ANOTHER YouTube Feature + Cue for Music Composer

WTFs, LOLs and ROFLs are being banded around like nobody's business as the trailer for All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) gets featured on YouTube. That makes two features in two weeks! If you can't see it being featured, that because it's featured 'Globally' and not in Britain... You'll have to ask YouTube how that one works.

The trailer does feature the opening score to Forest Gump. That was done as a last minute choice as things had got stuck with my sound designer at the time and the music does actually suit quite nicely. So, he next thing will be to get a lovely sound designer onboard and get all that sorted out.

Spotted by Aaron Simpson

Found out that Aaron Simpson of 'Cold Hard Flash' fame has spotted us a couple of times on his new site 'Line Boil', which is nice. It's also nice to see that Aaron has set up the new site to cover the world of animation outside of Flash. With the rise the YouTube generation, Flash animation's web presence is in direct competition with every other form of video. So it's good to see him moving with the times whilst still providing an excellent site that nurishes Flash animators' knowledge and skills.

Featured on YouTube!

Wowzers!, Zoiks! and indeed Blimey! 'DON'T TOUCH' got featured on YouTube!
Considering I can't stand watching the bugger any more I'm quite proud. I suppose it's appropriate to show you it again... as if it'll look any different featured. *edit - Thought I'd give you the new HD version to oggle at.

All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat) Trailer

Here's the lastest glimpse of the upcoming film, All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat). Should be a good'un when it's done.

Ian's 4Talent Gigbeth blog

Ian's blog from the 4Talent stage at Birmingham's Gigbeth festival is up on the 4Talent magazine site now.

Find out what he thought of the eclectic mix of acts, why light-sensitive robots are the future and how a two-chord song can knock your block off.

Ian's photos from Hot Monocles' performance at Gigbeth on Friday are up on Flickr now.



For some other blogs on Gigbeth (and a lovely plug for my effort) see Digbeth is Good and have a mooch for other Digbeth-related goodies while you're there.

Websites-a-go-go

Been a bit webby lately.

Firstly, following up from the Birmingham Filmmakers meet up, we took things a bit further. So now we have Film Forum West Midlands! Subcribe via emails or RSS and get any of the latest on news, opportunities, collaborations and chances to meet your fellow filmmakers.

Next, St Patrick's Festival is finally back online in the form of stpatricksbirmingham.com. We'll be looking to get a dedicated volunteer blogger for it soon, and get some much needed updates on there.

Louis also was commissioned to design sexypennys.com, which is now being built.

Portfolio Review at Flip

A veritable tirade of news lately. On Friday 4-5.30pm, 6 graduate animators, including myself, will be having our showreels ripped to shit by a panel of experts at The light House, Wolverhampton. It'll be like standing on stage with my balls hanging out for inspection. In the best possible way, of course.

The panelists include: 

• Dan Calvert, a senior animator at Blitz Games. 
• Mick Foley, from Sumo Dojo Productions. Member of PACT National Council for Animation and a council member on the Skillset Animation Forum
• Roger McIntosh, an animation director with credits including, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', 'Peter Rabbit & Friends', 'Kipper' and 'Angelina Ballerina'.

Things that I'll try to get to:

Thurs 6th

7-9pm: Opening party at Millenium Point,

Fri 7th

4-5.30pm Portfolio Review Session (obviously),

6–7.30pm Sita Sings the Blues,

Sat 8th 

11.15-12.30pm National Film & TV School Screening,

6.45 – 8.30pm: Student Competition (4 film's from my old college),

8.30pm Closing Party.

Louis & America

Just started on a string of commissions for Las Vegas/L.A. based horror filmmaker William Rot. Very nice guy who's working on the feature 'Helter Skelter'. 

Definitely exercising my dark side at the moment. I should start watching fluffy cartoons and doing charity work to keep myself clean, but I'll probably just watch porn and cry whilst cutting myself instead.

Birmingham Filmmakers

We went to the Birmingham Filmmakers Meet Up and it was very productive.

Organised by FilmDash winner, Rill Marchant, there's finally a time and place for people wanting to get involved in film to chat to each other!

The Meet Ups are a great way for anyone interested in all aspects of film making to come along and meet people who can help them realise their plans. Great films rely on the combination of people's different talents and until now there hasn't been a platform for those people to mingle comfortably in one place.

The Facebook Group has 50+ members at the moment, so comparitively the turn out was shockingly low. However the meetup still served more than it's purpose. Hannah(?) from Team MMUG came along, who, being a lawyer-come-aspiring-filmmaker showed the sort diversity that B'ham Filmmakers combined. And, whilst, Rill explained that she wanted to provide technical services, we're predominately ideas people. We could have started film right there and then! Instead, we got down to how we could make this thing grow.

A proper blog is obviously the first step, concentrating on exposing opportunities and bringing people together from different disciplines of filmmaking. From then we'd need some set goals and ask the appropriae people for their support. Animation Forum West Midlands has hit the nail on the head, and it would be great to eventually have a network that's as effective, possibly even working with them - they've broken a lot of ground already after all.

So here's to a sociable, co-operative, heathly filmmaking comunity. Join the Facebook Group!

Beetroot Boy 2 - Louis gets dirty

Beetroot Boy 2 is written & directed by 'topher Holland, with an 'interesting' cameo by me drinking Scotch.







Apparently, the policeman next to the flipchart was in Lost & 3rd Rock From The Sun. We're talking about that sort of calibre people!

Click here to watch the film.