Christmas comes early to the Fire Fighter Charity...

Someone who works with the fire service asked me to design a set of Christmas cards for the Fire Fighter Charity, a task which I lept at and really enjoyed getting my head into the Christmas theme and mixing it with that of the fire service. I went with the idea of an Elf Fire Department, and the mischief and mayhem that can ensue from their Elf Fire Fighter training...

'Showtime' heads to Bristol for the Victoria Park Action Group festival...

Following 'Showtime' being included in the 'Show me the Animation' app, they are also including it in a family friendly screening for an event being run in Bristol on the 13th September, http://www.vpag.org.uk/

This is excellent news, and its nice that 'Showtime' is still getting about...

'Showtime' hits the 'Show me the animation' app

I'm thrilled that 'Showtime' is included in the 'Show me the Animation' app, which is now available to download from the IOS Store. It's great to have people behind the film and hopefully this will mean others can enjoy it.

Talking with Frank Spencer...

The main aim when starting the little side project of Frank Spencer was to end up with a piece of lip sync material for my showreel. So before getting into the main animation of the character, I took a small clip of audio from an episode of 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em' to animate to. I feel that it went well and am happy with the end result, so hopefully when I do more I can piece lip sync to action and have a full scene going...

Betty, I've been articulated...

'No man who never did nothin, never made any mistakes' as Frank Spencer would say.  And mistakes are just a part of the learning process when creating a character that's going to work well when animated, So whilst completing Frank's character and posing him up in various ways, adjustments became clear that were needed in order to make it possible to animate him well. For example, the arms were extended, and different pieces were made to be used when the character is flipped so that the shading can be kept on the correct side throughout. At the minute, he is only able to be used from the one angle, so the next stage may be to create the character in different view points- from the direct side view, the front view, maybe even the back view, so that animation of the character could be more flexible...

Betty, I've been animated...

Now that Frank is all cut up into separate pieces, he is ready to animate and move about. To begin, and test the character, I wanted to try a couple of poses, hopefully that are recognisable for the character...

Showtime gets a Royal Television Society Wales Student Award Nomination...

A shocking yet amazing piece of news came through today, that my third year film 'Showtime' has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Wales Student Award! Came a little out of the blue to say the least, but so great-full and happy, and hoping that I can get down to Cardiff for the ceremony. Whats even better is that one of my partners in crime from University, and an extremely talented stop motion animator has also been nominated, Jasmine Hedger, for her film, 'Dr. Mandala', so congratulations to her, as well as another extremely talented stop motion animator, James Carlisle, for his film 'Fishing for the Future, a great film and great guy! So all in all, pretty darn excited about the whole thing!

some animator's do 'ave 'em...

Another little bit of a free period at work means another little project. Looking back at my show reel it seemed to be missing some lip sync material, so my mission is to get some done, based on one of the comedy worlds biggest legends- Frank Spencer! I love 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em' so when trying to think of a piece of audio to base a character on he seemed just perfect. So today began the process of designing the character and trying out a small portion of lip sync on just his still head...

playing in the snow for 'Do It In Ten'...

Whilst we had a little free time at work, to keep myself occupied I decided to try 'show me the animation's' 'Do it in ten' competition, where they give a new word for each month with the aim to create a 10 second animation around. February's was 'Snow', so I came up with the idea of using a cute little yeti character playing in the snow with his penguin friend. Unfortunately due to other things with the main project coming up, it never got passed animatic stage, but hopefully some day it'll make its way to being made. But this was a little bit of concept art done for it, a way of me getting back into drawing on Photoshop more than anything...

Things a looking a little sheepish for BAA...

During the main production at Fettle, we've been lucky enough to have the odd bits of time here and there in between the chaos to dip our toes into other projects of our own. One such project was to create a sting for the British Animation Awards 2014. The brief was to create a piece of between 4 and 25 seconds that had to contain sheep in some way, and if possible, references to Britain. The idea that I decided to go with from the several that were developed was inspired by the short Bird Box film, 'Wildebeest' and focused on two sheep, attempting to come to a decision on what a little tuft in the ground could be?...

http://vimeo.com/85575588

Off to Fettle we go...

For the past week, I've been giving a helping hand down at Fettle Animation finishing off a project before the next job that I am working with them on begins. It's been a fantastic few days and great way of getting settled and comfortable in the studio and with the software again before the main job kicks off.

The UKGK has it's revenge...

The project for Creature Features, creating an animation to advertise their model kit exposition is complete, and considering how the short time I had to complete it meant that the animation had to be kept quite simplistic and limited, I'm actually pleased with the final result. Concentrating on getting the design up to a high standard I think means the piece stands out and works with only limited movement. I loved trying to cram in as many references to classic TV shows and films as I could, as well as reinventing some of my favorite characters, so I had fun bringing them to life any way possible...

The final advert can be seen on the website at http://mojoanimations.wix.com/rjjones#!video/c136r 

Live Wire Reading Activists animation programme...

Whilst beginning work on the Creature Features project, this week I was asked to help out with Live Wire Warrington at a couple of libraries, working with the Reading Activists and helping them with a stop motion animation programme. The children involved had to choose a piece of their favorite book to build the characters, sets and props from, and then animate them. So while there, across the two afternoons, I helped then get the ideas together, showed them my work to hopefully give them some hints and tips on what to do, and then helped one of the groups out to animate and get their film together. All in all, the days went great, I enjoyed doing what I could to help and seeing the kids ideas come alive, seeing their imaginations flare and hopefully helping them to bring them to life. So thank you to Brenda Turnbull who asked me to help them, and everyone involved.

Creature Features surprise job...

Before potentially beginning the work at Fettle Animation, I had a lovely surprise job pop up while on a humble shopping trip to Blakemere. A shop in the village, Creature Features, which sells movie and TV memorabilia and model kits, are running an event called Revenge of the UKGK- a garage and model kit expo on the 28th of September, and for it they wanted a short, snappy animation to advertise it. So keeping things sketchy and in an almost Tim Burton style I feel would suit the event, and the idea at the minute uses characters that make up the letters of UKGK. As the artwork comes together a little more I shall post the characters of the film for a cheeky sneak peak, so keep an eye out over the next few weeks...

Fettle Animation calling...

Since the London skillset event I've been excited to be in talks with an animation studio in Marsden, Yorkshire called Fettle animation, who have given me the fantastic opportunity to work on their on their next project which would last until February. I wont spill the beans on what it entails, but things are reaching the final steps to getting the finishing details together and I cant wait to hopefully begin my time with them and get out into the world of work further...

Fixer's animation comes to an end...

The past few months since the London skillset event have disappeared completely. It feels like its been a mere 3, 4 weeks or so, but I guess as they say that's a sign of having fun. So the time has been spent completing the 'Unlocking Hidden Talent' animation for the Fixers' film and has all gone really well, I surprised myself at being able to complete over a minute and a half of animation in what I thought to be a fairly short time span. But it all went well, those running things were happy with things and the finishing touches are being put to it all before its available for viewing, and hopefully that wont be too long from now - can't wait to see it all done...

After the Creative Skillset Showcase...

Tuesday night was the Creative Skillset Showcase in London, giving the chance to meet a large group of companies and industry professionals, and the event went amazingly well. I was quite nervous to say the least going in, but it was the case that once aia spoke to the first person, I was on a roll. I was very humbled and proud to have some amazing feed back and some fantastic comments from those that saw my work, and, fingers crossed, there'll hopefully be some great opportunities in the future. So thankyou to all that I spoke to, it was a great experience, met some great people and I am looking forward to the next networking opportunity...

Creative Skillset Animation and VFX Showcase 2013...

Tomorrow, I and another 79 hand picked students from courses across the country are off to London to meet and greet up to 100 companies from the industry. This is the chance to show what we have done, what we can do and to begin the steps into our future. It's daunting but exciting at the same time, and I'll update you on the goings on of the day when I'm back...

Mojo begins work with Fixers UK...

I'm in the early days of a freelance job with a charity called Fixers UK, who want me to produce the animation for a half live action, half animated project aiming to get children to find their hidden talents, and they've even begun tailoring the animation to the style of my short film, 'Showtime' which is humbling and exciting. I won't say too much about it at the moment, but keep an eye out for more information coming over the next few weeks...
 

Caricature for the DJ Super Heroes...

For the past few weeks I've been working with a DJ from London who is part of a group called the DJ Superheroes, and he commissioned me to create a super hero caricature of him in the colours of Batman, as his DJ name is DJ Bruce Wayne.

I'll be putting more info about him and his group up soon for anyone who would like his information, but for now I'll show you the image to see what you think...