Degree show and Graduation

Now that all the hard work on The Piper was over it was time to get ready for the university Show and Tell degree show. This where all the university's Art and design departments are open to the public, so they can come and take a look around all the final year students work on display

While i was setting up my section of the degree show I came out of the animation department and I was shocked and over the moon to see that The Piper had been used on a banner to promote the animation department. It was a very amazing thing to see my characters on a 5 foot size banner and I felt very lucky that my work had been chosen.

The degree show lasted a week and was brilliant to see people's reaction to everyone’s films and hard work.

For all you who could not make it to the degree show here is a short video by Rich Lee and Alan Bennett with a nice interview with myself talking all things Piper

So now the degree show was over the next step was the big one, Graduation! This was a crazy broiling hot day and grate way to say good bye to university life but hopefully not the last time see you your mates.

Very embarrassing photo

A completely unexpected thing happened as I stood in the wings of the stage getting ready to walk on and shake the deans hand, the speaker stopped reading the names From the Stop Motion Animation and puppet making class and said and the winner of Outstanding Creative Achievement In Design: Graphics and Animation is awarded to Daniel James! Well I was of course dumfounded and did not believe it. I walked out on stage a bit like a zombie, shook the Deans hand and only when I had sat down it hit me what jus happened.

My First Class Honers degree

winning this award was truly a grate honer out of the whole university my work was selected for this award and for that I am very grateful. I would like say now a massive thank you to every on who has helped me on this project, to my tutors for nominating me and to the heads of the Arts and design department who selected me to win.

Here is The Piper and his award!

This was the icing on the cake, I can now proudly say I could not of received any higher of an achievement for my time at university. It's now time for the scary part, where I levee the comfort of education and step out into the big wide animation world.

Wish me luck :D

Bristol Animate Encounters Day 2

Day 2:

Tooth and Claw

This was the third selection of animated screening and as you may be able to guess from the tile most of these animations were animal themed. This screening was an exciting one as this was the screening were former Graduates form my university including Tommy had there film The Money Tree shown, and it was a grate felling to see it on the big screen for them.  My highlights from this screening: The Money Tree, Rising Hope, L’Ere Bête, Ride Of Passage, Ernesto, and The Tortoise

Time Passages

Before this screening I meet up with Katie McQuin who is a community manager at Aardman. I know Katie from posting animations on the Wallace and Gromit site and twitter. I meet here for a little chat last year and it was grate to she hear again and have a good long chat, and she was very happy to get her very own Viv &  Mandy badge. Myself, Katie and Gareth head in to the next screening. This was the fourth set of animated shorts to play and themed about gods, death and the environment. My highlights from this screening were: Zing, A Life Well-Seasoned, Atlas, Seven Minutes in the Warsaw Ghetto and Bendito Machine IV

Setting the scene: Layout workshop

The workshop was held by Fraser Maclean the author of the book setting the Scene, this was an interesting talk were he spoke about his personal jobs within animation, his first job was doing some of the shadow FX work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He then went on to talk about the past 100 years of animation layout in a brief history, showing clips for different films and shorts as examples. The full history of layout is in his book that you can check out here! Id highly recommend it for all animators but more so if you are a 3D and 2D animator/ director. As staging can make or break a scene. Also Fraser is a very nice, friendly and easy to talk to chap.

Before this workshop started I spotted that I was sat next Mr Ben Mitchell who is the co-hosts of the brilliant Skwigly Animation pod cast check out there site here! And you can download the pod cast here! or on ITunes. I had been chatting to Ben on and off over the last year over twitter, so It was nice to introduce myself and put a face to the voce and tweets. 

Over in the Art gallery close to the festival they had the pirate ship used in The Pirates! Film on display in the lobby, and boy this ship was massive!! The details on the ship were stunning the mast, sales and rigging alone was over 2 stories high. This made it hard to fit into a single photo but hear it is in all its glory   

Directors UK: Sam Fell

This event was a big one for stop motion Animators, and because of this it meant that most of the online stop motion twitter community were all coming down for it (you know who you all are). We all met up before hand in the watershed bar. I got to chat up with sum of gang that I have met before and some who I was meeting for the first time, a big one for me to meet was stop motion animator Tim Alan who has worked on Corpse Bride Mr Fox and the up-coming Frankenweenie, if you don’t know who he is then check out this sitehere! He has done some brilliant work over the years!

Once we all had a little catch up we all made are way over to the screening of Paranorman (if you have not seen it yet I say you must run and go see it now!!) this will be followed by an interview and Q&A with the films co-director Sam Fell. Even though I had seen the film before the atmosphere of seeing an animated film in a room full of animators and animation lovers was something I have never experienced before and what a buzz it gives you, fingers crossed this will be the first of many like this. Once the film had finished and every one had picked their jaws up off the floor and stopped clapping out came Sam. 

This chat gave a grate inside into what went into making the film. He spoke about the character design, the 3D printing, casting the film, picking the actors, walking the thin line of not making it too scary for kids and the big question on all animator’s lips how did you feel when you heard that Frankenweenie was coming out this year as well. Once the chat was over I got to briefly meet Sam, were I got introduce myself, have a short chat and I gave him my card. He very kindly did me and Gareth a quick singed drawing of Norman etch that I will be getting frame at some point very soon.

After the chat with Sam a big bunch of use all went to that after screening drinks/ get-together on a boat / pub. This was a great chance to meet more people and have a good chat with some animators and directors in a very chilled and relaxed manner. thanks to my idea of tweeting a photo of the badges I was wearing I got spotted and had a very nice chat with managing director of Slurpy studios Aaron Wood check them out here!  Later on in the night myself and Gareth got to have a drink from and more brilliant chit-chat with Tim Alan as well. After the boat party we all made are way to a different pub and carried on with the friendly animation and all things nerdy conversation, before calling it a night.