animation archive

Animated Journal S02E01

| Paul Greer

After some interesting conversations with friends and some on-line encouragement I’ve decided to start the Animated Journal again.

As always it was always about turning the process of animation into an accessible and ephemeral thing rather than the extremely lengthy and complicated process of tradition, and to really try to show how something felt in a particular moment.

These are from elements captured in Leigh Woods a few weeks ago.

Since I completed the first one we’ve had the progression of things like Vine and Instagram video which mean many more people have been playing and being very creative with the very short form. You can find the original Journal here.

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The Somme In Seven Poems

Aside | | Paul Greer

InParenthesisC

Due to circumstances documented elsewhere on this website it had escaped my notice that the short film The Somme In Seven Poems had become available on Vimeo.

These animations were produced by BDH to illustrate and accompany the poetry featured in the BBC’s 90 minute documentary War of Words: Soldier Poets of the Somme, which aired last November on BBC2.

This compilation was put together as a teaser for the full length documentary  and released on the iPlayer the weekend of Rememberance Day.

Making these animations was a very humbling privilege, and a hefty responsibility, and we hope they are a fitting tribute to the people who saw and experienced things thankfully most of us only have to imagine.

A great big thanks to Hugh Cowling and Libby Redden who contributed so much to the finished work.

Embedded below is a trailer for the short.

The Somme In Seven Poems can be viewed directly on Vimeo.

 

“How many rainbows can light create for the untutored eye?” – Vine and Me

| Paul Greer

Yes, so I got a bit excited when they released Vine for Android. It suddenly seemed the whole inventing smart phone thing suddenly had an actual purpose for me. I could make animated journal type entries actually on the go, without having to record everything and go back to base to put it together.

A real stroke of genius for me is that you can’t upload previously made movies, you have to go live, so creating animation becomes a superpower of being able to tap the screen with sufficient deftness you only trigger one frame and then some people go to the next level with using external lenses and tripods and things.

Unfortunately my phone is at the menders (dodgy power socket on those Samsung Galaxy Mini’s apparently), but the only thing I am really missing is the Vining.

I began by deleting a lot of early attempts but then came to the conclusion it’s best just to put it all out there, because often there’s a quality that comes out of the Vine you were not expecting, and the imperfection of it is the best thing.

Most of these have sound, and it’s usually relevant.

These next three are taken at various stages of making my way home after the pub.

(The title of this post is a quote from the mighty mighty Stan Brakhage)

10 Reasons Why Animators Should Make GIFs

| Paul Greer
1. They’re quick to do. 
Animation is traditionally a lifetime torturefest of pain, self-doubt and confusion. You can make a nice GIF from just a few frames and that’s the end of it.

2. They catch the eye.
There’s nothing like a moving image in a sea of search results to make people look twice. (We’re living in an attention economy, people).

3. You can provide a nice teaser to your Vimeo page.
Like worms for fish.

4. No-one will ask you to explain the sub-text.
Which is especially good if it is not in your best interest to tell people what exactly that is.

5. People rarely click and watch a video on Tumblr.
With a GIF, TOO LATE!! They already watched it.

6. It’s down with the kids.
Kids love GIFs, GIFs love kids.

7. You can do self portraits and no-one has to look at your ugly face.
I’ve been participating in the Guest Directed Self Portrait project initiated by Molly Peck. I think I am only recognisable in 1 of my 7 submissions so far made.

8. You can try stuff out and get quick feedback.
Nothing says something works by a tsunami of reblogs.

9. You learn the virtue of brevity.
There’s nothing worse than a time waster.

10. You can recycle old work.
Remember that crappy piece of work you did years ago that you’re too ashamed to show anyone? GIF the good bit, bin the rest.

How we made the sound for “Toad”

Aside | | Paul Greer

I haven’t been well the last few days, mostly sleeping and dreaming.

One day I was remembering an old friend of ours, who still is very dear to us, but to whom we haven’t spoken for a long time.

Around the time we hung out, I was trying to make a film about a Toad that sat underneath a giant tap to keep itself alive.  I needed a soundtrack, so I stealthily rigged up the old Juno and programmed it up with a crazy organ noise. S’ was out at the previously mentioned friends house and came back in a rather chilled mood. Unprompted, she sat at the keyboard and straight out played this, I had the 4-track ready to go and caught it.

Many years later I finished the film, and here it is.

I watched it a few days ago and realised that behind the toad thing it’s a concealed love letter from us, to our dear friend.

This post is for her.

Animated Journal (Long Version)

Video | | Paul Greer

I’ve been keeping an Animated Journal over the last year.

I’ve always liked the picture a day format, video diaries etc, and animation is, traditionally a long drawn out, painful process, this is me trying to free it up and make it a bit more ephemeral.

Stan Brakhage said that he considered what he did to be his home movies and these follow a similar vein.

I generally capture whats going on around me and funnel it into 250 frames.

Art doesn’t have to be a career objective, or a total obsession, or something you make money from, or even something that other people will like.  It can be just something you make for yourself, in the cracks of your life, and if you put it up somewhere and other people connect with it, then that’s cool.

It’s made using a variety of software & techniques including Maya, flip book drawings, After Effects, old cameras, roll film, digital photography and so on.

Journal Whisper

Journal Light

Journal Rose

Animated Journal on Vimeo by Paul Greer

Still From Animated Journal No.4

Animomento No 3 270709

Still From Animomento No.1 030709

Still from Animated Journal

 

British Style Genius

Video | | Paul Greer

Recently at BDH, myself and the very clever and splendid Orla Handley made the titles for the up coming BBC series “British Style Genius“. The first episode of which goes out 21:00hrs, 7th October on BBC TWO (that’s in the UK only as far as I know).

Handley did the designing, editing, crazy-bonkers stop frame animation etc. I made CGI threads, worked out how to fit them with the stop frame, some compositing, a bit of camera holding, frowning, pointing, and occasional fetching stuff.

After the initial building of the sequence Handley went on to produce five separate colorways, to match the style of each episode of the series, which all deal with different sections of British fashion history.

This means everyone must watch all five episodes to fully appreciate the total awesomeness of this title sequence.

Update 1: BSG Featured in Broadcast
Update 2: On Cartoon Brew (Thanks Amid)
Update 3: YouTube Link
Update 4: British Style Genius wins the RTS