Aardman 'SHOW & TELL'

In October 2012, I was chuffed to receive an e-mail to say that I had been invited along with a dozen other UWE animation graduates to exhibit in Aardman’s annual ‘Show & Tell’ exhibition. ‘Show & Tell’ is an event where Aardman folk and freelancers are invited to display their creative work from films, models to painting, sculpture and wacky inventions.

The exhibition took place in the atrium of Aardman’s Gas Ferry Rd HQ in Bristol, from the 15^th to the 26^th of October. In the exhibit, I showed the animation tests of the ‘Betty’ puppet, LSHTM ‘TRANMAN web video, as well as an A2 poster and small A4 portfolio of my work.

I popped down for the private view on the 12^th of October, which was a delightful evening. The work on display was brilliant and the exhibition had been put together with all the Aardman charm. It was great to catch up with friends and tutors from university and to meet other creatives and Aardman folk, who gave such a warm reception to us all. A big thanks to my tutors at UWE and Aardman for giving me the opportunity to take part.

Montreal Stop Motion Festival 2012

In September this year, Becky Berry, Max Martin and myself were over the moon to find our second year film ‘The Busker’ (2011) had been selected for competition in the academic category in Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival 2012.

The festival took place from the 19^th to the 20^th of October, and while we didn’t win in our category, we felt honoured to have been screened alongside such incredible stop motion films and thank the festival coordinators Erik Goulet and Chris Diaz for being so friendly and hosting a festival, which holds such enthusiasm for the animated form. 

To find out more about the festival, visit: www.stopmotionmontreal.com

Betty puppet tests

Here are some animation tests of the main protagonist Betty.

Betty Test Puppet

Betty puppet construction

Major's Dog

Major Sculpt

Miss Major

Betty sculpt

Betty

Betty sketches

ANIMATIONWORKS!

In July 2012 I took part in ANIMATIONWORKS, a culmination of three years of hard work by UWE Animation graduates, developing skills in many areas of animation. The exhibition took place from the 9^th to the 13^th of July 2012 at the Paintworks gallery space, off Bath Rd in Bristol.

On show in the exhibition were animated films, showreels, static work and puppets from works of Stop-motion, 2D Digital, Traditional Hand drawn, CGI and everything in-between.

The opening of ANIMATIONWORKS, was a wonderful night. It was great to see everyone’s work displayed with such pride, and to have friends, family, tutors and industry guests under one roof enjoying our labour. It has been a challenging three years, and seems to have passed in a click of a frame. But studying animation at Bristol has been one of the best times of my life, and I couldn’t have wished for a better bunch of people to share it with.

To find out more and view work of recent UWE animation graduates, visit:

http://www.animationworksbristol.moonfruit.com

and also here’s a funky video of the exhibit by fellow animator Matt Parsons, featuring music by none other than David Burreddu/Pistol Shrimp also animator and talented musician. 


Animationworks 2012 from Matt Parsons on Vimeo.

Betty character collage

Here is a photoshop collage I have made of the two main characters, Miss Major and Betty, in the piano room. These are not the final designs, but rather a quick test of colour and form of the charcters in their enviroment.

New short film: Betty (in-development)

Here is a poster for a short stop-motion film I'm currently in development on called 'Betty.'

Synopsis:

'Five year old Betty seeks vengeance for the injustice served by her ruthless piano tutor Miss Major and her corpulent dog.' 

Life Drawing