Episode 68 'Super Croatia'

I was allowed an early birthday present!

So - becoming an official member of the co-curricular programme at Princethorpe College was September; having the after-school animation club grow by three members (bringing the grand total to five) was October. I am so proud. But I wrote that sentence last week... and upon reviewing this paragraph I know have SIX members of my animation club! *sheds a tear*

I have to apologise to all who are involved in this post because it was due for release before I departed on my Croatian holiday with Lucy. Therefore a few sections might not make as much sense (probably more on my account) than others. The kickstarter project, for example, has it's final 24 hours as of today...so watch read on and find out about what I'm going on about...

Yamination Studios has launched a kickstarter project to help fund the final stages of the 'At-issue' short film. I think the best way to describe how this works is not via the medium of reading, but through the beautiful accent of our Yam Yam leader Drew Roper. Enjoy...

A few weeks ago my incredibly chirpy tutor from my degree course, Laura Weston, contacted me with a proposition concerning an alumni talk for the animation department at Staffordshire University. This soon escalated and became a lecture in one of the theatres on campus. And in true student fashion, I left the presentation until the last minute! But in all honesty, because I was asked to talk about what I'd been doing since leaving University... well, I knew all of that anyway. There were some handy links that I attached to the notes section of the presentation, so hopefully they will come in useful (including subliminal kickstarter links for our Drew!).

I finally met Stuart Messinger, the new stop motion course leader at my old Uni, who helped me get set up for the talk along with Laura and Daryl Marsh. I am actually writing this after doing the presentation of course (proving my lack-lustered approach to this entire blog entry) so I do hope that the tutors and the students who attended the talk don't think I've forgotten them. It really was a fine morning and even though I was cacking my pants, I ended up feeling pretty darn comfortable in front of you guys. So many thanks for asking me questions and at least pretending to look interested!

So yeah the presentation went rather well. I stood before a lecture hall of 20-30 students and told them that I had a dream. I yabbered on about work experience, part time jobs, side projects, social networking, contacts, show reels and the like... I was originally going to write something more inspiring here before my holiday but due to my absence I'm afraid my mind has become warped with seven days of sun, sea and wine.

So embarrassed. 

This was one of the opening slides I used to show that I'm just a regular
fellow, albeit lacking any vitals. Just call me Wolverine of the puppet world. 

I have to apologise for my lack of commitment to this post. I am sat here in my Superman 'slanket' (I think that's what they're officially called) having withdrawal symptoms over Angry Birds Star Wars and slowly succumbing to the incredibly mellow sounds of a Mr Scruff DJ set (click HERE and go to 1:10:00 and you'll understand why). So I have decided to display some of my favourite snap shots from my Croatian holiday and build myself up for a much more creative, inspirational and interesting blog post next time!

Finally, I have a little treat for those Star Wars fans out there. And it took place in the stunning Croatian coastal resort Astarea Hotel. Each morning at sunrise we would attend the buffet breakfast and eat like kings, where cooking your own toast was somewhat of a curious feat of engineering. This contraption, however, made a rather nostalgic impression upon me as it sounded just like the carbon freeze chamber from the Empire Strikes Back. I shall let you be the judge...