ideas in full spate, that fueled The Little Island. They suggest a major talent coasting at half-throttle. A Christmas Carol, commissioned by ABC TV, displayed impressive technique, for which it well deserved its Oscar, although Williams's imagination was constrained by fidelity to the Dickens text. His only feature-length film to date, Raggedy Ann and Andy, was also an American commission, and one which he thoroughly regretted accepting. "The lesson I learned was the Golden Rule: 'Whoever has the gold makes the rules."'
The Thief Who Never Gave Up Part 1
The Thief Who Never Gave Up Part 2
Much of his finest work, from a technical standpoint, has been seen in commercials, and in title sequences for live-action features. Far from regarding advertising as a demeaning chore, to be undertaken with disdain, Williams always welcomed the chance to extend his team's range, comparing commercials to calisthenics: "You try new things, you get all this extra technique." His studio, turning out over 100 ads a year in a staggering variety of styles, was reckoned probably the best, and certainly the most versatile, commercial animation house in the world. Several of Williams's commercials became classics, while his titles often outclassed the films they adorned. In Tony Richardson's The Charge of the Light Brigade, his superb linking passages, based on Victorian political cartoons, were widely admired; the rest of the film flopped. "It's a pity," Pauline Kael remarked acidly, "that Richardson didn't leave the Charge itself to Williams."
Yet after all the years of limbering up, all the flexing of creative muscle and development of technique, the Big Event is still to come. From time to time tantalizing fragments—storyboards, sketches, even sections of film—have surfaced: I Vor Pittfalks, the rise of a demagogue; Circus Drawings, based on sketches Williams made in Spain; a treatment of Gogol's Diary of a Madman; all, to date, unfinished.
Excerpt from sequence Zig Zag in the Camp of the One Eyes
And for more than 25 years there was the great Asian epic, "banana-skin Ali Baba or slapstick 1,001 Nights," that grew out of illustrations for a book about the legendary wise fool, Mullah Nasrudin. Started in 1967, the project changed titles a dozen times (though The Thief and the Cobbler was the longest-running favorite) and was repeatedly announced as "nearing completion." Williams promised that when it eventually appeared, it would "change the face of animation."
"A Christmas Carol"
For a while, it seemed the arrival of this long-awaited magnum opus might be speeded by the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which integrated live-action and animation at an unprecedented level of technical complexity. It was Steven Spielberg, producing the film in tandem with Disney's Touchstone Studios, who persuaded Williams to provide Rabbit's animated element. Technically dazzling and packed with in-jokes for animation buffs, the film triumphed at the box office and gained Williams a Special Achievement Oscar—the first animator to win one since Disney himself.
This international acclaim, Williams hoped, would help him raise funding; he could pull out of commercial work and concentrate on finishing The Thief. But potential investors feared that the release of Disney's Aladdin might spoil the market, and in 1992, Williams's studio, overwhelmed by debts, laid off all its staff and ceased operations. Taken out of his hands by a Los Angeles completion bond company, his film was radically altered against his wishes and finally released (as Arabian Knight) in 1995. It flopped dismally at the U.S. box office.
Williams has plans to return to production with two animated features "based on ancient stories." But for the time being, doubts must still remain whether Richard Williams is not so much ?the new Disney? as the Orson Welles of animation—a prodigious talent foundering amid a mass of incomplete projects.
—Philip Kemp (via)
wikipedia.org
IMDB
"An animator," Williams has said, "should be able to draw like Degas." He has never been shy of invoking the highest possible standards, both for himself and for those who work with him: not only Disney, Jones, and Max Fleischer, but the weightiest names in the whole field of human art. "I don't think in terms of animation. . . . My standards come from music, painting, and literature. . . . I'm in the same business as Goya and Rembrandt. I may be rotten at it with nothing of the same quality and talent, but that's my business." Not surprisingly, his view of the cheap, limited-animation material prevalent on television is dismissive. "It's like the three-chord trick in music. It's quick, easy, and you don't need any real training to do it. . . . But don't call it animation."
Williams's first film gained him immediate and worldwide renown. The Little Island, which took three years to make (and is said to be the longest film ever drawn and animated single-handedly), is a half-hour philosophical allegory; Roger Manvell called it "at once absurd and violent, madly serious and wildly funny." Three small, pear-shaped people land on a desert island. They personify, respectively, Goodness, Beauty, and Truth. Goodness and Beauty, dangerous monomaniacs, soon clash, piling increasingly grandiose structures on their rival concepts, until they metamorphose into ferocious monsters whose vast collision shudders the globe. Truth, meanwhile, bemused and conscientious, keeps score on a blackboard which takes on the shape of a nuclear bomb. The film uses no words; the most complex abstract ideas are brilliantly conveyed in purely visual terms. The Little Island picked up a stack of awards, and Williams—who founded his London studio on its success—was hailed as an animator of infinite promise.
More than 30 years on, that promise still awaits fulfillment. The films that Williams has completed on his own account—Love Me, Love Me, Love Me; The Dermis Probe; The Sailor and the Devil—though accomplished, are relatively banal in content, lacking the dazzling originality, the sense of ideas in full spate, that fueled The Little Island. They suggest a major talent coasting at half-throttle. A Christmas Carol, commissioned by ABC TV, displayed impressive technique, for which it well deserved its Oscar, although Williams's imagination was constrained by fidelity to the Dickens text. His only feature-length film to date, Raggedy Ann and Andy, was also an American commission, and one which he thoroughly regretted accepting. "The lesson I learned was the Golden Rule: 'Whoever has the gold makes the rules."'
The Thief Who Never Gave Up Part 1
The Thief Who Never Gave Up Part 2
Much of his finest work, from a technical standpoint, has been seen in commercials, and in title sequences for live-action features. Far from regarding advertising as a demeaning chore, to be undertaken with disdain, Williams always welcomed the chance to extend his team's range, comparing commercials to calisthenics: "You try new things, you get all this extra technique." His studio, turning out over 100 ads a year in a staggering variety of styles, was reckoned probably the best, and certainly the most versatile, commercial animation house in the world. Several of Williams's commercials became classics, while his titles often outclassed the films they adorned. In Tony Richardson's The Charge of the Light Brigade, his superb linking passages, based on Victorian political cartoons, were widely admired; the rest of the film flopped. "It's a pity," Pauline Kael remarked acidly, "that Richardson didn't leave the Charge itself to Williams."
Yet after all the years of limbering up, all the flexing of creative muscle and development of technique, the Big Event is still to come. From time to time tantalizing fragments—storyboards, sketches, even sections of film—have surfaced: I Vor Pittfalks, the rise of a demagogue; Circus Drawings, based on sketches Williams made in Spain; a treatment of Gogol's Diary of a Madman; all, to date, unfinished.
Excerpt from sequence Zig Zag in the Camp of the One Eyes
And for more than 25 years there was the great Asian epic, "banana-skin Ali Baba or slapstick 1,001 Nights," that grew out of illustrations for a book about the legendary wise fool, Mullah Nasrudin. Started in 1967, the project changed titles a dozen times (though The Thief and the Cobbler was the longest-running favorite) and was repeatedly announced as "nearing completion." Williams promised that when it eventually appeared, it would "change the face of animation."
"A Christmas Carol"
For a while, it seemed the arrival of this long-awaited magnum opus might be speeded by the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which integrated live-action and animation at an unprecedented level of technical complexity. It was Steven Spielberg, producing the film in tandem with Disney's Touchstone Studios, who persuaded Williams to provide Rabbit's animated element. Technically dazzling and packed with in-jokes for animation buffs, the film triumphed at the box office and gained Williams a Special Achievement Oscar—the first animator to win one since Disney himself.
This international acclaim, Williams hoped, would help him raise funding; he could pull out of commercial work and concentrate on finishing The Thief. But potential investors feared that the release of Disney's Aladdin might spoil the market, and in 1992, Williams's studio, overwhelmed by debts, laid off all its staff and ceased operations. Taken out of his hands by a Los Angeles completion bond company, his film was radically altered against his wishes and finally released (as Arabian Knight) in 1995. It flopped dismally at the U.S. box office.
Williams has plans to return to production with two animated features "based on ancient stories." But for the time being, doubts must still remain whether Richard Williams is not so much ?the new Disney? as the Orson Welles of animation—a prodigious talent foundering amid a mass of incomplete projects.
—Philip Kemp (via)
wikipedia.org
IMDB
Karen Kelly
The film "stressed" follows the residents of a tenement block whose interwoven lives are made tougher by the tension and stress of city life. We watch to see how various stressful events of the day make them behave and in turn have a knock on effect on others.
An Animate commission for Channel Four Television & the Arts Council. (via)
El corto "stressed" en Youtube y con pésima calidad.
stressed
An Animate commission for Channel Four Television & the Arts Council. (via)
El corto "stressed" en Youtube y con pésima calidad.
stressed
Derek Hayes
Skywhales is a 1983 animated short film that depicts a fictional society of alien creatures dwelling in the atmosphere of a gas giant. The film is notable for the completeness of its depiction of a fictitious society, including alien language, flora, fauna, and social structures and practices.
The story concerns a tribal society of mohawked green skinned creatures, who speak in a complex language of hoots. The hoots are not subtitled, leaving the viewer to determine the meaning from visual context alone. One significant tribal custom introduced early on is the appearance of a subset of the population with dead white skin color, encountering them causes the protagonist to shield his eyes from viewing them and allow them to pass. It soon becomes apparent that the society lives in the atmosphere on flying islands, and use paddled, flying wooden craft to hunt large winged creatures, the skywhales of the title. After a particularly dramatic hunt, the protagonist hiccups, and acquires the same dead white pallor seen before. His distraught companions react with disbelief, then adopt the convention of shielding their eyes. They follow him on his journey to an open pit, and watch him pitch himself forward. Unseen by them, he falls all night, as a cocoon forms around him. At daybreak, having fallen out of the floating island, he hatches from the cocoon as a juvenile skywhale, and flys off. (via)
"Skywhales" (1983). Phil Austin and Derek Hayes
The Victor (1985) - Part 1
The Victor (1985) - Part 2
The Miracle Maker (2000) Derek W. Hayes y Stanislav Sokolov
Britfilms
The story concerns a tribal society of mohawked green skinned creatures, who speak in a complex language of hoots. The hoots are not subtitled, leaving the viewer to determine the meaning from visual context alone. One significant tribal custom introduced early on is the appearance of a subset of the population with dead white skin color, encountering them causes the protagonist to shield his eyes from viewing them and allow them to pass. It soon becomes apparent that the society lives in the atmosphere on flying islands, and use paddled, flying wooden craft to hunt large winged creatures, the skywhales of the title. After a particularly dramatic hunt, the protagonist hiccups, and acquires the same dead white pallor seen before. His distraught companions react with disbelief, then adopt the convention of shielding their eyes. They follow him on his journey to an open pit, and watch him pitch himself forward. Unseen by them, he falls all night, as a cocoon forms around him. At daybreak, having fallen out of the floating island, he hatches from the cocoon as a juvenile skywhale, and flys off. (via)
"Skywhales" (1983). Phil Austin and Derek Hayes
The Victor (1985) - Part 1
The Victor (1985) - Part 2
The Miracle Maker (2000) Derek W. Hayes y Stanislav Sokolov
Britfilms
Peter Lord
Peter Lord es el co-propietario y Director Creativo de Aardman, que fundó con el que siempre ha sido su colaborador, David Sproxton, en 1972. Como director, Lord ha sido nominado dos veces a un Oscar al Mejor Cortometraje de Animación, la última vez en 1996, por Wat’s Pig, y antes, en 1992, por Adam, por la que también fue nominado a un BAFTA. Para estos premios de la Academia de Cine británica también ha sido nominado por sus películas de animación The Amazing Adventures of Morph, War Story y Chicken Run. Evasión en la granja, y finalmente lo consiguió en 2006 como productor por Wallace and Gromit. La maldición de las verduras (Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), que ese año también obtuvo el Oscar al Mejor Largometraje de Animación.
"Adam" (1992)
"Wat’s Pig" (1996)
Lord conoció a David Sproxton en el colegio, a principios de los setenta, donde ambos empezaron a experimentar técnicas de animación en la mesa de su cocina. Intentaron varias técnicas antes de decidirse por la plastilina, como nos cuenta el propio Lord: “Inventamos la técnica de la tiza de manera independiente, porque se adaptaba a nuestras circunstancias, aunque ahora sé que, al igual que tantas otras cosas en el mundo de la animación, todo se había hecho antes, gran parte de ello hace noventa años o más. En cuestión de horas nos aburrimos de la animación con tizas y probamos una técnica distinta: recortables. Recortamos imágenes de revistas, arrancándoles extremidades para que pudieran animarse como elementos separados. Habíamos descubierto una de las formas más rápidas y sencillas de animación.”(1)
Todavía no habían cumplido veinte años cuando un productor de programas infantiles de la BBC les ofreció la oportunidad de hacer piezas de animación para su programa Vision On: “De hecho, lo que compró la BBC fue la secuencia de Aardman. Era una pieza de animación de celdas tradicional, y la recuerdo como la más ‘profesional’ del rollo. Aardman es un personaje que dibujé originalmente en una tira cómica. Estaba inspirado en Superman, por lo menos en el traje, con una mandíbula prominente, una capa y una gran letra ‘A’ en el pecho. Se convirtió en el protagonista de nuestra primera animación de celdas, aunque suprimimos la letra ‘A’ del pecho porque nos llevaba demasiado tiempo dibujarla.”(2) Pero lo más importante es que también empezaron a realizar trabajos con la plastilina, una técnica poco empleada en el Reino Unido y que se convertiría en su principal seña de identidad. Uno de sus primeros personajes fue Morph, un hombrecillo de terracota que interactuaba con Tony Hart, la estrella del programa Vision On, y que, más tarde, sería el protagonista de la serie The Amazing Adventures of Morph. Que este personaje siga apareciendo en sus nuevas producciones demuestra hasta qué punto su trabajo ha calado en el público.
Lord y Sproxton trasladaron el estudio a Bristol en 1976, a la que es desde entonces su sede permanente. En 1978, la BBC encargó a Aardman la realización de dos cortos de animación, titulados Animated Conversations. El resultado, Down and Out y Confessions of a Foyer Girl, ambos dirigidos por Lord y Sproxton, fue todo un hito en el mundo de la animación, ya que utilizaba grabaciones de conversaciones sacadas de la vida real. Eso llevó a una serie de cinco Conversation Pieces, - entre ellos Early Bird y On Probation - realizadas para Channel 4 y todos dirigidos por Lord y Sproxton.
Aardman colaboró con el director Stephen Johnson y los hermanos Quay para hacer Sledgehammer (1986), el premiado videoclip de Peter Gabriel. En 1987, Lord realizó el videoclip para la canción My Baby Just Cares For Me, de Nina Simone.
"My Baby Just Cares For Me"
Dos años más tarde, Channel 4 volvió a encargar a Aardman la creación de una serie de cinco películas, titulada Lip Synch, que incluía War Story y Going Equipped, dirigidos por Lord.El personalísimo estilo de animación de Aardman también se ha visto en spots publicitarios para productos como Chevron, Lurpack, Mita Copiers, Cadbury’s Crunchies y Polo.
"War Story"
El año 2000 marca un momento importante en la historia del estudio. Ese año se estrena la película Chicken Run. Evasión en la granja, dirigida al alimón por Peter Lord y Nick Park, y coproducida ni más ni menos que por Steven Spielberg a través de su empresa Dreamworks. Este primer largometraje fue un gran éxito internacional, tanto de público como de crítica, y abrió la puerta a otros proyectos que vendrían después y que consolidarían a Aardman como uno de los mayores estudios de animación del mundo y como unos de los líderes internacionales de la especialidad.
Como productor ejecutivo, Peter Lord ha hecho, entre otros, los cortometrajes Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers (1993), Pib and Pog (1994), Stage Fright (1997) y Humdrum (1998), y los largometrajes Wallace & Gromit. La maldición de las verduras (2005) y Ratónpolis (Flushed Away, 2006), primera incursión del estudio en la animación 3D.
Con Sproxton, Lord ha desempeñado un gran papel en la promoción de nuevos directores, y siempre ha estado abierto a todo aquello que incidiera en la evolución del estudio: “Llegados a esta fase en la evolución de Aardman, uno de mis grandes placeres es el sentimiento que tengo a veces, cierto es que no todos los días, de estar en una comunidad de artistas. Me encanta verme entre docenas de personas creativas, todas bajo un mismo techo, generando ideas, discutiéndolas, interactuando, dejándose influir y afectar los unos por los otros”, y continúa Peter Lord: “Desde los viejos tiempos en la mesa de la cocina, hemos invertido paulatinamente en personas y equipos, y a medida que hemos conocido a otra gente en este reducido ámbito hemos ido aprendiendo nuevas técnicas, trucos y prácticas que han cambiado nuestra manera de trabajar.” (3)
En 2006, la Reina de Inglaterra les concedió la distinción Commander of the British Empire por sus servicios a la industria cinematográfica del país.
(1) Lord, Peter:“Introduction”, en Lord, Peter y Sibley, Brian:Cracking Animation.The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation, Thames & Hudson Ltd., Londres, 1998, págs.9-10.
(2) Lord, Peter:Íbidem., págs. 11-12.
(3) Lord, Peter:Idem., pág. 13.
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"Adam" (1992)
"Wat’s Pig" (1996)
Lord conoció a David Sproxton en el colegio, a principios de los setenta, donde ambos empezaron a experimentar técnicas de animación en la mesa de su cocina. Intentaron varias técnicas antes de decidirse por la plastilina, como nos cuenta el propio Lord: “Inventamos la técnica de la tiza de manera independiente, porque se adaptaba a nuestras circunstancias, aunque ahora sé que, al igual que tantas otras cosas en el mundo de la animación, todo se había hecho antes, gran parte de ello hace noventa años o más. En cuestión de horas nos aburrimos de la animación con tizas y probamos una técnica distinta: recortables. Recortamos imágenes de revistas, arrancándoles extremidades para que pudieran animarse como elementos separados. Habíamos descubierto una de las formas más rápidas y sencillas de animación.”(1)
Todavía no habían cumplido veinte años cuando un productor de programas infantiles de la BBC les ofreció la oportunidad de hacer piezas de animación para su programa Vision On: “De hecho, lo que compró la BBC fue la secuencia de Aardman. Era una pieza de animación de celdas tradicional, y la recuerdo como la más ‘profesional’ del rollo. Aardman es un personaje que dibujé originalmente en una tira cómica. Estaba inspirado en Superman, por lo menos en el traje, con una mandíbula prominente, una capa y una gran letra ‘A’ en el pecho. Se convirtió en el protagonista de nuestra primera animación de celdas, aunque suprimimos la letra ‘A’ del pecho porque nos llevaba demasiado tiempo dibujarla.”(2) Pero lo más importante es que también empezaron a realizar trabajos con la plastilina, una técnica poco empleada en el Reino Unido y que se convertiría en su principal seña de identidad. Uno de sus primeros personajes fue Morph, un hombrecillo de terracota que interactuaba con Tony Hart, la estrella del programa Vision On, y que, más tarde, sería el protagonista de la serie The Amazing Adventures of Morph. Que este personaje siga apareciendo en sus nuevas producciones demuestra hasta qué punto su trabajo ha calado en el público.
Lord y Sproxton trasladaron el estudio a Bristol en 1976, a la que es desde entonces su sede permanente. En 1978, la BBC encargó a Aardman la realización de dos cortos de animación, titulados Animated Conversations. El resultado, Down and Out y Confessions of a Foyer Girl, ambos dirigidos por Lord y Sproxton, fue todo un hito en el mundo de la animación, ya que utilizaba grabaciones de conversaciones sacadas de la vida real. Eso llevó a una serie de cinco Conversation Pieces, - entre ellos Early Bird y On Probation - realizadas para Channel 4 y todos dirigidos por Lord y Sproxton.
Aardman colaboró con el director Stephen Johnson y los hermanos Quay para hacer Sledgehammer (1986), el premiado videoclip de Peter Gabriel. En 1987, Lord realizó el videoclip para la canción My Baby Just Cares For Me, de Nina Simone.
"My Baby Just Cares For Me"
Dos años más tarde, Channel 4 volvió a encargar a Aardman la creación de una serie de cinco películas, titulada Lip Synch, que incluía War Story y Going Equipped, dirigidos por Lord.El personalísimo estilo de animación de Aardman también se ha visto en spots publicitarios para productos como Chevron, Lurpack, Mita Copiers, Cadbury’s Crunchies y Polo.
"War Story"
El año 2000 marca un momento importante en la historia del estudio. Ese año se estrena la película Chicken Run. Evasión en la granja, dirigida al alimón por Peter Lord y Nick Park, y coproducida ni más ni menos que por Steven Spielberg a través de su empresa Dreamworks. Este primer largometraje fue un gran éxito internacional, tanto de público como de crítica, y abrió la puerta a otros proyectos que vendrían después y que consolidarían a Aardman como uno de los mayores estudios de animación del mundo y como unos de los líderes internacionales de la especialidad.
Como productor ejecutivo, Peter Lord ha hecho, entre otros, los cortometrajes Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers (1993), Pib and Pog (1994), Stage Fright (1997) y Humdrum (1998), y los largometrajes Wallace & Gromit. La maldición de las verduras (2005) y Ratónpolis (Flushed Away, 2006), primera incursión del estudio en la animación 3D.
Con Sproxton, Lord ha desempeñado un gran papel en la promoción de nuevos directores, y siempre ha estado abierto a todo aquello que incidiera en la evolución del estudio: “Llegados a esta fase en la evolución de Aardman, uno de mis grandes placeres es el sentimiento que tengo a veces, cierto es que no todos los días, de estar en una comunidad de artistas. Me encanta verme entre docenas de personas creativas, todas bajo un mismo techo, generando ideas, discutiéndolas, interactuando, dejándose influir y afectar los unos por los otros”, y continúa Peter Lord: “Desde los viejos tiempos en la mesa de la cocina, hemos invertido paulatinamente en personas y equipos, y a medida que hemos conocido a otra gente en este reducido ámbito hemos ido aprendiendo nuevas técnicas, trucos y prácticas que han cambiado nuestra manera de trabajar.” (3)
En 2006, la Reina de Inglaterra les concedió la distinción Commander of the British Empire por sus servicios a la industria cinematográfica del país.
(1) Lord, Peter:“Introduction”, en Lord, Peter y Sibley, Brian:Cracking Animation.The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation, Thames & Hudson Ltd., Londres, 1998, págs.9-10.
(2) Lord, Peter:Íbidem., págs. 11-12.
(3) Lord, Peter:Idem., pág. 13.
(via)
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