Last night I happily Survived Life

 

Went to see Jan Švankmajer's new film 'Surviving Life' last night. It's the only film I've seen in the London Film Festival this year (oh dear)...  I sat eating ice cream and had a great night in the company of an old hero. Seeing his stuff on the young Channel 4 may have made as big an impression on me as Oliver Postgate's stuff from childhood. And that's part of why I'm here at Middlesex doing this course...

Sadly he wasn't there in person, but he appeared on screen to introduce it and apologise it's only an animated film! After consulting a stop watch his head split in two, his skull rolled out and fell down an open sewer cover...  I guess it's another meditation on dream and reality / consciousness and unconsciousness, but billed as a mid-life crisis. It has a narrative, and he refered to it as his Psychoanalytical Comedy, but I had already jumped into the same sewer cover and took whatever came my way. At times both Freud AND Jung covered their eyes and ears...

It's made with cut outs (see pic), stop motion and some live action. There is the strong indication that this will be his last feature (he's maybe 76, no-one seemed to be sure)... I don't like to think that is the case, because he still inspires me and I don't want him to ever stop. But he has left us with another classic. Thank you for the ticket Middlesex, and thank you Mr Švankmajer xxx

The name of this project is 'When Worlds Collide'

Update from the "another monday, another project" post...


...here's the animatic: created to see if people get the story (they seemed to) and whether my tutor, Robert, liked the timing/style (he seemed to). Yay! I combined the three postcards to get the story, character, style etc. I have two more weeks to complete the 30 second piece. I'll post the final piece then... wish me luck

Nudge, nudge..

No, I don't play Video games... and I never have. Apart from House of the Dead with my son in an arcade or two... but not at home, not with my bloody thumbs. Which may or not help me with the written side of my course. I assumed it'd be more 'Animation as Art Form', or 'I Hate Walt Disney because he disnay' kind of thing. No no, the subject I have to wrestle with is "Animating for Video Games vs. Animating for Movies".. Apparently "they're united by a single common cause: the desire to captivate the user or viewer and involve them, in one way or another, in the story that unfolds"... shouldn't be toooooooo hard then... I still feel like like the Python (Terry Jones) holding his pint... "do you mind not bothering me, you crass horror, I don't like you and I never will like you. Now cock off".

Another monday, another project...

What have these three pics got in common? We were told to collect one postcard (face down) from three tables, and NO CHANGING! Then a brainstorm and a mad dash to the library. To figure up a plot for a 30 second film based on them... My story seems a bit downbeat at the moment, I aim to give it at least a bitter sweetness. I'll be posting how it goes x

Chair: 4 Techniques animation excercise

   Green Screen

   Hand drawn (plus some paint)

    Flick book

   Stop motion

As I look around...

Welcome to my blog... As an intro, I've thoughtfully led with a little pic of me... This is the first pic I found in Documents of me... It's actually a photo of a photo of me on a bookshelf. To make this even more Meta, the bookshelf is above my head as I type this first Blog. I will probably use this seat to blog from, under this shelf... I won't always make a feature of where I am, or what's above me... but these are the early days.