It is with some nostalgia that I load my graduation film from MA Computer Imaging and Animation, London Guildhall University, 1999. In this film I was exploring the concept of psychological epidemics: how ideas spread like viruses. This experimental short film combines hand-painted Super-8 footage with DV video, text animation, 3DS Max and After Effects. It features Sandra Louison in the lead role as an office worker. 15 years on I wince at the wobbly bits, but still enjoy all the textures I was experimenting with.
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After Effects Character Animation Tutorials on You Tube
Thanks to David for showing me this great series of After Effects tutorials on You Tube. Lots of tricks and tips with the puppet tool and putting character designs into 3d.
Character Design: Pumpkin Heads and Apple Heads
American artist, Ray Villafane, carves pumpkins into a variety of character heads. Check out the pictures here. Happy Hallowe’en!
What he may or not realise is that he is following in a very old tradition of folk art. In the past, toys were a luxury that many working people couldn’t afford to pay for – so they made their own. Apples were an ideal medium for carving dolls heads out of and this folk art is still practiced in rural America. I have also seen a British example in the V&A’s Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. The Museum of Childhood has an extensive collections of historical toys and is a fantastic resource for ideas for character designs.
I am currently experimenting with apple heads myself, since finding this wild apple on an isolated tree at the top of a mountain in the Pyrennees when I was on holiday this summer. I call her Mrs Applebaum and am using her as the starting point for developing a new character.
For One Night Only: CHATTER Thurs 14th July
The latest version of the CHATTER project will be shown at Bar Sequence for one night only on:
6 – 11 PM THURSDAY 14th JULY
2011
@ Bar Sequence, 43 Essex Road, London, N1 2SF
http://www.barsequence.com
This evolving installation of animated talking heads investigates meaningless blather and the babble of crowds, reminiscent of conversations on Facebook or Twitter. Created by media artist, Birgitta Hosea, it includes crowd-sourced contributions from international artists and animators*.
*Isak Ãkerlund | Daniel Arce | Javier Barboza | Maliha Basak | Adriani Bastouni | Laura Cechanowicz | Lisa Chung | Chris Colman | Cecilia De Jesus | Silvia Villar Espina | Seti Erfan | Pru Feria | FF | Safiya Greensword | Birgitta Hosea | Chen Huang | Mark Jackson | Daisy Jacobs | Miguel Jiron | Ashley Jones | Gregory Jones | Patrick Jones | Linda Jules | Amy Lee Ketchum | Brandon Lake | Hannah Lau-Walker | Karl Lawson | Yang Liu | (Emily) Chunhui Meng | Prakash Mohanty | Stefano Morandin | Louis Morton | Ourania Mourta | Rodrigo Ortiz | Eric Tortora Pato | Ignasi Pi-Sunyer | Stephan Pretorius | Silvia Sardellaro | Emma Shorey | Tom Sito | Frankie Swan | Natasha Tonkin | Jovanna Rebecca Tosello | Sam Watterson | Josh Wedlake | Christopher Wilder | Dan Wilson | (Michelle) Hsiu-chi Yang | Krisztina Zaja | Ying Zhang
Video of First CHATTER Installation in LA, 2010
Finally, here is a video of the first version of the installation in the USC Cinematic Arts Gallery. It’s always quite hard to document video installations because of the light levels, but this gives an overall impression of the space, the different languages and accents spoken by the animated characters and of the experience of moving around the video monitors and wall projections. ‘It’s like being in a really noisy party’, said one of the attendees at the private view.
Flash Lipsync Tutorial
This tutorial shows a version of using symbols in Flash for lipsyncing.
Chatter Installation Pictures 2010
Chatter Installation Participants
Setting up the show
Thanks to USC Cinematic Arts gallery manager Lisa Mann and her team who built the show – Herb, Gary, Carl and everyone else. Also thanks to Laura and Javier who also helped out.








