9266

Yesterday was a important day, and today is just another day after that.

 Becoming more and more doodlish, and flowers again. But there's so many flowers in my room now. And for just a brief spell, it's sunny too.

A big parcel arrived from Hiroshima today, with catalogue and promotional materials, all this little Japanese signs look cute. And the whole design's so nice.

Check this out, it's just a bit of the participation certificate, not a big deal, but it's probably the most tasteful, beautiful looking diploma I ever got in my life.

9202

My friend sent me this video to watch. I didn't know this stuff about schools, oh, it;s disgusting! Sitting with other kids?! I didn't like my school enough just as it was, now it seems like hell...

But from more important and actually relevant stuff, "An Interrupted Story" got into Hiroshima, and that's so incredibly cool. Too bad I won't be able to be there (no passport, I am a loser), but come on, check out these names there, big deal.

Rubbish time, just lost my wallet (convinced it was pick-pocketed, damn), and my id, and it is just a drag to get your id done when you're a foreigner. It really is.

I will get myself to create more non-commercial stuff, I will. For now, flowers are so unoffensive.

9145

Back home, and God I hope to stay here for some time now, please...

Annecy was good, we've seen a lot, we've meet lots of folks (very nice and interesting ones, more interesting that any of the films), it's been sunny and warm, full of blooming roses, the water was wonderful, and I've learned things. About France: that for some reason, they keep their grocery shops hidden (no joking, really hidden), that one should better give away their fags to whoever asks them for it, and that you can drink in the park, that was wonderful news for us. Another thing I learned would be my limit of how long I can stay surrounded by people 24h a day. Yeah, I must be antisocial, and I admired my friend I was with (Will Anderson, who won student category, by the way!) how he could cope with so many people everywhere, all the time. Exhausting. Yeah, I'm an artistic wuss. 
Here we go, Annecy was very educational. 
But overwhelming. I'm still overwhelmed. Oh my…
I have temporary fear of people now, and I need to get over it soon, back to reality: my bar, and my silly animation. 

That's some random Tosca, because I - like most of us bloody 'artist' - have to force myself to produce something every day, and then I end up with random hardly ambitious drawings. We've been to see 'Tosca' for my birthday two weeks ago.

9135

am I being a real bad loser for not being bothered to go to Hiroshima Animation Festival? I've been taking to my friend about it, and I was a bit like: noo, I'd need to get a passport, I don't have a passport. And it would cost a lot of money (good point, but she got me with: you can get that money back), and it's so far away, I hate flying, I absolutely hate flying, and I need to do so much of it anyway, and Japan is soooo far. It's probably soooo cool too, but… soooo far.
Now that she pointed out I'm just being outrageously lazy bum not to take this opportunity, I'm having second thoughts.
Yeah, it probably is a great place to go. On the other hand, I'm really bad  with 'travelling' in general, by train, plane, whatever, I didn't got to Glasgow for BAFTAs or Glasgow Short Film Fest, in a way because I'd rather avoid travelling, and that's just an hour away in a train!
I think I'll wait till they develop teleporting a bit.

And here's my Jubilee contribution, and my general political opinion on the whole Scottish Independence idea: oh really people, can't you see how beautiful Union Jack is as an image? I think it may be my favourite piece of graphic design ever, and I'm simply worried that if Scotland gets out they may get it changed is someone's too zealous. That would make me sad.

 

9030

couldn't make it (again...*), but I had a nice mention on Exposures Festival site. Thank you, thank you:

(* I have finished Foundation Course at Manchester Met, then moved to Edinburgh in the sumer after graduating. Since then I've been countlessly promising myself I need to go back and visit. This Exposures is not the first one screening my film anyway, "Monster..." was on there in 2010, and yet I never had time to go. It has been the British Animation Awards screening in Cornerhouse Manchester that years ago made me think I'd study animation in the first place, and now I'm neglecting the Rainy Hill so much... shame, shame on me, I'm sorry)

Hello J

I got this email with some questions. I hope the author wouldn't think I'm taking a piss in here. That's just a bit less edited version of my thoughts, before I fit them into general conventions.

1) What do I think Scotland has to offer short film makers?
Well. I don't know. I never inquired. Nice views? Since I have graduated I've been so busy that I never had time to think about it at all.

2) How did I get the funding to make your short film and did I set myself a budget?
SAS paid for my tuition fees. And I worked in a bar all the years I've been at Uni to pay my bills. There was no budget.

3) What can the film festival organisers do better to attract more short film makers?
I don't know. I haven't been to a single festival showing my film, unless it was in the area where I stayed (and that only happened twice anyway). I am not in Glasgow right now, where the festival is happening, even tho I stay so close in Edinburgh. Even thinking of going makes me so tired already, talking to all the people, all these conversation with no topic and no consequence, I really can't do it now. I went to the theatre with my brother last night. It happened to be rather crowded and loud in the foyer before the play. We were standing among that crowd:
'are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
'fighting a desire to throw a grenade in there?'
We established we were both such misanthropes. We are, really. There's nothing wrong with festivals, I recon, it's just me.

4) For those who haven't seen my short film, what is it about and why should it win?
It's about monsters and children. All my films are about monsters and children, when I think about it. It's a bit about beauty and about fear. And it's just odd. I don't think it should win, I'm not really a competitive person. I like rivalry, but I can't let myself be swayed by winning or losing - that's silly. Short film is still an art form, it can be created for all sorts of purposes. It can generate different sorts of reactions, but it's value can't be measured. Art is not something we can fit in competition criteria, and short film, even though to some degree commercial, is still mostly an independent art form.

8918

too busy to update. Some stuff flying around festivals. And such.






and by the way, my alma mater loves me too:


amen.

8764: news from the dark side

graduation time. Need for cash, therefore, more nights in behind the bar: the job of my life, so it seems. It is fun, as the second best option, but then my hands are really dry after all the glasses to clean, and all the liquid that's always on my hands working there, then I need to put some cream or something, then that makes my hands oily, and then, then it leaves mess on the glass when I work on the rostrum.

Yep, there's some new project, don't ask me why. Not that long ago I thought I didn't want to animate ever again, and here I am, like a proper addict, there's no escape... The less I write about that project, the better, I think, for I've been working on it semi sober, and in a rather childish approach (my argument being: "because I want that this way, therefore it's right!"), I wonder if my director, Avital Ash, noticed (I wonder if she knows about this blog...). But, as far as I could concentrate, I figured out: it's animated opening titles for THE FILM. The Film is from far away LA. Cindy, didn't Cindy live in LA? I hope she'll like that, with every single rostrum project I'm taking paper cut outs to the whole different level. They'd be so 3D soon that it won't count as cut outs anymore... Am I making any sense in here?

Well anyway, forget my usual misanthropic complaining, and my allergy to fun, the credits are fun to do. I think I wouldn't mind doing some more of this kind of stuff in the future.


other extra lame news regarding my graduation from Edinburgh Gutter of Art: our class has a nice website. And our school designed much less nice website too. Night in the cinema, 13th of June.

And "an interrupted story" is in Anima Mundi.

I think that's all.

8518

A long long time ago, during the first project we did in the second year, Alan Mason shared some of his legendary wisdom with me: "if you think that something is boring, it probably is". Now I find myself spicing up every little scene I work on, crazy camera movements or other insanities. It's his fault, if anyone wonders. All his fault. If not his support, who know what kind of crap films I'd be making now.

Few news:

My "train" film in intense work in progress, fell behind the schedule so badly that it may go on my big ego :)

It's all looking great, that's a positive, but taking well long. Well, that's probably what you get when you're making an 8 minutes long animation on your own.

In the meantime, I think I mentioned that before, I've been collaborating with Live Circus on new BearBones' video for their single "Diving Bell". It's been good fun, new experience, greenscreen and puppeteering mice. For an animator, it was great to get to go outside my dark closet, see real people. The premiere's planned some time in October, somewhere in the Emerald City of Glasgow.

Also, apparently-hopefully the film I made a year ago ("but it makes me happy") is gonna be screened as a short before two anime features as a part of "Scotland Loves Anime" festival (2nd weekend of October Glasgow Film Theatre and the 3rd weekend Edinburgh Filmhouse). Cool, ay?

Above all that, I have just started my final year at Edinburgh College of Art (eventually managed to get that far, yes, I can't believe it either), they've been bugging me with some dissertations and graduation films to make, or something of this ridiculous sort… such a drag to be honest, but I'll need to give it a thought some time soon.

So yeah, all sparkling and shining.

8313

significant facts and numbers:
today, on the 8313th day of my life, Jonny Murray said "kind of" 298 times during his talk. one of his highest scores so far. the lecture itself wasn't that bad either.

"Monster in the toilet" got nominated for Bafta New Talent Scotland it's quite cool, isn't it? There's also four other people nominated from my department, so it's gonna be our big eca party!

Next week I am going to Poland for OFAFA (animation festival in Krakow), where two of my films are being shown, I also think that would be fun to look a little into Polish animation, which I know very little about.

listening to Julia Marcell, drinking Stella, which - I think - smells. I don't like it.

And there's also one thing I'd like to do, that I've always wanted to do: get on the rooftops and sit there, look at the Edinburgh city from up there.


In all that mess, I'm tring to get as much animation done as possible for the Train project.

8217

i don't remember being interested in storytelling at any point of my life. i wanted to be many things: the prime minister, a scientist, an antiques renovator, a teacher, a bartender. nothing to do with storytelling really. maybe because i've never could speak properly, in a literal and metaphorical sense.

i like walking with my eyes closed. i like listening to things, and feeling them. i do feel a little bit uncomfortable, sometimes, lost in the darkness. i'm not as worried about hitting something or falling over, as i am about other people. i'm scared of getting too close to someone accidentally.

i try to work on my next film, but Uni work, part time job and the lack of motivation in general get in my way alot. that's something to be changed.

i haven't mentioned, i got into 6th London Short Film Festival (8th – 17th January 2010, mine's on the 13th), as part of the "Trick of Light" screening. cool.