Bristol Encounters Animation Festival 2011

Here I am with one of the characters from Aardman's latest animated film 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists'. I was really lucky to attend this workshop with Aardman's Amanda Darby, one of the lead model makers, as there were not many tickets. It was a real eye opener to see the amount of hard work and skill it takes to make these puppets. The film is a mixture of traditional stop frame animation and CG animation. I was so happy to find out from Amanda that they were thinking of doing it all CG but scraped it because Peter Lord (Director) thought it didn't have the same appeal as the stop motion look they are so well known for. The film is nearly completed, so I look forward to seeing this little pirate working his magic on the big screen!

The photo above is of myself and John K. Animator and creator of the crazy cartoon 'Ren and Stimpy'. I just managed to get my caricature done from him as there was such a demand for them. He was a really nice guy and I think he caught my 'pixar smile', as he put it, perfectly.
I remember a few episodes of Ren and Stimpy when I was a kid, but I have to say they really grossed me out. But the comedy element to them was fantastic. There was a viewing of the cartoons he had made and they were completely discusting yet extremely funny. I was in fits of giggles. The talk John gave on his love of the old cartoons was amazing and so valid. I completely agreed with him that the cartoons of the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's were at their best. I grew up on a lot of them myself watching the re-runs or the videos. He really inspired me to think about my animation as creatively and as imaginatively as I can before someone else has all the say in the creative input. He is a very funny, talented and inspirational man with loads of character.

These are the caricatures John K. did of myself and my fellow stop motion ladies, Emma and Lynda. We had a fantastic week!