The Burglar With the Yellow Hand Is In Preproduction

We have officially launched into preproduction on Burglar With the Yellow Hand!

A huge thank you to IdeasTap, The Arts Trust Scotland and our wonderful supporters on IndieGoGo.

The script is finished and the final storyboard is underway. All of the concept art is being 3-dimensionalized - we are now in the process of set and prop construction. All of the necessary materials have been collected and a new world is about to take shape. 

These blocks of humble florists’ foam will soon be transformed into the rough stone walls of a mysterious underwater cavern, encrusted with ornate seashells and tufts of seaweed.

 Glittering candy wrappers are always useful to have around – you never know when you will need a tiny chest overflowing with gold, diamonds and precious stones.

An assortment of beads, trimmings, haberdashery, spray paint, furniture varnish, bits of balsa wood, plasticene, canvas, string, gold foil, stickers and coffee stirrers have turned these small pieces of cardboard into gilded Baroque and Art Nouveau picture frames and sturdy crates for antique sculptures of dubious provenance. 

Unfortunately, our demanding burglar is somewhat hard to please…

Burglar With the Yellow Hand Fully Funded!

The indiegogo campaign for Burglar With the Yellow Hand has just come to a close, having raised $200. We are very grateful to our wonderful contributors!
This is not enough to get the film made, but I have just found out that I am one of the winners of the IdeasTap Innovators Award, which will cover the rest of the funds needed to get the film made!!!
This is amazing news, and I can't wait to get started. Filming starts this fall, and I will be posting regular updates on the progress of the film here and on my IdeasTap blog.

Only 4 Days Left To Contribute to Burglar With the Yellow Hand!

Only 4 days left in The Burglar With the Yellow Hand indiegogo campaign! We are happy to have raised $200 so far and will make the most every dollar, but everything we raise will help make the film bigger and better! Every dollar can make a difference.
Perks start as low as $5 - come and contribute if you want to support stop motion animation and traditional film making techniques, or if you believe in the statement that art should be appreciated for its beauty and its historical legacy rather than for its commercial worth.

Visit the campaign page to find out more:
http://igg.me/at/burglarwiththeyellowhand/x/3214821
(Or click on the widget to the right)

The Burglar With the Yellow Hand Needs Your Help!

Less than 2 weeks left on the Burglar With the Yellow Hand indiegogo campaign! We have raised $100 so far, but we really hope to scrape together some more funds at the last minute. Visit the campaign to check out some of our perks, and remember - this is a small film and any contribution will make a difference! Help a burglar learn a lesson about the true value of art and the dire consequences of selfish greed, while supporting the noble art of stop motion animation.

http://igg.me/at/burglarwiththeyellowhand/x/3214821

Commissioned Music Video For "Down By the Salley Gardens" Released on youtube

I created this music video for the song "Down By The Salley Gardens" for a South Korean studio called Muffin Songs. I made it some time ago, but they've only just released it on their youtube channel.
It's mostly stop motion, but I incorporated some digital effects, superimpositions, and even a tiny bit of live action. Take a look and share your comments!

For those of you who have been watching the Burglar With the Yellow Hand indiegogo campaign - yes the male character is played by Conrad Lucas, the Burglar himself.

Just One Month Left To Raise Funds For Burglar With the Yellow Hand!

I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has shown their support by sharing links to the campaign page, and especially to our first $100 contributor! Once the film is complete, he will receive a postcard and poster with images from the film signed by the director and star, a T-shirt with a design inspired by the film, a DVD copy of the film itself with a special limited edition cover, a Special Thanks credit, and access to exclusive behind-the-scenes materials including concept art, storyboards and documentary footage showing how the film was made.
You do not have to contribute $100 to get some of these great perks! Any contribution is welcome, with perks starting at $5. As of today, we have only 30 days left to raise the rest of the budget, and help the film reach its full potential.

In the meantime, I am already working away on the pre-production, polishing the script, planning the storyboard, thinking about the soundtrack and sketching some concept art. I am really excited about getting this film made and sharing it with the world, but it needs your help!

Update on Burglar With the Yellow Hand Crowdfunding Campaign

The indiegogo campaign for The Burglar With the Yellow Hand has just raised its first $100! As you see on the widget to the right, this constitutes 5% of the budget. This is a really exciting development as $100 is already a sum that will make a difference for the film, and as we still have 37 days it may encourage further contributions as well. There have been other exciting developments in the project behind the scenes as well, but it is too early to reveal them yet! Come visit the campaign, explore the available perks and help this film get made.
A silent film featuring traditional animation techniques, and going back to the roots of cinema itself - isn't that something worth supporting in our modern, over-digitized world?

Indiegogo Campaign For My New Short

I haven't posted in a while, but I've been keeping really busy! I have just launched an indiegogo campaign for my upcoming stop motion short film, The Burglar With The Yellow Hand.
 It's a dark but funny story about a burglar who gets more than he bargained for when he steals an enchanted painting and realizes that true art really can stand up for itself. The style is inspired by Silent Era German Expressionist films, so there will be a great deal of foreboding shadows, ominously distorted sets, and explorations of inner duality and the line between reality and illusion.

Check out the link to the right to learn more about the campaign, look at photos and video, contribute in exchange for some really exciting rewards (starting at $5), or just help spread the word. We only have until September 10th to raise our $2,000 budget, so help us make some noise!

My New Short Film To Be Screened At British Library

Just heard some great news about my new short film. I recently won a chance to be one of 10 young filmmakers who were commissioned by the British Library to make short films based on audio files from their Wildlife Sounds collection. The final judging of the finished films has just taken place, and they have announced that my film, The Great Library Robbery is a close runner-up! It will be one of two films from the competition to be screened at the British Library Spring Festival on March 2nd! The Library also plans to promote our films on youtube and write a blog article on each.

Here is a link to an article published by the British Library on the 10 selected films: 
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/inspiredby/2013/01/announcing-the-shortlist-for-our-wildlife-sounds-short-film-competition-with-ideastap.html

Launching New Animation Festival Screening in Scotland and Egypt!

Thorvald is finally officially finished and ready to meet the world! I am sending him to festivals and will be making a trailer that I will hopefully post here very soon. In the meantime, I am already in preproduction on my next short (details to be revealed later) and am actually developing a festival of my own. I'm hoping to hear from all of the brilliant stop motion animators out there! I will be creating a full website for the festival with all relevant details but for now, here is my preliminary announcement:

Would you be interested in submitting your animated short to a festival that spans two continents, and will screen your work to a diverse international audience in two of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in the world?

I am an independent stop motion animator and PhD Film Studies student based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and I am currently organizing a new festival for animated short films (with an emphasis on stop motion). The films selected by the festival will screen in two cities: Edinburgh, Scotland and Luxor, Egypt.

With such high-profile events as the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Fringe, Edinburgh is already a major international cultural centre attracting audiences from around the world. The current plan is to synchronize the Edinburgh section of the festival with the end of the Fringe.

Home to such famous ancient monuments as Tomb of Tutankhamun Luxor, Egypt has long been recognized for its remarkable historical value and hosts millions of tourists from all over the world every year. Now however, with the successful African Film Festival organized by the local government and the newly launched Luxor Egyptian and European Film Festival, Luxor is emerging as a modern cultural landmark as well.

The goal of this festival is to stimulate an exchange of ideas and visions between emerging Egyptian and international filmmakers. This would be the only stop motion animation themed festival in Edinburgh and the first international animation festival in Egypt.

I am of course especially interested in stop motion films, and hope that such mythologically and historically rich screening locations as Edinburgh and Luxor may encourage submissions in the following directions:

Mythology

Folktales

Legends

Fantasy

Gothic

Silent Film

Expressionism

Symbolism

Ancient/Medieval Period Film

I am still in the early planning stages, but I am already in touch with the Filmhouse in Edinburgh and the new Governor of Luxor about my ideas for the festival. What I need now is to hear from you – the international animation community. I need to gauge how much interest I can raise and how many submissions I can encourage now and whether it will be possible for me to launch the festival as soon as next summer.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who wants to get more information or has a film that they might like to submit!

You can email me at festival@yorwickcastle.com or leave a comment here on the blog.

Sneak Peek

Thorvald is still in the long and arduous process of rendering, so I  don't have any footage to share at the moment. However, I did promise updates soon, so here is a still showing Thorvald floating in a sea of green goo, just after being swallowed by the Stoorworm. Thorvald and the boat are stop motion, the goo, background, lighting, and atmospheric effects are all digital.

Thorvald is Still Alive and Almost Done!

I realize this a decidedly belated return to  the chronicle of Thorvald's tribulations, but I must admit that the tribulations in question have put quite a strain on my time, especially when combined with my in-progress PhD thesis. Thorvald has turned into something of a monster himself, and has grown into a much longer and more complicated film than I had originally anticipated. All of the stop motion shooting is now officially complete, as is most of the special effects work. If the universe does not spontaneously combust and my humble self is not devoured by some sort of mythic creature, the film itself should be completed soon. I definitely want to get everything done before September, as I'm hoping to submit Thorvald to the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival. I am also currently in the conceptual stages of developing a little stop motion festival of my own here in Edinburgh, and am already planning my next film. I will be posting updates (hopefully) soon. I will also be posting stills and a trailer as soon as Thorvald is completed! 

Water Test

I have designed some water using the Caustics and Wave World simulations in AfterEffects to see how the boat will look afloat in the perilous waters of a haunted loch...

Thorvald's Boat Completed!!!

Thorvald finally has his boat, and is almost ready to embark upon his epic journey. The boat is fully sculpted and painted, although hardly water proof. The water will inevitably have to be CG, but I am sure he won't mind. Thorvald can't swim anyway!
I will be doing some animation and compositing tests and will be posting them here shortly. 

 

Thorvald's Boat Part VI

After a slight delay (mostly due to my graduation from the University of Edinburgh with an MSc in Film Studies), Thorvald is back on track and progressing rapidly. The figureheads for the boat are now fully sculpted in PaperClay, and now the entire thing needs to be painted, decorated, and aged. Here is an image of the fully sculpted boat alongside my original sketch.

Thorvald's idea of being helpful in set construction

Thorvald's Boat Part V

Yet another mock-up, this time with slightly larger figureheads. It is probably time to start sculpting the final version. I wouldn't want Thorvald to set out in an unfinished boat!

Thorvald's Boat Part IV

The boat continues to evolve. Yes, I know the color scheme is ridiculous, NO this is not the final version. This is only a mock-up to work out the proportions for the figureheads. The heads are made of modeling clay at the moment, but will eventually be replaced by PaperClay, which is much more lightweight and paint-able. I am hoping that when I am done the whole thing will look like weathered wood.
At the moment, the heads are looking a bit small. I am considering making them bigger.

Thorvald's Boat, Part III

 The boat continues to develop. The walls are almost complete, with some cardboard additions, and I am also putting in supports for the figureheads on either end of the boat. Hopefully it will be looking like an actual boat quite soon. Thorvald does not trust me and is still despondent. Of course, as he is the star of the film, tantrums are to be expected.

Thorvald's Boat, Part II

 The boat is progressing rapidly, and I am building in some extra supports to keep Thorvald in place as the boat moves forward. It is not that I doubt his courage and feel the need to chain him down, I am simply concerned about the turbulence inherent in being swallowed whole by an embittered sea serpent. 
I have drilled some wire hooks into the foot area, and am using them to attach straps/laces that will keep his feet in place. On the seat, there are two additional loops in front which connect to a pair of hooks that go around his legs, and another loop in the back that surrounds his waist.
Surprisingly, after all of this care for his safety, Thorvald is still looking displeased and pensive. Although he appreciates the technical aspects, he would prefer it if the end result were more aesthetically pleasing and looked less like a wooden shoebox. My apologies, Thorvald, I will endeavor to do better....

Thorvald's Boat, Part I

Poor Thorvald really needn't look so distressed. His boat is only in the initial construction stages and will soon be looking much nicer. This is the boat on which he will embark on his epic journey into the bowels of the Stoorworm, so it is essential that it display both sturdy construction and a suitably mythic exterior. The walls that are visible now are made of Balsa wood, while the bottom is made of a thicker, denser wood, to keep the boat stable as it sails into the unknown...