Lately - Shaun and kitting

I have been working as an assistant animator on Shaun the Sheep series 2 at Aardman's on and off since last summer and it has been great! The show is now all wrapped up (at least the animation bit) and is rolling over the screens. It is a fantastic’s show. It's the biggest production I have worked on so far and it was super to see how all the departments were so creative and together they make hilarious show.

I have also learned to knit this year. Here’s my first creation, an ipod glove. I made it so I can listen to audio books while I run. I haven’t tested it in action yet as it hasn’t got a sting and I haven’t got my ipod.

My next knitting project will be a sock, possibly two.

The Book Thief

My new favourite book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I just finished listening to it and I am feeling very emotional. The story is about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany. It brilliantly paints a picture of humanities bright and darker sides and it is told through the eyes of death himself. I don't want to give too much away, but I defiantly recommend it to anyone who can read (or listen).

Burn the flag

I am upset because the Norwegian newspapers have reprinted the character of Mohamed by Kurt Westergaard. The drawing itself is a horrible and wrong depiction of the prophet Mohamed and the first time Jyllands-Posten printed the drawing it lead to demonstrations, burning of flags, death threats and attempts which is not good. If there was a point to the drawing and it would create a healthy debate I would be all for it, however it not. The fact that we keep printing it in the paper is respect less and proves we think we are superior. I agree with the whole free speech and the press shouldn’t be governed by threats and all that. However I thought Norwegians had better manners than to disrespect a religion just because... well I’m not why it’s so important to print it. I think the world would be a better place is everyone abides by the cinnamon law which is what I thought all Norwegians did. (A translation of the law You should not hurt others, you should always be good, but above and beyond that you can do as you please.) I very disappointed in my country and hope they show more respect for the rest of the world in the future. I almost want to burn my own flag at the moment.

FunONE - the peppercakehouse

Success. First week-end after I said I'd make something fun and I did. It's not terribly original, but is totally tinsel! A pepper-cake-house!! (The reson its a peppercake and not gingerbread is that the world is wrong and Norwegians are right!)

Mel and I made it for a party where we destroyed it.

Make Something Cool Every...

I came a cross an brilliant website today. It's called Make Something Cool Every Day. I like that idea and wish I had time. I might try to make something fun every week-end.

Golden advice - scan from a book!

I made myself a new reel. Check it out!

Showreel 2009 from Vibeke Cleaverley on Vimeo.

A part from that. I have been really enjoying myself at festivals, Fredrikstad last week and Encounters this week. Plus working a lot and do my animation mentor work. It's good to have lots to do!

Arthur Cox reel

I worked at Arthur Cox here in Bristol last summer. Here is they're spectacular new reel. Look out for my shot at 2minutes 14seconds :) It’s Craig by the washing machine.

Hands

I have so many controls on the character now. Only one upgrade left (in two weeks) and I'll have my hands on the most sophisticated AM rig. I am working on the body in my dialog shot at the moment, as well as individual hand poses to make us more familiar with the hand controls. Can you tell which emotion or mood they capture?

Stop-motion tests

I've uploaded the tests I did at Aardman earlier this year. I did three weeks work-experience on Shaun the Sheep (series 2), modeling mouth shapes, helping animators on set with capturing or animation rain in the background among other things. It was a really great experience! They also let me animate with their puppets. Some of the test where shot on top-secret sets I can't upload, but these ones I shot in the corridor. It doesn't sound ideal, but the animators walk in the corridors and they were more than happy to stop to take a look. They gave me loads of super helpful tips.

Animation conversation

Sara Barbas gave me a great tip of an other fantastic animation podcast! It's called Animation Conversation and I am very please it is run by fellow Norwegians. They discuss the Norwegian industry and history, but it's more about general animation. Work flow processes, films they like, animation topics and their experiences. They've recorded casual conversations between animators, plus have interviews with the big players. I have only listed to the first episode which is great because that means I have lots to look forward to! Everyone should check it out!

AM406 -acting!

I have been acting these week. Shooting video refrence for my upcoming shot at AM. My mentor will choose one of these and I really hope she picks the one I want her too. Which one do you think would be most fun to animate?

Neil Young Photography

I've just finished helping my friend Neil Young make an online photography portofolio. I think it looks pretty nice. He took the wonderful picture of me and Richard Williams at the encounters festival last year. Check out his work at neilyoung-photography.com

I have planned, video referenced, thumbed and blocked out my next assignment. Here is the blocking pass. This week I'll be splineing and working in more of the details.

What?!! This is conneted to the pervious shot. Are you guys hanging on the end of your sits to find out what happens in part 3? hehe

AM304 - Javelin

I just finished polishing my Javelin assignment. I have worked a lot with rotations of the body and overlap throughout the process as that is area I feel I can improve. Here's the result


I'll probably have to make quite a few changes after receiving feedback from my mentor. In the mean time I have started to plan my next shot by recording video reference and thumbnailing. The theme I am working with is the Olympics’ and my next sport is weight-lifting.