The Mysterious Traveller

Something to start us off with... Although I never went to any of the Manchester Animation Festival (hashtagMAF), I still place myself in a position to say that it was an utter success (hashtagFreeloader). I really should have booked a couple of days off from work as the whole thing sounded tremendous but, alas, I did not. Perhaps it was just another event that passed me by; I hate that. I seem to be doing it more often, which is possibly why I feel so distant from animation, regardless of working alongside it on a daily basis. What I mean (to save confusion) is that I haven't animated for well over two years and I'm not happy about that one bit.  Needless to say, after meeting up with my old University tutors Laura Weston and Daryl Marsh, amongst many more animation folk, it sounds like this newly titled animation festival will most definitely be an annual event. And when surrounded by such prestigiousness (ha! it's actually a word. I thought I'd get a squ...

Sometimes the call of duty may surpass your average daily routine, where enjoying those strange, random, albeit hilarious, YouTube videos is simply not enough. Sometimes you need to become the fool and create a rather special video with a good ol' chum of yours. Welcome to TommyRob Shimuu . We're not quite sure of the whys or hows of the situation; more so the why nots and how the bloody hell shall we film that eh? What I'm trying to say is; I am a fool. And so is Rob Millard. So please watch how we've used this to our advantage... But tomfoolery aside, I have actually been doing some productive and creative work to advocate my place in the art world; in the fine medium of sculpting. Now, unfinished they may be, once painted these models will hopefully play a role in the bigger project of which I shall one day pursue. Stoppit and Tidyup was a children's animated television show from the late eighties, and something that I was always enthralled with when I ...

Sod off, I've been on holiday. And now, as I very gradually slouch a little lower in my lazy stupor, I have almost succumbed to day time television; and I'll tell you why. I have just returned from a beautiful and glorious jaunt around parts of Europe, but now realise that I need to jump start my creative mojo. I mean, do you know how long it takes for me to write these bloody things or paint a picture? A day! (this is, however, calculated by adding up all the twenty minute sessions from the past three months). Either way, it's just bananas. Although, today I did find an inspiring saviour and I'm baffled to why I hadn't listened to it before: the Skwigly Podcast (above). Why am I only discovering it now? Tell me that! I've got 29 episodes to catch up on now, so Come Dine With Me can go f**k itself (no wait! I'll still have it on in the background). The Skwigly website  is something that I was aware of but hadn't fully explored, mainly due to ...

With the Newzoids production under way, I've been auto piloting for quite some time and not necessarily had the energy to do anything creative. I work long hours dammit! The only drawing I've done in the past month has been a caricature of my friend Andy (something for his wedding invitations), of which he piped up with what's wrong with my head ? Perhaps the bastard's right. Maybe I am out of practice and need to get my pencil fingers back into gear. Pencil fingers; that's a phrase right? I did paint a glorious watercolour picture of my Aunty Val's house in the countryside for her birthday, but regretfully forgot to take a photograph.... so why on earth should you believe me?! When this production ends and the weeks return to normal for me (I work Friday-Tuesday, giving me a midweek weekend. Confused?) I might begin making props and sets for an animation I have in mind. It all began when I uncovered an ancient storyboard that I had once drawn up in my ...

It has recently sprung to the general public's attention that an upcoming show called Newzoids will soon be exploding onto our screens. This is the new satirical puppet show that I have been working on for the past six weeks; an ongoing production for a further six. In my previous post I mentioned a few brief titbits but, understandably, I couldn't reveal too much or else you may begin to read blog posts with a far more depressing and jobless content. But the cat is out of the bag folks! Over the past two weeks the studio has hosted several afternoons where journalists and writers from the likes of Radio Times and Daily Prophet have visited to take photographs and interview the team behind this new television programme.  This can only mean that the marketing campaign is one hundred percent under way. And luckily for me and my outrageously lazy attitude this fine and sunny afternoon; I can copy and paste to my hearts content. I will, of course, comment a little further when...

I had a rather upsetting realisation this week, that I may not animate again. But this isn't due to lack of interest because that's not true, it's impossible. So I searched my feelings and came to the conclusion that it's simply down to a series of events that began with the clumsy uninstallation of Dragonframe from my laptop. I thought I was updating it, but unfortunately it was for the current version of the stop motion software, not my own, resulting in a jargon filled misunderstanding. Alas, I couldn't save her. She passed away into the Matrix and I was left with nought but a thumbnail upon my desktop that, upon double clicking, would mock me with the following words... I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that . I don't even know who Dave is! Then I lost my Animation Toolkit armature during the final weeks of University. Whether there was a mix up with boxes or some sort of thievery I will never know, but it was a very good (albeit basic) ...

So it's finally within our grasp folks; Star Wars episode VII is now on the horizon of 2015 and from what we've seen and heard, it has great potential. I mentioned a while ago about the plethora of films coming out this year, urging myself to set some money aside for the many cinema trips. Well that money has in fact gone. But on a new flat in Manchester! However, the cinemas up north seem to be falling for my permament marker smothered student card trick, expertly hiding the 2011 expiry date, which means I'm already saving money! And a £1.30 discount each time is nothing to be shunned. Although, I have been shunned once by the wise guy behind the Odeon desk in Wrexham, to which I responded, 'oh! How strange, I hadn't noticed that before.' I later commandeered a BoxTrolls cardboard cut out to balance out the injustice.  It was really nice to see the BoxTrolls nominated for best animation of 2014. Always a victory when  a stop motion film ...

When it comes down to it, I tend to blog about animation and the industry that I am currently work in. But everybody loves a tangent.  This blog was originally meant as a guide (albeit a terribly scruffy one) to map the journey from graduation to 'real life' and the job opportunities that one might get via the animation route. There was no intention to preach or instruct graduates that this was the way , but to merely show that I had found a way (very much like the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar). So really, I don't need to blog about anything now.  We all know that just isn't true. I like writing bollocks too much to cease all this tomfoolery. Of course, I am still working on side projects (something that all creative folk ought to be doing) and taking my sweet ass time in completing any of them. The most ongoing of all is the model I have been constructing based on a Quentin Blake illustration, taken from my favourite Roald Dahl book The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me . ...