Helen Piercy ~ Animation ~ Illustration ~ Craftyness

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

December was totally manic and now it's January and I think I'm in shock at not being in arms reach of chocolate coins and piles of mince pies.

One of the December highlights was my return to Poitiers Recontres Henri Langlois film festival in France. I had a fantastic experience (once again) and met the fabulous team of people that run the festival as well as a troupe of new directors.

I was asked to introduce a programme of films from the National Film and Television School with the director of the school Nik Powell, as the festival was celebrating the NFTS's 40th birthday. Afterwards the festival hosted an impromptu birthday tea party and provided a cake with sparklers!

After the festival I returned to the NFTS to run a workshop with production designer Marco Restivo. The first year animators and production designers worked together to produce film treatments, including character sketches and environment concept designs. There was some great work produced and I am confident this years graduates will make some pretty incredible films.

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Earlier in November I created an intro animation for the website Police People. The site is run by an actual Policeman who writes stories about the adventures of a team of Police Officers including a dog and Police car called Siren.

It is a really inspiring site and resource for parents and teachers to educate young people on what the Police get up to. Hopefully the site will continue to gain support and become the next Bob the Builder.

A New Post!

2011-11-02T04:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a new blog post folks. Firstly I am very happy to report that I will be visiting France again in Decemeber for Poitiers Rencontres Henri Langlois International Film Festival where they will be screening Goodbye Mr Pink as part of the NFTS 40th Birthday celebrations.

These guys know how to throw a fantastic festival.

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The bespoke ping pong cover makers at Batburger asked me to create an animation to show off their new designs.

This clip features the Gengweff design, who is based on a recently deceased cat called Genghis.

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The new Strawberry Issue from Cakes and Canapés is out! I created a mini cookery film with Miriam Nice, who makes a mean strawberry brunch. Check out the film via the Cakes and Canapés YouTube channel.

The next issue focuses on Japanese food. Illustrators, writers and general food enthusiasts are invited to contribute.

Get in touch with Miriam if you fancy getting involved.

Goodbye Mr Pink Review

2011-09-06T02:41:00.000-07:00

A review of Goodbye Mr Pink, by Chris King of Boolean Flix Independent Film Blog.

"This film is about a little girl and how she deals with the death of her pet rabbit, Mr Pink. The little girl, Rose (played by Dora Gee), finds her Mr Pink “asleep” and it is only with the help of her brother Alex (played by Ryan Gunning) she begins to realise the worst. What follows is a journey into the imagination of this little girl, with her brother attempting to give her all of the answers about life and death.

The script is well written and the plot is simple, yet very interesting to follow. As it progresses, along with Rose’s thought process, it explores and unravels the theme wonderfully. When Alex proclaims that Mr Pink is, in fact, dead the children start to piece together the little they know about death and try to make sense of it all. Although the content matter is about fairly dark subject, overall it portrays quite a touching story of acceptance and the end of the film sees Rose be able to say a proper goodbye to Mr Pink, before – lead by Alex – they are able to give him quite the send off.

Along side the beautiful way in which this piece was filmed, the best part of this film for me was the fantastic, sinbad-the-sailor-esque animation. Mr Pink features prominently, as do several objects from the immediate setting – an old barn, all of which create a great 11 minute experience for the viewer.

Overall this film was, for me, a great exploration into the innocent view on life and death, portrayed by two young children. With some shocking, difficult to watch moments early on, the film has this interesting sense of contradiction when nearing the end, with some really touching moments. At the end of it all, however, there is a sense that the children still have a lot of things to learn and opinions to develop. A brilliant way to end a short film exploring so much."

See the full article at http://www.booleanflix.com

Wiltons & Lounge Lizard

2011-09-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

My lovely friend the artist Georgie Manly has been busy making Ping Pong bat covers. Last week I went down to Wilton's Music Hall (which is an amazing venue btw) and helped her man her stall.

The competition was fierce and the winner walked away with a bespoke trophy case (which is the one I'm holding.)

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After watching the film Bad Lieutenant I was inspired to make an Iguana out of upholstery fabric. He's a lounge lizard with diamanté eyes.

Batburger

2011-08-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

~~ Magpie Man ~~

~~ Defrosting ~~

~~ Lost In The Queue ~~

When people tell my funny, strange or bizarre stories I have an impulse to sketch them. Here are the first in the series, more to come.

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This evening I will be selling Ping Pong bat cases with the artist Georgie Manly at Wilton's Music Hall in London.

If you know anyone who is a major Ping Pong enthusiast with an eye for unique and somewhat eccentric accessories might I suggest you visit Batbuger, a place for all your Ping Pong case needs.

Rabbit on the Road

2011-08-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected for the Moviemiento, an on-the-road festival which screens short films in public spaces in Germany and around Europe.

If you happen to be in France in September look out for a brightly coloured bus, there might be a dead rabbit inside.

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-Click here to see the film ~

My stickman animation is now up and running on the CCH website.

Check it out, you may also learn something about the world of accountancy.

Feeling Fruity

2011-08-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered what to do with all the different types of strawberries in your punnet, including the squishy bruised ones? I'm currently working on a film for foodie zine Cakes and Canapés, which is unfortunately making me hungry all the time.

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On the subject of food I also have been making fruity personalities out of felt.

This little guy is Oli the olive (olives are fruit, right?) He works for a international design agency and is currently putting a pitch together for the re-branding of Lux luxury toilet paper, that'll tie in with the Olympics.

Stickman Shakeup

2011-08-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ola! I've been in a bit of an animation hole the past month squirrelling away making a stickman move and jump and get confused and then find answers!

Below are some stills from the project, which I created using Flash and After Effects.

There will be a slight shake up around here as I'm putting together a new and improved website with all my films, illustrations, projects and hand crafted bits and pieces on display. I will still be keeping a blog, which will contain all my musings. Stay tuned.

BBC Film Network

2011-06-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Mr Pink is now available to watch online through BBC Film Network.

Beware, the film contains some upsetting scenes!

Tricycle Theatre

2011-05-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Audience reactions are one of my favourite things about film making (it helps if they are positive, however so far so good.)

Last week was the screening of the three animated films I've been working on in partnership with the Tricycle Theatre. The three special schools from north London came down to the theatre in Kilburn where they got to see the films they also star in.

I was really pleased to see that the children recognised themselves, especially a little guy called Nathaniel who enthusiastically pointed at the screening when his face popped up.

I was very impressed by the theatre carpet, which was made up of lots of tiny tricycles. Full marks for attention to detail.

2011-04-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I went along to a special preview screening of Robert Morgan's latest stop-motion film BOBBY YEAH.

I can't really say much about it as it's something that has to be experienced. It's a really special film in a totally warped, disturbed, upsetting kinda way. It's also pretty hilarious too. I can guarantee your mum would hate it.

My house mate Hazel Baillie, film editor extraordinaire, recently had the opportunity to edit together a trailer for the lovely people at Secret Cinema.

Secret Cinema is a monthly event in which a film is screened in unusual venues. The location remains top secret until the last minute, as does the film. Putters make their way through intricate sets and actors who improvise to recreate the film's plotline.

I am determined to make the next screening, I hope it's not BOBBY YEAH as that would be a truly horrific experience.

Adventure Time!

2011-03-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

I'm coming to the end of my teaching sessions with the kids from Manor and Village special schools and I am totally going to miss them.

I'm not supposed to have favourites, but there are a couple of kids that are (I know this sounds cheesy) a joy to work with.

After the project has finished I'm locking myself in the studio to create three separate animated films based on the workshops. The finished films will be screened at The Tricycle Theatre in May.

I was recently commissioned to create an animated trailer for the new Maggie and Rose books which are based on the adventures of four friends, Maggie, Rose, Oscar and Bentley (the dog.)

The book launch was a big success! Go buy the them if you have kids, nephews, cousins etc....

One more thing I have to share. This truly amazing show I've been introduced to called ADVENTURE TIME.

It's one of those programmes I feel sad watching as I know I'll eventually have seen them all. If you loved trippy cartoons from the 80's this will appeal.

I'm on Twitter so come join me!
(I think I've just about got the hang of it.)

2011-02-07T14:36:00.000-08:00

The kids in my after school animation club never fail to turn what I think will be a calm, relaxing lesson into some sort of extreme brain warping venture.

Last week I asked them to bring in various objects they could animate with. One little guy brought in his sonic screw driver and spent the whole lesson trying to animate crazy psychedelic patterns. We had a bag of marbles reenacting Colditz and an animated rap made up of alphabet magnets.

It was a really fun lesson.

Janvier

2011-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

January blues, news years resolutions, post Christmas diets blah blah blah... I'm not a massive fan of this time of year, but there are lots of things to look forward to! Firstly as I've been a bit lazy on the blogging front I have to mention the awesome cake my friend Miriam made me for my birthday way back in November.

It's a Zoetrope! Complete with miniature horse, which much to my disappointment wasn't edible.

The end of last year consisted of illustrating people in the workplace, teaching celebrities children how to make snow men out of clay (sadly I can't tell you who, it's a secret) and the beginning stages of my new project, which involves animating around various tourist attractions in London (more on that later.)

I'm also working with the lovely Tricycle Threatre in Kilburn for the next couple of months on an exciting animation collaboration with two special schools in North London. Have a happy January!

Winter is Here!

2010-11-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

Winter is finally upon us and I'm so pleased as it's a great excuse to stay in, do some drawing and make random things. Over the last month I have begun working on some exciting new projects, one that involves animation and food (a winning combination).

The reference to the style is old school Sesame Street animated spots. Some of these films I had totally forgotten about. Do you remember this guy? Teeny Little Super Guy?? It's animation on cups!

Halloween gave me the opportunity to do a bit of paper mache. It's a technique I haven't had a go at since school when we had to make air raid helmets for some reason.

My friend Marie wanted to have an effigy of her head as a weird Siamese twin. Although I didn't quite master the scale of the thing (well it's Halloween and you can get away with a lot) I'm proud she wore it all night creeping out the punters.

Way, way back when I was at school having a go at art GCSE's, making everything from felted Picasso wall hangings to faces made of old computer parts, I put together a PowerPoint presentation featuring a photographer called Eadweard Muybridge. He is responsible for creating a valuable resource for animators by capturing sequential pictures of movement of both people and animals as well as inventing the Zoopraxiscope.

I went along to the Tate Britain last week, which is currently hosting an exhibition of his work and managed to see some of the original prints in the collection. One of my favourite examples is the study of chickens. In order to get the chickens to move Muybridge had fired a rocket at them so he could capture some sort of frenzied chicken flight.

I also learned that he changed his name more than 5 times from the original Edward Muggeridge and had also been on trail for murder after shooting his wife's lover in a jealous rage.

A bit of an eccentric to say the least.

Pirates of the Indian Ocean

2010-10-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

During the summer I visited Northampton to take part in a youth film project working with the Northamptonshire Bangeladeshi Community. The brief was to create a 5 minute animation, which focuses on the exploits of two clumsy but lovable brothers who run a local pirate radio station under the aliases of DJ Mankind and DJ Small-steps. The young people contributed to the script, voice over and came up with the character designs. I then combined all their hard work and created the animation.

Below is a short clip of Pirates of the Indian Ocean. Detective McButt has just stormed the DJ's studio and is demanding they shut down, much to the annoyance of their loyal listeners.

In other news...Forget Me Not Africa animation has been nominated for the Innovation in Messaging award at the Global Messaging Awards 2010.

Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected to take part in the programme for the FIBDA - Comic Strip Festival in Algiers on October 13-17.

2010-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

Finally Shoes has been released on the unsuspecting public. I can safely say it's the most insane, camp, colourful, all singing all dancing spectacle I have ever seen. The press viewing was held last night and we were treated to champagne and rather indulgent canapés. It was an amazing team of people to work with and a great opportunity to see how a show comes together. I'm oh so proud of everyone *sniff*

Sneaky pic of the set during the cast call (standing ovation!)

It's been birthdays galore this month so I've been whipping up presents as an excuse to make silly things out of funny fabric.

Here's Mim and Chef Crab. He's her version of Ratatouille (Crabatouille?) and will hopefully give her recipe inspiration for her foodie blog.

This is Georgie and a very strange cat creature based on one her favourite artists Leonora Carrington. Georgie has just set up her own range of Ping Pong covers. Have a look here. Buy one, they are ace.

Mr Pink is off to Romania to be screened in the programme of outstanding British animation for the Anim'Est Festival in Bucharest 8-17th of October.

Back to School (again)

2010-08-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

I'm currently getting that back to school feeling as September approaches so I went out and brought a whole bunch of new and exciting stationary! Any excuse to feed my addiction.

I'm back in the realms of teaching again, this time all the way up in Northampton. I am currently putting together an animation based on a pirate radio station that features a policeman called Detective McButt. We are recording the young people reading the script for the voice over, I hope there are some budding actors in the group.

Staying on the theme of school and children I went along to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green this weekend. Can anyone remember Sticklebricks? I used to go mad for those plastics bricks. Plus Spirograph, mmmm precision.

My main mission was to gather some research for a new project on the horizon that involves creepy stop-motion dolls. Did you know they make dolls out of prunes in Germany? There was also a guy made of crab claws, pretty creepy.

I while back I worked on a pixilation animation for the African charity Forget Me Not as part of Curious Media. The finished film is up and running, have a wee look.

A final plug for Shoe's the musical on at Sadler's Wells theatre during the first week of September.
I keep seeing adverts for it all over the place. Go see it!!

2010-08-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

I've come to the end of the Shoe project, met lots of funny/crazy people and upped my intake of caffe latte's to the extent that I now own a loyalty card.

The lovely John Harmer, Kristine Maj De Neergaard (of Mr Pink fame) and I built a shoe city out of...real shoes! We cut out hundreds of tiny windows and lit them up with fairy lights to create a fabulous Manhattan skyline. Here is John and I setting up the cityscape, I'm sure Carrie Bradshaw would snap up a rooftop apartment in no time.

While flicking through Grazia and reading up on Tom Cruise's new reality T.V. show (yep) I came across an article about Shoes! So chuffed I had to scan it in and put it on the blog.

The show is on during the first week of September see here for details. So don your best pair heels/boots/crocs and come and see it!

Shoe-be-do

2010-07-09T04:30:00.000-07:00

I'm oh so busy at the moment it's ridiculous. I constantly feel like I'm in the apprentice running around preparing for the shoot next week for Shoes. I'm actually getting a taste of what it's like to be a producer, which is scary new experience for me. I think I am finally over my phone phobia.
We had a film crew come round interviewing the various departments about the production. Here is a little preview of the main choreographer and composer speaking about the show...

A couple of weeks ago Central Saint Martins college of art had their open day BA show featuring an animation I made. It was crazy busy but I managed to take a sneaky photo or two of the display.

My lovely friend Miriam has featured me in her blog Cakes and Canapés
She's is really rather good at culinary wizardry and will someday be a caterer extraordinaire and have her own show and own line of cook books I'm sure.

Electric Hotel

2010-06-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

I am definitely receiving an education on the subject of Shoes at the moment. I now know my Manolos from my Ferragamo's thanks to my current project the musical Shoes. I am working with the über talented Gaelle Denis who directed one of my favourite films City Paradise. If that wasn't enough excitement my studio is based in one of the Sadler's Wells dressing rooms, complete with my own light bulb mirror!

I was invited to show Goodbye Mr Pink at a film screening in Kensington organised by the director Roma Zachemba. My film was shown alongside Roma's latest trailer for her film My Solitude and fellow NFTS grad Alois Di Leo's The Boy Who Wanted to be a Lion. Afterward there was a auction with the most amazing prizes including a signed photograph of Angelina Jolie, oh yes.

I have been back in the saddle of teaching this week with the very energetic Ali Assaf. We've been touring east London with our after school animation club and working with some very talented ten year olds. The current trend seems to be Dr Who inspired storylines, complete with 3D Dalek's.

I managed to grab a free ticket to go see the production of Electric Hotel, which is an outdoor theatre production based in an purpose built open fronted building. It was quite an eye and ear opening experience as the audience had to wear headphones which played the synced up sound to the actions of the performers. Watching the hotel light up as the sunset was quite spectacular, outdoor theatre definitely gets a thumbs up.

2010-06-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

This week I have been mostly celebrity spotting, colouring in pictures of shoes and burning my face while on a camping trip (always wear suntan lotion people, even on a cloudy day.)

I helped out at the Great British Comedy event, which was organised to raise money for the National Film and Television school. We managed to raise £300,000 during the evening, which included a silent auction (?) and a audible auction. If I had the funds I would have definitely tried to bag the original script from The Life of Brian.

Work on the musical Shoes is coming along nicely. We are building mini sets to test the projections out. I met the director Stephen Mear and composer Richard Thomas (known for his west end hit Jerry Spring - The Opera.) I've been brushing up on my choreography knowledge and discovered the brilliant Busby Berkeley. I love love love this...(skip to about a minute in.)

Quick plug for my animation screening at the Central Saint Martins Degree show. The exhibition is from the 18th-24th June, 12-8pm at Central Saint Martins, 107-109 Charing Cross Road, WC2H ODU.

2010-06-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

A bit of a random week project wise but all good stuff. I have been working with the lovely Lucy from Curious Media shooting a viral for ForgetMeNot Africa to promote their eTxt service, which allows mobiles to send internet messages.

The idea involved a lot of hand acting and white cut out charcoal phones. Looking forward to seeing the final film.

One of my favourite things about my line of work is being able to go to loads of random places in London. On Wednesday I was invited by the nice guys at Design Bridge to record a voice over for their ad promoting the baby food Gerber. I've always been the one to direct the actors so it was interesting to be on the other side. We recorded the v/o at the famous Air Edel studios, apparently Mitch Winehouse had recorded his new album there recently, woo.

I have starting working on a musical (dream come true.) The show is called 'Shoes' and is about...wait for it...Shoes. Think Sex and the City meets The Shoe people. I am helping to create animated visuals to be used in the stage projections. It looks to be a whole load of crazy fun.

The show is on at Sadlers Wells in September, details here.

I ♥ Volcanoes

2010-05-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Bit of a backlog of posts as I have been flying around Europe getting caught up in the volcano madness.

First up, the fashion animation which I have been working on for the last couple of months is finished.
I was asked to create a short film as part of the Central Saint Martins BA Degree Show for the Fashion Communication and Promotion showcase. The animation is featured in a Fashion Podcast entitled The Fashion Issue and takes the viewer on a journey through the spring/summer trends of 2010. I created a character who goes on an Alice in Wonderland type adventure as she visits the different world's of the fashion scene.

The graduation show will be open to the public 18th-24th June, 107-109 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0DU. Details here.

Last week I was in Portugal, Porto for the X Viana's meetings representing the NFTS. The film festival screened a selection on films including Goodbye Mr Pink. I took part in a Q & A session along side Pedro Morelli, who was representing the Brazilian film school Universidade de São Paulo films. I got to see a different selection of student films and meet the directors from international schools including Slovenia and Portugal.

Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected as part of the Oscar qualifying Huesca International Film Festival in Spain. The festival takes place 4th-12th June.

2010-04-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Digital Disruption Film Four is now in the beginning stages of development. I have been designing visual concepts based on exposing the techniques used to create propaganda. The aesthetics of the film focus on the disruption and breakdown of imagery emulating the underground journalist style we are using to create a mock documentary. Digital Disruption Film One is now complete, beware of the propaganda tentacles!

I am also currently working on a project for the Central St Martins fashion graduation show. I really missed drawing so I decided to create the film using good old fashioned pen and paper. I am in love with my new light box after having trying my best to make substitute ones in the past. My worst disastrous creation included using a dismantled stand up light and a piece of perspex, which eventually melted.

Ah walk cycle, how I have missed you...

Next week I am going to Portugal for the X Viana's Meetings - Cinema and Video. The festival is showcasing a range of past NFTS films including Goodbye Mr Pink, exciting!

Animation Workshop

2010-04-21T11:38:00.000-07:00

The Easter holidays are over and so is the animation workshop. Two weeks of craziness that included plasticine works of arts, sound editing wizardry and four causalities of football related injuries at playtime (nothing too serious.)

We had the premiere of the films last Friday and the standard was pretty high. Lots of the parents came to see the results and some even brought popcorn. All the kids made their own DVD covers and were able to take away copies of their films. I think we may have inspired one or two future Walt Disney's...

Here's a little clip of two of my favourite films...

Back to School

2010-04-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yes it may very well be the school holidays but the kids are still coming in to learn all about the wonderful world of animation! For the past two weeks myself and a group of intrepid animators have been running a workshop based at the Bridge Academy in Hackney.

This school is AMAZING, it's like a huge stationary cruise ship. I keep looking out for icebergs.

The kids really got stuck into the task of making Zoetropes and we filmed a few crazy pixilations on the theme of fairground disasters.

We made 2D hinge puppets and animated them under the camera. Many interesting characters were created ranging from Mermaids to McDonald's gangsters wielding rocket launchers.

The plasticine workshop provided even more weird and wonderful creations. Check out these guys...

This week we have been channeling our inner Morphs and animating the plasticine characters. The kids are also making their own soundtracks plus posters and DVD artwork. This Friday we are having a premiere of all the films. I can't wait to see the finished masterpieces.

Merry Easter!

2010-04-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I get the urge to be a bit crafty, in the sewing sense. So I had a rummage in my material box and made myself a little doll. His name is Giacomino, he's Italian and has a penchant for wearing ties.

Here he is hanging out with his owl buddies. Owls are bad luck in Italy so his choice of friends is a tad controversial.

I also made a notice board a while back that has button magnets to keep my various notes in place. I'm very forgetful so it's a good way of keeping my bits in sight.

Have a Happy Easter and be sure to scoff lots of chocolate (or if you are clever wait until next week and buy the half price eggs.)

The Movium

2010-03-30T04:05:00.000-07:00

As a cultural treat my friend and I went along to the London Film Museum or The Movieum of London (clever pun intended). I was a little unsure about what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by the exhibition, even if some of the displays had seen better days. My favourite example was the life sized Alien complete with eggs and face hugger, which made me feel a bit wobbly. Also the Charlie Chaplin and Sherlock Holmes exhibition were worth a look in.

I am off to Portugal in May for the Ao Norte Encontros De Viana's Meetings in Porto. The festival is showcasing a selection of NFTS films from the past two years, including Goodbye Mr Pink. I will be representing the school in a Q & A session on the last day of the festival.

Digital Disruption

2010-03-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

I spent today in the Tower Hamlets area of east London interviewing young people about the rumours circulating around possible vampires or cannibals biting people in the estate late at night. Sounds weird right? Well, actually it was part of Bold Creative's project Digital Disruption, which aims to educate young people about Islamist propaganda and its possible effects.

One of the projects aims is to effectively reach and engage young Muslims and inspire them to get involved. We are creating a series of films that explore propaganda techniques and get young people to critically evaluate messages they receive and challenge extremist ideologies.

Currently we are in the process of completing the first in a series of 4 films, which include the acting skills of a local community group.

The video was shot around the Mile End estate and features the vocal talents of Yunis, who wrote and recorded original lyrics for the project. The finished film will have animation drawn over the footage to create a warped world full of suspicious characters.

Get more info about the Digital Disruption project here.

Moomin and the Comet Chase

2010-03-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

I am super excited about this...

Oh yes, it's a Moomin feature film that's in 3D *gasp* WITH Bjork providing songs for the soundtrack.

Judging by the trailer it looks a bit like a low budget 80's Satuday morning cartoon. But I don't care!

http://www.originalmoomin.com/

Atlanta Film Festival

2010-03-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ugh, when is this weather going to get better? I am starting to think I'm possibly developing SAD syndrome. I need to get myself one of those light boxes or better still one of those very attractive snuggie blankets.

I have finally begun work on an short animation that has been in the pipeline for a while. The theme is on fashion trends 2010. Below are some of the character designs I have been doodling.

Yet more Mr Pink news. The rabbit is taking his longest trip to date overseas to the USA for the 2010 Altlanta Film Festival (April 15-23.) The film will be screened as part of the Animated Short Film Jury Competition. Lovely gold laurels this time.

The Bafta and The Bold Retreat

2010-02-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the Sony Film Lovers forum, which took place in the Linbury Theare of the Royal Opera House - right next door to the ceremony. The BAFTAs were screened live and after each winner announcement the audience were invited to debate with the panel: Film Producer Steven Woolley, Comedian Ben Miller and Time Out London's Film Editor Dave Calhoun.

Amazingly after the show actors Colin Firth, who won Best Actor for A Single Man, and Carey Mulligan, Best Actress winner for An Education came onto the stage to speak about their awards. We also got to see reactions from Christoph Waltz, winner of Best Supporting Actor and Duncan Jones, winner of Outstanding Debut.

The general feeling of the audience was that The Hurt Locker, seemingly an underdog, had triumphed against the mighty juggernaut that is Avatar. I will be interested to see if the same result is reflected at the Oscars. Also notably absent was Where the Wild Things Are, a film that I thought at least a deserved a special effects nomination.

Very happy that Emma Lazenby's Mother of Many won the short animation award. I saw the film at Encounters film festival last year, a really beautiful animation.

I was pleased to discover a CHOCOLATE BAFTA inside my goodie bag. Here is a rather surreal photo of me admiring my award.

I went along to the Bold Creative retreat earlier this week and had an amazing time. The team were put up in the most beautiful Georgian mansion, there was even a resident cat called Tabitha. I took part in activities such has clay pigeon shooting (a newly discovered talent) and a cook off. I felt like I was in Pride and Prejudice the whole time.

Tabitha looks grumpy but she's a friendly cat really.

My first Bold blog post is up on the Bold Ink website :)

Decode, Avatar, Dr Can, Fuji, NexT, Twitter

2010-02-19T05:45:00.000-08:00

Update time. Happy days at Bold Creative, every day's a school day.
I went to the V & A exhibition Decode: Digital Design Sensations as part of Bold's value sessions. Anything interactive is a winner for me so I was happy blowing a huge digital dandelion with a hairdryer and creating rainbow paintings through the medium of dance. If you fancy going along have a look at the Londonist review.

I was dragged along to watch Avatar at the IMAX. The only tickets left were at midnight so after three hours past my bedtime I'm pleased to say that I wasn't bored by the experience and managed to keep my eyes open the whole way through. Yes everything I had heard was true about the amazing visuals and the predictable story line. There was something very 80's about it, I know for sure my mum will enjoy it.

I created a mini animation for the new Ben Dalby music video 'Doctor Can.' A sexy carry on nurse administering an injection while singing along to the song. Weirdly my sketch of the patient looks a lot like the doctor in the video...

Goodbye Mr Pink won the Runner Up Award for Stop Motion at the Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games.

The film has been selected as a finalist for the Fuji Film Shorts Competition 2010!

Mr Pink has also been selected for the NexT International Short and Medium Length Festival in Bucharest.

You can now follow me on Twitter if you wish :)

Plato, Hoedown, Bold Creative

2010-02-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

February, where to begin? A busy start to the year with finishing off the Plato project, which has come together at last. Kristine and I have been squirreling away under reams of tracing paper and drinking copious amounts of herbal tea. Below is a screen shot of the 10 minute animation, which is going into production this month.

I had a great time at the Stuttgart film winter festival in Germany where Goodbye Mr Pink was screened as part of the experimental film programme. The festival also hosted an intriguing exhibition of film and mixed media, which included virtual reality helmets and baby dolls strung up with wires that had speakers inside. The festival was western themed and on the closing night I took part in a hoedown that involved a pillow fight. The whole experience was surreal to say the least.

Goodbye Mr Pink was screened as part of the 48th Golden Knight Malta International Short film festival in December.

Goodbye Mr Pink has also been selected for the International Competition of the 16th REGENSBURG SHORT FILM WEEK. The festival takes place March 17th-24th.

I am currently undertaking a work placement at Bold Creative. Bold are an award winning creative agency whose focus is on educating and inspiring young people in the community. Check out their blog here.

2010-01-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

To help ease the strain of the January blues I have treated myself to the animated Moomin collection, which I used to watch religiously every morning before going to school. It is still as weird and funny as I remember. My favourite character has to be the Groke, who is a big purple blob that leaves a trail of ice where she walks. She's not that evil really, just misunderstood and lonely. Still very creepy looking though.

Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected for the 2010 Tricky Women Festival, which is held 4-8 March in Vienna. I love the trailer, which was created by Elizabeth Hobbs who also made the film The Old, Old, Very Old Man.

This Friday I am off to the Stuttgart for the Stuttgarter Filmwinter Festival where Mr Pink is being shown as part of the Short Film International Competition.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T08:53:00.000-08:00

A very Happy New Year to everyone. It's 2010, which to me sounds like a good solid number.

It is still freezing in London and it's going to get colder by the sounds of it so I'm pleased I got new thermal slippers for Christmas. Practical gifts are my favourite sort of gifts.

The viral I worked on for Radio 1 is now up and running. The campaign was used to advertise Radio 1's Free Picture Message Day. 42,000 pictures were sent in by the listeners, a selection of which have been used in the video. We got through lots of Blue Tack and received many paper cuts for our efforts.

Poitiers

2009-12-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

Apparently it is snowing everywhere apart from where I am at the moment. Not impressed.
I had a fabulous time in Poitiers and enjoyed the three Q & A's in the TAP cinema. My favourite session was with the younger children who asked some very insightful questions, such as 'why didn't you use tomato ketchup for blood instead of buttons?' A very good point.

I also got to see some great fiction and documentary films. My favourite was Anna directed by Runnar Runarsson, which won the Jury's grand prize. I also rate La Canción de los niños muertos by David Pablos and Elkland directed by Per Hanefjord, which won the student Oscar this year.

I am currently working on a project with my Mr Pink production designer Kristine Maj De Neergaard. Will post some stills up soon.

November

2009-12-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

My, my. It's been a busy time this November gone. I think the highlight has been running around the corridors of Radio 1 and bumping into Tim Westwood while animating a stop motion wave of peoples photographs. I also ate pizza in a cage, which was fun.

I visited the city of Bristol for the Encounters short film festival, where Sonnet No.12 was screened as part of the Emerging Talent category. I was particularly impressed with the 4mations commissioned shorts, especially Joe Pierce's new film A Family Portrait, which I found equally pleasurable and uncomfortable to watch. Joe and I are big fans of the website Awkward Family Photos, which features priceless images of families in ridiculous staged scenarios.

I'm also a big fan of David O'Reilly's film Please Say Something, which won the a special commendation from the Jury. I love the graphics and old school Omega sound effects. The cat and mouse relationship is so cute with a bit of domestic violence thrown in for good measure.

Goodbye Mr Pink has been chosen for two more festivals. The film is being screened as part of the 23rd Stuttgarter Filmwinter Festival as part of the International Short Film Competition. The festival takes place 21-24 January.

The Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games will also be screening Goodbye Mr Pink. The festival is taking place 8-12 February.

I attended a special 3D screening of Coraline at the May Fair Hotel in London last Sunday and got to meet the director Henry Selick. He informed me that the colour of Coraline's hair was inspired by a blue pen his wife had given him. I enjoyed the film, fabulous title sequence and production design, although the 3D aspect gave me a bit of headache. My favourite sequence was the circus dance of the mice. On the website you can get them to spell out your name so naturally I have.

Off to Poitiers film festival this Sunday and have not one but three scheduled talks with children about Mr Pink. Should be an interesting experience, I have a rabbit glove puppet which I'm taking along as a visual aid. Wish me luck!

All about Ray

2009-11-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hello there. I'm currently making a retro Donkey Kong inspired animation, which will be magically superimposed onto a T.V. for a sketch show.

Encounters is coming up and I'm off to Poitiers in December to talk to French children about dead rabbits. On an amazing note a got to meet the legend that is Ray Harryhausen who came to speak at the NFTS a few weeks ago. He brought along an original skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts. AMAZING.

I've drawn a picture of a man trying to push an inflatable goal on top of a conservatory with a broom, which moments later fell onto a barbeque.

True story.

Rencontres Henri Langlois Film Festival Trailer

2009-10-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Rencontres Henri Langlois 2009 : bande-annonce
by PoitiersFilmFestival

Look out for Dora at the end :)

Defrosting

2009-10-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Another day, another friends-story-inspired-drawing. This one is based on the adventures of my pal who is a production designer.

Seduced Wins A Prize

2009-10-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Beg Borrow Steal team are the proud winners of the 'Best Use of Prop' award in the 48 hour film festival. The Orange made a very tearful speech at the ceremony and thanked the producers for the opportunity of a lifetime.

Here is a very excited Christian holding the award.
I've re-edited my show reel, have a look at it if you fancy.

Magpie Man

2009-10-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

The exciting adventures of Magpie Man. This sketch was inspired by my friends failed attempt to impress a girl while she was getting money from a cash machine.

Falstaff International Film Festival

2009-10-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

Goodye Mr Pink has been officially selected for the 2009 Falstaff International Film Festival. The festival takes place in Stratford-upon-Avon during November 14th-20th.

Rencontres Henri Langlois Film Festival

2009-10-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected to take part in competition for the 32nd edition of the Rencontres Henri Langlois International Film Festival. The festival takes place from the 4th - 12th December in Poitiers France.

A Postcard for Michael

2009-10-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Sexy Fruit

2009-10-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

The 48 hour film challenge is over. It was quite a hilarious weekend and our finished film 'Seduced: A Blind Date' went down very well at the opening screening on Wednesday night. Our prop turned out to be an orange and our genre was romance so obviously the story revolved around a mans love affair with a fruit.

With this in mind I had to chuckle when a friend told me about the Maoam fruit illustration scandal. Apparently there have been many complaints about the Haribo sweet wrappers depicting fruit characters having too much of a good time with each other.

Lost In The Queue

2009-10-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have neglected my sketchbook of late, so I figured it was time I started doodling again. Quite daunting but I've got a new set of shiny pens, which helps.

Above is a sketch inspired by my friend’s story of her ordeal when she lost her mum in the queue for the Statue of Liberty. After about an hour of looking and talking to the useless security guards she finally found her inside the white tent, where she was told in no way her mum could possibly be.

Here is a drawing of the original Mr Pink and a hideous Gremlin toy my old housemate won at the fair. The Gremlin is wearing United Jack pants supposedly to hide his modesty. Mr Pink and the Gremlin very much enjoyed each others company as you can see.

Beg Borrow Steal!

2009-09-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend I am taking part in the 48 Hour Film challenge with a group of design creatives. Our team is called Beg Borrow Steal, which is what we are most likely to be doing over the course of the weekend. On Friday night we get given our theme, which can be anything from western to romantic comedy. We also have to use a given prop and a line of dialogue to feature somehow in the story.

It's going to be totally manic and I doubt we'll get much sleep. Our finished film (if we manage to make it) will be shown on Wednesday 30th September at the Renoir Cinema, The Brunswick at 6.15pm. Wish us luck!

London Fashion Week

2009-09-10T09:31:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of the fashion world with all it's crazy characters and fabulous photography. So I am very pleased that quite a few of my films are going to be featured at this years London Fashion Week.

The films are taking part in the On|Off flagship event organised by Doll, one of the UK's leading creative fashion agencies and consultancies. This season's theme is 'Future Perspective' and Doll have chosen to show Goodbye Mr Pink, Dolls, Pachyderm Sea and A Beautiful Industry as part of showcase for emerging talent. The films will be displayed at the On|Off pop up shop in Soho 16th - 26th Sept and at London Fashion Weekend 24th - 27th.

Encounters

2009-08-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sonnet No. 12 has been selected to screen at Encounters short film festival in Bristol, which runs from 17-22 November. The film is in competition as part of the Emerging Talent 1 programme.

In other news I have been working on some short animations based on the work by the lovely illustrator Gemma Correll, which I'll be putting up soon. Have a look at her website here.

Jotta Review

2009-08-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone that came to the Film Friends Forever screening at Cargo last week. It was a great evening and a massive turnout, which is based on the fact that they ran out of seating.

jotta.com have written a artical on the showcase and had this to say about Goodbye Mr Pink;

'Helen Piercy of the National Film and Television School (NFTS) presented Goodbye Mr Pink, a mixture of live action and stop-motion animation in which two children, on discovering their pet rabbit has died, perform an amateur autopsy and imagine the afterlife in store for the eponymous Mr Pink. With elements of twee and the sinister combined, this film had a distinct Roald Dahl feel.'

You can have a read of the whole piece here.

Film Friends Forever

2009-07-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Creative agency Tomato have chosen Goodbye My Pink to be screened as part of 'The Next Big Things 2009.' The evening is being held at the Cargo bar in London on the 12th August and is free. Details here.

Sonnet No. 12

2009-07-02T05:44:00.000-07:00

My new animated short 'Sonnet No. 12' is now finished and being sent out to festivals far and wide. The film is a 2D animation based on the Shakespeare's sonnet no. 12 and features the vocal talents of actor Alan Rickman.

In collaboration with Open Shutter Productions the idea was to create filmic interpretations of the sonnets in an interesting and contemporary way. I chose to use the relationship between a photographer and fashion model to create a lingering observation of female beauty, which will eventually fade as time passes.

WWF International

2009-07-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

I recently completed a series of animated shorts for WWF International, raising awareness of the G8 summit. You can play at being a member of the G8 and see how your decisions will effect the environment.

My stop frame animations are the results of your choices, so choose wisely if you want to see polar bears in future!

Play the game here.

Edinburgh Film Festival

2009-07-02T04:36:00.000-07:00

And so the Edinburgh Film Festival is over. I had a fantastic time and got to meet other filmmakers, see many films and danced a céilidh in front of Sean Connery. Goodbye Mr Pink was screened along with 11 other films, each quite different although I did notice a trend in the featuring of rabbits and pet death.

'Photograph of Jesus' dir. Laurie Hill came away with the McLaren Audience Award, which was a great film based on the Getty Images film archive.

I stumbled across a billboard poster that could very well be the inspiration of 'Goodbye Mr Pink Part II - The Revenge...'

Annecy 2009

2009-06-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to recently visit the Annecy Animation Festival last week with the NFTS. It was a massive program showcasing over 500 films set in the gorgeous town of Annecy. I concentrated on seeing short films and graduation films, which varied in techniques and story telling. The films I particularly enjoyed were...

Chainsaw Maid dir. Takena NAGAO a completely mad plasticine stop motion involving zombies.

Please say something dir. David OREILLY, strange but cute story about a relationship between a cat and a mouse set inside what looks like an Omega computer.

Western Spaghetti dir. PES, very satisfying pixilation that made me feel hungry.

The Tale of Little Puppetboy dir. Johannes NYHOLM, hilarious low-fi stop motion animation which involves a pixie with a flute and a plasticine reenactment of the film Ivanhoe?!

The Man in the Blue Gordini dir. Jean-Christophe LIE, fantastic 2D animation set in the 70's involving a masked crusader on a mission revolutionize the half naked populations wardrobe.

The running theme of Annecy was with almost certainty at least one film in the screening would include some male nudity. Fact.

Best parts of Annecy included the pedalow, crepes (although I ate something without knowing what it was, big mistake.) AND a massive bag of cherries for 2 euros!

Next week I'm off to Edinburgh film festival where 'Goodbye Mr Pink' is being screened in competition with two other graduation animations from my year. 'Today Only' dir. Toby Jackman and 'Yellow Belly End' dir. Phil Bacon.

Goodbye Mr Pink Premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival!

2009-05-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

I am very pleased to announce that Goodbye Mr Pink has been selected for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. My film is in competition for the McLaren Award and is being shown on the 20th June as part of McLaren Animation 1.

Goodbye Mr Pink

2009-04-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here is an extract of my graduation film 'Goodbye Mr Pink,' which is all about pet death. In this scene Mr Pink visits rabbit afterlife, which is full of cake and carrots. If you want to know more you can click on my online portfolio on the left over there. I'm actually singing as part of the 'heavenly choir' which I'm quite proud of.

Rex the Dog

2009-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

I love this.
Rex the Dog "Bubblicious" : Dir. Geoffroy De Crecy

Spring Cleaning

2009-04-06T16:05:00.000-07:00

Bonjour. Lots of things cooking in the pot at the moment. I've given my blog a bit of a make over in the spirit of spring cleaning. There are black birds far too close to my front door because someone keeps feeding them black currents, which is making them tame and I have rediscovered fruit corners.

So far I have been working on an animation project, which has someone rather special doing the voice over.

Here's a sample of the storyboard.

A couple of weeks ago I met Luis Cook a director at Aardman. He had the most amazing sketch books, which he gets imported specially from France. His Bafta winning film The Pearce Sisters is one of my favorite animations from last year. I can actually smell fish when I watch it.

Graduation Lobster

2009-03-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have officially graduated, hooray! There were three days of screenings at the BFI Southbank and I got to see this years graduation documentary's, fiction films, T.V productions and the rest of the animations. Many people commented on high the standard of this years films so well done us.

Group shot of NFTS class of 2009 (I'm on the bottom row, third one in from the right.)

At the moment I am sending Goodbye Mr Pink off to festivals so fingers crossed >'-'<

In other news I made my house mate a Takashi Murakami inspired lobster. It's terribly ugly but I'm very pleased with how he turned out.

Pyramid

2009-02-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

In two weeks I will be a master, yes MASTER of Animation. I graduate at the BFI Southbank in London on the 6th March. In the meantime Mr Pink is in the final stages of grading and has some fabulous titles, designed by Christian Bird. I am working on a few animation projects, one involving personal hygiene (glamorous.)

Here I am playing the fast paced game Pyramid, which I lost.
My friend Georgie invented the game, I can't recommend it enough. Here's her blog http://georgiemanly.blogspot.com/
She makes art.

2009...begins with pet death

2009-01-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's 2009 and I am moving to London, finally. Mr Pink is still waiting to be graded but the sound mix is finished and I'm very pleased with it. On a sad note my cat died, which is ironic as my my film is all about pet death and how the kids deal with it. I think I'm coping ok, there will however be no launching the cat out the window as I live next to primary school and that would be a little inappropriate.

Farewell ye Clanger

2008-12-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

So my time is nearly up at the film school and they have served up the official Christmas meal in the canteen.

My grad film 'Goodbye Mr Pink' has a few more days of mix left and then the grade, which fingers crossed will be finished in January. I have almost finished the portfolio part of my blog, which will be up in a few days.

I'm very sad to hear that Oliver Postgate passed away, he was definately one of my hero's and a big influnce, no one has such a comforting sleepy voice as he did. I am a big Clangers fan.

Yesterday I attended an event organised by Bafta. 'Crossing over - TV, Games and Interactive Collaborations in Children’s Content.' Can blurring the lines between TV, games and interactive create new types of entertainment for children? It was a very big eye opener in how the future developments in animation for children may have to span across a range of multi-platform media in order to gain commercial success. A million miles away from 'Ivor the Engine' days. I expect the next couple of years are going to spark a big transition in animation with the internet being an ever increasing influence. I should come up with a 'Goodbye Mr Pink' the game, launching rabbits out of windows for points.

Festivals

2008-11-17T09:17:00.000-08:00

I have had a busy couple of weeks going to animation festivals and talks, one of the many perks of being at the NFTS.

Firstly Wolverhampton Flip Animation Festival.

I had a fun time and actually got to do my first Q+A with Paul Bush. Well, it wasn't exactly about my work, it was actually about promoting the NFTS but it was still nice chatting to people about the course.

Highlights of the festival included Osbert Parker talking about his films 'FILM NOIR' and 'YOURS TRULY.' I also discovered the Brothers Mcleod http://brothersmcleod.co.uk/ who created the artwork for the festival. I liked their animation 'CODSWALLOP ' especially the rabbits, which is a running theme with me at the moment.

Next was Bradford Animation Festival (BAF).

Robert Bradbrook and I embarked on a mission of NFTS promotion and got to see some films in between. My favourites were the bizarre 'MOOT MOOT' about a family of sheep in a land populated by 99% sheep. I also loved Simon Tofield's 'CAT-MAN-DO.' 'WALTZ WITH BASHIR' was screened as the opening night film.

Lastly I went to see Ed Hooks talk about Acting for Animators. I liked Ed's take on how story telling should be approached from a Shamanistic point of view, the world needs more Shamans apparently.

Rabbit Death and I

2008-11-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

I have called this site "How to cope with rabbit death" as it is the theme of my graduation film 'Goodbye Mr Pink.' The film still needs a few more post production bits and pieces added to it but will be finished very soon and then released for all to see.

Above is a still of the film, Mr Pink is getting an autopsy. The film is a mixture of live action, pixilation and stop motion and is about 10 minutes duration.