Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) 2012
For this years BAF I only attended the Friday out of the Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I will be writing about the Friday and what I thought of everything I saw. For the days I haven't attended I have researched most of the films that I have missed and so will be reviewing them also.
Friday 16th November
Student Films One
Swarming (Kuhina)
Dir. Joni Mannisto / Finland / 2011 / 7 mins 18secs / Technique: Drawing on Paper
"A child discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it."
The story was clear and easy to understand, I liked the style of this animation apart from the design of the child. However I loved the design and detail of all the different bugs and creepy crawlies. Seeing them crawling all over the child and eating him made me cringe quite a few times!
The story was clear and easy to understand, I liked the style of this animation apart from the design of the child. However I loved the design and detail of all the different bugs and creepy crawlies. Seeing them crawling all over the child and eating him made me cringe quite a few times!
Barn Owl
Dir. Ana Spencer / Australia / 2011 / 4mins 30 secs / Technique: Painting on glass, paint on cell
"Barn Owl is an animated adaptation of the poem by the late Gwen Harwood. Set in 1930's Australia, barn Owl is a story about a girl who makes a decision that will affect her for the rest of her life."
This animation captivated me both visually and emotionally, I found it quite intense to watch. The girl angered me for shooting the owl and I was also upset due to the owl being hurt. The style of this animation is beautiful and helps add to the mood of the film.
This animation captivated me both visually and emotionally, I found it quite intense to watch. The girl angered me for shooting the owl and I was also upset due to the owl being hurt. The style of this animation is beautiful and helps add to the mood of the film.
Bear Me
Dir. Kasia Wilk / Germany / 2012 / 5mins 45secs / Technique: 2D Computer
"One day, I found a bear. Or he found me. And he stayed."
This animation made me laugh! It was a very warm tale of the relationship between a girl and a bear,the story is very simple but very effective. I also loved the style of this film and felt that it worked well with the story.
This animation made me laugh! It was a very warm tale of the relationship between a girl and a bear,the story is very simple but very effective. I also loved the style of this film and felt that it worked well with the story.
Nyosha
Dir. Liran Kapel, Yael Dekel / Israel / 2012 / 12mins 38secs / Technique: Stop motion, drawing on paper
"A true story based on a testimony of Holocaust survivor, the late Nomi Kapel. Nyosha is a ten year old girl. She dreams of buying a pair of shoes during the reality of pitiless war. A range of animation techniques brings together the dream and the reality and tells Nyosha's story."
This is another film that touched me emotionally, it made me feel for the little girl and mum and made me think about what that little girl was going through. Also this is a sad story it is also very warming. The style added to the effect of it being set in the past.
This is another film that touched me emotionally, it made me feel for the little girl and mum and made me think about what that little girl was going through. Also this is a sad story it is also very warming. The style added to the effect of it being set in the past.
From Dad to Son
Dir. Nils Knoblich / Germany / 2012 / 5mins 16secs / Technique: Stop Motion, Cut Outs and Drawing on Paper
"A prisoner receives the message that his old father needs help with tilling the field. In his desperate situation the prisoner suddenly has the idea to use the guards to till his dad's land."
I thought this animation had a very clever storyline. I felt that I could relate to the son in prison, when home I always help my Nan out with chores as the son had for his Dad and being at a university that's so far from home means that I can't just pop home to help her and she tells me many times how she has struggled to do something that I can do easily! I found the solution that the son used to help out his Dad very funny and clever, it put a smile on my face! I also loved the style, its simple but effective but its also very different to anything I've seen before.
I thought this animation had a very clever storyline. I felt that I could relate to the son in prison, when home I always help my Nan out with chores as the son had for his Dad and being at a university that's so far from home means that I can't just pop home to help her and she tells me many times how she has struggled to do something that I can do easily! I found the solution that the son used to help out his Dad very funny and clever, it put a smile on my face! I also loved the style, its simple but effective but its also very different to anything I've seen before.
Left
Dir. Eamonn O'Neil / UK / 2012 / 11mins 30secs / Technique: 2D computer
"We got older. We drifted apart. Neil changed. And so did I".
This is a clear story of how two people can go their separate ways through different influences. I liked the style but the story didn't really do anything for me and left me quite quite bored.
This is a clear story of how two people can go their separate ways through different influences. I liked the style but the story didn't really do anything for me and left me quite quite bored.
Bon Voyage
Dir. Fabio Friedii / Switzerland / 2011 / 6mins
"Dozens of emigrants climb on to a overcrowded truck. Their goal: fortress Europe.
This was a very funny animation, a simple style was used to demonstrate its simple but very effective humour. I really enjoyed this although I was very confused about what was happening at the end when it went to the live action par,t until I read about what it was about! I would love to watch this again
This was a very funny animation, a simple style was used to demonstrate its simple but very effective humour. I really enjoyed this although I was very confused about what was happening at the end when it went to the live action par,t until I read about what it was about! I would love to watch this again
El Castigo
Dir. Nelson Fernandes / Spain / 2012 / 3mins 13 secs / Technique: Stop Motion
"Lisa, a lonely girl, has been punished by her mother so she confined herself to her bedroom, where she feeds her only friend, a plant, with her own tears."
I didn't enjoy this animation, I didn't understand what was happening or why the girl was crying. I found it all a bit random especially when the plant ate the girl. It was only until I read what it was about that I understood why it all happened. I didn't like the style either, I found it to be quite crude.
I didn't enjoy this animation, I didn't understand what was happening or why the girl was crying. I found it all a bit random especially when the plant ate the girl. It was only until I read what it was about that I understood why it all happened. I didn't like the style either, I found it to be quite crude.
Carn
Dir. Jeffig Le Bars / France / 2012 / 5mins 20secs / Technique: 3D Computer and 2D Computer
"A little boy is alone and lost in a storm. He is dying. He comes across a she-wolf who offers him a deal..."
I loved the style of this animation with the use of silhouettes it was very visually pleasing! This also allowed me to feel the chill of the cold climate in the environment that was used to set the story. I also liked the story, it held my attention really well.
I loved the style of this animation with the use of silhouettes it was very visually pleasing! This also allowed me to feel the chill of the cold climate in the environment that was used to set the story. I also liked the story, it held my attention really well.
Animation and Games for New Platforms
with Jaromir Plachy, creator of Botanicula and Simon Iwaniszak, the managing director of Red Kite Games
"The web and online outlets such as Apple's App Store and Google Play have created a Plethora of new opportunities for independent artists, animators and designers to share their work."
Jaromir Plachy was first to talk about his game Botanicula. I liked the look of this game, the style was very appealing to me, however I was left not knowing what the aim of the game was and how you would play it!
Jaromir Plachy was first to talk about his game Botanicula. I liked the look of this game, the style was very appealing to me, however I was left not knowing what the aim of the game was and how you would play it!
Then Simon and his colleague spoke to us about his new game Firefly: The Adventures of Switch. This game didn't appeal to me at all, the visuals were ok but as explained, they couldn't use the best graphics as the platforms used (mobiles) weren't able to handle them.
Something that both speakers demonstrated was that there is an open market for indie games within the mobile games industry making it much easier for creatives to get their ideas out into the world.
Mark Shapiro, LAIKA Studios
The Making of the Handcrafted Stop-Motion feature ParaNorman (2012)
"Head of Entertainment Brand Marketing, Mark Shapiro's diverse marketing and communications career has taken him across the US and around the world, working in brand development, advertising, public relations, film production and writing for companies including Nike, Town & County Magazine and Upper Deck. In 2007, he joined LAIKA, where he manages brand strategies, including the marketing efforts for LAIKA's corporate identity as well as the company's feature films.
LAIKA is an animation studio specializing in feature films, commercials and shorts. In addition to ParaNorman, LAIKA created Oscar-nominated Coraline, which was released to critical acclaim on February 6, 2009. Coraline was the first stop-motion feature to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3D."
This was a very interesting and fascinating talk from Mark Shapiro and I thoroughly enjoyed it! He showed us time lapses of the making of both Coraline and ParaNorman. Many models of the main characters are made for each film, and each character can have up to forty thousand different faces. Although the main body of the film is stop motion there is still a use of CGI, especially
ParaNorman
Dir. Chris Butler, Sam Fell / USA / 2012 / 92mins
"From the creators of Coraline, ParaNorman is the latest stop-motion release from LAIKA studios in Oregon. Norman Babcock is an outcast in his small New England town. When a horde of zombies is unleashed on the populace, Norman learns he must use his paranormal powers to make things right again. That's not an easy task when you're only eleven. And you've just been grounded."
ParaNorman was a brilliant film full of horror film references and humour, it had me laughing quite a few times. The animation was outstanding with lots of dynamic scenes and was very action packed. I thoroughly enjoyed it and its clear just how much work was put into creating this film.
ParaNorman was a brilliant film full of horror film references and humour, it had me laughing quite a few times. The animation was outstanding with lots of dynamic scenes and was very action packed. I thoroughly enjoyed it and its clear just how much work was put into creating this film.
Music Videos and Commercials
Music Videos
Easy Way Out
Dir. Darcy Prendergast / Australia / 2012 / 2mins 12secs / technique: Stop motion and Live Action
"Easy Way Out ties in with the depressive elements of repetition, we see our protagonist unable to break free of his own routine. Music by Wally Be Backer of Gotye
For this music video a combination of stop motion, pixilation and live action was used. I love how this was made, it was a very interesting perspective of everyday life and how many people do the same thing everyday.
For this music video a combination of stop motion, pixilation and live action was used. I love how this was made, it was a very interesting perspective of everyday life and how many people do the same thing everyday.
Pirate's Life
Dir. Kijek, Adamski / Poland / 2011 / 2mins 28 secs / Technique: Drawing on Paper
"As simple as it looks. The whole video if hand drawn frame by frame - markers on paper."
I really enjoyed this one, tjust by watching the animation and being in awe. The way that they created the effect of the water and how it distorted the mans face was beautiful. However I wasn't as fond of the coloured bits but much preferred the black and white. I felt that the coloured scenes took the edge off of the black and white bits.
The Myth of Robo Wonder kid
Dir. Joel Mackenzie / Canada / 2011 / 3mins / Technique: 2D Computer
"A Gang of mythical creatures joins together to build a robot boy."
This music video had a very strong story telling element to making it very interesting to watch, however the visuals weren't anything exciting to me personally. It just seemed like an average cartoon put to music.
Let It Go
Dir. Ashley Dean / UK / 2012 / 5mins 8secs / Technique: 2D computer and stop motion.
"Let It Go is a tale of tragedy, heartbreak, hope and determination. The story is set over two points in life of Edward and Anne, a couple separated by an ill fated scarf saving incident."
Again this music video had a very strong storytelling element to it, I felt the start was a little slow and not as clear as the ending but I enjoyed it all the same. It's nice to see some stop motion animations, I particularly liked the use of paper.
Dogwoods
Dir. Sitji Chou / Canada / 2012 / 2mins 56secs / Technique: 2D computer
"A music video about a dog searching for a mysterious light. Music by Phil Woolf.
I found this animation to be very visually beautiful, it was quite simple with the forms that were used but the way the were used in the movements were more complex. I didn't really understand the story though, I felt this let it down a little.
The Living Things
Dir. Phil Davis / USA / 2012 / 3mins 20secs / Technique: Drawing on paper and pixilation
"A multitude of organisma dance, sing and mutate to the song "The living Things" by the Spinto Band.
There was lots of life in this animation and I felt that it demonstrated and put across the message of the music very well. The only thing I wasn't too keen on was the pixilation at the end, I didn't feel that it fitted in and would have been better if the drawn animation was carried on. It was very interesting to watch visually, there was always plenty to watch.
Commercials
Persol 'A Year of Sun'
Dir. kevin Dart & Stephane Coedel / UK / 2011 / Technique: 2D Computer
"The 2D animated film begins in San Francisco where we meet a cool, urban man and his dog as they embark on their year of sun."
The style and the shots used in this commercial are stunning with a very tasteful colour palette. I'm not too sure that it demonstrates what exactly its advertising though...
Kokon
Dir. Cyntia Collins / Germany / 2012
"Caught in a broken relationship, two lovers are fighting against each other during the conflict around adherence and freedom. The conflict and emotions of the both are shown in a synthesis between music and dance."
This was a very beautiful animation, visually and performance wise. It was very beautifully animated and is a very elegant piece.
Jack Daniel's 'Tennessee Honey'
Dir. Pete Candeland / UK / 2011 / Technique: 3D
"We open on a moonlit country night and as the track "I'm a King Bee" by the stone foxes starts up, we are in no doubt that our heroo is one cool bee. On an urgent mission, he flies through the forest at high speed until he finds what he's been searching for."
This is a fantastic piece of animation and very life like with some brilliant visual effects thrown in to create a brilliant impact on the viewer. Although it's only 30 seconds long it leaves you saying 'wow'.
Ffresh 2013
The Student Moving Image Festival of Wales
The Mill Masterclass
The Mill is a world-renowned and Oscar winning VFX company recgonised for creating sealess visual effects. From Snow White and the Huntsman to Les Miserables, Merlin to Doctor Who, or Call of Duty to Old Spice adverts their work has been seen by millions of people across the world. The Mills Suraj Odedra will be returning to Wales to talk about his work on The Mill's recent advert for Kia.
This was a brilliant talk, the gentleman who did this talk took us through the process of making the Kia advert where the walls are made up of thousands of keyboard keys. I had seen this advert before and not thought much of it and it was only until I attended this talk that I really appreciated how much work had gone into it and how technical and complicated it really was to make. His talk was very clear and easy to understand (although he did get very technical at one point, to which I didn't understand what he was saying). Not only was it interesting from a creative perspective but it was also interesting to hear what it's like when working with a client.
This was a brilliant talk, the gentleman who did this talk took us through the process of making the Kia advert where the walls are made up of thousands of keyboard keys. I had seen this advert before and not thought much of it and it was only until I attended this talk that I really appreciated how much work had gone into it and how technical and complicated it really was to make. His talk was very clear and easy to understand (although he did get very technical at one point, to which I didn't understand what he was saying). Not only was it interesting from a creative perspective but it was also interesting to hear what it's like when working with a client.
Creative Futures 2013
March 4th-7th
Every year my university hosts creative futures week, where they bring in all sorts of creative professionals to come and speak to the creative students. Here I will be talking about the talks that I attended and what I have gained from them.
Opening Address - What's Current in the Creative Industries
Sarah Mair Gates - Creative and Cultural Skills and a representative from Creative Skillset Cymru
For the first half of the opening address Sarah Mair Gates spoke about Creative and Cultural Skills, an organisation that provides training and skills for the creative and cultural industries for a range of people. They provide work experience for young persons at school, extra training for graduates just out of university and up to date training for people in employment so that they are able to keep up to date with the latest technologies.
http://ccskills.org.uk/
And in the second half Stuart Cunningham had to step in in place of a representative for Creative Skillset as they could't make it. However he used their slides and still spoke to us about Creative Skillset with some of his own content added on at the end. Creative Skillset is similar to Creative and Cultural Skills where it supports training and skills for people and businesses in the creative sector.
http://www.creativeskillset.org/
Both talks were full of statistics and information on what they both do and how they help people.
Key Note Address - Painting Over The Cracks
Professor Paul Haywood
Paul Haywood's talk was all about how he has used art to connect people and communities. He shared a number of his projects with us that he has participated in over the past fifteen years. Here are two examples:
1. "Guns To Goods" Where in Manchester there has been a gun crime problem since 1986, Paul and a group of people decided to go to Moss Side, a place in Manchester that was particularly known for gun crime. This was were they found out that the weapons seized by the police are kept in storage until they could find a suitable place for all gun metal to melted down. The melted down metal would then be sold on, however the police never received any of the profit. And so Paul and his group decided that instead of selling it on as melted metal why not create something with it that could then be used to benefit the community and make people aware of the gun crime problem. In the end they created commemorative medallions in memory of people that had become victims of such crimes which they planned to sell on for two hundred and fifty pound to a thousand pounds each. Unexpectedly they found that the families of the victims were the people most keen on buying them, but the price was too high for any of them to afford and so they sold them to them at a lower price. Therefore no money was.
www.gunstogoods.org
www.showmetal.co.uk
2. "Colour Edge" This was a project for the village of Littleborough to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their Arts festival. At this arts festival mainly showed a range of watercolour landscapes and they felt that it would be good to have something different. For this Paul Haywood started looking at the local landscapes colours and created some colour schemes and ranges. This was to become the main scheme of the festival, he took something that they already had and used it in a different way. They created a paint range and artist Brenda Ratcliffe used them in her watercolour paintings.
www.colouredge.org
I like how he has used art and creativity to connect people that may not have otherwise done so. Of course as he kept pointing out it wasn't an independent thing and he didn't do it on his own, it was a collaboration and I think that he has shown just how strong a piece of work or a project can be when collaborating and using a variety of people with different skills and abilities. I enjoyed Paul's talk as not only was his work interesting but he also has a certain amount of passion for what he does and everything that he has done.
I found Kirsteen's talk very interesting and informative, it was interesting to hear about how being a freelancer with an agency works. This is something that is very appealing to me and may possibly do this after I've had some experience working in a studio.
http://www.thebrightagency.com/artists/view/270
1. "Guns To Goods" Where in Manchester there has been a gun crime problem since 1986, Paul and a group of people decided to go to Moss Side, a place in Manchester that was particularly known for gun crime. This was were they found out that the weapons seized by the police are kept in storage until they could find a suitable place for all gun metal to melted down. The melted down metal would then be sold on, however the police never received any of the profit. And so Paul and his group decided that instead of selling it on as melted metal why not create something with it that could then be used to benefit the community and make people aware of the gun crime problem. In the end they created commemorative medallions in memory of people that had become victims of such crimes which they planned to sell on for two hundred and fifty pound to a thousand pounds each. Unexpectedly they found that the families of the victims were the people most keen on buying them, but the price was too high for any of them to afford and so they sold them to them at a lower price. Therefore no money was.
www.gunstogoods.org
www.showmetal.co.uk
2. "Colour Edge" This was a project for the village of Littleborough to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their Arts festival. At this arts festival mainly showed a range of watercolour landscapes and they felt that it would be good to have something different. For this Paul Haywood started looking at the local landscapes colours and created some colour schemes and ranges. This was to become the main scheme of the festival, he took something that they already had and used it in a different way. They created a paint range and artist Brenda Ratcliffe used them in her watercolour paintings.
www.colouredge.org
I like how he has used art and creativity to connect people that may not have otherwise done so. Of course as he kept pointing out it wasn't an independent thing and he didn't do it on his own, it was a collaboration and I think that he has shown just how strong a piece of work or a project can be when collaborating and using a variety of people with different skills and abilities. I enjoyed Paul's talk as not only was his work interesting but he also has a certain amount of passion for what he does and everything that he has done.
Healing Education Animation Research Therapy (HEART)
Melanie Hani
Melanie is an ex Glyndwr student from over 12 years ago where she studied BA Animation. Originally she was from Liverpool and went to school in a convent where she was taught by nuns. It was there that she was inspired by the kindness of the nuns and felt that she would like to gain a career where she could also help people. So, unusually, when she was 17 she joined the police. It was there that Melanie thought about studying law but instead chose animation. Whilst studying animation she kept her job in the North Wales Police. An opportunity arose when in university to work with sexually abused children, children that wouldn't speak about what had happened to them. Here she had an idea which was to use animation as a way for the children to tell their stories, she took the equipment to the police station and taught the children how to use it.
There were also children who were pushed out of their homes at night for various reasons such as their mothers were prostitutes or the parents just didn't care. An organisation called The Venture took these children in for the night, gave them breakfast in the morning and Melanie would then make films with them before they went to school.
The same thing was done with local children at a science fair, the police funded all of this and it resulted in juvenile crime reducing by over 50%.
Melanie went on to help various people such as self harmers, people in rehabilitation hostels, people dealing with bereavements of loved ones , special needs people and provided education for travellers. Whilst doing this she trained as a therapist. She has used animation to improve many peoples lives and brought together and improved communities which I think is very inspiring. It's amazing to think that something such as animation can be used to do so. This links into what Paul Haywood spoke about and the work that he does.
At the moment Melanie and HEART are working with Barnardos where they are helping children whose parents are sex offenders, children with transgender parents and is carrying on with the bereavement project. There are two sides of HEART, the first is a professional studio where they make documentaries and educational content and the second is the therapy and workshops that they provide for various people.
www.animationtherapy.info
She spoke about many things including the process of receiving a brief from a client through to the finished product, advice on how to manage being a childrens illustrator and the various jobs you can be given or offered.There were also children who were pushed out of their homes at night for various reasons such as their mothers were prostitutes or the parents just didn't care. An organisation called The Venture took these children in for the night, gave them breakfast in the morning and Melanie would then make films with them before they went to school.
The same thing was done with local children at a science fair, the police funded all of this and it resulted in juvenile crime reducing by over 50%.
Melanie went on to help various people such as self harmers, people in rehabilitation hostels, people dealing with bereavements of loved ones , special needs people and provided education for travellers. Whilst doing this she trained as a therapist. She has used animation to improve many peoples lives and brought together and improved communities which I think is very inspiring. It's amazing to think that something such as animation can be used to do so. This links into what Paul Haywood spoke about and the work that he does.
At the moment Melanie and HEART are working with Barnardos where they are helping children whose parents are sex offenders, children with transgender parents and is carrying on with the bereavement project. There are two sides of HEART, the first is a professional studio where they make documentaries and educational content and the second is the therapy and workshops that they provide for various people.
www.animationtherapy.info
Design & Illustration in Publishing
Yasia Williams Leedham
Yasia Williams-Leedham is Deputy Art Director at Octopus Publishing Group, based in London. She started there in 2001 and has gradually made her way up to where she is now. Yasia did her foundation course here at NEWI and went to Manchester Met University afterwards where she studied Design and Art Direction.
At Octopus she has worked on a number of various books with different subject matters such as food and wine, architecture, fashion and gardening.
During her talk she showed us three different case studies, the first was a book called 'Le Tour 100'. This book is part of the celebration of 100 years of the tour de france. Influences for the book's sleeve came from 1930's graphic poster styles. Illustrator David Juniper's work is quite similar to this and so they asked him to work on it for them. The second case study was 'The Vintage Tea Party', Yasia explained that the author of this book was quite quirky and so they wanted to represent this in the book. The influence for this book was Edward Gorey's work. They found an illustrator called Adele Mildred and felt that her style was fitting, Ad finally the third was 'Candy Kittens' of which the author is Jamie Laing, known for being in the TV show Made in Chelsea. For this one they made a bright pink sleeve, the idea behind this was that it would be displayed in the cooking section in a shop and there wouldn't be hardly any bright coloured, loud books and so it would stand out.
It was said that the average person only buys 2 illustrated books a year, I was quite shocked by how low the statistic was but when I stopped and thought about my family and how often they buy them the shock soon disappeared. Yasia also spoke about ebooks and how their sales are increasing pretty rapidly. In 2010 one hundred and fourteen million were sold and just one year later in 2011 nine hundred and seventy million were sold. It is predicted that in 2016 nine point seven billion will be sold. That is a massive increase and shows the way that everything is becoming digital.
Yasia's talk was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I found it to be very informative about the way in which a publishing house works and lent the processes of creating a books sleeve.
During her talk she showed us three different case studies, the first was a book called 'Le Tour 100'. This book is part of the celebration of 100 years of the tour de france. Influences for the book's sleeve came from 1930's graphic poster styles. Illustrator David Juniper's work is quite similar to this and so they asked him to work on it for them. The second case study was 'The Vintage Tea Party', Yasia explained that the author of this book was quite quirky and so they wanted to represent this in the book. The influence for this book was Edward Gorey's work. They found an illustrator called Adele Mildred and felt that her style was fitting, Ad finally the third was 'Candy Kittens' of which the author is Jamie Laing, known for being in the TV show Made in Chelsea. For this one they made a bright pink sleeve, the idea behind this was that it would be displayed in the cooking section in a shop and there wouldn't be hardly any bright coloured, loud books and so it would stand out.
It was said that the average person only buys 2 illustrated books a year, I was quite shocked by how low the statistic was but when I stopped and thought about my family and how often they buy them the shock soon disappeared. Yasia also spoke about ebooks and how their sales are increasing pretty rapidly. In 2010 one hundred and fourteen million were sold and just one year later in 2011 nine hundred and seventy million were sold. It is predicted that in 2016 nine point seven billion will be sold. That is a massive increase and shows the way that everything is becoming digital.
Yasia's talk was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I found it to be very informative about the way in which a publishing house works and lent the processes of creating a books sleeve.
Tuesday 5th March
Live Events: Fun AND Work
Alan Wight
Alan Wight works at Cascade where they organise various events and conferences for companies. He told us that he feels that the ability to cross over skills is fundamental and the more skills you gain the better chance you have of gaining a job. He started off by studying photography and stumbled across the conference and events business by accident where went on to create his own business in 1991.
At cascade they organise every aspect of an event or conference, from stage lighting and sound, everything projected onto the screens used, photography, pyrotechnics (fireworks), costumes, flyers and any merchandise. He told us that events are used as a key driver of sales for a company as it hypes up the customers. As a company they are constantly adapting to survive, mainly by staying up to date with the latest technologies. Alan told us that to survive in live events you need craft, content, creativity, expertise, service and innovation and that essentially the clients are paying them for their creative thinking.
Again, Alan uses design to aid and help companies thrive and this too I find brilliant. cascadeproductions.co.uk
Being a Children's Book Illustrator
Kirsteen Harris Jones
Kirsteen studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Glyndwr (formerly NEWI) and spent the following 20 years moving around from studio to studio. In 2004 she returned to Glyndwr and studied children's illustration, upon leaving she found an agency and took on her new work for childrens book illustrations.
I found Kirsteen's talk very interesting and informative, it was interesting to hear about how being a freelancer with an agency works. This is something that is very appealing to me and may possibly do this after I've had some experience working in a studio.
http://www.thebrightagency.com/artists/view/270
Making Stop Motion Films on a Tiny Budget
Linda McCarthy
Before starting Glyndwr's Animation course Linda was a ceramicist and liked to make puppets and put on shows. For her final year film she created the film 'Small Birds Singing' which was written by her cousin, Steven Appleby. Steven Appleby is a cartoonist and has created many books. Linda's challenge at the beginning was to create Stevens 2D cartoon into 3D models, of which I feel she did a really good job. The characters were made from simple wire armatures with exchangeable ceramic heads, which it quite unusual!
Since then Linda has gone on to create 5 more films. She doesn't make films for clients to make money but prefers to create her own and enters them into festivals.
I have seen Linda's work before from my tutors and from going to Bradford Animation Festival but I've not seen how she makes her films, so that was the most interesting part for me! It's nice to see that some people are still making their own independent films rather than for clients. It's also nice to see how she has progressed since graduating and seeing that not only has she gone on to make more films but also has improved!
www.tinyelephants.co.uk
WAM London
TV Studio and Post Production Company
During the summer I got in contact with someone I know within the film industry to see if he could help me find some work experience. He managed to get me in contact with James Lamb, the Operations Director of WAM in London who invited me up to the company to have talk. Whilst I was up there James Lamb took me on a tour round the building showing me the studio, where they film adverts, editing suites and audio suites where they compose music and create foley sound effects. They have a room where they can test 7.1 surround sound, in there they played a Cartier advert called Odyssey which they helped create. The sound was brilliant and the advert was extremely stunning. Going up to WAM in London was a brilliant experience for me, it's rare to have a personal tour of a company such as this and I was truly honoured that James Lamb and other members of staff took some time from doing work to show me around. See the Cartier advert below. WAM website - http://fiercerox.com/
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