The Good Doctor

Worlds collide...

UPDATE: fresh from a viewing of the latest episode. Holy Capaldi. I recently had the chance to remind him of his transcendent speech in The Zygon Inversion. We high fived. After Heaven Sent I'm showering him with the equivalent of a knighthood. As well as among Steven Moffat's best episodes, credit also goes to Stuart Biddlecombe, Rachel Talalay, Michael Pickwoad, MFX et al for giving us so much glorious, frightening imagery, whether it was underwater, in the corridors, atop the castle, or the Veil creeping in negative space. Every layer of the Doctor is shredded in this nightmare palace within 55 tear/sweat/squirm/chill-inducing minutes. Simply jaw-dropping.

***

A month after the Cineworld screening, receiving the last of the summer's sun in Cardiff two days back-to-back was therapeutic, and magical especially as Russell T Davies was down the Bay producing a new version A Midsummer Night's Dream. Eight years since our last meeting, here we were, fangirling about Peter, authorising the coinage 'Twelfies', discussing the viability of certain formats – animation would require higher budget/insurance, and a live episode would look like video – and the upcoming Doctor Who Festival at ExCeL. The following day, I succeeded(???) at staging an impressionable method of networking...

Imagine me on this bridge, handing the writer my business card

That was followed by a walk to the studio entrance when we reminisced our first exposure to Who, the 'Shoot for the Moon' story, and TV scheduling issues. Seriously, Series 9 is exceptional, ballsy television, but for youngsters and over-worked mothers it's on TOO DAMN LATE.

I'm still awkward at communication, but the conversation flowed seamlessly from one subject to the next and gave me a bit of perspective on proposals and setting budgets.

On the eve of the Festival, I found my hotel after a lovely afternoon with Lindsay (AWUK) and a failed attempt at getting into a recording of The Graham Norton Show near Waterloo. Not even the Prime Minister of India could get priority tickets to see such an incredible lineup of guests. I mean, Peter Capaldi sharing the couch with Tom Hanks, David Walliams and Duran Duran? Prior to that, Johnny Depp AND Benedict Cumberbatch. What a time to be alive.

The BBC Children in Need benefit concert (with Rob Brydon and Tom Jones) gave me a pang of homesickness. But I knew the Festival would in a way bring me back to Wales. I would be reunited with friends and make new ones to celebrate a show that's carrying us through tough sheep.

Opposite the hotel was a roundabout – Frobisher Road

Here we go again. This is where I queued for Benedict last April

The weekend was reported to be much busier than Friday, which was a relief. Three sets, exhibits, two talk stages and the Shopping Village which took up most of the space. Main panels took place in a separate theatre hall.

My first cosplay; Christel Dee praised the idea – Clara cosplaying as Classic Twelve – as highly original

Defending TARDIS from a Dalek; finally saw Real SFX show as I missed it at Sherlocked

There was a selection of props/costumes from recent episodes including the red velvet coat and guitar. I even bumped into Bernadette chatting to costume design legend Ray Colman, who liked my Mission Dalek. The Millennium FX exhibit (and the panel) was a treasure trove of creativity. After the monster-filled panel I ended up in Level 0 and stumbled upon the 50th Anniversary couch; up ahead was Mark Gatiss talking about Robin Hood movies with a dude. At Production Village I asked Michael Pickwoad about becoming a storyboard artist; he explained pretty much what I had done last month.

Talking of small worlds...

As he greeted me Peter looked surprised to see me again. “Lucy! It's so good to see you again! I like your coat!” I told him about my cosplay; he said Jenna was due to appear over the weekend, which made me feel deeply sad.

The motivation behind my cosplay was that Clara is making/made herself more Doctor-y. All it consists of are my normal clothes and hairstyle.

Before the photoshoots, the co-creators of Sherlock discussed how the idea of 'Immortal Woman' was pitched with Catherine Treganna. The video below is a tiny portion of the Cast panel. Michelle Gomez and Ingrid Oliver summed up how they cope with the pressure of delivering great performances, while Peter demystified the gap between the Twelfth Doctor's regeneration and his first adventure:

After another fantastic, brilliant, cool, good, and uplifting day in the world of Who, I was brought down by the godawful news of the attacks in Paris. Mum and Dad were more than relieved I was safe home.

The Doctor's anti-war speech in The Zygon Inversion couldn't be more relevant.

I returned to London a week later, to attend another Disney/Pixar advance screening/panel at BFI.

The Good Dinosaur is one of those films that not only pleases the dino-loving child in me, but, like Series 9, also has some deeply affecting moments. I related to Arlo overcoming his fears as he journeyed through the wilderness, figuring out his role in society. Full of inventiveness, tenderness and (digital) scenery porn, it's like a Miyazaki film.

Director Peter Sohn explained how The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out and all the movies express stories in which challenges are thrown at the characters:

“Story-making at Pixar is a very therapeutic one. The process of it is digging into every pore of what it is to experience being human on this planet, from birth to childhood to death to being a parent. And so these ideas, this film in particular, we really try to create haiku moments, poetry in the film that do echo certain things for sure but at Pixar there really is behind every film the same crew of people that have been working there for 25 years. What's so interesting about that place is that you can feel the storytellers in each one of those films and it really depends on what that storyteller is doing – they're amazing film-lovers and amazing parents and amazing people and artists there that put their hearts into the work. And so, life is injected in there...”

Pixar goodies from the BFI advance screening

Lindsay recommended me Dude, Where's My Career? a book aimed at lonely graduates facing the uphill battle of pinning down a job.

For a while between Oct-Nov I was consumed by anxiety, doubt and the belief that I was unemployable. The fact that death creeps closer towards two members of my family made it worse/making it worse.

But as GBBO 2015 winner Nadiya says,

“I'm never gonna put boundaries on myself ever again. I'm never gonna say I can't do it. I'm never gonna say 'maybe'. I'm never gonna say 'I don't think I can'. I can and I will.”

I'm no good as a salesperson in business. I aspire to be like the aforementioned storytellers.

In the face of overwhelming odds I'm left with only one option: I'm going have to art the shit out of this!

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!

Something beautiful, something wonderful: an Appreciation of Doctor Who

An impression of a scene shot at my Nana's local seafront. When life is tough, this reminds me that sometimes, life's a beach.

At time of writing it had been four weeks since the fan event in London. Never have I felt more closer to this show, one that my parents watched when they were kids. My mother's side of the family are from Glamorgan, where the production has been based for a decade.

Dr Who and the Daleks and the 1996 pilot were the first time I was ever aware of the concept. I remembered the wobbly sets, the grandfatherly figure and his family, the time machine and the cone-shaped vacuum cleaners.

Nine years later, the Revival fulfilled its promise, chiefly with the writing, the performances, echoes of the past and fresh new ideas. I'd keep up with the spin-offs and Classics. We started visiting Cardiff more often. The pickups in Coventry would be the closest that Doctor Who had ever come to the Midlands.

A show like Doctor Who inspires creativity. For instance weird mash-up videos like Lords of Happy Time was the antidote to the tearful Series 4 finale. The end of Russell and David's tenures, among other things, led to the creation of Everybody's Music.

Some speculative designs (April 2009) of Matt Smith sporting a spotty bow tie before his costume was revealed

Late 2013 reached a crescendo in the global celebration of the 50th anniversary. With the announcement of Peter Capaldi (how are they going to explain Pompeii and Children of Earth?), the specials and the profoundly moving An Adventure in Space and Time, it was a good year for fans.

Some of us were lucky to step into Eleven's TARDIS set at Roath Lock Studios. It gave me a sense that I was billions of miles away from home, yet I still felt at home.

Doctor Who has as much to do with escapism as it does with heritage. A few times a year we head to South Wales for short breaks to spend time with Nana because she's awesome. Since graduating university to become a freelance artist, I journey there more often to see what's occurin' in Swansea and Cardiff. Cultural activities, networking opportunities, Verdi's etc. Some of the locals would have inside knowledge on current shooting blocks.

There's also Aberavon Beach. Just a 10 minute walk from Nana's house, everything you could possibly want on vacation is there. Eye Myles and I both agree that Franco's make the best fish and chips in Port Talbot.

Summer arrived early in May of 2014, but back in England I was painstakingly animating a walk cycle demo reel. All work and no play...

Mum broke the news, from Nana's cleaner, that there had been filming at our favourite beach b'there. Of all places to see some lights-camera-action, though we never counted on it. Soon, things kind of hit a wall.

More crushing though was news of the fire that struck the Glasgow School of Art.

Capaldi, known for his fondness of it had studied there, graduating from Graphic Design. It was like he had lost something dear to him whilst in another country working, too. He addressed a beautiful message to the students who had lost their work. The thoughts of them and the message spurred me to help put the pieces back together.

The intention was to present to him a watercolour landscape of the beach scene. Through an online auction, fans would submit bids for the signed artwork, with all proceeds going to the Mackintosh Appeal/GSA Development Trust, towards its £20 million funding target. A la the stasis cube in DOTD, it would be called, "Lost in Sands of Time…No More".

Aware of his busy schedule an immediate response to fan mail was not guaranteed. What was guaranteed was a public appearance during the UK leg of the just-announced World Tour. I held my breath for the longest time during the morning tickets went on sale. Imagine the relief when I managed to purchase a stall ticket. L row. Twelfth row.

Cardiff, 7th August: I arrived early to join a small crowd in the Hayes that grew. Exciting as it was, I knew I had to decide on a selfie OR quick-fire scribbles on the artwork. It was possible the latter would resurface in September when we would return to Wales for another vacation. Production would soon begin on the Christmas Special.

Out of nowhere a Cyberman appeared. A second one reached out and started choking me. Then the Malcolm Tuckin' Doctor came to the rescue. It took him 20 minutes or so but Who cares.

He's a-comin'!

"Did you get it?"

on BBC News

In St David's Hall we got our first taste of this badass new Time Lord and the direction this series was heading in.

I was the first audience member to be picked for the Q and A. I spoke to Jenna Coleman (again, after an encounter in London two weeks before) Steven Moffat, and Peter, asking him if his Doctor often reflects on his past. His response:

“Anyone who has lived his life, he's always going to be haunted and challenged. But he gets on with things.”

The panel was full of great, internet-breaking moments, like the birthday singalong and the reaction to a WhoLock crossover. Afterwards we hung around with Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink). Overall it was lovely to share such an experience with fans in a city not so far from Nana's. According to her it's normal to sing/dance around Cardiff high-fiving random shoppers. Because as she says, "smile, and the world smiles with you."

The themes of Series 8 resonated with me, besides…

Godzilla-sized Dinosaur! (when I had just begun work on a Jurassic World project)

Oo-de-lally! Oo-de-lally!

CalArts reference!!!

Santa Frost!

Whilst other UK TV viewers were throwing tomatoes at X-Factor, we were drawn into stories that were scary, poignant, bonkers, ballsy, fluffy, and raised some broader issues. Listen and Flatline are firm favourites, along with some of the most beautiful imagery and character moments. I'm hoping we see how far Clara's relationship with endearingly grumpy Twelve goes.

Prior to and during its 12-week run, I was trying to achieve balance in self-employment and family life, not unlike Clara's. At times the show spoke directly to its audience:

"Fear can make you stronger"

"Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose"

"Be less scared, be more trusting"

Back in Leicester the watercolour painting was on display in Silver Arcade, part of the Knighton Lane Artists exhibition. Sadly I was unable to collect it in time for the next Wales vacation.

The scenes in Kill the Moon prompted me to paint two more impressions.

Mid-Autumn was a stream of personal failures and financial stress. Confused and burdened I became increasingly fearful of the future. There is nothing I hate more than letting down the family.

Fortunately, my friends at Seed Creativity were preparing a live social media project, aiming to spread the word about the UK Young Artists Festival around Leicester. Based at the Seed Creative Hub, it was a great way to make new friends and improve my marketing skills. Since then I was doing what I could to stay afloat, speaking to the right people etc.

The story of an autistic boy coping with his grandmother's passing thanks to a kind message sent by his hero lifted everyone's spirits.

Shortly after that, a lady who I had met in Cardiff was among a random selection of folks who won a pair of tickets to the Series 8 DVD launch held in Soho. She was offering a spare invitation, which I accepted without hesitation.

This stroke of luck happened to fall on the same fateful evening as the break-in at Seed Creative Hub. Laptops, iMacs, hard drives, training equipment etc were stolen. But it wasn't going to stop Dan, Jon, Richie or anyone from progressing.

I read all the messages of support from their followers, when it hit me. Things were about to come full circle. It made sense to give something back to the community and to those who helped kickstart my career.

17th November: The hellish Monday morning turned into an afternoon of pure magic. Elizabeth and myself - fully equipped with the watercolours - and a hundred other attendees were treated to a first look at Earth Conquest - a heartwarming documentary about the fandom. One thing I love about these events is meeting other fans and artists. They make it all possible.

It was followed by a panel where Steven and the cast including Frank Skinner, Michelle Gomez and Samuel shared insights, amusing anecdotes and world exclusives.

What made it extra special was the perfectly-timed clip from Kill the Moon.

It was a real Cinema Paradiso moment. I stretched out my hand: that's… our… beach b'there! No way could I pass up that opportunity to display the painting for the panel to see. Clara Oswald approved.

After the final applause, somebody called “we love you!” Everybody laughed and blushed, as Frank joked that I was his “ex-wife”.

So that concluded the panel. No meet-and-greet was happening in this room, we thought as we packed our bags. I turned 90 degrees… to find the Doctor materialising in front of me.

Holy Capaldi.

We shook hands many times, and I told him the show helped me through tough times which he was glad to hear. Our reunion was like that sequence in Spirited Away. “I knew you were good!”

Half dazed/skittish I told him the two paintings that weren't signed to Lucy were charity donations. He spoke his approval briefly as he was tending to other folks.

I hope I wasn't taking up anyone's space too much. If so, apologies for that. Peter caught me by surprise, graceful as he was. Despite the muddled interaction we all expressed our affection and thanks. And a cwtch! It certainly wasn't the first time I hugged a Time Lord.

We had even more success in the bar. I managed to get Steven's signature, telling him Series 8 was amazing and how excited I was for more Sherlock. Also, the Master is kind of adorable.

Funds raised for this signed artwork will go towards Seed Creativity's training programmes for young people. UPDATE: the Seed Hub is all covered and paid for, without my aid. Therefore I'm holding on to this item for now. On the other hand...

Funds raised for this one aided the Mackintosh Appeal, to help restore the Library and School of Art.

Now we can move on to eBay or other charity fundraising platforms… um, anyone know how to work this thing?

Helping the Doctor - that would be good. Doctor Who inspires us to do good.

Respectively, BBC Wales and Worldwide did an outstanding job on the show and marketing campaign. With the Revival's 10th Anniversary, 2015 promises more unexpected magic moments, like making children's wishes a reality. At the premiere it was kind of like the finale of E.T. for a small boy named Elliot.

Another example was forgetting we were in a theatre deep under the Ham Yard Hotel. The Doctor transported us to that moment on the sand dunes, watching a new moon forming in the clear blue sky above the sea. No matter how far-flung into the future it was meant to be, it felt like home again.

Not for sale.

Degree show

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.