The Flip Animation Festival brings three days of animational loveliness to the Light House in Wolverhampton, starting on 5 November (although the launch will be at Millennium Point in Birmingham).
There’s a fair amount being packed in – portfolio reviews, screenings of shorts and student films and workshops on game design and scriptwriting. Greg McLeod, from the Brothers McLeod will be animator-in-residence on the Friday, allowing all and sundry to watch him working. In fact, borrowed from the newsletter, here’s a summary of what’s on (follow the links for detail):
Some brilliant experimental musicians have provided tracks which animators can download for free. The animators need to use the tracks as a starting point to create music videos which can be submitted to the challenge Vimeo group. The best and brightest offerings will then be screened at a special event in Wolverhampton’s Light House Cinema on 21st July.
1. Download one or more of the tracks.
2. Create an animated music video for the track(s) of your choice.
3. Upload the finished video(s) to The Great Animation Challenge Vimeo Group anytime before the 6th July deadline.
4. Contact david.luke.allen@bcu.ac.uk with your full name, email address, phone number and the title of your short.
5. The animators behind the best shorts will then be contacted in July for a screening copy of the piece.
The contest is open to animators across the UK at all levels (entries by studios are welcome) and the winner of the best short will receive a subscription to Imagine Magazine and a copy of The Imagine Animation Directory at the Light House screenings on 21st July 2009.
The next Animation Forum WM event will be Shorts on Walls as part of Flatpack Festival. The event starts at 6.30pm, Saturday 14th March 2009 at The Victoria pub.
As with previous ‘…on Walls’ events this will be your chance to screen your animated shorts and chat with fellow animators. Entry to the event is free, and all Animation Forum WM members are encouraged to make submissions. To attend simply RSVP by email to info@animationforumwm.co.uk.
To submit work email Dave Allen on the above email who will give you all the details.
‘Codswallop’ by The Brothers McLeod has been nominated for a BAFTA in the category of Short Animation, pitching them against Aadrman’s Christmas TV big-hitter ‘Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of of Loaf and Death’.
Codswallop is based on a series of postcards Greg McLeod sent to his son, and it’s similar in atmosphere to their Spamland shorts. Some nice mucking about with splitscreen and stereo sound too, so we’ll have to make sure we don’t get our left and right mixed up.
Someone in YouTube-land is a Dice Productions fan. A couple of weeks ago their ‘Don’t Touch‘ short featured on the YouTube UK homepage, sending views of that animation rocketing up.
Now the trailer for their new piece ‘All Consuming Love (Man In a Cat)’ has been featured on the global YouTube homepage. That’s pretty impressive stuff – the online video equivalent of being hit by lightning twice, so congrats to them.
The Flip Animation Festival (6-8 November at Light House, Wolverhampton) has been assembling a rather tasty line-up over the past little while, as documented on their nicely informative blog.
Highlights include:
A retrospective of work from Osbert Parker, best know for his cut out animation style mixed with live action; BAFTA & Screen WM Presents: Ninja Theory, the game developers behind the stunning Heavenly Sword and Kung Fu Chaos; Sita Sings the Blues, a screening of this modern classic and Indian epic; a day of Doctor Who animation treats and a real Dalek fleet will invade Light House!
The line-up is up on the Flip Festival website and tickets are available at very reasonable prices.
It’s competition time!
However, if you’d rather swipe a ticket for free then here’s your chance. There are two available, to be given separately (ie not as a pair) so there’ll be two winners.
All you have to do is leave a comment claiming your ticket, first two claimants will win. Rules are as before (except for the first one) and please use a proper email address so I can get in touch.
The Brothers McLeod were commissioned to make some short animations for 4mations, two of which are now up with the third to follow on 7 October.
The show follows the escapades of a Dogg whose enthusiasm outweighs his intelligence. In the three short episodes Dogg must find new ways to chase cars, clear up his mess and retrieve some stolen sausages.
I was going to embed them for you to watch but that feature on the 4mations site doesn’t seem to be working. No matter, here are some links:
The next Animation Forum West Midlands event, Grads On Walls, will be at Concrete on 13 October and will showcase the work of the region’s recent graduates.
I really do recommend these. Shorts On Walls and Ads On Walls were great, even for someone like me who never got past using the corners of school exercise books as flipbooks. These screenings are just like a trip to the cinema. Only free. And they serve drinks. The work screened is consistently excellent too.
Of course if you are an animator then it’s a good chance to meet like-minded souls.
If you’d like to go down then RSVP (check the site) to let them know you’re going.
If you’d like to submit work then read this:
Submissions for Grad’s on Walls can include short films, music videos, experimental and commercial pieces. The only requirement for submissions is that animator should either be currently based within the West Midlands, or have graduated from a University within the region. Good quality student work will also be considered for screenings.
then go to the AFWM site for details of where to send a DVD of your work.
All talks last from 6.30 to 8pm with nibbles until 9pm. They’re all free too but places are limited to you’ll need to book – call 0121 753 7700 or email kate@hi8us.co.uk for that.
Digitoons Masterclasses
In addition to the talks:
The Brothers McLeod, will give six budding animators the opportunity to take part in five masterclasses to enable them to create their own one-minute animations. The finished product will be screened alongside renowned industry professionals at Millenium Point, as part of Hello Digital.
The classes will take place weekly between 16 Sept and 7 Oct 2008. To apply for that call 0121 753 7700 or email kate@hi8us.co.uk.
For more info on the talks and masterclasses see the DigiToons eflyer.
Her work has received many awards including a Broadcast Designers Association Silver Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Design and Animation
Eight Eyed Sea Bass’s blog has news of the company’s work on a few films. Firstly they’ve authored the DVD for a feature film called The Mandrake Root from Simon Wood (ex-UB40 manager and founder of Brumiewood)’s European Drama Network.
They also mention that they’re working on a couple of feature films in preference to companies from London, although details of the projects can’t be divulged just now.
So yes, that’s all well and good. However my favourite thing on their blog is a short entry for a computer animation competition – you can read about the background to it on the blog and watch it here:
The Flip Animation Festival is on from 6-8 November (Thurs to Sat) at the Light House in Wolverhampton.
This year the festival will feature the C-Games Conference, a Drawing in the Digital Age symposium, an afternoon of animated Doctor Who and various screenings, talks and so on.
The website’s just coming together but the peeps at the Light House are running The Flip Blog and have put up a few quite charming items already.
For the animators out there, the last date for submissions is 8 August, so get your skates on if you’re planning to send something in. Here’s how to submit to Flip 08.
The next event from Animation Forum West Midlands is at Concrete in the Jewellery Quarter on 11 August 2008. Called ‘Ads On Walls‘, it’s an opportunity for local animators to get together for a natter, showcase their work and generally get to know each other a bit more (call it networking if you must).
Many Forum members often don’t realise how many animation studios and companies there are dotted around the region, and part of the ‘big idea’ behind Ad’s on Walls, is to introduce animators to what’s actually going on, on their doorstep.
The Shorts On Walls event that AFWM ran a few months back was well worth going to (even for a non-animator like myself) and this one seems to be following a similar format.
If you’d like to go along then entry is free but you’ll need to RSVP to david.luke.allen@bcu.ac.uk or call 0121 204 9886.
If you’d like your work to be screened at the event then submissions are open – get in touch on the above details to find out where to send a DVD of your work.
Also on that page is the evening’s screening schedule with links to the animators’ profiles. I understand they were trying their best to accept last minute submissions meaning giving out a running order on the night wasn’t possible, so it’s good to see it here.
It also helps me to pick out the films that I particularly enjoyed and give them an extra plug here.
The Nickolodeon-style anarchy of Pedro & Frankensheep from the Brothers McLeod was great and has apparently been picked up by CBBC.
A name that cropped up again and again was Natalie Ann Hinchley. She has a credit on Pedro & Frankensheep, her Second Home Productions outfit produced the jaw-dropping ‘The Animal Book’ (only the trailer here but it’s still a treat)
and, although I can’t find a video to embed, go and check out the Light House commissioned ‘Onions’ on Natalie’s website – animated bunnies are always a winner.
I’m at risk of just listing everyone here so I’ll finish with a few quick mentions:
Although less polished, the video for Nyoto Ndogo’s track Dunia (remix) has a good energy about it and I like the song (presented by Andrew Burchell).
‘What If’ by Mat Parker’s Short Animations 4 Education was uncomfortable viewing for the right reasons (trailer only on the site).
Finally, the YouTube embedding has been disabled but I’ll forgive that (just about) to mention ex-BCU MA student Guillaume Weiss’s ‘4:51‘ which I thought was just incredible.
