I filmed at the breathtaking Tarlair Lido near Macduff to frame this frank and moving monologue from Cornerstone’s founder Nick Baxter. in this short film Nick explains how he came to establish the charity and the challenges still faced by people with learning disabilities, their families and carers.
This is the first of a number of films celebrating Cornerstone’s 30th year.
Every day across Scotland, Cornerstone is providing care and support in your community to enable children, young people and adults with disabilities and other support needs to enjoy a valued life.
Tripping Up Trump have a plot of land that Donald Trump wants to build his golf course on.
Sign up now to be part of the plot. Join us in The Bunker.
Stand with the local families of Menie who face eviction from their homes because of Donald Trump’s demand upon Aberdeenshire Council to use compulsory purchase orders.
Trump said he didn’t need this land, but now he’s after the homes of local families and they won’t sell.
74% of Scottish people are against Trump on this basis. Just 13% support him. Over 15,000 of us have already signed a petition to Aberdeenshire Council in opposition.
This short film is the first collaborative project between myself and sculptor Michael Visocchi. It employs a variety of animation and live footage techniques, exploring the metaphorical relationship between the rook and Robert Burns as widely interpreted symbols of Scotland.
Rookeries, or rook nest sites, are often rebuilt and re-used by breeding pairs of birds in the same location year after year. Throughout British folklore rooks have been associated with escorting the spirits of the virtuous to heaven, and have been commonly held as predictors of the weather.
The enthralling characteristics and cycle of the rook frequently captured Burns’ imagination and empathy in his writing and his observations on the wider world. The artists believe that a further attribute shared by both Burns and the rook is that both their reputations have been simultaneously formed yet often distorted through the lens of history.
Transporting the viewer to Dumfriesshire and to the fields surrounding Ellisland that Burns once farmed, the film follows a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the seasonal patterns. Throughout this imagined journey the film makes reference to scientific movements and developments significant to the late 18th century, which furthered mans understanding of the landscape.
The score is a composition for cello, and has been written and performed by Robin Mason to follow the rhythms and cadences of the film and to the writing of Burns.
Michael Visocchi is based in Edinburgh and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. His work explores our use of landscape in the 21st century. In 2004 he became the youngest member of the Royal Scottish Academy. michaelvisocchi.com
Original film score by Robin Mason
Commissioned by East Ayrshire Council for ‘Creative Burns’ 2009.
With thanks to support from Peacock Visual Arts
Just fooling around and having a bit of fun between jobs and designing our wedding invites - I really need to get writing a small animated short for all of these disparate characters.
I was going to call this fellow Mister Pip but there’s a book out with that title - Got any suggestions?
I have been very fortunate, through my association with Peacock, to become acquainted with the artist Frances Walker. Last year I began making a series of short films about Frances and her artistic practice to coincide with two major exhibitions of her work here in Aberdeen. The films can be viewed here http://vimeo.com/channels/franceswalker
Two more will be added over the coming weeks.
I just completed a video for the Tripping up Trump folk to raise awareness of Donald Trumps plan to build a huge golf resort, hotel and housing complex amongst the pristine dunes just north of Aberdeen.
I took my camera along one November morning and there was the most amazing light. Originally this was intended to be an animation but in the end I mainly left it to the images to do the talking.
Music is by Martin Glegg.
Here’s an animation I just completed for NHS Grampian promoting safe-sex.
The stickmen were used in a print campaign but originally we were going to try some more hand-drawn organic looking characters - however after a few tests we discovered it was more engaging to work with the constraints of a simple stick figure. Really enjoyed making the hand-drawn text and this is something I’ll certainly be trying more of with characters and on screen graphics.
Those stick people have a colourful sex life eh?
This animation formed the basis of a recent Christmas commercial for Ocean Terminal in Leith. The original advert is 20 seconds and has to fit in 16 store logos! In squeezing all this information into such a small amount of time some of the detail is lost. So here’s a longer, non-commercial edit.
Of course the great Lotte Reiniger was the primary influence on style for this piece. With time and a budget it would have been great to attempt some of it using real shadow puppets. Hoping to do some more traditional forms of animation soon.
This was made in after effects with the animation of the characters done in Anime Studio Pro.
This is a tilt-shift timelapse of Aberdeen’s christmas festivities. The good stuff happens around 50 secs in. I’m really liking the nightime timelapse.. must try some more.
Look out for reindeer, pipers, giant swans, mascots, red-hats and big yellow trucks.
