NEF: THE INNOVATION INSTITUTE

The first two in a set of five animations for the The Innovation Institute. Each animation helps to explain a service provided by the NEF that helps colleges and universities to ensure that the education and training they offer is relevant to the needs local community.

These animations have been a delight to create and I'm thoroughly enjoying the storyboarding stage of their development when I get to think of lots of little scenarios that can be used to best communicate the excellent work that the NEF: Innovation Institute does. Check back soon to see the next three animations...

CHEEKY CHAT

Cheekychat from Cheekychat on Vimeo.

I created this animation for new app 'CheekyChat'. The animation had to capture the light-hearted tone of the brand and also demonstrate what the app can do. It features a cheeky monkey who is perhaps not the brightest banana in the bunch but he was a lot of fun to animate and I'm really happy with the result. Find out more about the app here: http://cheekychat.me/

WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONS DINNER

I was lucky enough to be involved with the annual Wimbledon Champions Dinner this year when I was asked to produce the visuals to be played on a giant screen during the dinner itself. I produced three different looped sequences which I updated as the results came in throughout the day of the main finals. The event took place at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and it was pretty spectacular.

I was thrilled to be a part of the team that helped make it all happen and it was great to see my handy-work up on screen while the Wimbledon champions enjoyed their meal!

GREENPEACE - SAVE THE ARCTIC

 
I'm extremely proud of this piece of work that is a short animation to help spread awareness of the dangers facing the Arctic. I have a strange fascination with the Arctic environment so this was a dream project aesthetically speaking. My favourite element to animate was the Northern Lights at the beginning of the piece, having been fortunate enough to see them myself in Iceland a few years back I wanted to do them justice!

Also, I must admit the stomping oilrigs were also a lot of fun to animate too.

STANDING ON GIANTS

Working with agency Man+Hatchet I animated this series of videos for Standing On Giants. Comprising of one main film and six shorter films the animations breakdown and explain what Standing On Giants does and what they can do for your company.

The challenge was to communicate some fairly complex ideas visually whilst keeping the tone light and fun throughout. Everyone involved did a great job and I think the animations are a lot of fun to watch. Click on the pictures below to watch the other 6 films.

SAMSUNG BEAR

Working with The Viral Factory I edited this ad just before Christmas. There is something nice about working on a project that features snow at that time of year! Jellyfish Pictures did the VFX work and I think they have done an incredible job. I am extremely proud to be part of this project and it to have been received well having already notched up almost 15 million views.

FRANK TURNER MUSIC VIDEO

I am very proud to have worked on this music video for Frank Turner with Crush Creative. In a break from the normal way of things this video required lots of quick little pieces of animation to be intercut with live action video. I think the overall effect works a treat and hope the track does well.

TILT BOOK TRAILER

An animated book trailer to accompany the book 'Tilt' by Ellen Hopkins.

ALLIED HOME WARRANTY

In collaboration with Robbie Newby I animated this video to help communicate the benefits of Texas based Allied Home Warranty. The challenge here was to make the word and numbers heavy script appealing and interesting and hopefully we achieved it.



The main selling point is that Allied have a single page contract so that as a customer you know exaclty what is covered by their insurance without pages and pages of small print to read through. I wish all contracts were the same!

TROPICANA

Take a look at these two little animations I created for Tropicana. They are colourful and a lot of fun, enjoy!

FIREFOX FLICKS WIN!

I am thrilled to be able to tell you that my animated entry into the Firefox Flicks competition has won the animation category for Europe! The competition, run by Mozilla challenged filmmakers and animators from all over the globe to make a short video to help share the story of Firefox with the world, I entered a piece called 'The Firefox and The Snake' focusing on the fact that Mozilla is a non-profit organisation, which you can see by clicking here.

The entries were judged by actor Edward Norton and various other high profile Hollywood producers and to celebrate the results Mozilla hosted a special event at the Cannes Film Festival, which I was lucky enough to attend. Here I am in the line up with some of the other winners and Ed Norton himself, then below with the real-life Firefox!

Overall the experience has been incredible and I am thankful to Mozilla and everyone involved for picking my animation to be one of the winning entries, what a result!

Ecotricity

This viral film I worked on with Man + Hatchet has now racked up over 2 million views! I worked on the overall edit and did the animation on the shot with the tall narrow tower gives a proud salute on the way down.

This project was really fun to work on and has being going down a storm. If you like it then be sure to check out the facebook page where you can destroy the cooling towers yourself by dumping them!

GATHERING STORIES MUSIC VIDEO

Just before Christmas I had the honour of animating the music video for 'Gathering Stories', the new track from Sigur Ros front man Jonsi. The song is taken from the soundtrack of the new Cameron Crowe film 'We Bought A Zoo' starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden Church.



So far the video has been getting a great response and I am incredibly proud to have been involved with the project, it was great working with Crush Creative and I think it is my best piece of work yet!














The deadline was tight and there were more than a few sleepless nights but it I think it was all worth it in the end, it was pretty cool getting feedback from the man who directed Jerry Maguire, the film's director Cameron Crowe himself!

'DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE' BOOK TRAILER

This is the latest book trailer I have been working on, this time for 'Daughter Of Smoke & Bone' by Liani Taylor. The trailer features illustrations based on themes from the book all animated in a kaleidiscopic fashion, dramatically setting out the plot of the story.

The book itself has been getting fantastic reviews with Entertainment Weekly listing Daughter Of Smoke and Bone on it's must read list and Amazon.com naming it best book of the month for September. If you view the book on Amazon you can also see the shorter teaser version of the trailer on show along with an introduction to the book from author Liani Toylor.

GIVE A SHIT

I recently worked with The Viral Factory on this campaign for the VH1 Do Something Awards show that celebrates young people's commitment to social change. We created a charity called Give A Shit which works on the premise that just by giving a shit about something you can make a difference.

The project is very funny and enables anyone to get involved, you can check out the website and see how you can give a shit here.

HIS DARK MATERIALS AND HARRY POTTER

I have recently finished a really cool animated book trailer for the 'His Dark Materials' series by Philip Pullman which is currently being shown in cinemas before screenings of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II in the US.

With Harry Potter now having made over 1 billion dollars worldwide I think it is fair to say that the trailer must have been seen by a lot of people! A slot before Harry Potter is an incredible platform for a piece of my work and I'm pretty amazed that it is actually happening but on top of that I'm really pleased to be involved with the Dark Materials books. They are a world famous series, beloved by thousands of people and I hope that the trailer I animated does it justice!

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

This is the most recent of my animated trailers and it is for 'Twisted' the latest book in the 'Pretty Little Liars' series by Sara Shepard.

This one is doing very well on Youtube with almost 5000 views and seems to be provoking a fair amount of discussion. I'm not at all familiar with the series but it obviously has a large number of fans and I'm glad the trailer is being received well.

One thing is for sure... It will certainly brighten up my showreel!

RAINDANCE INDIE TIPS ARTICLE

Recently I had the opportunity to write an article for the Indie Tips section of the Raindance Film Festival website. It is a great honour and of course I leapt at the chance to contribute to my favourite filmmaking resource.

I decided I would draw upon my background in animation settled on an article called '7 Things Animators Can Learn From Animation'. You can read the article here.

There are a lot of things I have leant during my time in animation that I felt would translate well into the film production process, although the two processes can be very different I thought it would be interesting to try and bridge the gap. Hopefully it will prove popular and people will enjoy it!

SUDDENLY FROM SLEEP

For many months now I have been planning a short film project and now the time has come for me to reveal the details! Suddenly From Sleep will be my third short film and marks a huge leap forward in terms of the scale and ambition of the production.

It is going to be a tense thriller about a young farmer struggling with the arrival of a mysterious predator on his land. It will be mostly live action but will also feature animated sequences that will give the film a really unique look and feel. We want to produce something really special and we would love to have you come along for the journey!

Here is the film's poster that I hand painted myself.























For more information about cast and crew check out the links below and help us spread the word!

The film website: www.suddenlyfromsleep.co.uk

You can also follow the film's progress on Twitter and join us on Facebook.

NIGHT ON TERROR ISLAND BOOK TRAILER

Another book trailer, this time for 'Night On Terror Island' by Philip Caveney. The story is about Kip, a young boy who finds himself trapped in a horror movie trying to survive Sabertooth Tigers and rampaging Neanderthals when his father hires a mysterious new projectionist to work at his cinema.

















The trailer was shown at the book's launch event at the Stockport Plaza, attended by 500 school children. By all accounts the trailer went down a storm and the launch was a great success. You can read more about the launch and Philip Caveney at the Bookwitch blog here.














I'm really enjoying the recent book trailer work I've been doing, they're a lot of fun and they allow a lot of room to be creative. I've got another exciting project coming up for a really prestigious series of books and I think it is going to be a really good one.

I'll post more information when I can!