Week 8: Tuesday - Calendar and Travel Fellowship

I have planned a meeting with Gadsby for Wednesday to get feedback on my resume and go over the next steps in applying for an internship. My revised Calendar:

Myrtle Powell Bowld European Traveling Fellowship:

I would utilize this traveling fellowship opportunity to do a miniature tour of some of England's animation studios, most of which are based in London. The studios that I have singled out range across the three major types of animation because I would like to sample some of England's views of each category. Also I am interested in all types of animation even though I'd like to specify in 2-D animation, so I am interested in viewing many different avenues since I think I display strengths in each field. I would start in London itself and tour the facilities of Spy Pictures, Blue-Zoo Productions, and Collingwood O'Hare. Spy Pictures is a production company that mostly deals in animated short films, commercials, and title sequences. I'm looking into them because they use animation in a variety of different besides just traditional or 3-D formats which allows for a greater body of work to view and become familiar with making. I picked Blue-Zoo Productions because they are a small 12 full time staffed with free lance animators that specialize in 3-D computer animation. They work mostly on television for children's programs including commercial ads and bumpers in-between shows. Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment focuses on 2-D animation and specifically children's cartoons and fairy-tales and many based on best selling children's books such as Dr. Seuss. I believe I would really enjoy touring and viewing what is offered at this studio because I believe much of my work deals with the view of innocence and has a whimsical playfulness. Finally I would travel a few hours West to Bristol, Southwest England to view Bolex Brothers and Aardman Studios. Bolex Brothers is a company that specializes in stop motion and experimental pixilation in their work. Their portfolio comes across as dark and surrealistic with an unsettling tone. The main body of their work is commercials but they have made two feature films. I find their seemingly dark tone interesting because they take the nature of stop motion and make it a feature of their portfolio which I have found to be successful in some of my work as well. Finally Aardman Studios is a stop-motion clay animation house mostly known for the Wallace and Gromit movies and Chicken Run. They have a large body of short films and obviously have famous feature length ones as well. They have also embraced using 3-D computer animation while still holding on to their well loved clay style. The most recent feature of their's is The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists due in 2012. Their level of work is always remarkable and definitely enough to make them stand out in the animation world with their work. They stand out to me and interest me because they are able to make such large budget films and yet still comfortably retain their identity and style. I find them fascinating in that respect because I am interested in seeing how animators are able to work in large companies and produce quality work while still maintaining and individual voice which I believe many of these companies demonstrate.