Laura-Can't-Read: 2011

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Christmas present!

MY 'lovely lovely mother'...(I hate that advert!)...always begs for ideas for xmas, and I never really NEED anything and hate wasting money, but hate getting money, because it will go on bills and boring stuff. So i've asked her for some things for stop motion. She knows bugger all about it but fair play to her she does her research and has got me some special clay that takes forever to dry out and is used for models. In typical mum fashion - she couldn't wait untill christmas. So now I have that to play with! Not fussed about getting a fancy camera to use, my dad has a good quality camera that will do just fine, but I will be looking into getting a shutter remote to make the process easier! I already own a huge green screen so won't need to book the room out and can work in my own time....after the research project is done!!

Been working hard!

Been working hard on my Research project!! Completed all of the sections except the review summaries, discussion, conclution and bibliography but I feel good about it! Going to try to get it handed in within the next couple of days and some feedback.
Got a B (2:1) on the Start-up Factory essay which i'm quite pleased with!

In other news - Been working hard on my stall and it's all paying off! Did a local christmas fair and met a woman and her brother who make keyrings etc from recycled plastic. They're developing a brand with characters created by themselves, and are interested in animation, virals, and also jewelry and other stuff! So we swapped details and hope to collaborate soon!
Here's a picture of my stall, it was huge!!!

Just a warning!!

I've posted this on facebook, and i'm not sure how many people read these blogs but my house was broken into in the middle of the day when everyone was in. I've also heard that another house was robbed on the same street the same day (Mansfield Road) but not sure of details. They got 2 laptops, phones and wallets etc and my housemate now has a broken hand. It's an 8 bed house on a busy road so these people obviously don't have many concerns! I'm scared to sleep there now as my bedroom door dosnt lock properly (we have been on at the letting agents for ages!!) but please be careful everyone!!!

Client Project

My plan all along was to work for Lynden School, who i've been involved with all year, however, whilst they've offered me a few briefs, (promotional video for the cheerleaders, showing what they did with recent funds awarded etc), many of them involve the help of the children (help filming and with ideas for the video etc) and although im sure I could work around this, i'm not sure the work they're after will be suitable for this project. I haven't totally discarded this plan, but have looked at other options for back-ups.

Another possibility iv'e looked into is a competition, there are loads avaliable online and the appeal of these competitions is having more freedom to be creative and use different media - something I feel I could do with exploring a little more. There's also the added bonus of prizes and for your work to get seen by lots of people within the industry. I've signed up to a few competition sites and have been looking at stop motion animation, moving image and motion graphics.

The third plan is to make a promotional video for Rising Sun Campers, a local company who specialise in modifications of camper vans. Thier services include:
Full Camper Conversions
Part Conversions/ Day Vans
Elevating Roofs/ Poptops
Promotional/Show vans
Rock N Roll Beds Supplied and fitted
Professional Re-trimming- Front Seats, Rear Seats & Rock n Roll Beds
Carpetting Sevice (Full van or part van)
Plylining
Unique Nightscene LED's
Dealer Level Diagnostics
Lowering for T4 & T5 supply & Fit
Genuine VW Side Windows Fitted and supplied
Window Tinting
Full Custom Re-Sprays
Colour Coding
Accident Damage Repairs
Carbon & Vinyl Wrapping
Split Charge systems & Leisure Batteries supplied & fitted
In Car Entertainment- Speakers, Reversing Cameras, Flip down monitors/ Head units, Sat Nav, In Van PC's
Alarms, Remote Start, Electric windows & Central locking.
Vans for Sale

I will be doing this video anyway whether it's for my client project or not, but luckily they don't have any time scale, it's just something they feel would be better at promoting thier services than having to navigate around thier website and it makes it more personal if they're in the video.

Monday, 31 October 2011

Other stuff...

I've dropped on to a few random jobs to be honest lately. It always seems to happen to me... So anyway i'm friends with a professional tog who is internationally published and he decided it was time I began styling his girls. Probably because I have an actual vortex of clothes.
This is his website: http://dave-therave.com/
He mentioned this set up in his blog (below) and since then i've had togs and models from all over the show wanting me to tell them what to wear!

So here's a few pics from the first shoot I styled. You may recognise some of the clothes! Please be warned there is mild nudity...

Circle, Square.

Alum-na-na-naiiii

After my video crashed due to space issues, I decided to make a few logos/video openings in after effects. This means I can make a few smaller videos and hopefully my problem will not occur again! Need to get my hard drive fixed ASAP!! I went for a corporate look so that it's versatile and easily editable. I did a square themed one and a circle themed one. If I finish my essay early enough i'll hopefully get a couple more done. If not, I think my favourite is the circle (friendlier shape?!) but i'll submit both. Waiting for them to be viewable on Vimeo then i'll post them up.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Alumni

For my video i'm going to be using the images provided by Alumni, and some from thier website, as obtaining footage from places such as the labs, would prove difficult, and I prefer to work with after effects anyway. It's been a while since I last used it so would like to get back into it.
My idea for the video, as far as theme goes, is going to be the benefits and services that are avaliable to members who register. (discounts at alton towers, madame tussauds etc). Alot of people i've spoken to have gone for the cancer research theme, and whilst I agree this is a good route to go down, as many people are effected by cancer, I wanted my video to be more upbeat and positive.
Ill be combining text, logos and photos, and using colour as it looks more exciting, however i'll try and keep it a bit smarter than my usual style, as I need people of all ages to be able to relate to it.

Monday, 24 October 2011

My stall!

I've been making things for a while now, and over summer this somehow progressed into a stall! So far i've done events with, Cancer Research, Doorway, Love Parks Week, Jewelry Party nuneaton, and Doodle craft group. I have been very busy!
Links to the craft group and my Facebook site are below:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1469230946

http://www.doodlenuneaton.co.uk/index.html

I'm always looking for new ideas, and have been considering combining making things with video. For example a short animation/animated poem, sold with a matching necklace.
Example possible necklaces:

Other examples:

Miss Read :)

So i've been working at Lyndon School in Solihull. I initially started purely as cheerleading coach last year, but seeing as I had to stay around in the school all day, (cheerleading is an after school club), I was offered work exprience in the classroom. Since getting to know me and what I study etc, I was then offered the opportunity to work in the media department, and have been running workshops with small groups of students. It's been really enjoyable! They seem really pleased with what i've done so far and i'm considering the school for my client project.
As well as video work, I also enjoy art such as painting, drawing and making things. I have been working in the arts department and have been offered the chance of being a resident artist. This would envolve creating my own works within the school allowing students to watch, discussing these with students and holding workshops. I'm pretty nervous about this one as I usually prefer to do my artwork in private, but I think it's a really good opportunity.

I feel sick.

I'm looking for inspiration. I feel incredibly sick today, this hasn't helped but I enjoyed it. I think it's been done using lots of layers, stop motion animation, 3D and after effects. Could be quite an easy thing to do in a collaboration, but doing it convincingly would prove to be very difficult.

http://motiongraphics.nu/experimental/butterflies-feat-john-malkovich/

Monday, 10 January 2011

2D animation - South Park

My biggest dream ever is to work for Trey Parker and Matt Stone on South Park. It's my favourite animation style in the entire world, so I decided to check it out. I knew they began by using construction paper, in a cut-out animation style, and had worked it out for myself that when the TV series began, they would be animating using computers...but was shocked to discover that they actually use 3D software, in order to keep the handmade look about the characters, however, it's still animated in a 2D, jerky style.
Here is a link explaining how South Park was developed, and is made today.

http://www.spscriptorium.com/SPinfo/MakingOfSouthPark.htm