Today I finished creating the first copy of my stop motion showreel on DVD! In order to hopefully impress the companies that I send it to I have created and printed off a custom DVD label and case sleeve as well as customising the DVD menu with a program called 'Roxio easy DVD copy 4' which I purchased online for £19.99.
I plan on taking this first copy with me to Mackinnon and Saunders to leave with them when I visit on Tuesday.
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Animation Developments
Yesterday I got back from a week long visit to Wrexham where I made use of the animation equipment to create some test pieces for my showreel. These included things such as run and walk cycles as well as some squash and stretch. I found the week very beneficial as it gave me a chance to experiment which I didn't have the time to do on the course and haven't had the equipment to do since being home.
A week previous to this I managed to organise a day down to Mackinnon and Saunders on the 2nd of September where I will be able to show off my animations and models. It has been arranged for me to be seen at 2:30pm. I am now in the preocess of finding whether it would be better to travel by bus or by train.
A week previous to this I managed to organise a day down to Mackinnon and Saunders on the 2nd of September where I will be able to show off my animations and models. It has been arranged for me to be seen at 2:30pm. I am now in the preocess of finding whether it would be better to travel by bus or by train.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Music
On Monday 16th I e-mailed RoyaltyFreeMusic.com to check that it was ok with them to upload my animation to YouTube as it used music of theirs that I never paid for. I recieved a reply on the 17th (yesterday) simply stating "You are clear to do so."
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Becky's Reply
"Hi Alistair,
Please accept my apologies for not replying sooner to your email. It has been frantic here with all the various projects and deadlines.
Thanks for letting me know the dates when you would have been able to see us. Unfortunately we are going to be too busy now for the rest of June/possibly July also, to devote the proper amount of time to your visit.
In an ideal world it would have been lovely to be bringing new talent into the building to start training up as the puppet makers of the future, but I don’t think its going to work like that just at the moment!
Sorry to have to disappoint you as it was me who approached you. At least we have made contact and Nick highly recommends you.
Please contact us again later in the summer, if you would like to, the situation may be calmer.
I wish you well with the external examiner, and hopefully we may see you later in the year.
All best wishes,
Becky"
So it seems that I wont be able to visit after all and any hopes of a job are off. For now at least. I'll have to make contact again later in the year.
Please accept my apologies for not replying sooner to your email. It has been frantic here with all the various projects and deadlines.
Thanks for letting me know the dates when you would have been able to see us. Unfortunately we are going to be too busy now for the rest of June/possibly July also, to devote the proper amount of time to your visit.
In an ideal world it would have been lovely to be bringing new talent into the building to start training up as the puppet makers of the future, but I don’t think its going to work like that just at the moment!
Sorry to have to disappoint you as it was me who approached you. At least we have made contact and Nick highly recommends you.
Please contact us again later in the summer, if you would like to, the situation may be calmer.
I wish you well with the external examiner, and hopefully we may see you later in the year.
All best wishes,
Becky"
So it seems that I wont be able to visit after all and any hopes of a job are off. For now at least. I'll have to make contact again later in the year.
Sunday, 1 June 2008
M&S day visit dates
I've just finished sending an e-mail to Becky Hunt at Mackinnon and Saunders to arrange a day for me to visit. Here's what I sent:
"Hello Becky,
This is Alistair. Now that things are more or less over with at my end I have had a chance to look at which days I would be able to make it down to visit you at M&S.
If its not too soon then I would be able to visit on either Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th or Friday 6th of this week.
Each day I would be able to catch a train to Altrincham station and arrive there at roughly 11 o'clock. I then plan on catching a taxi to get to you.
To make sure I've got the correct address the one I have is;
148 Seamons Rd,
Altrincham,
Cheshire
WA14 4LJ
If its not right then please let me know.
To get back I would need to catch a train from Altrincham station at either 15:51 or 16:51. I have chosen these times based on how long I spent during my visit to Cosgrove Hall last year. There are earlier or later trains if needed.
If these dates are too soon for you then please let me know and I'll see about sorting something a little later on in the month. I need to be in Wrexham on the 10th and 11th because the external examiner will be coming in and we've been told he will want to see us all.
I hope to hear from you soon,
Alistair Stuart"
Hopefully one of these days will be suitable and I will be able to show them my work.
"Hello Becky,
This is Alistair. Now that things are more or less over with at my end I have had a chance to look at which days I would be able to make it down to visit you at M&S.
If its not too soon then I would be able to visit on either Tuesday 3rd, Wednesday 4th or Friday 6th of this week.
Each day I would be able to catch a train to Altrincham station and arrive there at roughly 11 o'clock. I then plan on catching a taxi to get to you.
To make sure I've got the correct address the one I have is;
148 Seamons Rd,
Altrincham,
Cheshire
WA14 4LJ
If its not right then please let me know.
To get back I would need to catch a train from Altrincham station at either 15:51 or 16:51. I have chosen these times based on how long I spent during my visit to Cosgrove Hall last year. There are earlier or later trains if needed.
If these dates are too soon for you then please let me know and I'll see about sorting something a little later on in the month. I need to be in Wrexham on the 10th and 11th because the external examiner will be coming in and we've been told he will want to see us all.
I hope to hear from you soon,
Alistair Stuart"
Hopefully one of these days will be suitable and I will be able to show them my work.
Monday, 26 May 2008
Final Year Animation
I completed my animation by the deadline of Wednesday the 21st last week. In the end I didn't get Kris Wilson to produce any music for me as I would have missed the deadline if I had. Instead I found some music from http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/ and found sound effects by using http://www.findsounds.com/. There were some sounds I couldn't find though and so recorded them myself. These sounds were the bucket clanking and Jack breathing. I feel that the sounds and music fit the animation very well and am very pleased with the final outcome.
Saturday, 24 May 2008
carlogiovani.com
Today I visited a website mentioned to me by a fellow student. The site was carlogiovani.com.
The website showcases lots of paper models and graphic designs. The interesting part for me is that some of the paper models are used in stop-motion animation. Some examples can be seen under the "Motion" section, one of which appears to be an advert for Walkers crisps: http://carlogiovani.com/elma_chips/
I find this interesting as I would never have considered using paper models to animate with.
The website showcases lots of paper models and graphic designs. The interesting part for me is that some of the paper models are used in stop-motion animation. Some examples can be seen under the "Motion" section, one of which appears to be an advert for Walkers crisps: http://carlogiovani.com/elma_chips/
I find this interesting as I would never have considered using paper models to animate with.
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Animation Workshops
Today I recieved a phone call from my mum who had been in contact with my A-level art teacher, Mr John Connolly. Apparently my old secondary school has taken on an animator and Mr Connolly wanted to know, if once I had gained my animation qualification, whether I would be interested in giving a series of animation workshops to the students. Apparenlty I would earn roughly £100 each day that a workshop was run.
I have yet to get back to him as I have no contact number for him at the moment.
I have yet to get back to him as I have no contact number for him at the moment.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Mackinnon and Saunders Work
On Friday 9th May I recieved a phone call from David Jones, the workshop technician at NWSAD. He phoned to let me know that Nick Roberson wanted me to give him a call to talk about the rumoured work experience at Mackinnon and Saunders.
Apparently it is not work experience but actual job openings and Nick had put my name forward along with 3 students from De Montfort University.
I was given the e-mail and telephone contacts for Becky Hunt at Mackinnon and Saunders and told to e-mail her with some examples of my work. If she didn't reply then I should phone her. I never did here back as it turns out that Nick had given me an incorrect e-mail address so on the 14th I phoned her, had a chat and then re-e-mailed her with the correct address.
This is what I sent:
Hi Becky, I think I can see why my original e-mail never got through. The address I was given started with "b.hunt".
So, what shall I tell you? Nick said that I should give you a brief introduction of myself and attach pictures of some of my models. That sound ok?
During my time at university I have focussed on stop-motion animation from designing and building the puppets and sets to the actual filming and editing. I'm just coming to the end of filming my final project. Stop-motion is an area that I have always been very interested in and knew that I wanted to focus on before arriving at university. I have always been a very creative and curious person since I was very young when I would spend hours building plasticine models, drawing comics and constructing Kinder Egg toys. To this day I still collect the Beano comic. I think its great.
The photos I've attached show Artemis the mime, Lula the dog and AJ the boy from my last year's animation 'Mime Time', Jack and Jill from my current animation and some miscellaneous models I have made either for fun or for gifts. Tamika was made as a commission for a friend. If you want to have a look at my last years project, which was my first 'proper' attempt at stop-motion, you can have a look at it (and other animations) on my YouTube account: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Tp_mqld0w
I look forward to hearing from you again,
Alistair Stuart
I phoned her again today because I didn't hear back. Thankfully she had recieved the e-mail and apparently liked what she saw. She told me that getting the job opening was no sure thing and with what she was saying it seemed that I was at a disadvantage with living in Derbyshire when I finish the course, although she never actually said that.
By the end of the call we had agreed that I have to contact her again by e-mail to arrange a day in June when I can travel down to visit them and show off my models.
Apparently it is not work experience but actual job openings and Nick had put my name forward along with 3 students from De Montfort University.
I was given the e-mail and telephone contacts for Becky Hunt at Mackinnon and Saunders and told to e-mail her with some examples of my work. If she didn't reply then I should phone her. I never did here back as it turns out that Nick had given me an incorrect e-mail address so on the 14th I phoned her, had a chat and then re-e-mailed her with the correct address.
This is what I sent:
Hi Becky, I think I can see why my original e-mail never got through. The address I was given started with "b.hunt".
So, what shall I tell you? Nick said that I should give you a brief introduction of myself and attach pictures of some of my models. That sound ok?
During my time at university I have focussed on stop-motion animation from designing and building the puppets and sets to the actual filming and editing. I'm just coming to the end of filming my final project. Stop-motion is an area that I have always been very interested in and knew that I wanted to focus on before arriving at university. I have always been a very creative and curious person since I was very young when I would spend hours building plasticine models, drawing comics and constructing Kinder Egg toys. To this day I still collect the Beano comic. I think its great.
The photos I've attached show Artemis the mime, Lula the dog and AJ the boy from my last year's animation 'Mime Time', Jack and Jill from my current animation and some miscellaneous models I have made either for fun or for gifts. Tamika was made as a commission for a friend. If you want to have a look at my last years project, which was my first 'proper' attempt at stop-motion, you can have a look at it (and other animations) on my YouTube account: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Tp_mqld0w
I look forward to hearing from you again,
Alistair Stuart
I phoned her again today because I didn't hear back. Thankfully she had recieved the e-mail and apparently liked what she saw. She told me that getting the job opening was no sure thing and with what she was saying it seemed that I was at a disadvantage with living in Derbyshire when I finish the course, although she never actually said that.
By the end of the call we had agreed that I have to contact her again by e-mail to arrange a day in June when I can travel down to visit them and show off my models.
Sunday, 4 May 2008
Work Experience?
I've been hearing talk of work experience at Mackinnon and Saunders for a few days now. I couldn't find any information on their website though so I e-mailed Nick Roberson instead. I just asked him if what I had been hearing was true and if it was, what my chances of nabbing a spot were.
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