north american premiere

This weekend is the first year of The Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival. There will be a strong Newport presence in the academic competition with myself, Lorna Bailey and Joseph Wallace all being selected. There may be more but the website hasn't posted the nominees so I can only report the facts as I know them.

I will be thinking positive thoughts about one of us winning the award. The trophy is an armature which is extremely useful. I think other festivals should take note and make their trophies functional too. A statuette that is also an external hard drive, a framed certificate that is also a graphics tablet or for the festival with a tiny budget a trophy that is also a pencil sharpener.

live and covered by dots

This event coincides with the opening of the shiny and newly renovated Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. It will probably still smell of fresh paint but don't let that put you off.

A fantastic opportunity to hear Gareth Bonello's wonderful score live from his banjo to your ears! If you've already seen the other films then this is the chance to see them again but with a new soundtrack which will transform them into brand new films.

It's also a chance for you to see me try and talk in front of a room full of people without exploding in panic. On second thoughts, I'm sure you all have better things to do that night so maybe you should do those things instead.

Although this event is very exciting, what made my heart sing with glee was being printed in the Chapter programme, of which I've been a flipper for many years.

if i could turn back time, would i have found a way

I have just discovered that Heartstrings has been selected to screen at ReAnimania which is on from 3rd to 6th October. Today is the 8th October so if any Armenians can let me know how it went I'd be grateful.

Congratulations to Nick Parki, as he's known in Armenia, as he's won yet another award for A Question Of Bread And Death.

world festival premiere

Heartstrings has been selected to screen at the Norwich Film Festival, and been nominated for the 'Best Animation' and the 'Best Student Film' award.

It is showing on Friday 18th September during the opening night screening and on Monday 21st September before the BAFTA nominated animation screening. I'm very pleased to be part of BAFTA Film Night 2, as for just one night I can pretend that I was in with a chance of winning one.

no nay sayers please

With the ending of the degree show, so ended the making of Heartstrings.

Or so I thought.

Thanks to the involvement of WONKY Films in Bristol, Lefty and Righty have become Knit and Purl. I've been working on some animated shorts to show around to industry types which could eventually bring Knit and Purl to a media device near you.

As part of this I have an E4 sting posted on the E4 website. At the moment it is doing quite well but if any extra YAY! voters want to make themselves heard I'd appreciate it.

I am also now the owner of a very strange pin cushion.

show's over folks

The Graduate Show has now finished and this is what it looked like.

Above is the stop-motion exhibition, and below is my board.

In the middle I put a digital photo frame that played my showreel and the making of heartstrings on a loop. People seemed to like the puppets and it was fun to come in and see them in odd positions after they'd been moved around.

Here is the timelapse edited together to become 'The Making Of Heartstrings'. The music is some of Gareth's banjo fiddling during recording. Am I moving them or are they moving me?

I also fixed the pixely problem I had by re-editing the whole thing and exporting as an .avi. It looks alright now, all ready for festivals.

my first award...ever

Bit of a shock considering had no idea that the award existed this year. I'm not good at talking in front of people even with prior notice so I ended up sounding like an idiot when I collected it. I didn't put any thankyous on my credits because of the time it took to spell everything out in wool so it could've been a good opportunity to at least thank my tutors who were in the room. Instead I just ran away, like Roadrunner, leaving dust clouds behind me.

It's awesome though. Great to know that people like the film.