Slurpy Studios is a young and innovative animation and web design production company bases around the Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey and London area.
Every year we like to create a Christmas card for all of our Clients, friends and anyone who seems in particular need of some festive cheer.
This is always a fun opportunity to spend some time in Photoshop without worrying too much about what happens, and this years design was a sort of long and drawn out experiment. I didn't really go in to it with a plan (other that than to draw attention to Aaron's hilariously bad ice skating skills!) but played around a lot with the composition and colour balance.
I did try to film myself creating it like last year, but the darned computer crashed halfway through!
It's very rare that we get to create some animation for the sheer fun of it (and believe it or not, creating 24 images for every second can be the most amazing fun one can have by oneself!) but when we saw the brief for Smile for London we decided to have a go. And it only required 10 seconds, or 240 drawing - pah!
It's a competition to show animated films on the underground, to brighten up the drudging boredom of commuting, so we decided to create a film entitled "what do commuters think about?"
This was created in After Effects, with artwork created in Photoshop.
We know that we've got through the first round, which means a fancy soiree in that there London town for the final, which probably means we should go get a haircut...
Despite only joining Asifa UK last year, we’ve become loyal advocates of the wonderful work that they do to promote the animation industry both here and abroad. As a result we will soon be making their brand new, very shiny website where you can find out the latest animation news, meet other similarly afflicted people, find jobs etc.
Until then, I shall leave you with this article that I wrote for the quarterly magazine 'Dope Sheet' summarizing my top bits of last week’s Bradford Animation Festival, and a recommendation to subscribe to Asifa UK as soon as humanly possible.
"For many of us in the fun filled world of Animation, November means a trip to the curry capital of the North, to be inspired by another healthy dose of innovative filmmaking. And Bradford Animation Festival 2010 did not disappoint. This was another year filled with captivating speakers, breath-taking films and enough animation heroes to make the student delegates salivate in awe.
It’s hard to mention all of my favourite parts of an event that included Gene Dietch and his diminutive wife, Tim Searle’s passionate review of British Animation, a long overdue Lifetime achievement award to Ray Harryhausen and a career choice affirming look at how animation can be used as a therapeutic tool. For me, the standout event in a very enjoyable week was Paul Franklin of Double Negative, who gave us a fascinating insight in to the world of visual effects within Inception and Dark Knight.
One of the things that makes BAF the most popular animation festival in the UK is the quality and number of speakers that they invite from within the animation industry and the peripheries. One example of this was Gary Jackson from Scary Cat studios, who gave an enlightening speech on his work making models for stop motion animation. Turns out that there’s a whole lot more to an armature than balsa wood and twisted wire.
Paul Mendoza of Pixar was informative and charismatic as he spoke about the production pipeline at the famous studio, as well as his influences and career. He then made the somewhat catastrophic mistake of mentioning that Pixar were hiring and was immediately lost under a swarm of student animators, never to be seen again.
Two first-rate programs from Clare Kitson invoked nostalgia and a fair amount of jealousy for the heydays of British animation, when Channel 4 was funding the films that won countless awards and recognition for our Industry from around the world.
As always, BAF showcased an impressive and eclectic collection of shorts, music videos, commercials, features and series’. Screening after screening left me impressed and inspired, both with the technical prowess on display and the rollercoaster of narratives. One moment I was sobbing in to my popcorn at Dustin Grella's “Prayers for Peace”, the next I was giggling like an infant at Alan Shorts “The Fly,” and then I was stunned by the technical wizardry and effects of Patrick Jean’s “Pixel”
The judges (Tim Searle, Clare Kitson and Mette Peters) made a few controversial decisions, causing loud and impassioned arguments directly afterwards as we all debated/ screamed the reasons why our favourite films should have won each category instead. But as no one person seemed to agree on which films should have won the newly named and highly coveted “Osgoods,” most had to grudgingly concede that the judges had done a pretty reasonable job.
Barry Purves, as always, spoke with wit, passion and an intriguingly patterned waistcoat as he delivered the awards. He also treated us to a sneak peek of his latest stop motion epic, which I sense I may need to watch with caution and tissues.
For me, the standout film of the festival was probably “The Little Boy and the Beast” by Johannes Weiland of Germany. Subtle, moving and beautifully poetic, this tale is both funny and sad as it moves towards the plot reveal that you eventually realise you knew all along.
As for the Grand Prix… well like I said, some controversial decisions! It went to Andreas Hykade’s “Love and Theft,” which is fun and bright and mesmerising, but not a lot else (in my humble opinion).
Grand Prix Love and Theft by Andreas Hykade (whimsical and fun but didn’t create any kind of emotional response)
Special Jury Prize A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation by Martin Wallner and Stefan Leuchtenberg (Powerful and beautiful, but keeps the audience at arms length rather than inviting them in.
Audience Award The Little Boy and The Beast by Johannes Weiland (Stunning film, restrained but powerful)
Professional Big Bang Big Boom by Blu (An incredible logistical accomplishment, full of energy and ideas)
Student Prayers for Peace by Dustin Grella (A very moving film with a haunting vocal performance)
Short, Shorts Pixels by Patrick Jean (A must see film for any child of the eighties or fan of what we now have to call ‘retro’ video games. Technically very strong)
Commercials Heroes of the UAE by Ben Falk and Josiah Newbolt (Imaginative, well made and full of surprises)
TV series Heirlooms by Wendy Chandler and Susan Danta (Great concept and well executed. Well done to the Commissioning body too for taking a risk)
Music Videos The Tom Fun Orchestra: Bottom of the River by Alasdair Brotherston and Jock Mooney (The best of a not hugely inspiring bunch, but still well worth watching for it’s important ecological message)
This years BAF has been a hugely enjoyable event, filled with great films, passionate debates and really quite excellent curry. Congratulations yet again to Deb Singleton and the team for putting on an event that showcased the extraordinary abilities, artistic invention and downright surreal imaginations that make up the animation industry.
I’ve been asked to write a festival review for next month’s AsifaUK, so I wont go in to depth here, but will leave you with a few of my favourite films (or, the ones I liked that weren’t too hard to find on youtube).
Hope to see you at next years BAF, and if I do, mine’s an apple and mango J20 (hardcore I know)
The Little Boy and the Beast by Johannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschöetter Stunning film, manages to be both funny and poignant
Out on the Tiles by Anna Pearson Hahahahaaaaaa. Joanna Quinn's sense of humour, early Aardman style animation
Stanley Pickle by Victoria Mather Best bit of pixilation I've seen in many a long year!
Well we always say we like to make websites for 'different' products and companies... so we've spent to last month creating this ecommerce site for Made in Water birthpools!
The design is clean and crisp, with lots of white space and tranquil colours (baby blues and pinks to appeal to the target audience of Mothers). This clean, almost clinical approach is designed to make Mothers feel secure and trusting of the product, to subconsciously invoke the idea of a hospital.
Founded in 2007 by award winning animation and design team Aaron Wood and Katie Steed, Slurpy Studios produces high quality animation, web design and interactive media. Visit our website to find out more.
