Aardman - Animate it

Myself and Ricky Martin have joined forces again this time for a video teaching people how to use this software. Not your typical software demonstration presented in Ricky's "Unique" Style.

Video to be posted when the product is available.

Samsung Galaxy SII

Here's a couple of outputs promoting Samsung's latest Smartphone the Galaxy SII taken from the website http://samsunggalaxys2.t3.com/

GAMELOFT:



MEDL MOBILE:

Kia

I recently worked on a series on videos for Kia introducing features of the new Picanto range.

Here's one from the group worked on.

In the pipe-line....

2011... The year of opportunity? I like to think so, yes. With this in mind there's some interesting stuff coming up soon. Interesting, varied, technical and creative. The best of all worlds you could say.



I'm about to embark on a 3D project to be rolled out on a Nationwide scale. To be safe I'd best not reveal the name at the moment but they are a major manufacturer so I'm looking forward to embarking on 3D. Recent tests have proved fruitful and with thanks to some contacts in the industry most of all Jon from Hurricane media I'm looking forward to this one. Video should hopefully be up in a few weeks.

There is also another major project in the pipe-line but I really can't say anything on it at the moment other than its a biggie and something that could be really special! More to come when its A- confirmed and B - Legal to say!

Where's all the work examples then?

A funny couple of months! All though there's been plenty happening a lot of it has been going through various sign-off process or awaiting broadcast and for one reason or another I haven't been able put recent examples up. While awaiting being able to do this here's a few projects that I've been involved in.





Worlds 50 Best - live editing backstage at The worlds 50 Best restaurants presentation at the Guildhall in London. www.theworlds50best.com/




My spot backstage:



And the winners video. Available and viewed on youtube less than 20 minutes after the event finished:





606 Club - London's world renowned Jazz club. Offline edit and substantial creative input into this stylized look into the clubs history form Jazz legend Steve Ruby.



4 Outputs soon to be avialable on www.teamhotwheels.co.uk. This was a great fun edit. Quick cuts, Snaapy and to the point! (Offline/Online) Also responcible for selecting B-Roll footage for use on Cartoon network.




Various offline edits for a forthcoming campaign.




Offline edit for online commercial use. Color grading of various outputs.



A new mini-series of videos designed to inspire future users. (Offline/Online)



Various promotional pieces.

World of inventions site gets a Bafta!

BBC and Aardman digital pleased us all last night by winning the bafta for best new media. I had the pleasure to be involved in this venture creating some on the videos that were used as content for the site.

Click here to see me loose the plot in one of them...

And here's the thing FINALLY working!(Click)

Here's them Getting the Bafta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1RXM2gMYI

Well done guys, a pleasure to be involved in!

BBC One - The One Show

Now, I know it's been a couple of months since I posted but thats because I've been on some exciting projects that I wanted to reveal as they happen. There should be a sudden influx of things going up soon.

Last moth I worked with the good people at Icon films on a 5 minute report for the one show which aired between 7 - 7.30 on April 4th on BBC 1.

Heres the credit TX:



For the next 7 days the piece will be on BBC's iplayer It begins 11 minutes into the show:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0108z5n/The_One_Show_04_04_2011/

I've been working on some exciting stuff since February and the results will soon be up here.

Aardman Digital 2011 Showreel

Here's the latest Reel I did for Aardman's Digital department. All screen captures, key framed animation and edits done by myself.

Cadbury's Spots Vs Stripes.

A recent job was for Team Rubber and Fallon creating a series of videos focusing on winning unconventional world records.
All though edited in a home/rough style creating the pieces was technically challenging due to the amount of footage vs output and the amount of pre-edit work involved i.e syncing cameras sound etc. A great fun project to work on however, so here's a couple of outputs:

Good old Terry Turbo:



Coin stacking challenge:

Aardman - From the ground up.

A while ago now I was Fortunate to work with David Sproxton and Peter Lord on this 30 minute long documentary on the prestigious new Aardman building here in Bristol.

The documentary takes an in-depth look at planning and designing the building through to construction and moving in.

Featuring contributions from Architects, contractors, Site planners and Aardman staff including David Sproxton and Peter Lord.

My roles on this project were Cam op, interviewer and editor.

Here's a trailer for the piece to give a taste:

©Aardman animations 2009

Wallace & Gromits World of invention DVD extras compilation

Here's a 6 minute compilation reel of the work we produced for Aardman/BBC Last year.

Written/Directed/Cam op/Edited by Myself and Ricky Martin. ©2010 BBC/Aardman animations.

6 Months in 90 Seconds

It's been a great 6 months and I've been working on some really exciting projects. Here's a short edit of just some of the stuff I've been up to. Feat. Leona Lewis, MTV awards, Prince, Kanye West and more!

6 Months in 90 seconds from Lawrence Bowden on Vimeo.

Your World of invention

If you've had a look at this blog before you will have seen a few pieces on the "secret project" that I've been working on....
Well, I can now proudly reveal that it is the entire DVD extras for Wallace & Gromit's world of invention released earlier in December.

The 6 pieces, running at around 7 mins each have been written, developed, filmed, directed & edited by myself and partner in crime Ricky Martin for the BBC and Aardman animations under the project title "Your world of invention".

The pieces are a fun look at taking ideas from the show and making them at home in an applicable way. Presented by Ricky the pieces are a fun way of getting the family involved in a good old build!

Films in the DVD extras are:

Upside-down-o-scope, Wind-Powered sprinkler, Atmospheric railway, Fin Ray Grabber, Spy camera & Air Rocket.

Here's a montage I put together of some screen shots and some behind the scenes, click the image to see it bigger:

Sound Design on a cinematic scale!

Mr Ricky Martin and myself have had our heads buried in a big project that is soon to be unveiled. As we have both CO-Written and Directed the project (soon to be released through Aardman & BBC) its lovely to sit at the back of films@59and go through the final sound mixes. VERY exciting! More to come on release!

MTV EMA 2010

I've just found one of the edits I worked on for the MTV EMAs 2010 which went out live on 07/11/10 internationally on MTV. I worked on the entire nominations package but I've only found this one (best video) online so far. It's not great quality & it cuts in crudely but it gives you a good look at the edit:



Best Hiphop:



Best Alternative (Excuse hideous title at start, it's clearly not mine!):

Dubai & Abu Dhabi

As you do I got a call from Hurricane media asking me to go and edit on location in Dubai....2 days from the time of the call. Luckily I'd had a client pull out on me for that week so I was able to confirm the booking immediately.

In Abu Dhabi I worked directly behind the main stage at the Yasalam music concerts held in conjunction with the F1 that was going on the same weekend literally next to the track.



I edited a variety of outputs from Broll for the main stage and vox-pops that was used by both BBC World news and CNN International. I also created complete polished edits for Kelly Rowland, Sean Paul, Linkin Park and Prince and worked directly on other edits including Kayne West and Gabrielle.





The job was heavily labour intense involving digitizing from EXCAM cards, transcoding, project assembly/organisation & editing of the material (as it came in so edits would be ever evolving). I was in charge of and outputting, Broll to h.264 .movs (1024x576) and Web Edits to be used for internet promotion at 1280x720 h.264 .MP4s.

Not all of the outputs have been rereleased yet so I will update as they become available. Photos of locations also to come.
Heres a start though.

Beats on the beach:



Kayne West Live - I was not the primary editor on this piece however I did have direct influence and input into it:



Heres how CNN Used the Broll:

Studio POV

For no reason at all heres the studio in choppy form..

End of an Era

Today the last of 10 Podcasts that I edited and some of which shot goes live on the Aardman site. I had the good fortune to work closely with Dave Sproxton on the pieces which was a pleasure. They were editited almost a year ago to the day and its lovely to see whats been happening in my editing world since then! Clcik the picture to see the podcast

MTV Awards 2010

For the last couple of weeks I've been editing the nominations packages for the MTV EMA awards to be hosted in Madrid.
The show goes out live on MTv on 07/11/10 so whack MTV on at 9pm to see what we've produced!
CLick on the link for more info from the MTV website

September was Madness!

Wow, what a few weeks! It's all going on. Right so, a few things to catch up form below. The 'secret' Aardman project is due to be released in December and has been signed off by some major people so I'm extremely happy about that. I still can't say what it is but I can sat that I have co-written, co-directed, filmed and co-edited it . Watch out!

A more recent Aardman job which gives a firm nod towards good old fashioned fun and throws production values clean out of the 3rd floor window has been for Wallace & Gromit's world of invention. The site went live a couple of days ago from the good people in Aardman digital. I was brought in to help with my good friend and above mentioned co-director Ricky for a 'different' project.

Unfortunately it did send me a bit mad, here we are....failing... at 5 in the morning! Click the image below to load the piece.



And heres the contraption working, hooorahhhh!





More recent work has now bloomed, this time in the form of promotional material for the forthcoming 'Paranormal activity2'. This was with Team Rubber. I worked on edits for the supporting site http://www.paranormalsurveillance.com/

Here are some of the edits:

EMF from Paranormal Surveillance on Vimeo.

PS ENG 2 from Paranormal Surveillance on Vimeo.

PS ENG 3 from Paranormal Surveillance on Vimeo.