TOUCANHEAD ANIMATION

Ravensbourne College - October 2011

2011-10-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

Returned to Ravensbourne College on the Greenwich Peninsula for my 4th year as a Sessional Lecturer for the Animation BA course. As before I was there to hear and comment on final year student film pitches (from a Story / Script point of view), to help pick the films that would be made, and to workshop the teams over the next coming months.

The films to be made are:

1: THE Y FACTOR - X Factor spoof animated to real Monty Python recording.

2: SPELLBOUND - Two rival magicians battle for supremacy.

3: THE SMOKING ELEPHANT - An elephant tries to hide his smoking habit in a non-smoking jungle.

4: MOTION COMIC - A robot detective hunts a criminal over and through the panels and pages of a comic book.

5: THE CAT AND THE RAT - The story of how the rat became the first sign of the Chinese zodiac.

6: CHRIS FRY - Ravensbourne Graduation title sequence and stings.

7: OWEN JACKSON - 10 second idents for each letter of the alphabet.

8: FOOLS GOLD - A gold prospector pays for his impatience by loosing what he most wanted to find.

9: MINOTAUR - Greek myth where the Minotaur is distracted and tamed by a ball of wool.

10: THE OBESSIONIST - Biography of a Father and his obsessive personality.

11: SYNESTHESIA (?) - Documentary about the condition where people can 'see' music as colours etc.

12: SCISSORS - Dark fairy tale about a mother's warning to her son about sucking his thumb.

13: MAN AND FLY - A man learns to live with his recurring Giant Fly nightmare.

14: MAN VS HIS DEVIL HAIR - A vain man's daily battle with his wild and uncontrollable hair.

Edinburgh College of Art - Oct 2011

2011-10-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

In Sept I contacted Jared Taylor, the new course leader of the Animation BA at Edinburgh College of Art, and was invited up to the college (over 2 days) to hear final year student film pitches, and to deliver my 'Story' Lecture.
I flew from Bristol in the early hours and returned later the same day. They were two 'very long' days, but well worth the trip. As I had the pleasure of working with a very interesting group of Animation students, and hearing their short film ideas.

The 12 films being made are:

1: Roza Brozek

'John Smitty' - A tale about a spitting boy and his vengeful shadow.

2: Katie Charter

'Hannah and the Moon' - A little girl who tries to find the missing moon (with animated text).

3: Anna Ginsburg

'Bombay Bicycle Club' music video based on short story by Italo Calvino. And a Guardian documentary about depression.

4: Ainslie Henderson

'Tom Moody' (The Twa Tams) - A musician and his child-like alter-ego overcome stage-fright.

5: Ellie Howson

'Fairy Tale' - About a girl / young woman who ignores her Father's warning about entering an Enchanted Forest.

6: Yuan Kai

An IPad app for autistic kids, A promo video, and three 2D short films about the end of the world.

7: Alexander Kelly

Animated 'Creature Comforts' style Vox Pop - The subject matter and theme still to be decided.

8: Claire Lamond

'All That Glisters' Short story by Anne Donovan - About a young girl who finds her own way to celebrate her Father's life.

9: Rebecca Manson

Ambient intelligent environment - An Art Instillation - About art being affected by the presence of a viewer, even after the viewer has left the room.

10: Vitalij Sicinava

'The Tea Party' - A depressed Russian Stork tries to impress his fiancee.

11: Abigail Welch

'The Banana Sessions' music video - A ship full of Musical Bananas foil a Pirate's plan for their gold.

12: George Wheeler

'The Dyslexia Machine' - A mad scientist experiments on a students mind to find a cure for Dyslexia.

Clive Juster & Associates and 'Mr Benn' - Sept 2011

2011-10-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

During the summer I re-contacted and visited Clive Juster in Axminster, Devon.

I worked for Clive (then the co-owner of King Rollo Films - based in Honiton, Devon) for 12 years, and was involved in the production of many 2D pre-school animation series.

We discussed the possibility of working together again - maybe with a project involving David Mckee's 'Mr Benn', 'King Rollo' or one of the other properties Clive represents.

More on this soon.

Toucanhead Digital Comics & Pixillion Digital - Summer 2011

2011-10-19T03:30:00.000-07:00

During the summer I've been developing the idea of a new area for me and Toucanhead - that of Digital Comics.

This avenue would give me much greater control over the whole creation and distribution of a project, the possibility of reaching a wider audience, and hopefully a means of generating some direct income from around the world.

I've been talking to Remco Merbis of Pixillion Digital - a Bristol based Digital Production Agency - about collaborating on such a venture, and developing a joint project.

Hereford College of Arts - STORY Lecture + 'Human vs Bird' short film brief - March 1st 2011

2011-03-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Returned to the small, but perfectly formed Media Centre of Hereford College of Arts on the 1st March 2011 - to deliver my 'STORY / Scriptwriting' lecture to 24 Illustration BA students - and to set them the 'Human vs Bird' short film brief.

The day went very well - I met a great bunch of students - and hopefully like last year, some interesting and original films will come out of it.

Received this email in response: "Thanks David - it was a real pleasure to have you with us yesterday and thanks for your inspiring work." - Neil Hadfield, Course Co-ordinator, Illustration BA (Hons).

I'm returning to HCA on the 8th and 29th March, to see how the ideas / films are coming along - so more on this soon.

Ravensbourne College - Workshop - 14th Feb 2011

2011-03-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

Returned to Ravensbourne for another workshop session with the Animation BA students - to see how their films are coming along, and to offer my help from a script / story point of view.

Below are links to 4 of the film blogs:

'GONE - Film Blog

'UNHATCHED' - Film Blog

'HERO 1.0' - Film Blog

'THE DEEP' - Film Blog

I hope to get the rest of the blog addresses on my next visit on the 21st March.

'Human vs Bird' - University of Gloucestershire - Feb 10th 2011

2011-03-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

The last day of the 'Human vs Bird' brief involved the 40 Graphic Design students introducing and showing the mirco bird films (10 seconds) they had made over the course of the module.

Yet again the standard of the finished films (idea, design and execution) was very high - with a couple of really impressive results. Showing the students what the previous 2 years had done with the brief, that and access to 'After Effects' training sessions, clearly had a big impact on what was produced.

The day was rounded off with a 'Oscar Style' Awards Ceremony and Popcorn!

Received this email in response: "Thank you very much once again for all your help with the module. Fantastic contribution and much appreciated by the students as well as by me..! - It’s brilliant to see so much really good work being created." - Adam Stinson, Senior Lecturer, Graphic Design BA (Hons)

Aardman Feature Development - 'Pitch Festival' - 8th Feb 2011

2011-03-03T03:29:00.000-08:00

Following the 'Story Sessions' in December, and as a former member of staff, I was given the fantastic opportunity of taking part in Feature Development's February 2011 'Pitch Festival' and allowed to pitch a feature film idea to the department.

About 30 people (current and former staff) took up the challenge. And over the course of about 3 weeks, we each in turn delivered a 20 minute verbal pitch to Alicia Gold (Head of Feature Development), Paul Kewley (Feature Development Producer), and one of Aardman's Creative Directors (in my case Richard Goleszowski).

I would of course love to say more about this, but for obvious reasons I can't at the moment.

More on this soon.

Aardman Feature Development - 'STORY Sessions' - Dec 6th to 10th 2010

2010-12-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

I recently spent a week at Aardman's Gas Ferry Road headquarters, attending a 5 day (1 hour sessions) 'STORY' and Pitching Course delivered by Adam Tobin of Stanford University.

Always learning (the vast and complex subject area that is STORY), always looking for new writing / scriptwriting tools, new methods of delivery and the teaching of others - this was a fantastic opportunity for me to see how Adam structured and delivered the sessions, and also to pick up some more scriptwriting ideas and concepts, and gain some useful insight into the art of pitching a feature film. And the talented and very entertaining Adam Tobin didn't disappoint for one second - it was a shame for all when the final session came to an end.

A couple of things Adam talked about particularly stood out for me:

With regard to the 6 key moments of a script (whether short, 30 mins or feature length) Adam added one that I hadn't heard of before: The 3rd Act Twist.

1. Act 1 - Inciting Incident
2. Act 1 - Climax
3. Act 2 - Mid Act Climax
4. Act 2 - Climax
5. Act 3 - Twist
6. Act 3 - Climax
7. Resolution

A great example of this being: When Eve has re-built Wall-E back on Earth, she reboots him only to discover that he has lost his memory, and doesn't know who she is.

It's a final twist in the story, that occurs right before the Act 3 Climax - when Eve kisses Wall-E, his memory returns and they final hold hands.

Moving on from this Adam talked about: Eight Sequence Structure.

This idea was developed by Adam's screenwriting tutor at USC Frank Daniel. Simply put, this is the idea of breaking a feature script into 8 - 10 to 15min sequences, all containing a compressed 3 Act Structure (a beginning, middle and end) - with each sequence's resolution creating the situation that sets up the next sequence. More on this can be found by hunting around Wikipedia.

Then there was the use and structural importance of the Main Relationship Character. Someone close to the Protagonist, who the Protagonist cares about, and who helps the audience understand the Protagonist.

Examples of this character being: The Sundance Kid (Redford), Red in Shawshank, Marty's Father in Back to the Future, Gondorff (Newman) in The Sting.

Lastly about Pitching an Idea, Adam left us with this simple idea:

Try to pitch an idea (being clear, evocative and brief) that the listener will be able to re-pitch to their own boss - and so on up the chain of command.

Ravensbourne College - Student Film Pitches - 13th Dec 2010

2010-12-15T03:21:00.000-08:00

Spent the day listening to, and commenting on the 13 animated short films to be made over the next few months at Ravensbourne College. Each idea was pitched to Mike and me by it's Director (using slides, artwork, animation tests and animatics) with each member of the production team then explaining their role and contribution to the project. As always it was fun and entertaining day.

The 13 films to be made are:

'The Deep' - An underwater adventure about a boys quest to photograph a rare sea creature.
'Patience' - A Film Noir about a Hit-man's dilemma regarding his next target.
'Smitten' - A comic fairy tale about an over-confident Knight and a quietly sleeping Princess.
'Chance Meeting' - About a woman's grief - and her saviour after a mysterious encounter.
'Summer's Treehouse' - A horror story about a girl and her trickster teddy bear.
'Ravens' - A CGI cockney Raven tells us about the real Ravens of the Tower of London.
'Heroes 1.0' - A timid boy is transformed by his discovery that he has Super Hero powers.
'Snatched' - A Man, a Marmot and an Eagle fight over the Man's last piece of food.
'Wombed Man king of Gods' - An experimental piece of 'antiplot' animation.
'Last Day of the Dayfly' - The short life of a Mayfly telling the myth of Narcissus and Echo.
'Leap of Faith' - An aging Librarian is saved from falling by the magical ink she uses everyday.
'Knock Out Nuts' - A comedy about a vending machine with its own self defense mechanism.
'Unhatched' - A comic tale about a baby bird who can't break out of its egg shell.

Each film will eventually have a Production blog which I will add links to.

There are some potentially great films in the list above - and I think the success and professionalism of last years films 'Polished Off' and 'Splay' (see below), have clearly had the desired effect of inspiring and raising the game of this years set of films - we shall see.

Aardman Feature Development - 'STORY Sessions' - Dec 2010

2010-12-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Invited by Aardman Feature Development to attend a 5 day 'STORY' course. Each hour long lecture to be given by Adam Tobin.

"Adam Tobin is a lecturer in Stanford University's Film and Media Studies Program, and teaches Screenwriting, Script Analysis, Adaptation & Visual Writing. He has taught Television Writing, Screenwriting, Pitching and Improvisational Speaking for Stanford’s School of Continuing Studies. He worked as a story analyst for Jim Henson Pictures and ran pitch seminars at Blue Sky Studios. A 1993 graduate of Stanford, Adam received an MFA in screenwriting from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and has written for many US networks."

More about this soon.

Ravensbourne College - Story / Scriptwriting Lecture and Script Workshop - Nov 2010

2010-12-02T13:24:00.000-08:00

Back to Ravensbourne College (in their shiny new building next to the O2 in Greenwich) to deliver a 'Story / Scriptwriting for Animation' lecture to Mike Smith's Animation BA students. And also to meet the 13 animation teams, and workshop the scripts that have been green-lit for production over the next 7 months. I'll be returning on the 13th Dec and again in the New Year to see how the films are coming along.

This year I used 'Wall-E' as a model for my lecture and looked at the film via Fairy Tale Structure, The 10 Story Types, 3 Act Structure and The Scene - Beats and Turning Points. I also looked at character creation and development, characterisation and true character, plot vs character, and the search for theme and that perfect ending.

More on this soon.

Hereford College of Art - Feb / March 2011

2010-12-02T06:58:00.000-08:00

Asked by Animation BA course leader Neil Hadfield to return to Hereford in the New Year and deliver Story / Scriptwriting lectures and set film-making briefs to Illustration BA students. And who knows, maybe a few fledgling animators will emerge from the group?

More soon.

'Human vs Bird' and 'Unconditional Love' - University of Gloucestershire - Nov 10 to Feb 11

2010-12-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

Returned for my third year as a visiting lecturer at Pittville Studios - delivering Story / Scriptwriting lectures and setting short film-making briefs for 1st and 2nd year Graphic Design BA students.

'Clifton Village' update - Big Squid - Nov 2010

2010-12-02T05:27:00.000-08:00

Post Animated Encounters, I've been discussing the idea of taking up some available desk space at Big Squids new offices at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. The aim being to speed up the Script / Bible development process of the 'Clifton Village' pre-school series.

Clifton Village characters © Big Squid 2010

Pre-School Series idea - Reflective Films - November 2010

2010-12-02T05:08:00.000-08:00

Had a recent meeting with Steve Whittle (a former colleague from A Productions, Bristol) from Reflective Films - about the possibility of collaborating on a couple of ideas - one of which being a 2D animated Pre-School series Steve has been working on in the last year.

More soon.

Animated Encounters - November 2010 - 'Preparing for Market'

2010-12-02T03:30:00.000-08:00

Attended the Animated Encounters event below with Richard Higgs and Debbie Smith of Big Squid - with a view to taking the 'Clifton Village' project to the next level. It was a well attended and very informative event - the two hours flew by.

Clifton Village characters © Big Squid 2010

"Presented by Children's Media Conference and supported by UKTI, this is a two-hour crash course in preparing an animation project for market. Successful case-studies and analysis from commissioners and distributors will provide a best-practice guide to key issues, including productive creative development, working with writers, contracts and IP protection, building deals and how to approach Annecy, Cartoon Forum, and other international markets."

Ravensbourne Films: 'Polished Off' and 'Splay' selected for Animated Encounters - Nov 2010

2010-12-02T03:01:00.000-08:00

Had great pleasure in seeing 2 of the Ravensbourne films screened at the Arnolfini (Bristol) as part of this years Animated Encounters.

'Splay' - by Phil Brooks

(Phil is still working on the film, so the clip below is a scene lifted from the middle of the story)

See the film.

'Polished Off' - by Dan Edgley

See the film.

BBC 'South West Voices' & BBC Writers Academy - April 2010

2010-05-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

Applied for two BBC writing schemes via BBC Writersroom.

'South West Voices' in conjunction with South West Screen is looking for new drama ideas (single drama, series or serial) from the South West.

The BBC Drama Production Writers Academy 2010 is a yearly search for new writers for continuing drama on the BBC.

More soon.

Climax Studios - Portsmouth - April 2010

2010-05-19T04:17:00.000-07:00

'Narrative Designer' - Having submitted writing samples and then successfully getting though to the next application stage, Climax Studios in Portsmouth (the UK Games Company behind the award winning: 'Silent Hill - Shattered Memories') asked me to write a test scene for an action / adventure fantasy scenario they supplied.

More details soon.

Bristol University - 'Lifelong Learning' - April 2010

2010-04-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Asked by Cathy Poole of Bristol University's 'Lifelong Learning' Short Course Department, to give a lecture to 'Literature and Creative Writing' students about Animation and Scriptwriting for Animation. And then later to tutor those students particularly interested in this this area.

More soon.

'Human vs. Bird' - Hereford College of Art - March 2010

2010-04-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

Had a very successful 2 day visit to Hereford College of Art on the 4th and 18th of March. A mixture of BA Animation and BA Illustration students were set the task of creating a 10 second animated (cut out) film to tell a story about a Human vs. a Bird. The students were put into small teams of Animators and Illustrators - and this pairing produced some very interesting and highly original results - dare I say, some of the best I've seen with this particular task!

Animated Exeter - Feb 14th 2010

2010-02-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

Update: Giving an Animation Scriptwriting Masterclass on the 14th Feb (10am - 1:30pm) at the Phoenix Media Centre, as part of the Animated Exeter animation festival.

I will be talking to 8 local writers / film-makers, about their projects, how to develop their characters and stories, and how to present their ideas to funding bodies and production companies.

'Lily and Bill's Clifton Village' - Trailer Script February 2010

2010-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Now working on the third draft of the 'Clifton Village' Trailer script with Richard Higgs and Debbie Smith of Big Squid Ltd in Bristol.

More details soon.

Clifton Village characters © Big Squid 2010

Hereford College of Arts - 4th & 18th March 2010

2010-02-03T04:50:00.000-08:00

After visiting Neil Hadfield (Animation BA course leader) at Hereford College of Arts, I've been asked to give a Story / Scriptwriting lecture, and set a short animation brief to Animation and Illustration students on the 4th and 18th of March 2010.

More details soon.

University of Gloucestershire - Dec 09 to Feb 2010

2010-02-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Returned to Pittville Studios to repeat 2 short film making modules to first year ('Man vs Bird') and second year ('Unconditional Love') Graphic Design BA students.

The standard of ideas and execution of both modules this time round was very high - clearly this years students benefited from seeing the work of the previous year.

More soon.

Ravensbourne Short Films - February 2010

2010-02-03T03:28:00.000-08:00

Below are the list of short films currently in production at Ravensbourne College - plus links to their respective production blogs:

'Polished Off' - by Daniel Edgley

'Splayed' - by Philip Brooks

'Pirates of the Produce Isle' - by Lewis Taylor

'Red River' - by Nathan Wright

'Wack'd' - by Sam Saunders and Dan Shufflebottem

'The Gnomes' - by Sarah Verral

'Dummy' by JB Webb-Benjamin

'My Dad and the Kinks' by Louis Neubert - Update

2010-01-21T15:06:00.000-08:00

An exhibition of artwork from the film will be on display at the Phoenix Media Centre during the Animated Exeter Festival in February 2010.

Sketches, layout designs, screenshots and other media will show the development process behind this year’s Phoenix Media /Animated Exeter Animation Bursary, ‘My Dad and The Kinks’.

The film is to be premiered at Animated Exeter’s ‘Screen Out Loud’, Saturday 13 February.

'The Hairy Hands' by Ashley Thorpe - Update

2010-01-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

The film was premiered on the 28th November 2009 at the 'Two Short Nights' film festival in Exeter, UK. More information can be found at: www.carrionfilms.co.uk

New Felix Massie website

2010-01-18T06:42:00.000-08:00

Felix Massie has a new website: www.balancedthere.com - and there you can see a clip of 'Francis Cooper' and see how the film has been doing at various festivals around the world.

Script Development Lectures - Ravensbourne College - Sept to Nov 2009

2009-10-08T02:14:00.000-07:00

Returned to Ravensbourne College to help final year Animation BA students develop the worlds, characters and stories for the seven short films chosen to be produced by May 2010.

Delivered the first of three 90 minute 'Story' lectures - covering character development, scene design, turning points, themes and controlling ideas, and the hunt for that perfect ending.

The 7 films to be made are:

'Polished Off' - by Daniel Edgley

'Splayed' - by Philip Brooks

'Pirates of the Produce Isle' - by Lewis Taylor

'Red Rock' - by Nathan Wright

'Wack'd' - by Sam Saunders and Dan Shufflebottem

'The Gnomes' - by Sarah Verral

'Dummy' by JB Webb-Benjamin

'Change For Life' Commercials for Aardman - Sept 09

2009-10-08T02:07:00.000-07:00

Swapping my hat, returned to Aardman Animations to help produce 2D effects for their 'Change For Life' commercials.

Script Development Workshop - Animated Exeter 2010

2009-10-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

Contacted by Susannah Shaw of Animated Exeter to deliver an animation Script Development Workshop during next years (February) Animated Exeter Festival.

More details on this soon.

'My Dad and the Kinks' by Louis Neubert - Sept 09

2009-10-08T01:51:00.000-07:00

Asked by Susannah Shaw of Animated Exeter and The Phoenix Media Centre to script edit 'My Dad and the Kinks' - a short animation script by Exeter based animator and Bournemouth graduate Louis Neubert.

'Clifton Village' - Big Squid, Bristol - July 2009

2009-06-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

Contacted by Richard Higgs of Big Squid in Bristol to work on the pre-production (treatments, scripts, bible etc...) of 'CLIFTON VILLAGE' - a Pre-School, 52 x 10 min Stop-Frame / CGI series.

More details soon.

'How to be...' - 2BU Productions - June 2009

2009-06-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Asked by Elspeth Penny, Director at 2BU Productions Ltd in Devon, to read and assess the early scripts and series outline of an internet live action drama series 'How to be...' - with a view to possible involvement as Script Editor.

More soon.

Also looking at animation series ideas by The Flying Workshop (based in York), also with a view to possible future involvement.

New Toucanhead Logo - May 2009

2009-05-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the new Toucanhead logo - inspired by the work of Charles Harper.

'The Hairy Hands' by Ashley Thorpe - April 2009

2009-04-28T13:31:00.000-07:00

Contacted by Sarah-Jane Meredith at South West Screen to provide script development for a 'Digital Shorts 09' animated film being produced through the Phoenix Media Centre in Exeter.

More soon.

Update: The script has now been approved and signed off by South West Screen. Will update again with news of the films production / completion.

30th June 09.

'Not Waving' by Mike Stuart - February 2009

2009-02-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

Contacted by animation director Mike Stuart (director of award winning pre-school series 'Kipper') to read and feedback on his script treatment, 'Not Waving'.

More details soon.

'Air' by Steve Turnbull - February 2009

2009-02-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

Contacted by Steve to read and provide notes and feedback on his 30 min children's script.

UPDATE: Steve's 'Monsters' script (see below) short-listed for Red Planet Competition.

More details on both soon.

'Unconditional Love' - Theme-based short film module - University of Gloucestershire - January 09

2009-02-01T14:22:00.000-08:00

I'm currently involved with a 7 week short film making module, with 2nd year Graphic Design BA students. The brief is to produce a 20 second film (utilising one or a variety of possible techniques) that uses the juxtaposition of images to illustrate the theme of 'unconditional love'.

More details soon.

'Parent Cast' (Dept for Children, Family and Schools) - Wonky Films - January 2009

2009-02-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas, Vicky Brophy from Wonky Films contacted me to help develop treatments and scripts for 2 animated information films (2-3 mins) for the DCFS.

More details soon.

Story / Scriptwriting Lecture & 'Man Vs. Bird' Animatic Module - University of Gloucestershire - November 2008

2009-02-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

During a 5 week period I co-ran (with my wife Sylvi - a former Aardman storyboarder) a story / animatic module with first year BA graphic design students. The module was introduced with a story / scriptwriting lecture - and the brief for the module involved the students producing a 15 second cut-out animated film, telling a recognisable story based on the title 'Man Vs. Bird'.

More details soon.

'Angel and Florence' - Whirlwind Media - Oct 08

2008-10-31T05:51:00.000-07:00

Started working (ongoing) with Paul Galloway and Richard Watson from Whirlwind Media in Bristol, on writing the pilot script(s) and series bible for a unique pre-school 2D/3D animated series called 'Angel and Florence'. I can't talk too much about the project at this stage, but it was recently (29th Oct 08) pitched to a well known Animation Production Company ("who seem genuinely impressed with the quality of the pitch" - Paul), and we are now waiting to hear what their final decision will be. Fingers crossed.

I first met Paul when he pitched his 'Bottom Knocker Street' children's live-action /animation series idea to Jackie Cockle and me last year at Aardman. He contacted me back in July about helping out with BKS and with 'Angel and Florence' - and BKS was recently submitted to the BBC in their latest call for new children's shows, with me attached as Scriptwriter. So fingers crossed again.

'The Surprise Demise of Francis Cooper's Mother' - A short film by Felix Massie - Oct 08

2008-10-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

On the 17th October, Sarah Jex (Development Producer at Aardman Animations) contacted me to let me know that a short animated film (for Digital Shorts 07/08) that I'd script edited earlier in the year, was finally ready to see.

At the end of 2007 and start of 2008, I spent quite a bit of time working with Felix Massie on the script for his 2D/3D animated short, 'Francis Cooper' - after it was chosen for funding and production by South West Screen and Aardman Animations.

It's a dark little tale about fate and death, and about finally accepting responsibility for your actions - and the final film (which Sarah kindly sent me a link to) perfectly matched the ambition of the original script and Felix's unshifting dedication to it.

I found out a few days later from Felix that the film will get its World Premiere at the Encounters Short Film Festival in Bristol on the 21st Nov 2008 - and with a bit of luck I will be in the audience to see it.

Animation Scriptwriting Lecture - Ravensbourne College - Oct 08

2008-10-31T04:44:00.000-07:00

Back in July, Phil Parker (a very influential Script Development Consultant I had the pleasure of working with while at Aardman Animations) suggested I contact the Skillset accredited Animation Courses to offer my services as a visiting scriptwriting lecturer. Among others, I contacted Mike Smith at Ravensbourne College and he offered me a day at the college with his FDA / BA Animation students.

So on Friday the 17th October I spent the morning with Mike's final year BA students, going individually through each of the 14 short animated films (a mixture of CGI and 2D films - and tones ranging from the very serious, to comedies, and the poetic) they are going to make over the next year, and giving feedback on the ideas and advice on where they could go next. It was a fun and very rewarding experience for me, and there were some very interesting ideas in a final year group that will I'm sure prove to be very strong.

Later in the day, I gave a 2 hour scriptwriting lecture (plus an introduction to me and my career in animation so far - and of course my time at Aardman) to all three years of the Animation FDA / BA - and with the aid of a few clips and short films, touched upon the tricky area of the opening pages/minutes of a script/film, and the delicate balancing act between the needs of Exposition vs. Story.

Hopefully I didn't put too many cats in with the pigeons, with my thoughts and suggestions on the 14 projects, and hopefully I will return to Ravensbourne in the future.

iPod / iPhone Games - Julian Rex - Oct 08

2008-10-31T04:16:00.000-07:00

Having had many lengthy discussions with Julian Rex (also see below) about games, narrative within games, the cross-over between films and games, storytelling with games, and the impact of the iPod / iPhone on all of this, Julian recently contacted a iPod / iPhone games developer in San Francisco, ngmoco:) after discovering they are looking for third-party developers (anywhere in the world) to develop simple and innovative iPod / iPhone games with. Again he has asked me to be involved from a story / character / game design point of view - so another great opportunity in a totally new area - and I will update this new page as soon as there are more developments.

iPod Racing Game for Andy Wilton - Oct 08

2008-10-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

In late September, Julian Rex (a former Sony games developer) asked me if I'd contribute to the development of a futuristic iPod / iPhone racing game he was working on for a games developer based in France, Andy Wilton (www.andywilton.com).

Over a couple of weeks we developed the world and backstory to the game, and began to get a picture of the characters who might populate this dangerous Sci-Fi world. Finally I put together a pitch document (with a selection of mood stills from other games, animation and feature films) to promote our ideas, and to illustrate the rules, weapons and gameplay of the racing game.

Hopefully some of the ideas might make it into the final game (as always the deadline is very tight) or if not maybe into a sequel that is bound to follow. Either way it was great fun to do this type of writing, and I hope to work for Julian and Andy again in the future.

'Monsters' by Steve Turnbull - Sept / Aug 2008

2008-10-31T01:54:00.000-07:00

Screenwriter Steve Turnbull contacted me ahead of the Screenwriting Festival in Cheltenham, and asked if we could meet up for a chat about a project he was working on. Later in August he sent me the first 10 pages of his Sci-Fi live-action drama script 'Monsters'. The plan being for me to help Steve prepare the pilot script ready for submission to the Red Planet 'First 10 Pages' Competition in September.

Needless to say, Steve wouldn't thank me for going into great detail about his script, but it was a good first draft with loads of potential. Steve had created a credible near future world and an large and interesting set of characters. However because he was setting up a complex Sci-Fi world, with an intricate backstory and set of rules that he needed to get across to the audience, the first 10 pages of the script were struggling with the subtle balancing act of: Exposition vs. Story. He had so much to explain and set up, that it was literally getting in the way of and slowing down the story.

I worked with Steve over several drafts of the script (as the September Red Planet deadline neared) and I think he did a great job speeding up the opening of the story, and coming up with inventive strategies to help deliver the exposition economically.

The deadline for the competition has now passed - so fingers crossed for 'Monsters'.

The 3rd Screenwriters Festival - Cheltenham July 2008

2008-07-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

This years Screenwriters Festival at Cheltenham was my first, but having listened to some very inspirational speakers and having met some great fellow writers, and all in the wonderful setting of The Manor by the Lake, I have a feeling I will be back next year for some more.

I'm not going to go into great detail about the festival at this point, but will leave it to the capable hands of Screenwriting and SWF bloggers: Danny Stack and Steve Turnbull to give a more detailed picture of the three day event.

Bristol University - April to June 2008

2008-07-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

At the start of April I was contacted by Cathy Poole from Bristol University (via Helen Brunsdon from Aardman) to mentor / script edit 3 short animation scripts for Bristol University's short course 'Creative Writing for Performance'. I first met Cathy 6 - 7 years ago when she ran the education side of the Bristol Watershed Media Centre - I took a couple of courses she ran and later pitched her the idea of the Watershed having a regular Screenwriting Workshop (I think this has now become a reality) - so it was great to hear from her again and I had no idea she was now working at the University. Cathy runs many short courses in Drama, Film and Media throughout the year, a couple of which have screenwriting / writing for animation elements to them.

A few days after talking to Cathy on the phone about the students and my role on the course, I was emailed short treatments for 3 animated films: 'Edna's Stone' by Alice Fewtrell, 'Shadows' by Stella Shaw and 'Hush' by Amber Winter.

Alice's story was about a family visit to rainy and windswept beach and a young girl's discovery of a magical stone. (Think 'We're going on a Bear Hunt' by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury)

Stella's was a woodland fantasy about a young girls unrequited love for an unattainable and damaged man. (An ambitious LOTR / 'Romeo and Juliet' retelling)

Amber's was modern tale of redemption focusing on the broken relationship between a mother and daughter, and the birth of an unplanned baby. (Think Mike Leigh)

Three very different stories and three different approaches to / use of animation. Alice's a hand drawn, impressionistic piece of poetry, Stella's a dark medieval/gothic fantasy, and Amber's a difficult family drama, that animation would bring a particular and useful distance to.

With all three projects, I suggested initially writing the drafts with out any dialogue and to tell the story visually (with one line of text/action for each shot/beat of the story) to simply aim to place a series of images in the mind of the reader. Some writers fall in love with their dialogue and refuse to let go of their precious lines, and I wanted Alice, Stella and Amber to use dialogue only if the story needed it, rather than because they wanted it.

Overall what I was looking for, was each of the writers being able to answer the questions: Why do I want to tell this story? What does it mean to me? and What is it 'really' about? And hopefully by the end of the process, we were able to get each script further towards this goal.

Welcome to David Bull's News Page

2008-07-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Please visit - www.toucanhead.com - for more information

David Bull

Scriptwriter and Script Consultant