International Summer School - Animation short course pop up event

'Nessie & Sirens & Kelpies Oh My!'

Great to see the pop up event, showcasing the culmination of work produced by the International Summer School students.

In the 12 effective days they had to dedicate to their project the produced:

• Concept art
• A script
• A storyboard
• Numerous sketch books
• A blog outlining their experience http://aeesummeranimatic.blogspot.co.uk/
• A two minute Animatic 

Good job!

Storyboard images in Photoshop - drawing to a sound track

Some images created for a sequence in Thaw.....I've been drawing these whilst listening to 'We Move Lightly' by Dustin O'Halloran...which is exactly the type of thought provoking music I want to use for the sound track....
The images below will be a mix of live action (girl) and CGI ice people and branches behind....
Really excited to start experimenting with lens flare, volume rays and God rays too!
                                                

Jason Bourne Movies

So knowing that the latest Jason Bourne movie is due out soon, we bought the box set of the previous two, to remind us of the storyline and sequence...

The fight sequences are excellent and the car chases on full octane....brilliant use of hand held camera and perfect for such a frenetic and fast paced edit

Two down, two to go and then the movies for the finale.....You Know His Name...!

Colour script ideas, sun and lens glare

Below  is an image I created in Photoshop for an idea for frozen branches in THAW...I saw the other image (posted by Visit Scotland) and it reminded me of specular and lens glare...which are two of the effects that I hope to achieve, both in live action and post.

These two images show a good contrast and the start of a colour script for the emotional transitional theme from winter to summer

Seasons for Growth - research

Interesting to note that this grief education programme 'Seasons for Growth' is based on the following:

"Grief is a bewildering experience and can take many forms. The seasons in nature represent change, with good days and bad days. They occur in a cycle which we cannot alter or prevent from happening. Accessible and easily understood, the metaphor of the natural seasons – autumn, winter, spring and summer – provide participants in our programmes with a language which helps them to understand and learn from their grief experience."

A good friend of mine who's an art therapist, suggested that I contact them with my research and storyboard ideas for my final film; the theme of which is closely linked to their ethos...
maybe with a possible view to discussions about ongoing research by way of a PhD.

Laura Donkers - Reflective Practice

As part of the International Summer Experience tuition, I attended a great presentation by Laura Donkers

Fresh from her return journey, literally two days, it was inspirational to watch Laura engage in a reflective dialogue, not only with herself, but us as the audience.

I was particularly struck by the title of her work 'YOU ARE NOT OUTSIDE'....an reminder of my belief that our creativity is found deep within.

I loved the detail with which Laura described her creative practice; in this instance of placing paper on the landscape and using a technique called 'Frottage' to create intricate and beautiful drawings. Using a variety of resilient tough papers; delicate translucent Japanese paper; giant size scrolls, and combinations of graphite, charcoal, I was struck by how much intricate detail appeared and how many of the drawings looked as if they were topographical images taken from space.
The culmination of these works resulted in the creation of a paper dress. Using a familiar 'object' as a vehicle to view the drawings, I loved how the dress was photographed against a stylised wallpaper image of foliage....in complete contrast to the random beauty found in the natural patterns that the frottage created.

Rough storyboards for THAW

Storyboard sketches for THAW- using a giant pad and fat graphite sticks, to help keep the drawings very loose.

At this stage I am focusing on the content of the actual story and inserting the images into Premiere to achieve a rough cut animatic..

Act 1: Setting the environment, the characters and the 'event'

Act 2: The obstacles and the change

Act 3: Resolution