British Animation Awards Nominations for 'The Day Pilsen Struck Gold"

'The Day Pilsen Struck Gold' nominated for Two British Animation Awards 2012.. A proper 'HomeGrown' animation.

Production Company: Second Home Productions

Director/Producers: Chris Randall and Jim Turner

Nominated for the Categories of : Best Commissioned Category and Public Choice Category

Fingers Crossed for every single member of the team that made the whole production experience a fantastic one..

The Last Day : Contemporary Art of Walking (Walking as a Methodology)

This day was to be the final step in a journey that was becomming impossible to continue. Nothing was expected, only that the frame had been set as a research methodology...What did that imply ?

Walking is part of the rhythm of animated-filmmaking. The space in which the process of thinking and feeling are allowed the space to evolve. Walking with an awareness of the original intent whilst only being able to make out signs in the distance. In the practice and in research the horizon shifts, sometimes reaching a landmark, other times it transpires, this is merely a point of commencement.

Walking from Camera to Set, walking from screen to camera, walking from Camera to object, from broad landscape to a droplet of water; William Kentridge refers to this as,"stalking the drawing". The obsessive act of moving from shoot to shot.

I understand, "stalking the drawing", referring to the act of walking, as a critical part of the process in which the internal thought process is paced out. It reveals the internal rythmn, a repeated process. It may be that through this process Kentridge is able to access the mind of the spectator whilst engaging his own vision.

In my practice, "walking space", provides an orientation in an expanded world view and allows for an expanded point of view to arise without losing ones orientation. It is landmarks, both small and large which provide the parameters of the work. It is the establishing of these co-ordinates that allow the work to operate as a multi-layered construction. This may be aligned to research, the frame allowing for the mining of new knowledge. A method of research.

Walking through the landscape of this part of the Pennines, I adopted an acute awareness of "keeping your orientation" in a new landscape. The acts of setting the compass, observing the landmarks and to a certain extent following ones nose, as metaphor, as the act of research.. a methodology.

However, this event extended beyond the obvious. Of course there was the alignment of research projects, potential collaborations and the extending of networks.

The day also allowed for another step to be taken, to reach that illusive horizon.

YSP : Jaume Plensa

Jaume Plensa is an amazingly insightful artist. This was one the greatest exhibitions attended in recent years. The use of tactility and sound was an intriguing debut for Plensa; first exhibition in the UK. The work included large typographical sculptures placed in the landscape (much like my own, but obviously much more impressive in many ways), Heads in conversation, lit from the interior and glowing with silent words, curtains of tactile poetry and vibrating sound gongs. It is the intention to look deeper into this artists work.

Summer Sucks

A quick ice - melting experiment led to a short fun animation.. "summer sucks". Iced Lolly drunk by dandelions whilst the slurp originated from a small child. It is hope this embraces the sight and sound of summer.

BCU : Specialist Studies

In working as a visiting lecturer for Birmingham City University, it has been a satisfying process to be able to give back something of the support and kindness shown in my own development. I have given a lecture and demonstrated a couple of really nice techniques with the students such as the Kentridge erasure technique and the Lotte Reiniger Cut-Out Animation Technique. I hope also to give a lecture on getting started as a Freelancer, whilst talking about Tax and Financing.. without completely scaring the students ! I may also be able to shine a small light on social and personal networking to identify specific opportunities.

I would sincerely like to see the students thrive long after they leave the grounds of the University to start out on their new Education. It will be a pleasure to see them go forward and conquer the creative world. They are a genuinely lovely group of professional people in the making.

Educational Animation Project : Cirque (provisional title)

It is always more effective to have two projects in development concurrently. The reasons for this are generally to allow time for both projects to develop and potentially inform one another. The conceptual work seems to progress much more quickly this way. It was decided to develop a science education animation project aimed at 11-13 yrs. It is intended that Cirque will be conceived, developed, created and produced in-house for the education market. This is in the very early stage of development at the moment. Research and development into japanese print making, armature building and concept design is under way at present. It is the intention to produce a pilot for this market. It is understood that research will be necessary to establish a clear understanding of the audience, although having two children in the age bracket, having taught at this level and having access to a number of science teachers certainly helps. It is also important to understand how this work may be commissioned.

sarra.tv : Commercial Website

For a while it has been under consideration as to whether the commercial animation and illustration work should be separated from the experimental and research work. In having a portfolio review from Jelly London in 2009 it was suggested that a separate identity for the Illustration work alone may may sense. At the time it was decided that the main focus would be on commercial animation. This is when the studio was commissioned the music video for Verity pabla. The work grew and more commercial animation was undertaken. It is only recently, following a year on commercial projects has it been decided to expand into Illustration work whilst also growing the developing body of work : Interconnection. This has been growing since 2007, but not many works have been published since 2009. It is now felt that dividing the two disparate streams of creativity will allow for a more tailored representation to the different audiences.

www.Sarra.Tv : New Commercial Website