It’s happening again!!!! Our current 2nd year’s have just completed an extraordinary collection of great Short Films and the first out of the blocks to get her film into a festival is Altea Claveras with Sleepwalkers which will play at the Delete TV 2016 festival.
Just whilst we’re all in post-seasonal reflective mode, it’s worth a little glimpse of the fantastic life drawings that were produced by our Year 3 Animation BA students over the last few weeks aided by the excellent tuition of the blue be-jacketed Martin Morris aka MAMO.org.uk More to come of this as the 2nd years embark on some of this action…
We are really knocked out to hear that 3 of last years films have been shortlisted for the coveted Best Student Film Award at the 2016 British Animation Awards. Henry Dunbar’s graduation film Pollock and Katie Lenton’s Man Up will play along with Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou’s undergrad film Dateless. Get your voting gloves out people!
A lovely bit of news for Stew 'Super' Powers and his all conquering second year film Sky High as we hear that it has been selected to show at the 4th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival this December, adding yet another country to his growing list of succesful festival entries. We are seriously going to have to get more stills of this one...
And a massive congratulations to current 3rd year student Lissea Jordan seen here sporting a fab new metal and glass Oska Bright 2016 award for her 2nd year film Pulling The Strings. Start clearing the shelves, the gongs are coming in...
Yes! Sam Palmer’s meltingly wonky 2nd year film Flavour of the Month will be jetting it’s way to the Cans Short Film Festival this month and no doubt she’ll be rubbing shoulders with the glitterati if she can get overself to Luton Library Theatre where it all kicks off. Ices will be available in the foyer - hundreds and thousands will be there.
Get your usual spot on the sofa as Jess Lester’s Couch Potatoes will be right there at the inaugural Manchester Animation Festival this month. Jess’ beautifully observed 2nd year film describes the family dogs’ daily battle for the optimum position from which to watch Gogglebox.
This week we were treated to another absolutely wizard visit from Aardman's superstar stop-motion guru Merlin Crossingham. He gave the students yet more solid gold tips and invaluable insights into getting the most out of their work whether stop-motion, CG, drawn and beyond. While he talked he appeared to be messing about with a small ball of modelling clay which by the end of his presentation had transformed into what can only be described as the small orange legend that is….Morph. Magic.
Here's our poster for Moth Collective's visit last month. Just because.
We’re still buzzing after being treated to a fantastically animated lecture by the multi-talented Jim Le Fevre last week. Jim works across all kinds of animated media from exhibition installations, puzzles, title sequences and commercials to his magical signature phonotropes of all scales. Properly wondrous stuff.
We had a very welcome visit from the beautiful Moth Collective last week which has resulted in a marked increase in inspiration and exciting colour use amongst the students. Coincidentally a series of small holes have appeared in the course cardigan - not sure why that would be...
Have a look at BAFTA nominated Farnham Alumnus and RCA graduate Marcus Armitage chatting about precisely how to become an animator. Marcus’ film My Dad recently won the coveted New Talent Award at Bristol Encounters Festival.
So now Russia plays host to Stu Powers’ 33rd festival inclusion, this time it’s the Zero Plus Festival. Here he is pictured above last week at the Bfi Mini Filmmakers Club showing the kids the magic of markers.
Will Rowson’s film Broken Down will play at London Shows International Film Festival alongside Lissea Jordan's 2nd year film Pulling The Strings (pictured above) that enjoys it's first outing on the festival circuit.
Nice to hear that Broken Down and Celestial Sea both made by Will Rowson in his second year have been selected for Exposure Film Festival in Glasgow and Kinolit Film Festival.
We are very much digging the news that Sabby Surrey’s 2nd year film Dig is off to Eire and the lovely Dublin Animation Film Festival 2015.
Andrew Whittle’s 2nd year films Two Idiots In A Boat and A Lot of Heels (pictured above) have now reached 23 festivals and counting including Future Film Festival 2015, SE10 Film Festival 2015, Student Art Festival 2015, Deep Fried Film Festival 2015, San Antonio Laughs Comedy Film Slam 2015, San Antonio Indie Film Slam, Visionaria, Italy, Standon Calling Festival and beyond….
AND, it’s festival number 30 for Stew Powers and his balloonatic film Sky High - this time it’s in competition at the International Animation Film Festival - Gdansk 2015, Poland. It's still gathering numerous plaudits and festival showings all over the planet including Adelaide Kids Film Festival, Visionaria in Sienna Italy and has also been shortlisted for BKSTS Widescreen, Bradford.
Ellie Ekrem who is now diving into her 3rd year here at UCA Farnham has been busy over the summer assisting our friends at the National Film and Television School on the splendid animated trailer for LIAF 2015. You can see that right here.
Just a quick reminder that Dann Parry and Mitchell Crawford (above) have their box fresh graduation shorts pulled up nice and snug and shown to all grown-ups with tickets this weekend at the Dorking Film Festival. Are you adult enough for this?
We’re feeling alarming levels of excitement building as both of Will Rowson’s 2nd year films, Celestial Sea and Broken Down have been getting very busy on the festival circuit and gathering those nice little laurels all over them. We love laurels. And we love Will.
Well done to recent graduate Alec Sugden currently busy doing his MSc somewhere splendid in the land of Kent. His film Midnight Games is in the New Talent section of Oska Bright Film Festival.
Primanima World Festival of First Animations welcomes ‘Venitas’, Vicky Vaughan’s 2015 graduation film, to the burbs of Budapest this October. As the filmmaker, Vicky gets free digs and as much Gulyás as she can eat! Szeretjük Magyarországon!
After being included in this year’s London Film Festival it’s an official Britsh film fact - Stew Powers’ film Sky High is now listed on the British Council's British Films Online Directory! This alongside doing yet more workshops for the kids based around this very film. He’s a real filmmaker now!
Nice to hear that this Halloween Emily Whittingham’s 2nd year film Spooks will be making its way round the earth to Perth in the downunder of Oz, specifically to Perth’s Northbridge Piazza, an outdoor cinema and exhibition space.
And most excellent to learn that recent graduate Sarah Doyle has herself an internship with Kids Industries. Sarah will be contributing her invaluable porcine animation skills as they develop a new Peppa Pig app.
Great work by Pepe Gomez as his 2nd year film Knocked Down has been travelling and winning things already in various festivals around the world appearing at Kolkata Short International Film Festival on India, iChill Festival in Spain, Wildsound Festival in Toronto. He has also won Best Animation at Short of the Month Online festival.
So if you’re near Dorking in this craziest of Septembers why not pop along and see Dann Parry’s grad film Love and Papercuts at the Dorking Film Festival.
Be sure to take a napkin - it’s a bit of a tear jerker….
Stu Powers just found out that besides his film Sky High making its way to the NIM Festival Nottingham this October he will also entertain and enlighten a group of kids in a workshop presentation about that very film - and who’s paying him? Only the BFI!!! Well done Stu!
Some beautifully illustrated gifts have made it our shores from and by Farnham alumnus and friend of the course Nagisa Kinoshita in Japan. Tutors could clearly barely control the amount of beaming coming off the front, sides and top of their heads...
Noriko Ishibe update! She is very chuffed (and so are we) that her 2nd year 2 film Tea With A Straw has been selected for CutOut Fest's Official Selection-Student film section. Still no sign of cake with a hammer.
We’ve just had great news from recent graduates Callum Harwood and Katie Harris who have their film String Theory showing at its first festival! So get over to Arlington International Film Festival (AIFF) in Massachusetts, America in mid October.
Stu Powers’ powers have clearly increased to the point where he now has engineered an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta Film Festival in the US of Stateside all on the back of his Sky High short film - he will be travelling by balloon.
Good to hear that Anwen Edwards’ raw and provocative graduation film The F-Word has been selected for the 2015 Feminist and Queer International Film Festival taking place in Bucharest, Romania in November. Tell your gran.
More brilliant news for Yasmine Wilson as her excellent grad film Turkish Resistance has been selected for IN.S.A.N.E. Animation Film Festival, Malmö, Sweden, in September 2015 and the legendary KLIK! Animation Film Festival, Amsterdam, in October 2015.
As sunny September brings in the new term here’s some properly major good news! - our very own Kiki Kyriakou who graduated just last year has only gone and won the Beakus NewD 2015 competition to find the best, boldest and bravest animation graduates out there. They found her! The prize includes a paid internship with a view to becoming an ACTUAL BEAKUS DIRECTOR! YES WE’RE SHOUTING!! See her full frontal assault here. As it happens she’s sharing the prize with co-directing partner Remus Buznea who was also shortlisted.
Noriko Ishibe has completed her work with the lovely and splendid Moth Collective and her work can be seen in their Vimeo Staff Pick short film for the New York Times Modern Love column.
And while she’s working Noriko’s film Tea With A Straw continues to travel the world for her and has now ended up in sunny Greece at ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival + Agora in the Student Panorama.
Well done to Dann Parry, freshly ensconced at the RCA has his Farnham graduation film Love and Papercuts in the New Visions segment of the Puppet Place Festival.
Remus and Kiki’s now legendary Dateless film continues to do well and has been popping up in competition at Promofest’s Short of the Year along with appearances at Wallabout Film Festival and Deep Fried Film Festival.
Ever more joy for friendly neighbourhood tutor Andy Joule as his films continue to travel the festival circuit. His 2015 film Salvage was shortlisted in competition at the 3rd Srem International Festival of Documentary, Tourism & Ecology. Serbia and at XXI Cine Eco Environmental Film Festival, Portugal.
Ok so now we really have lost count of how many festivals Stu Powers’ Sky High short film has travelled to
but it really is over 20 now! - this time it’s the 22nd Edition of FICMA in Barcelona and even as I type he just WON A PRIZE which means his film will be shown on the opening night at Atlanta Film Festival!!
Oh go on then a bit more Stu Powers update since the last few minutes - Sky High will now be part of the Official Selection of the 59th London Film Festival!! Seems like a thing.
Our beloved and busy second year student Andrew Whittle(pictured abaove) is getting a good rep with Slurpy Studios where he is currently working, experiencing what he describes as work experience - 2 thumbs up were sent to us to indicate Slurpy's approval. Hopefully they were not his actual thumbs. We have been assured that the above picture is apparently not him after all so please recall the dogs.
Excellent news and congrats to recent graduate George Judd who has won himself a 6 month placement as Animation Trainee at Content Creatures in Surrey's pulsating Leatherhead on the back of a good range skills shown in his graduate work.
Wussywat the Clumsy Cat, the new kids series brought to us by the mighty Baby Cow Productions, now features Shelley Nichols on the credits! Shelley graduated in 2013 and has been working steadily in the engine room ever since.
Current second year Jose Gomez has had the knockout news that his film Knocked Down has been selected for the 4th Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival - and this is just round 1!
Joy of Reading by James Chapman also of our current 2nd year has won honourable mention in the micro film category at Top Shorts Online Film Festival 2015.
Just when you thought Detroit couldn’t get any more scary their Troma Dance Film Festival will be showing Spooks by 2nd year student Emily Whittingham and it’s not even Halloween! Also, The Straw Man, her second 2nd year film (2nd!) has been accepted into Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in San Diego!
Well done to 2nd year student Noriko Ishibe who has had her delightful first film Stolen Shoes(pictured) included in the British Animation Festival. Meanwhile she continues her exciting work at Moth Collective through the summer whilst her latest film Tea With A Straw has been included in the 9th Edition of the River Film Festival in Padova, Italy.
The 2015 Guildford Fringe Festival features the excellent recent graduation films Love and Papercuts by
Dann Parry and Beams by Mitchell Crawford(pictured above).
A big Tebrikler! to Yasemin Wilson for having her film Turkish Resistance selected for 3 festivals already since she graduated just now!! The Biennial Edition of CinéWomen, Doc Sunback Film Festival and IndiEarth Animation Festival will all be showing this little treasure of a film.
Stu Powers has been recently spotted introducing his 2nd year film Sky High at Animafest Zagreb! That’ll be him on the right of the picture enjoying his lanyard - keep an eye out for him at a festival near you…
The Big Art Show takes place this July at the West Mid Showground in Shrewsbury and features a great selection of work from our students. You can find more info about it here.
We’re very proud to hear that 2015 graduate Alec Sugden has his 2nd year short film Midnight Games included in the Oska Bright Film Festival, the 6th International Festival of short films and digital media by people with a learning disability.
Whilst poised to start his MA at the RCA, brand new graduate Dann Parry has found his film Love and Papercuts in the lineup on The Shortest Nights as part of the Short Sighted Cinema UK Summer Tour. The film has some innovative self-help tips for those struggling with an unbearable yearning for love.
Well done to Sam Palmer and Sabby Surrey who have had their 2nd year films Flavour of the Month (left) and Dig (bottom right) selected for the Biennial Edition of CinéWomen 2015 along with Anwen Edwards and her recent graduation film The F Word. Previous publications can be viewed here.
A big hooray is aimed at Emily Whittingham who’s 2nd year film The Straw Man has emerged from a haunting fog to now be selected for its first festival: Doc Sunback Film Festival in Kansas.
The year 2 students have made some really excellent work this year and you can view their 2015 Year 2 Showreel here.
Ellie Ekrem is off to Italy to see her 2nd year film Arms Of The Sea at River Festival in Padua, just round the corner from Venice. She could even consider nipping round another big corner to Ruma in Serbia where it also has been selected for the Mister Vorky festival of 1 minute films.
Congratulations to William Oh who has his 2nd year film about OCD included in the Bangalore Shorts Film Festival in India.
Both of Will Rowson's 2nd year films Broken Down and Celestial Sea (pictured) were included in the Comical Festival which was held at the FirstSite Gallery in Colchester in May 2015.
Glittering prizes everywhere were again in evidence at our annual prize-giving ceremony on private view night. 10 students were awarded the much-coveted, artisanal, gold-style trinkets and additional bubbles for their skills in a range of categories and now including the brand new ‘Good Egg’ award. You can get an overview of the 3rd year work on the 2015 Graduate Showeel.
Congratulations to our utterly lovely and talented graduates this year! The whole team wish them the very best of luck in their future endevours. Nice to see course leader Lesley Adams in a character defining sweatshirt (centre left) bought for her by those very splendid students.
So all that painting and gluing and printing and cleaning has resulted in a brilliant graduation show this year. Great examples of 2D and 3D work were shown along with splendid displays of the huge range of animation techniques used by our students.
She didn’t know until just now but 2nd year student Hannah Brown had her short film Squeak! included at the Athens ANIMFEST. This year the festival showed many films from UCA Farnham’s excellent 2nd year output.
He's missed a bit.
People get ready! Yes it’s paint and hammers and all things pointy and painty in the wonderful business we call ‘show’. The 3rd years here pictured can be seen wielding assorted DIY items to help bring the studio to life. Course Leader Lesley Adams prepares herself mentally.
So Sam Palmer’s sweet and melty Flavour of the Month has fittingly been awarded Best Experimental Short at SE10 Festival over in Greenwich. There’s probably a joke about foyers and intervals and ice creams but it’s late and the freezer is empty.
Great news for Emily Whittingham too! - her 2nd Year short film Squabblin’ Spooks got into ANIMAZE the Montreal International Animation Festival 2015.
Noriko Ishibe is almost as happy as we are to see her latest 2nd year film, Stolen Shoes (pictured) has been selected for the ANIMASIVO official selection in Mexico. Have a look around the festival here. Noriko’s film is in the 'UNIVERSITARIO INTERNACIONAL’ section. To cap a great month for her it looks like she’ll be busy with Moth Collective again this summer.
Not only has 2nd year student Andrew Whittle been getting his films into nigh on 20 festivals so far, he has also started to monetise the acheivement as he has now won the Filmmakers Choice Award and $200 prize at Toronto Student Film Festival.
Our Camelot by 2nd year team Ollie Pendle and Tom Willis has been chosen to be part of the official selection for Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation - starting with San Diego Comicon. Their film features the sonorous voice of David Cann in fine form. Quite a coup to catch Cann...
Will Rowson has both of his 2nd tear films Broken Down and Celestial Sea cued up ready to play on TV in the US as part of Novella Showcase. Will also has himself a summer job lined up at Animation Software developers IKinema along with fellow 2nd year student Atbin Ebrahimpour. Above we picture an image from a short ident he made a few months ago.
Sabby Surrey has recently heard the splendid news that her 2nd year film Dig will play at River Film Festival in the US along with several other of our students work.
Nice to see God Sent Bees... by 2014 graduate Simon Davies making it into the InHouse Festival in London this month. Save the Bees people!
2nd year student Stu Powers, as predicted and celebrated, has his film in yet another festival, now it’s the International Eurofilm Festival. Intercontinental!
Ellie Ekrem, currently poised on the cusp of 3rd year, admits to being 'very excited’ (with happy face emoticon) about getting her film Arms of the Sea (pictured) into the Student Art Festival, Orlando Florida. Will Rowson’s film Broken Down also got in there.
Nice to hear news from Matt Brookes one of our 2013 graduates who will be starting an MA in Digital Design at De Montford University.
Spanish dog bloggers seem to have taken a shine to 1st year student Megan Yaxley’s post of her group short film Harley and Isla. Have a look here at that. Woof!
Very proud to hear that our very own Dann Parry, currently finishing his Graduation film Love and Papercuts(pictured), has got himself a place on the world renowned MA Animation course at the RCA. Well done to Dann(not pictured above) and an exactly similar well done! goes to Jennifer Haugan who graduated from here in 2013 and will join Dann over there in Battersea.
Super good news for Holly Brookman and her delightfully refreshing 2nd year short film Tea which will show at the 9th Edition of the River Film Festival in Padova, Italy June 2015. Maybe it’s time to open a packet of digestives. Or Hobnobs(other all-butter, oaty tea-snacks are available).
And a big, scary, congratulations kind of noise is aimed squarely at Emily Whittingham who now has her 2nd year film Squabbling’ Spooks showing at Animaze - Montreal International Animation Festival 2015.
Stu Powers’ short film Sky High has featured heavily in our news section of late and things are set to continue this way as his film will now play at the excellent Animafest Zagreb 2015 - World Festival of Animated Film. He’ll be on his way to beautiful Croatia to gain experience of introducing his film to a live audience in the Films For Children Competition program. Good luck to Stu!
We like to catch up with Bexie Bush once of this parish who’s NFTS graduation film Make Do And Mend this week won prizes at 2 festivals, Paris ECU Festival and the Oscar-qualifying Aspen Shortsfest 2015. Splendid work.
So we’re back after an egg-shaped period of time, the sun is vaguely having a go and the blossom is littering the pavements with dangerous pink slime. Hooray! First up is a snap of of our super keen 2nd and 3rd years who have been out and about being nice to people at various animation studios and post production houses in London. Here they are playing nicely outside Soho’s famous Framestore. There are those who say there is too much coffee in Soho - Atbin (front.centre) in no way agrees.
Good to hear that Man Up by recent graduate Katie Lenton continues to travel the world as indeed does she at the moment. After her RTS nomination and excellent work with the NFTS she now has her film in one of the most famous animation festivals of all - Animafest Zagreb 2015.
Visiting lecturer and alumnus Jonathan Topf recently warned us that this might happen and it really did! He’s over there on the right with a fake hand and wearing DJ AND BOWTIE after receiving a BAFTA as part of the now legendary UsTwo team that brought the world the gorgeous and mesmerising mobile game Monument Valley.
Crazy splendid news from the lovely people at Athens Animfest 2015 who have selected no less than 16 films from amongst our current 2nd years, 3rd years and last year’s graduates. Well done and good luck as they’re all in competition in the Student Film category!
And whilst we’re talking competitions why not pop over to here http://www.viewster.com/movie/1293-19361-000/two-dancers/ where Jose Gomez’s short film Two Dancers is twerking it out at the Viewster Online Film Festival. It’s a voting thing so get your special thumb out!
Great to see that Remus and Kiki’s Dateless got 2nd place at Boomtown Film Festival in the Student category https://www.facebook.com/boomtownfestival . The film has been travelling about a lot and was recently seen at the Animex Awards along with several of our student’s films. Scroll down for more on this March news...
Our very own sessional lecturer and alumnus Rebecca Manley has published an excellent and illuminating article via Directors UK entitled ‘What Is An Animation Director?’ You can read it here http://www.directors.uk.com/about-us/news/what-animation-director
There's more Holland Animation Film Festival 2015 fun for 3 more of our 2nd years as Noriko Ishibe, Jwala Adhikari, Jose Gomez and Louie Batten(pictured) have their films featured amongst a shortlist of 50 in the HAFFtube selection online, the best of which gets to be a guest of the festival! You can see them here: https://www.youtube.com/user/HAFFTube.
There’s a daft amount of good news flying about at the moment mostly in the 2nd year world but now we have some superb extra special news that 2 graduates and 2 current third years have their films in the official selection at Holland Animation Film Festival 2015. Shelley Nichols' provocative Dirty Minds and Jazzy Ive’s mysterious Barometz will play alongside Mitchell Crawford’s and Naomi Cant’s 2nd year films Club Drunk and Karolina respectively. Prachtig!
Well done to Sabbryanne Surrey has her 2nd year short film Dig included in the Three Cities Festival in the US along with Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month.
It’s worth noting that Stu Powers’ short film Sky High has now got into a stratospheric 6 film festivals and most likely counting….ping! there goes my inbox again and yep, Stew’s film is now in the IAFF "Golden Kuker-Sofia” 2015 in Bulgaria. Keep watching the skies etc.....
And just because we’re so proud of them and also because we dressed up nicely here’s a few more RTS evening snaps - note Remus’ scary glass mask that he now insists upon wearing. Their award-winning film Dateless continues to thrive on the festival circuit and is now in competition at The 19th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival 2015 (SICAF2015)
Yes!! Back of the net! Remus and Kiki win the RTS award with their now seminal short film Dateless. The crowd loved it and the magnanimous nominees graciously agreed that it was the worthy winner. A splendid evening was had.
So off we went with Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou (young people) to the Royal Television Awards with fingers crossed and no selfie stick! Nominated for the Best Student Animation award with their film Dateless the air crackled with anticipation. Would they win it? Could they win it?
We are very excited to welcome the very splendid actor David Cann into one of our lovely sound booths for a voice over session with Ollie Pendle(left) and Tom Willis(other left), a directing duo from our current 2nd year. Ollie battled face-biting spiders to even get here whilst co-director Tom treated David to fresh tea in a bid to offset frightening tales of potential arachnid attacks in the Surrey area.
We are super delighted to hear that our very own Dan Parry currently working on his final film has got himself an interview at the RCA to study for an MA in Animation. Fingers are crossed and arms are folded nicely. The above still is from the rushes for his current project Love and Papercuts which features origami of an adult nature. Jennifer Haugan who graduated in 2013 also has herself an interview so good luck to them both!
Here is current 2nd year student Noriko Ishibe (in a scarf) pictured alongside Farnham alumnus Marcus Armitage at the BAFTA awards last month. Noriko was an assistant animator on Marcus’ BAFTA nominated film My Dad.
Whilst the Year 3 students are deep into production of their Final Films the 2nd year students continue to do outstandingly well with their Short Films. Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games has shown Stu Powers’ Sky High and Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month.
Noriko Ishibe (pictured) and Jose Gomez both have their 2nd year short films included in the Viewster Online Film Fest. That festival lives in space just about here https://filmfreeway.com/festival/VOFF
Screetest: The National Student Film Festival has accepted a fabulous collection of films from our 2nd Years including Another Drink Please by Jess Lester along with Sam Palmer’s Flavour of the Month, Alex Bass’ Butterflies (above) and Emily Whittingham’s Squabbling’ Spooks. http://www.screentestfest.org.uk/
Well done to Ellie Ekrem who has her 2nd year film journeying it’s way over to Padua in Italy very soon as part of the River Film Festival whilst Stu Powers has his film Sky High floating over to the 2015 Chester International Film Festival where it features in the Animation Showcase taking place in, of all places, Chester. http://www.festival.chesterfilmfans.co.uk/?page_id=227
We also hear tell of excellent recent graduate Shelley Nichols doing a talk as part of Animation Day, part of the 8th BFI Future Film Festival 2015.
Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou are fast developing legendary status here at Animation HQ and as if it’s not enough to be nominated for an RTS award, they now find themselves featured in the Farnham Herald! Papp them now whilst they’re still within touching distance…
Senior lecturer Andy Joule has won a prize at St.Andrew’s Green Film Festival in Scotland with his latest film Salvage. The film features in the online photography magazine Zone Zero along with another of his short films ‘ellipsis’. Go here to see http://zonezero.com/temporality/250-andy-joules-projects
We’ve just had the most amazing lecture from the very fabulous and generous legend of a man that is Pete Saunders of puppet master builders Mackinnon & Saunders. He brought in some of the most exquisite stop motion puppets from numerous legendary animated films and let us all play with them! See!
Our year 2 students this year have absolutely knocked it out of the park as they say with a third of the year group getting their splendid short films into various festivals around the world. Andrew Whittle (monkey with hat) actually managed to get his films into 9 festivals! And counting….
And here they are, those fabulous year 2 people who got their films into all those festivals - Jose Gomez, Alex Bass, Stew Powers, Andrew Whittle(no hat), Ellie Ekrem, Noriko Ishibe, Jess Lester, Sam Palmer and Emily Whittingham.
Well done to year 2 student Sam Palmer who will make her festival debut with a deliciously melty short film called Flavour of the Month. Her film is showing at Animex International 2015 in Feb, at the Three Cities Festival in the US and now hot off the internet NoworNever International Film Festival in sunny Gran Canaria, Spain.
Mitchell Crawford has his excellent 2nd year film Club Drunk featured as a 'Short of the Month’ at the eponymous website here http://www.shortofthemonth.com/film/club-drunk/ while it also features at AVIFF Art Film Festival in Cannes.
Farnham alumni Sharon Lui and Veselina Dashinova both contributed animation to a feature documentary screened on BBC4 last week called Kiss The Water - The Art of Fly Fishing.
News just in! Table Manners, the excellent puppet film directed by our own sessional lecturer and alumnus Rebecca Manley has been voted Video of the Day on the VOTD.tv website.
Scatterbrain by Chris MacFarlane continues to bounce about the festival circuit in new and interesting ways. And now he’s won a prize with a re-edited version at Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival 2015. Chris’ maverick work took a while to find an audience but his hilariously wonky vision now tantalises festival goers all over the Eurozone in places such as London, Barcelona, Kosovo and at least 3 festivals in Germany.
If you find yourself dreaming of summertime in Shrewsbury during these damp and snowy days why not make that dream an inch closer to reality by noting that a selection of our student’s films will feature at the Big Art Show in that very town. Summer is coming...
Ok, so now we’re getting absurdly excited as Dateless by Remus Buznea and Kiki Kyriakou and Man Up by Katie Lenton have both been nominated for the coveted Royal Television Society award. Get the frocks and suits out people!
Marcus Armitage who graduated in 2012 continues to do really well in his post Farnham career as he has now been nominated for a BAFTA award for his film My Dad.
Great to see that current third year students Shashi Kahlon and Callum Harwood have proved themselves to be very employable as they have been working together on a project with the producers of ITV’s This Morning. We hear it’s something to do with baking a CG cake whatever that might be...
We are very proud to learn that 3 short films produced right here at UCA Farnham have been bought for the nation by the BFI. Britain and Betty, both by Bexie Bush and Dinner Is Served by Shelley Nichols were made right here in the years we came to know affectionately as 2011 and 2014.
Our own Andy Joule is in the Farnham Herald again this time for all the right reasons as his film Four and Five scoops an award at the inaugural Without Words Film Festival in France.
Well Christmas is utterly concluded and we're all back at the coalface with tiny hammers and feeling feverish. However it seems like another Christmas has come early as the mighty Smith & Foulkes from Nexus Productions visit us this Friday 16th with tales of endeavour and fortitude on the fearsome and beguiling pack-ice that is animation. Wrap up warm!
A big and scary well done to current 2nd year student Emily Whittingham(pictured left) who has already started getting her work out there and has had her first short film, all about local spooks, accepted in KisaKes Short Film Festival, Istanbul. She also wins the now coveted bottle of 'Champagne de Stoke’ - you may know this popular celebration drink as just fizzy ‘pop’ but in some quarters it’s regarded as so much more...
Andrew Whittle of our current 2nd year has been busy again working for ITV on yet another project for This Morning whilst his short film is off travelling the world of animation festivals such as Montevideo in Uruguay and Festival International de Cine Pobre in Cuba and even getting on the last remaining TV in Michigan!
Stu Powers too has his short film included in the Spike and Mike Festival of Animation which tours the US in all weathers throughout this year that everyone is already calling 2015! Welcome!