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dissertation. i need to say no more.

i don't need glasses. shame...

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i'm not supposed to update here, I'm supposed to be working on my dissertation, I - very conveniently - left my notes in college. Oh Welles, what are we gonna do about this meeting this Thursday? :)

I think I'll make some mulled wine now.

Anyway, last week me and Cat finished these animation pieces we were doing for Cindy Derby's puppet performance, the preview's early December, I'm thinking I may go, but I this dissertation... the very thought is really killing me. Anyway, more details if anyone was interested: here.

∴ ∴ ∴

And here's a bad quality picture of my desk with the very last frame of the train film on the lightbox:

blue went grey, because he's a little upset:

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The train, the train, the train. The film that has been keeping me busy for almost a year (I started thinking about it something around this time last year, and got first attempts to storyboards around Chritmas), finally there is some light there: I can see the end. I can at least see it, it's like being lost in the sea, where I can finally see some land, and no matter the distance, I can see it, so it's fine.

I'm happy I managed to stay positive and enthusiastic all that time, well, there's few more weeks of work, but it should be all fine.

I'll do some proper thanks later when it's over, but so far, thanks for the support and help, everyone.

Some stills from the film, pencil drawings I do and finished coloured images that are in the film, I like putting them together to compare:

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I've started working on my degree film to be, still busy with the train project (almost there, almost there, maybe I'll post something about that in few weeks). After being all 2D and digital, I decided to try cut outs under the rostrum camera for that. Just so it's different, really, and because my studio in college is really freezing in the winter, so it's nice to hide in the darkroom (yes, these are the best reasons I can come up with to explain my choices about degree film. It is, if someone thought I take that degree seriously - I don't. Come one, I am studying a-ni-ma-tion. How can I be serious about it?). There is a separate blog for this production for the assessments purposes, but I haven't been updating it much.

Here's some pictures for stuff I've been trying for my degree-film-to-be:

(as you can see, there is smoking again, there is usually some smoking in my films, any problems with that?)

In the meantime, because working on two big films and dissertation (ok, I'm not doing the last one, but I should have, god, I should have...) is not enough, Cat Bruce and I got involved in another extra project: helping Cindy Derby on animations that are to be in her puppet performance. You can read more about that on her blog. Here's some pictures from that (not sure if I'm allowed to put them online or not, really, but I like them), animated by Cat Bruce so she did the real magic, but I designed the cut out puppet (oh what a complex design, isn't it?), did some lighting and camera stuff, so there's like 20% of my work there!

I think they look awesome. Well done Cat, she's doing some crazy magic.

So yep, that's how it's going. I find myself thinking of Poland again, can't wait to see Warsaw in December again (first thing I miss about Warsaw is its Chinese, and then my friend there. Ultimately, my friend out with me having Chinese...). But back on Earth: keep going girl, you really have to finish these films!

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Bear Bone's new music video "Diving Bell" by Live Circus is out online.
I've been collaborating on that, doing the animation.



also, check the making of, I'm there animating some mice:

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I've just put some "work in progress" material online: it's one of the scenes, from the animatic up to the final version stage. I like when people are sharing their pencil tests, and to compare them with the finished animation, so I hope it's interesting:

Also, I have started a separate blog for my degree film progress documentation. Yep, that's another film. There's not much there yet, but just to let you know: degreeetude.blogspot.com.

And, here's a drawing I did this evening, feeling down, so I though I should do something cheery and disneyish.

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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.

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dying, but not dead yet,

on the road to El Dorado,

in love, but not fallen

keeping it balanced on this roller-coaster,

I'm fine, thank you.