I Lava Who

With Mission Dalek, filmmakers and visual artists were prompted to create their own Doctor Who story. Those* who demonstrated creativity, inventiveness and technical accomplishment the strongest would win a trip to Roath Lock Studios.

I kept having flashbacks to uni while working on my entry. Despite certain limitations I was able to tell a story, assembling all the scenes and title cards together into a neat 90 second package. I managed to fit all four clues into the piece, the main one being "Technical Transformation".

The process of designing the character/prop assets and animation in Toon Boom Harmony took 12 days. My lucky number. Much of the "budget" i.e. time was spent on story development and keeping the eyebrows/fluffy hair on model. Compositing and editing were done in Motion.

Whether or not it's a hit with the judges, it was a lesson in decision-making and time-keeping. During this purely experimental exercise, I found I was able to get back into animation production. It felt tremendous. It has motivated me to make more little shorts with fuller character animation, without going overboard with story ideas that require more time and hands.

I am deeply thankful for the BBC for launching this. Maybe they'll call me to do an animated spin-off series of the Twelfth Doctor's adventures?

The project was finished in time for the deadline; what a relief it was to head down to Wales for a break. Mum could not have timed it better.

At Cardiff Cineworld, myself and pals attended the Series 9 Launch, watched two brand-new episodes back to back, reserved "for the Welsh".

The chilling two-parter is both everything you love about and would not expect to see in Doctor Who. It's like Empire Strikes Back or The Dark Knight. The Magician's Apprentice grabs you and never lets go. Producer Brian Minchin told me afterwards that because of the reception of Dark Water/Death in Heaven, we'd get more two-parters, and viewers would have to wait for The Witch's Familiar. Preparing popcorn for the reaction.

Steven Moffat and the Crystal Gems

The Q and A session followed. Jason Mohammad was once again a great host. Questions from the audience and answers from the panel were entertaining as always, while spoilery details were kept close to the chest. Everyone was all in favour of David Bowie or Keith Richards making guest appearances, so what could go wrong with a full-on musical episode? "Anything is possible," said Steven Moffat. Folks were divided, though.

The panel, also including Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, thanked me for praising their performances and the episodes. But the night belonged to George Buckland, aka Mini Matt Smith. His moment that closed the panel was THE highlight.

The Matt the Myth the Legend (left). Plus bonus Michael Pickwoad photobomb

The group picture was another lovely surprise. At this point I'm so used to rubbing shoulders with famous people that I forgot where I was and who I was standing next to.

Already feeling generous and Doctor-like from picking the best seats for some fellow Whovians (one of them's an animator!) I directed Peter to peeps wanting to greet him before he shook my hand. I then asked him to sign a Gallifrey postcard dedicated to a friend back in Leicester.

The Doctor remembered me when I told him he made my birthday. "Oh! Delighted to see you again!"

Could I keep the momentum going with a trip into the TARDIS in two weeks?

Alas that trip wasn't to be.

Good thing The Doctor's Meditation was released. This is the prequel that was shot at Caerphilly Castle, and oddly enough had been screened exclusively in U.S. cinemas. It's 6 minutes of comic brilliance. There's a Waiting for Godot vibe about it. I'm hoping Bors is the new companion.

Now where was I...

The winning Mission Dalek entries ranged from excellent presentation, atmosphere, clever twists, to WHAT are they cereal. "Step Forward" was inspired by a true story. It was one that lent itself to the animation medium. Losing sleep and summer walks, I climbed a mountain with this one.

In the latest Radio Times, Peter taps into the positives of failure:

“All actors go through ups and downs and walk in the deep shadow of failure. I like to talk about it, unlike most who think it means you’re not successful. My failures taught me more than any success and made me wise. [...] There are lots of high priests, Aztecs, in this business, who profess to have the answers. When you realise they don’t, it’s a remarkable feeling.”**

It's basically "failing better", as Benedict Cumberbatch once told me. And I also have to remember one thing - Peter Capaldi said my art is fantastic. And that transported me to Comic Con. Thanks to these cats, among others, I will continue to become a better communicator. Written, verbal, visual. I just have to keep it simple. I'm still only a baby.

*The competition was aimed at UK residents

**Source: Who's Looking at Who? page 17, Radio Times 19-25 Sept 2015

Life in Toon Boom Motion

From the House of Lords to the House of Blues, I've been around the world - sort of - while slowly getting back into the swing of things. Storyboarding is underway as the script for Scampi Catches a Drift is reviewed. Removing one certain detail from the story only slightly changes the denouement. It doesn't always have to be the focal point.

I had applied to join Animate Projects' DRIVE programme. Quite a sought-after one as they received over 60 proposals; only five artists would be supported. I'm not one of them unfortunately. Generally the reasons were that animators working in conventional areas of their field weren't accepted, and some applicants didn't fully explain their contribution.

24th June

I was once again invited to the Rethinkyourmind prize presentation, the second since the project's inception. I met some new and familiar folks - some were winners of the national competition - while enjoying the catering's excellent snacks, overlooking the Thames. Prior to arriving in Westminster, I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see John Byrne's A Matter of Life & Death exhibition at the Fine Art Society. Everything that day was so perfectly timed (except rebooking the coach). I did not expect it to end on such a high note. Before heading home I stumbled upon and joined a crowd to watch a performance outside BBC Broadcasting House. Mika was a guest on The One Show, promoting his new album No Place in Heaven.

My sister was ecstatic.

27th June

It was Postgraduate Careers Day at Heritge House. Along with another freelancer I was requested to talk about the trials and successes of setting up a business. In front of a class. If I can hold a conversation with Smaug, this talk would be a breeze. Although it overran it was very well-received.

8-11th July

Doctor Who fan art lit up the House of Blues in San Diego. My watercolour was among the selection, after submitting it to BBC America's call for entries on Tumblr. I've been to enough conventions/festivals to get a sense of SDCC's immensity. But to think there was piece of me floating around... I was there in spirit, as we all got to see world exclusives.

Thanks to MJB Stallmeyer for capturing the slide (main image, bottom left). It's ironic - we met at the Caerphilly filming, on the day of the Comic Con announcement.

18th July

BFi hosted a preview of Lava and Inside Out. It is a such a beautiful, warm, funny and heartbreaking film. Haven't cried that much since The Imitation Game. It was followed by Q&A with the legendary Pete Docter, Jonas and Amy Poehler. GASP! I asked them:

Q: This film on a technical and emotional level, seems to be a culmination of all of [Pixar's] films. Congratulations! I've noticed that all or most of the films run parallel to an audience of a certain generation. […] Is the Braintrust this generation's Headquarters?* 

Pete: “[The Braintrust] are not working on our films, they're in a better position to see it, and give us opinions on what works and what doesn't […] it does end up being a very helpful thing because you get very close to things, as you're drawing or writing anything for any length of time you start getting so absorbed into small little details that nobody can really see or the wrong things... This process of showing it to people about every 3 months, though we hate it at the time because it all feels like 'WELL IT'S NOT DONE YET!' You're sort of forced to do it. But in the long run it ends up being a very good thing.”

Jonas: “Pixar is a place built for filmmakers so there's no real executives other than John Lasseter...he's the creative executive, he's a film director. So everybody comes to the table... my boss Jim Morris is a general manager as a filmmaker, so you get in that room and all you're basically doing is channeling a really smart audience of people that want to go to movies, and we never thought of these movies as anything other than movies. People often say, 'oh you know Animation's a great genre, you guys are great in that genre.' We've got to back up with that, we never thought of it as a genre. Western's a genre. Horror movie's a genre. Animation is a medium. And we've always approached it as a medium and we don't start from a point in trying to make films for kids. Although we do, we make films for families. We really make films for us, and I suppose we're like kids, but the truth is these are films we want to make. We never thought 'should this be simpler or more accessible for kids or what's in the market, should we'... we sort of four-wall ourselves up there, for better or worse, and we make what we want to make. It's not perfect there but it's a great support for creativity and I think we're all proud of the way the stuff comes out of that way.”

Amy: “It's like 'Women in Comedy'...'Animated Film'.

*I spun that query on the spot. To be clear, Ratatouille was released when I was a fresher at university. Toy Story 3 was released when I graduated. The respective films are about chasing your dreams and moving forward. Inside Out touches on looking at cherished memories differently, holding on to childhood innocence and coping with change.

20th July

My Dad flew a plane over Leicester 2500ft above ground at 100mph. It was one of his 60th birthday gifts. We all felt proud of life.

Finally...

Is there a full scale statue of this?

Also, how sweet does The Good Dinosaur look/feel? November's gonna be good!

Everything is Awesome

Every trip to London just gets more punctual, action-packed and madder than the last.

Firstly I felt immensely proud to have work screened along with a variety of inspiring videos embraced by an audience of talented filmmakers. Even had a brief encounter with Vivien Halas. The showcase was part of Animated Women UK. I've been designing their new logo.

A few doors near MPC is a chocolaterie that greets customers with the most incredible aroma. The tastes take you to faraway places. Likewise, Speedy's, on North Gower St, where I had lunch, make some magically delicious salad wraps.

The tour of Broadcasting House exceeded expectation with its informative and witty guides, the history, studios, the interactivity, and I was even complimented for my brief news reading. Afterwards I spotted Ashley Walters entering the One Show half of the House.

The Apple store was hosting a Dallas Buyers Club panel (all places were filled) featuring Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey. The view while cluttered with onlookers was all right, all right, all right.

The atmosphere around Oxford/Regent Street is fantastic. I knew I had to keep local so decided to look around Liberty where designer collections are like £200-£800. Got a sense of déjà vu as, yes, this is where I stumbled into Carnaby Street a while ago.

Another Ashley wearing glasses, this time Roberts, was at Vision Express. I said to the pap, "oh! I saw him earlier."

Professional Brief 2009

Goon animation tests

Figurative animation 1 from Lucy Crewe on Vimeo. Lip sync dialogue "no no no, I got this".

Clapping practice from Lucy Crewe on Vimeo.

Test: Karate Fool from Lucy Crewe on Vimeo.

Mistaken warrant lip sync from Lucy Crewe on Vimeo.

22/1/84: The Dawn of Macintosh

"Hey, we were watching that!"
That famous 1984 commercial aired during half-time at the Superbowl, the first of ‘major-event’ spots. The Orwellian/Blade Runner scenery was visualised by Ridley Scott, in which Big Brother is about to have it handed to him when an anonymous young female athlete hurls a sledgehammer at the big screen. Beats talking like robots.

For the first couple of days during Easter break we went to stay at Nana and Bampa's in Port Talbot, even though Emily had the flu. It was chilly down the Mumbles, but Mum got the shoes she wanted. In Cardiff, while Mum and Mick stayed in the warmth of the Millennium Centre in the company of the children's choir, I frolicked off for a bit like I usually do. We would have spent longer there if the weather was warmer and we took the train rather than the car.

I saw Horton Hears a Who! last Saturday. It's a wubbulous fantabulous adaptation of the book by the warrior poet Ted Geisel. Whilst accomplished to the Seuss material (no pun intended), Blue Sky's love for animation is evident in their films. This one has the most vigorous use of squash and stretch, deformers, particles (furs! feathers! holy freaking field of clovers Oh My!), expressions, and highly stylised shapes and colours in a CG toon. Both the jungle of Nool and Whosville are marvellous; the vocal talents were equally impressive, and the sound design for the musical climax was just wicked cool. The random 2D and anime kung fu spoof sequences, created by the aptly named House of Cool, were brief, but rather lovely. One of the animators has a blog.

Also looking forward to Ice Age 3 (dinos!), as well as Kung Fu Panda (which I hear will the best thing to come out of Dreamworks since Shrek 2) and WALL*E (again it's Pixar, so no-brainer), the kids at the screening were doing spot-on voice impressions.

Because of the Local Disk's increasingly low memory, I recently had to order a 500GB external harddrive.

Cultural Exchange

My sister went to the discussion about Women in the Music Industry, where she asked Jacqui Norton if there was anyone she didn't enjoy working with. The reply was no. We were intending to see Sue Townsend but that panel was full. On the one hand I learned a lot from Paul Wells, a professor at Loughborough Uni who has published books in the animation field and screenwriting and recently scripted on soaps and even Lost. Even without Curse of the Were-Rabbit producer Claire Jennings, who was not in attendance due to Stateside commitments, the lecture was an articulate insight into the creative process of writing cartoons. He showed clips from Bob Godfrey's DIY Cartoon Kit - which looked quite Pythonesque - and the Oscar-winning short Harvey Crumpet.

As for this year's Awards, I was both happy and a little baffled by some of the winners, at least for Daniel Day-Lewis representing the Brits; No Country for Old Men, well you know the Academy loves Westerns; #Falling Slowly beating the three Schwartz/Menken tunes was a bit of a surprise. I didn't think Kristin Chenoweth's performance was as bad as others thought, but they should REALLY have done something with Amy's set. And, VFX-wise, Transformers lost to The Golden Compass? Alright I guess. Glad that Ratatouille, Peter & the Wolf, the Art Direction for Sweeney Todd, and Dario Marianelli's Atonement score each got a gong!

Construction sites, council estates, traffic jams - these are things I know, not a tremor as sudden as that! I was in my room getting changed when what sounded then felt like a row rumble of a freight or an early trash lorry hitting speed bumps, only to be FREAKING OUT as it dragged on and the shelves were shaking. It was amazing. 5.2? Come on, the house could have split! Mum was woken up by it , whereas Emily was watching The Mighty Boosh on Dave.

The sebaceous cyst below Molly's left ear is festering, weeping, sore, mottled and stinks of carrion. Our neighbour Brian needs to take her to the vet to have it removed, SRSLY. I worry about her. Her meows have been waking me up these past few mornings.

Finally, check this guy out. He's got a wonderful style.