Here’s a snippet of the animations I have been making at FiftyEight 3D in Frankfurt.
I hope you enjoy this little 45 second taster of ‘Marten’.
Oct
04
‘marten’
Jul
08
cowboys and aliens – jon favreau interviews
For the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens movie, it’s great to see a more natural interview style.
Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer
Harrison Ford
Jun
29
brando – rebel without a cause screentest – 1947
This was originally released on Sky News in the UK. The reporter said that it was a screentest for the 1955 Rebel Without a Cause movie… however this was incorrect.
The truth is, the lines Brando reads were from a partial script written in the late 40′s. Warner Brothers had attempted to create a film based on Dr. Robert M. Lindner’s study “Hypnoanalysis Of A Criminal Psychopath”, but a full script was never produced.
The film, as it later appeared, was the result of a totally new script written in the 1950s that had nothing to do with the Brando test. However, Brando was still offered the part, prior to James Dean, but declined for unknown reasons.
Lastly, the film retains almost nothing from Dr. Robert M. Lindner’s hypno-analysis, and simply retains the title.
Anyway, enough trivia. Here’s a 23 year old Brando showing us all how it’s done! Infact, this can be regarded as Brando’s first ever screen performance…
Jun
15
crysis 2 – animation reel
Here’s a compilation of some of my Crysis 2 animations. I can finally release these shots and I hope you like them!
Some are final ingame animations, and some are prototypes:
Jun
06
godfather screentest – samuel fuller & al pacino
I just caught this over at aicn. This is Samuel Fuller’s audition for the role of Hyman Roth in ‘The Godfather: Part II’. The role was later given to Lee Strasburg who ended up earning an Oscar nomination for his performance.
Zoetrope just released this, enjoy!
May
16
the invisible!
Rowan Atkinson shows that it only takes one character to carry a scene. The other character / props can all be suggested by the performance. Genius stuff!
The invisible drums
The invisible piano
The invisible tormentor
May
07
breaking the routine
I’ve been analysing a ton of Charlie Chaplin stuff for my new iAnimate assignment. There’s a beautiful example of ‘breaking the routine’ during the boxing sequence in ‘City Lights’.
Breaking the routine is where a routine or a pattern is established (something happens the same way, or a similar way, around 2 or 3 times). The routine is then ‘broken’ by having something unexpected happen on the 3rd or 4th beat.
This gives the rhythm more texture!
Notice how Chaplin reacts to the big punches:
1. knocks him left…
2. knocks him right…
3. he explodes in a flurry of punches!!
It keeps the audience hooked, I love it.
Here’s a scene from Zoolander. Will Ferrell throws in a 30 second routine breaker, and it’s probably one of the funniest moments in the movie!
And in animation we also see a lot of ‘breaking the routine’. Watch how Yzma pauses on the “a little to the left” line. This makes things so much more fun to watch, and keeps us guessing.
Apr
08
iAnimate student reel is now up!
Here’s the new iAnimate reel. I’m really impressed with the high quality of the animations, particularly the close-up work being done by the students in Workshop 3.
I can’t wait to begin… crumbs!
Mar
29
pixar’s ‘brave’ – first images
Pixar’s next movie installment will be called ‘Brave’ (previously titled The Bear and the Bow). This time around we get a female protagonist leading Pixar’s first ever fairy-tale. This could be great!
the latest concept-art from pixar
Plot:
Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor . An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.
Director(s):
Cast:
Kelly Macdonald as ‘Mérida’ (formerly Reese Witherspoon)
Julie Walters as ‘Wise Woman’
Billy Connolly as ‘King Fergus’
Emma Thompson as ‘Queen Elinor’
Kevin McKidd as ‘Lord MacGuffin’
Craig Ferguson as ‘Lord Macintosh’
Robbie Coltrane as ‘Lord Dingwall’
Previous work from the Directors:
Brenda Chapman’s ‘Prince of Egypt’
Mark Andrews’ / Andrew Jimenez’s ‘One Man Band’
Mar
08
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to my new site!
Here you’ll find my musings on animation, in particular the role of the animated medium in storytelling. Samples of my animation work / progress are available from the links above, and I have a tasty animator’s reference section that I’ll be adding to frequently.
Feedback is always welcome 
In news:
Crysis 2 has now wrapped, and I think we have an incredible looking game. Look out for the work of Owen, Catalin and Myself on the 1st-person weapon animations!
And in May, I’m very excited to be starting the iAnimate animation course. I can’t wait to start animating with the Victor Vinyals rigs!
About
Here you can find examples of my work, details of my progress as an animator and my animation reference / research libraries.
Welcome!
