Tiny Worlds

Guest Blogger!

For the first time ever Media @ CCC is going to feature blog posts from a guest blogger. Having already shared some useful links, Sophie Lowden has signed on to add musings, ideas and links to the blog. 


I think this is going to be an exciting new feature and hope that you all enjoying discovering more about media, film and animation through Sophie's unique insight.


Welcome Sophie, the students and I look forward to your first post! :-)

This could be you!

For the second week running I received an email from an ex-student.

Sophie graduated from the Chalfonts in 2008 completing courses in Media Studies and Art. Her passion was animation and she went on to study it at UWE in Bristol. She has produced some fantastic work which you can view on her blog.

She is now in her final year working on her final project.

She says: "I'm personally now living in a student house with three other animators who have had a profound effect on my work. We're all now working away on our final films so I've barely had any time to take a breather but I know that it's going to be a success if I put my mind to it!"

It was fantastic to hear from Sophie and find out that she is doing so well. I wish her all the success in the world and just think, this could be you in the near future!

Diploma: Two Early Draft Animations from Josh & Sian

These are shaping up to be really good. Watch out for the finished articles!

"a movie about childhood", not a children's movie!

Where The Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)

At the weekend my wife and I went to the Cinema as we are often known to do.  We went to see Where The Wild Things Are, dir. by Spike Jonze based on the beautiful childrens' book by Maurice Sendak.  The movie was beautifully crafted.  The camera work rsembled the best indie movies (Little Miss Sunshine, Amelie) with careful choice of distance, angle and positioning; and just enough editing to allow the movie to flow unobtrusively - Jonze ensures that the presence of the camera remains firmly unkown to the audience.

But what made this film so special (particulalry as a fan of the book) was one: the musical score - created by Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeah's fame which was quirky, challenging and beautiful at the same time - check it out at the film's website here: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/#/Soundtrack

Like the music, the mise-sn-scene was stunning - Jonze's pallet is soft and haunting with some of the best lighting I have seen used in a movie in years.  The "Wild Things" were amazing - once again the Jim Henson company outdid themselves in prducing creatures that not only faithfully reflectd the wonderful drawings from the book but that took on a life of their own - seeming at times more human than could possibly be imaginable.

Here is the trailer for the movie:

Here is an animated version using the original pictures from the book:

And finally, here is a test made by Disney who for some time had the rights to produce the film - while this looks like it would have been good, I for one am very glad that this was one project that they did not complete.

Jonze's film is a film not for children but for those of us who read the book when we were kids.  It is a haunting, alternative, deeply beautiful and emotionally satisfying affair that brought my wife and I to tears - "I could eat you up I love you so".

In the words of Max: "Let the wild rumpus start!"

Tim Burton at MOMA

See more info and videos here: http://moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/313 and here: http://www.youtube.com/user/MoMAvideos

I Met The Walrus by Jerry Levitan

 
In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short. ("I Met The Walrus", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmR0V6s3NKk, 2008)