If you're digging the past, who knows what you'll find

Remember Hum, our new film? We feel like we've neglected it slightly, but only because we've been busy at other studios over these last few months. Anyway, guess what, I have some Hum news!

Hum is part of Digging Deep, which is a big creative project thingy that encompasses social media things, zines, illustration, pyjama parties, and will culminate in a play at Contact Theatre next Spring. It's all interactive, and if you want to take part, and thus become part of the play and the whole creative process (all engineered by playwright/poet Nikky Norton Shafau), then you should click here: http://www.digandreap.com/

There's various fun, random challenges which relate to the themes around Digging Deep, and which will feed into the play, which is still being developed. You'll also earn rewards for taking part...oooh enigmatic creativity...

More Hum news soon, I promise...

I see you ain't a playa, you ain't ballin, And I don't even care who the hell you call in..

This week we have mostly been crushing, sticking and painting on ping pong balls. Well actually we've finished that malark now and this is what we have to show for it. Not for day to day wear mind, but for those sporting occasions that require a little more finery. 

Ping-pong, sit and think for a while

We've been commissioned by Ping England to make a couple of ping pong ball gowns. Ping England is a cool organisation who put ping pong tables up in cities around the UK - London, Bristol, Sheffield, etc. It's about community and sports and being healthy, which are all good things! Anyways, they are having a couple of special ping pong balls during July at Canary Wharf and Kings Cross in London, and there you will find our dresses on display. Here's some pictures of me working on the dresses (whilst watching Lord of the Rings):

Emily did a lot of the sewing, whilst I did a lot of the drawing. Each ping pong ball has been "hand finished" - either painted or drawn on, and then squashed. The balls were then added to the dress with a glue gun, which hurts a lot when you accidentally burn yourself - Emily will tell you! She had a massive blister on her wrist...

No pictures of the second dress yet, but I'll post them in a few days or so...

First thing she said was we're the German Girls

Yey, I'm pleased to say that our new short Hum will have its German premiere next month at Film Leben Festival. Hooray for Germans and their excellent taste in experimental animated films. We are planning on editing together a trailer for Hum sometime soon, and we'll pop that up here when we do. Before that though, we need to make a dress or two from ping pong balls... I'll explain later...

Girl get busy

Well, time flies. In the last two months Emily and I have moved house; we're now both based in Manchester, which is bad for National Rail/Megabus' profits, but good for us. It is nice to be in the same neck of the woods, and indeed the same flat!

We've been busy beavering away on animated adventures too. We are separately working on some television series. I am animating on a CBBC one, and Emily is illustrating on a CBeebies one. We've also got a couple of commissioned film projects which are almost done, so we shall certainly be shouting about them soonish. Soonish = in a month or two I guess.

But anyways, right now we have a screening coming up! Our old Poo film will be showing at Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema later this month, on the 15th, and Emily and I shall be both be there to introduce our film. The programme is called Filmed Up and features North West filmmakers. We are first on, so if you come along (and it would be lovely if you did) make sure you get there on time! That goes for me too; I don't often get to places on time. Here is a link from which you can purchase tickets and find out more: this link here!

Right, dinner time now. Here's a picture of a beaver.

Listen to Iron Maiden baby with me

Sunday 1st of April is Palm Sunday, and it is also the day of the Teenage Market in Stockport. This is the first year for this event, and it's been set up and run by Tom Barratt who is a local college student. That is quite impressive organisational skills there, I did not thinking of doing such things when I was at college, but I think it's a really enterprising idea. Screen Stockport are also supporting the event, which is cool cos we like them already. (Our opinion being not at all influenced by the fact they awarded Spin Spun Span with a bunch of accolades last year, ahem...)

Anyways, I'm sure you can guess what I'm going to say next - Emily and I will be running a stall at the market. As ever we shall be selling our hodge podge of crafty-illustrationy-animationy bits and bobs. I think it will be both of us too, unless Emily is house hunting. Do come along and check out the rest of the market too - there's loads of other stalls selling arty things, clothing things, vintage things - plus workshops in photography, live music, all sorts! I think it looks like it'll be really good.

Emily and I will also be mentors (!) at the market. This means you can come up to us and ask us stuff about the crazy world of animation freelance, and we shall attempt to give non-babbly "advice".

Check out the website for details of when, where, and who: The Teenage Market.

In a related note, we've also stocked up our online shop, oh yes!

His hands are busy, working overtime

If you're in Birmingham, perhaps you might like to toddle along to Flatpack Film Festival. We screened there in their mobile cinema last year, and they've asked us to screen again - this time it's Spin Spun Span. Our film will be showing in a specially curated programme called A Life's Work, a collection of shorts about people who work with their hands. I think the films will be primarily documentaries, so it's quite cool to be part of a different sort of line up.

Flatpack Film Festival takes places from 14-18th March. Whoo!