Art week at Cardinal Newman College - Preston

On Thursday 8th December I visited Cardinal Newman College to take part in their art week.

I worked with students hoping to go to university next year.  Everybody got creative and together we made a short film. 

Working on 16mm film we could either use inks or letraset.  I found myself using letraset to form shapes on my strip of film, but the film had to be sanded before hand to give it a rougher surface as the letraset wasn't sticking.  I found that the letraset piece made the film more interesting rather than just using inks or a pen.  Parts of the letraset had started to crackle off and other parts were not sticking down correctly.  To me, this made a really nice effect and I was happy with what I had managed to create.  The film was then put together and everyone's drawings and doodles were projected on screen.

Altogether, I had a really enjoyable day working with other students who have a passion for art and design.  One aspect that made the day worthwhile was seeing how happy the students were, after creating something really nice with a type of media they had never used or experimented with before. 

So have a look at the short film below.  Apologies for the movement, I was filming by hand.

Bradford Animation and Film Festival

BAF takes place each November at the National Media Museum in Bradford, UK. The UK's longest running festival features screentalks, retrospectives, workshops and a competition strand which recognises the very best in new animation from around the world.

On wednesday 9th November I visited BAF.  I saw many animations by students and professionals from the UK and within Europe.  A few of my favourites were 'Brandt Rhapsodie', a French 2D animation about the tragedy of a romantic encounter and 'A Morning Stroll', a 2D/3D animation, Grant Orchard being the director.  I really liked the mix of 2D and 3D in this and the idea behind it.  This animation was also awarded The Best Professional Film.

I had a really enjoyable day and I hope to visit again next year.