Labeouf New Film

This is my latest short Labeouf, a stopmotion animation about a goblin called Norman stuck down a hole. The name came from Shia Labeouf as his Just do it green screen video was going around at the time. I wanted subtler name than Just do it so thought this would be a fun name. The puppet is made with a wire armature and painted with latex, the set is made from MDF wood, recycled and found objects. The budget was zero so everything used was either self funded, found or donated. The film was worked on part time for about a year, stopping when other projects were on. 

The story is about a goblin (called Norman) who is stuck down a hole, but he's to distracted to escape. It's also about the endless possibilities available to us all to shape our future, to seize the moment but we're so distracted with social media, boxsets and video games etc that these opportunities are slowly fading with darker more sinister times ahead. 

Social Media is represented by the bucket, through colours, sounds and the idea that we can fill Facebook with our lives. I didn't want to use a blue book as it seemed too obvious. Boxsets are represented via the blue crystals, ie Breaking Bad as everyone seems so obsessed with wasting time watching it. Gaming is represented with the cork painted like a Pikachu. The sky darkening is time running out, in life, for the planet and the human race, through age, pollution, segregation and war. The longer we wait to act the smaller the opportunity we have to affect change in our own lives and on the world around us.

The film began life as a showreel piece but once it had been made I decided to turn it into a short animation. It was a good experience making the short and I learnt a lot, there's lots of things I'd do differently in future but as it is I've finished working on it. Specifically make the puppet larger with a more expressive face, improve the sky animation (oil on glass) and reshoot a couple of shots. I'd rate it at a 2.5 out of 5.

Explainer Video Blades Animation

Here is the new advert for Blades Animation. I am going to produce a making of blog to accompany how the video was made. Though for now I am going to post the video please let me know what you think.

Richard :)

          

What I'm doing!

Hi so first a couple of quick recommendations go and watch both the Lego movie and Dallas Buyers club, I watched them last week and they are both great. If you can only see one then watch the Lego movie, a great piece of animation! 

This week has been fairly productive I am finally nearly finished with the new advert for my website the only element to complete is the voice over recording. It currently has a scratch track of me reading the script. A process I totally hated even though I was the only person in the studio I still felt very self conscious about recording my voice. Once the voice over has been added I will do a final cut of the advert hopefully shaving about 10 seconds. Then it will be uploaded to the website. The advert is likely to be online March 21st. On the same day the website is due to have a minor facelift. Mostly just an updating of the banner and a few of the other photos in use.

I have additionally began working on a second video for the website that will help explain the price of animation. Its not uncommon for me to be asked how much for some animation like its a packet of crisps. I've regularly been asked how much for some animation a bit like toy story but a couple of minutes long. Unfortunately it is not that easy to give an answer to that. For those wondering things to consider when pricing up an animation I work out how long it will take me to complete, this is affected by how complicated the animation is, materials, how long the finished product will be, style, do I need additional people ie actors, musicians etc. Lots to consider so the more specific someone is when asking the more accurate the quote will be, Its actually better to say how big your budget is then I can work out a project that will fall within it. 

Part of the process of making a piece of animation is scripting, story boarding and sound. Although these have different titles they are all part of the same process. When coming up with an idea I work through a sketch book making notes and thumb nails, from here I'll make a list of things that will happen then go between scripting and story boarding. Normally story boarding before scripting but the process goes back and fourth between these parts. When writing the script I might think of a better idea and will then update the story board, so lots changes at this stage. I story board on post-it notes and then lay them all out on the wall to begin to get an idea of how it will look. At this stage its really easy to change parts around by rearranging the pictures. 

Once I am happy with these parts I record a scratch track of the script. This is me standing with my microphone recording all the voices. As noted earlier this isn't my most favourite part but its essential. During this stage the script is likely to change again. I record every part as written though whats written doesnt always sound as good when spoken so lots of changes will occur at this stage. When recording I can see the script and the story board so have a good idea of what Im doing. 

Once recorded I scan the story board and import all the sound into final cut to edit together an animatic. This is the story board and sound cut together to allow me to see the timings and get a better idea of how the finished short will look with out having to animate. It is the best opportunity to look at it and decide if it is any good and wether or not it is even worth making. 

Yesterday I finished the animatic and felt reasonably happy with it, then when watching it again this morning changed my mind. Today has seen me reworking the whole thing, its been completely re story boarded, the sound that I recored previously is fine though I've trimmed chunks off. The problem was visually it was just flat and slow. Below is the completed storyboard. I plan on animating it in the last couple of weeks of March, aiming to get it online by the middle of April. 

Finally below is a photo said i'd add ages ago of a set and puppet I've made although forgot about. The puppet is complete to how I'd like him though there still some work to do on the set. I'm still a long way off animating this as its not a priority project its just a bit of fun on the side.

Okay thats enough!

Rich

Birmingham Screen Image Network and Networking

This is actually a big answer I gave to some questions regarding the Birmingham Screen Image Network that I attend once a month at Millennium Point. It took me a while to write it but hopefully it will be useful and interesting.

Here are the questions-

What makes a good network?

Why do you go?

And what do you want from a network?

And here is my Answer-

I've attended all sorts of different networking sessions for both creatives and business people, in lots of different venues. I enjoy the BSIN sessions as they are regular, the venue is good and it is easy to find out who is there, what they do and then I can decide who I want to talk to. Rather than the scatter gun approach which occasionally happens at larger sessions.

I think the venue is very important, the worst venues for myself have been bars and pubs. I find the main problem with these is they are to noisy due to loud music and are often being shared with members of the public making them unnecessarily crowded. I found that people end up getting hammered and it just seems pointless talking to some of them as they're totally incoherent.

A venue should have features that provide opportunities for conversation. A drinks station is always good. If I run out of people to talk to and cant see any open groups then I normally get a glass of water and engage the next person to come over to the drinks table. When food is provided finger food works best especially with tall tables that you have to stand at. As you can remain mobile and easily start up a conversation with a new group/table. I think it would be good to put spikes on the walls as it can be to easy for attendees to hide at the side and this would force them into the middle of the room.

Recently I've been attending sessions that have art, interactives, prototypes, puzzles and other assorted conversation props that are great for facilitating networking.

Another style of networking I've enjoyed is speed networking. You all sit in two rows facing one another and have about 60 seconds each to talk, swap cards and move on when the whistle blows. When the speed networking has finished everyone carries on with regular networking but now you know who everyone is and can carry on promising conversations.

Finally the most important thing for me is the people. I preferably want a good mix of creatives, animators, film makers, artists, sound people, writers, photographers, actors etc and preferably some business people, different entrepreneurs who are interested in the skills on offer by the creatives. Most importantly the attendees have to have a good attitude ie polite, friendly and be prepared to try to make conversation.

I go to BSIN each month for a variety of reasons. I enjoy the structure, each person introduces themselves, who they are, then news is shared and interesting debates normally arise. Although the attendances are low there is normally a couple of new faces each month. I have made some useful contacts, I get to hear of news, events and different opportunities coming up.

I think it would be good bring the Screen and Music networks into the same room for the last 20mins to further share news, info, leads etc

When paired with the free dinner and creative networks events after its a really enjoyable and useful way to spend an afternoon.

I also go to support the network and hopefully support the creative scene in Birmingham by attending. Attendances are low which is disappointing, although I wouldn't want the groups to have massive, if it could get up to 15/20 each week that would be great. The only way the group will grow is by people continuing to attend, talking and promoting the meet ups.

Update

Hi

This is quick update on what I've been up to.

Most recently I've been updating the Blades Animation showreel, the ancient Cwmbran animation has been added and there is a new piece of animation at both the start and end of the showreel using the Blades Animation Mascot (who is still nameless so if you have any suggestions please leave it in the comments). Please check it out below.

This afternoon I began work on a new armature that I aim to be animating with during July. The puppet is the main character for the multi platform series we have been developing for the last few years. The actual series is still a long way off from being ready but I am keen to experiment with some ideas for the character. I figure it will be a good way to try out some new armature ideas and begin establishing the character and world he inhabits.

Here is something I have been consistently going to since the start of the year its really good. The Birmingham Screen image network is on the last thursday of each month and is normally followed by creative networks all at Millennium point. The first half is a networking event for film makers and sound people. Then there is a free diner and it finishes with some kind of talk of visiting speaker. During the summer months it is just going to be the networking but it is still a must attend for any one out there interested in a career in film or animation.

Here are some things to check out. Number one is this cool scifi/philosophy blog cleverly titled Sci-Phi I've been reading by the talented writer Sarah Brown who you can follow on twitter

Number two is the new project by John-Lynton Bryan the creator of The Collector, a short I animated on a couple of years ago. It is a comic/film called Dream Staite heres the link http://www.dreamstaite-movie.com/.

Thats it for now!

Rich

Quick update

Been quite busy this week just got back off holiday, I camped and walked Hadrians wall. It was a good holiday but has left me feeling like I now need a holiday, very tiring.

As a result todays blog is going to be brief and an update of what Im upto. Today Im going to go to Calumet Photographic in Birmingham to buy some new studio lighting which is very exciting. Other new purchases are just before I went on holiday I purchased some new sound recording equiptment. A new condenser microphone, mic stand and pre amp. These were all bought from Fair Deal Music in Birmingham the staff there were very helpful.

I am just putting the finishing touches to a small set to do some new animation with the Blades Animation Mascot. Im going to be producing a couple of short pieces to add to the showreel. These should be ready by the end of the of the month so look out for those.

Well thats it for now.

Rich

Animation Journey

Hello I've decided that this post will continue the new start to this blog and give some more background about how I was led to a career in animation. I'll cover some of my influences and things that inspired me along the way.

Growing up I was interested in cartoons, sci fi and fantasy. My favourites were cartoons like Transformers, Thundercats and pretty much any other violent action cartoon. Even now I remember seeing both Transformers on Wackaday and Thundercats which Im sure debuted on a Sunday night which is a bit weird. As a child I wanted to be either a barbarian or Optimus Prime briefly after watching Top Gun I wanted to be a Jet. Both the title sequences for these series were so cool, exciting, iconic music and slick animation. Having watched the shows more recently these are the only parts that are any good. If you still think either of these cartoons are very good your mistaken.

As with all cartoons they had all sorts of tie-ins films, toys, cloths, comics etc. I sporadically bought comics of all sorts of stuff Spiderman, Transformers, Zoids (which I recently re-read and its a great read) Thundercats etc I settled on collecting Thundercats Comics which I have most of a run of the first 100. The Zoids comics features excellent art and even early work by the awesome Grant Morrison

check this out its really good apart from the abrupt end

I settled on Comics as my passion and my goal became to be a comic book artist. In the UK during the 80s Marvel UK produced loads of original comics so I could see a direct route to the career. For me Cartoons and Animation was unachievable. I felt quite detached from the production method as it was behind a screen and out of reach, I had no means to reproduce what I saw on TV. Comics I could hold read, draw and create myself.

My big problem with toys was that you never had all the figures, I used to cut out the characters I hadn't got and stick them to card with bases to expand my ranks of Transformers. 2D cardboard Transformers were quite limiting as they were flat and didn't Transform. When I decided that didn't work I began making Transformers out of Plasticine. This worked far better to the point that I just played with Plasticine Transformers instead of the toys. As well as having a complete collection of Transformers I had all the Marvel Heroes and all the Turtles (and blue peter inspired sewerbase) all made from plasticine.

At school I took Art as an option. Then progressed to College continuing with Art though expanding to study Graphics, Jewellery, Printmaking, Ceramics and Media. I never really enjoyed Media as we had to use Macs which I couldn't get my head round plus I just didn't like using computers. For one of the projects we had to book out a digital camera and take photos of letters. I had left it so late that the cameras were all booked out. As I still had to do the work I bought a cheap digital camera with some Argos vouchers I had won from my job at Mcdoanlds. The Camera did the job and it had an animation feature. Rather than exporting the images as individual photos its was possible to export them as a short quicktime. Then you could add effects in paint. This was my first attempt at Animation. Unfortunately I no longer have any of my early attempts at animation though they were probably amazing works of art. The project I bought the camera for also turned out to be my first film project.

The project was a creative presentation of collected and made images of the alphabet. Rather than just handing in a pile of images I filmed all the images. I held a toy rocket on a string and made it fly past the alphabet for a simple narrative (it was very crude). At this stage it still hadn't occurred to me I could be studying film or animation. I imagine based on my work up to now it was probably looked best for me to avoid this route.

While looking for Universities I was planning to continue with Art and do a fine Art course. It wasn't until looking at a prospectus on the journey home from Wolverhampton I even realised you could study animation at University. I changed courses at the last minuet and did Visual Communication at UCE (now BCU). On this course I studied both live action and animation. I had a go at drawn which i found to be soooo painfully boring that I only produced a handful of drawn animations. I think I still have them on a mini DV somewhere, if I ever find them I may put them online for people to laugh at.

I switched to stopmotion as this is the best one and most fun to do. People often say you have to be patient and it takes ages but I find it pretty instantly rewarding. Within a couple of frames you can have a puppet come to life thanks to your work, I find it very quickly gratifying. Then the more you add the cooler it becomes. This is why I dont enjoy creating drawn animation, you have to sit and draw the same thing over and over and its not until you scan or film it that you can properly appreciate what you have done. I have a lot of respect and time for drawn animators and their great work. The other cool thing about stopmotion is your basically playing with toys and plasticine. Its not quite as fast as just playing but you no longer have to imagine your toys coming to life you are actually bringing them to life.

Okay thats the end for now. I'd like to spend more time in the future writing about specific animations and films that I either think are great and worth checking out or things that have really been an influence on me. I think this covers how I got into animation though.

Intro to the All New Blades Animation Blog

Hello so Ive been reading friend of Blades Animation the talented live action director Malcolm Kennedys recently started blog. Below is Malcolm's logo please click on the link to be taken to his website. (don't do it yet till you've read this blog though)

www.malcolmkennedy.co.uk

Malcolm's first entry is an introduction to who he is and what he's about. I thought "umm did I do this?", No I did not. I had a look over my old post to double check as I couldn't really remember but No definitely didn't. So what follows is finally an introduction and welcome to the Blades Animation Blog.

I am actively trying to be more proactive with Blogging, tweeting and facebooking so this entry is all part of this new marketing blitz. Im aiming to blog about once every other week, tweet about once a day and put something on facebook once a week.

When I first started this blog it was just going to be updates of what I was doing, which I guess it had been. I decided that this was in-fact boring so out the window with that and from now on its the all New Blades Animation Blog. I based its boringness on the repetitive titles of the blogs they are all just variants of the word update. My favourite blog post is the networking one, I re-read it the other day and I just thought "THIS IS BLOG GOLD!" Anyway so this made me think from now I'm going to try to put in more useful blogs that are hopefully more interesting. I've got lots of draft blogs I've been compiling for a couple of months now, most of them are just titles with a few notes. I've even got the blogger app so am totally committed to getting these posts done and online.

Right so things Im going to cover going forward are still some updates of projects and what Im up to but less of these. The next puppet I make I intend to document the full process and stick it up on here as a sort of puppet making tutorial. Im planning a day trip to london to buy some studio lights which is going up on here. At the end of September Im going to be walking Hadrian's Wall as research for a project I'm working on which will probably be a mix of smaller posts. I've got lots of creative businesses posts I want to put up, this covers, my work process, marketing advice, scheduling, pricing, how to keep costs low, book reviews, all sorts of stuff and some fun blogs like favourite films etc. If readers have requests then please message me and I can probably do requested blogs or answer questions as well, cos Im nice.

So I think that works as a indication of what this Blog is about from now on. I want to avoid doing any really long blogs and keep them nice and digestible, so I shall stop now. I will try to follow this post up with some history on how I began on my journey into animation, where I started, the routes I took and so on.

Thanks for reading, please like the facebook page to stay up to date on whats going on.

Rich

Update

Got lots of stuff coming up.

I'll be starting the next commission a week Wednesday currently just getting everything ready for that. Its not a massive project so will only last for about a month, possibly slightly longer. I posted another clue on twitter today as to what it is.

Been busy today working on a short film thats scheduled to come out in time for Christmas this year. Currently at the scripting/storyboarding stage. This part can sometimes take ages as theres no point making a film if the scripts rubbish so its very important for this part to be perfect before moving onto anything else. I've done some character designs but these wont be finalised until after the script/storyboard is set and Im ready to start making things. This film is currently going by the title HNY until I think of something good.

The second major project I'm working on is currently called S&S this is ongoing as its a series idea rather than a short so wont be ready any time soon. A large portion of the character designs are complete and Im finishing off the character profiles. The series is a road movie, adventure across Britain. Im  figuring out the plot and the route the characters are going to take. Then at some point this year I plan to spend time traveling the route to help the writing of the plot/script.

During the next week Im going to film a short video tour of the studio so you can all see what it looks like. Though I wouldn't hold your breaths as if you check back through my previous blogs you will see I say all sorts of stuff and don't do it.

So like me on facebook, follow me on twitter, leave a comment or suggestion and i'll see you soon!

Rich