The Mysterious Traveller

 I am incredibly sorry for such a late post. I have neglected you once again, so for those who read this and live relatively near Birmingham; find me, and I will buy you a chocolate bar. Although, these longer periods in between posts might be considered a good thing because it means I'm actually working . 2014 has already given me one heck of a project to work on and the feedback that our team received upon delivery was delightful. Myself, Drew and Yossel drove down to Clapham Road Studios in London to drop off the sets, which we had built and dressed up here in Birmingham, ready for the animators to do their thing. So now we play the waiting game. The animation workshop that I've been running has taken an exciting new turn, as they're actually beginning to animate! Unfortunately I've recently bailed on them due to a studio opportunity up in Manchester (I shall divulge in a few paragraphs time) so I am willing to accept the grief fro...

                        I reckon it's always healthy to start a post with some holiday snaps. Although, I'm not going away for a while so the next post could include photos of me having a right ol' time wearing a Hawaiian shirt and outrageous sunglasses... in Coventry. Anyway, me and Lucy went skiing in February and did a damn good job on the snowy slopes of the Black Forests in Germany. I even managed the steeper part of a blue slope and overtook a toddler. Now, you may think that's no big feat (just realised the little joke in there!) but these little buggers can ski/snowboard with no fear whatsoever. They even sing when they breeze past you, which just feels like a mocking and a half. I have to say, one of the highlights was the glorious weather we had on Valentines Day and the opportunity I had to climb into a wilderness hut with a stick (which was actually a double barrelled shotgun). I pretended to be E...

As soon as the fast-ticket collecting machine at Coventry railway station declared my booking confirmation was invalid and that it was near impossible to retrieve my E-ticket before my train departed, I stood there aghast and muttered some ungodly curses (much to the disgust of some nosey old biddy who clearly drives too slowly). What a perfect way to start my pilgrimage to the animation capital of the country. I almost made the decision to drive down to Bristol and began flailing between the platform and the bus stop, looking for somebody to slap me and say, Tom, you are a sad, strange little man and you have my pity. Now just buy another ticket you fucking eejit . Luckily enough it was the plasticine man inside my head who said this. I decided to worry about the additional £50 I forked out after the Encounters Festival and concentrate on getting to the afternoon screenings. Thus began my least favourite train ride ever.  Bit of blue for the dads; my second Encounters good...

I have decided to create a two-part post, where the 'before and after' scenario will hopefully give you guys a full chronicle of this years  Bristol Encounters Festival . As you may well know, our animation was successfully submitted and now proudly sits amongst many International competitors on the programme page of the website. It all seems a little daunting because you immediately start criticising your own animation and compare it to others; I have already noted the length of our animation (being one of the shortest). And yet, I recall the 2010 festival where one film screened a run time of 13 seconds and that went down very well. We have been placed in the category named 'Tooth and Claw' with another ten films and the description for this group is as followed: An outstanding collection of films featuring mammals and strange beasts. Whether the creature is endowed with human traits or the story explores the uses of animals, one thing is for sure: there’s noth...