tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17374245026611903702024-02-19T16:00:40.561-08:00The Last BelleNeil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-35649226607506240502021-05-03T07:22:00.000-07:002021-05-03T07:22:02.550-07:00Roy<p> It's so incredibly sad to say goodbye to my friend and colleague Roy Naisbitt, who died last week, just short of his 91st birthday.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aCOO41pRK0nYZBqcmEjbSyzfQtHXkBWbE4K3EsA4tO274Rg021u6SSgRKAQfSny2tMxCUGvqd9Mrq1SNpTMXAj0NVxBQ-E99RSC7du9Nzum-is3-bZ_pITxrLhZVLBkRmsgZN_LuzCQ/s2048/IMG_1546+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1436" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_aCOO41pRK0nYZBqcmEjbSyzfQtHXkBWbE4K3EsA4tO274Rg021u6SSgRKAQfSny2tMxCUGvqd9Mrq1SNpTMXAj0NVxBQ-E99RSC7du9Nzum-is3-bZ_pITxrLhZVLBkRmsgZN_LuzCQ/w280-h400/IMG_1546+%25282%2529.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Roy was such a huge part of The Last Belle, and there are many posts on this blog detailing his work on the film. But aside from his magnificent work on screen, he also supported me in so many ways during the making of the film. I would visit his house weekly, where he had kindly set up my video line-test equipment, doing a wonderful carpentry job in the process (readers of this blog will know that Roy trained as a carpenter in his youth). We would sit up in his studio attic, he'd put on an old jazz gramophone record (forgotten treasures salvaged from charity shops, for a pound each usually) and get to work drawing and talking and shooting line tests. It was a tremendously happy time, and an absolute privilege.<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUoDYNEqzxQbO1ETH6JGH2LRmnKfuUEWbMvo8bYLcn9djWY_n1k28_jLqfRjg7-qsxnp7efp8x2Prznj9qmChyphenhypheniGbGeMb6QS6ebJq5cJpT00nLMhjHtF77_bjlMz22p6fzG3S7_8Ou2k/s2048/P1020711+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUoDYNEqzxQbO1ETH6JGH2LRmnKfuUEWbMvo8bYLcn9djWY_n1k28_jLqfRjg7-qsxnp7efp8x2Prznj9qmChyphenhypheniGbGeMb6QS6ebJq5cJpT00nLMhjHtF77_bjlMz22p6fzG3S7_8Ou2k/w640-h480/P1020711+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I have known Roy for 37 years, and cannot begin to say just how much I have tried to learn from him... how to approach a problem, how to do the research, how to get through an artistic 'block', when to follow rules and when to break them... endless stuff, learnt from an absolute Master. But the best example he set us all was in keeping his good humour when the pressure was on, staying absolutely calm, and always... always... being pleasant and encouraging to the people around him. Roy loved all people, and would strike up a conversation with anyone, making no distinction between the Chairman of a vast Hollywood company, and the person who was employed to empty the Chairman's bins. </p><p>So it is no surprise to me that there has been such an outpouring of affection across social media, since the news broke. Roy gifted the world with his absolutely unique vision, but for those of us lucky enough to know him, he was simply the nicest and kindest man. </p>Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-39671820395106810722019-02-08T05:55:00.000-08:002019-02-08T05:55:05.428-08:00Kensuke's Kingdom Cast!We can finally reveal the cast to our forthcoming movie 'Kensuke's Kingdom'...<br />
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Sally Hawkins, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, and Raffey Cassidy will be bringing their amazing talents to this classic story, based upon the much-loved book by Michael Morpurgo.<br />
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You can read more about it <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/02/sally-hawkins-cillian-murphy-ken-watanabe-raffey-cassidy-animation-kensukes-kingdom-1202551372/?fbclid=IwAR2wenlbpWJwZmEdTMZHj6YloZX2aWy_ZHbEs5_AtzcP5p2CnyXcI5eprtA" target="_blank">HERE</a>Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-12086163664192589832018-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:002018-11-26T06:00:14.579-08:00Thief MemoriesI certainly wasn't expecting to end up on stage last night, at the end of the BFI screening of 'The Thief And The Cobbler: A Moment In Time'. But it was a delight to go up and be interviewed next to my two mentors Richard Williams and Roy Naisbitt - both absolute animation legends.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Left to right) Neil Boyle, Richard Williams and Roy Naisbitt being interviewed by Justin Johnson.</td></tr>
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It's 26 years since the film was shut down, mid-production, in London, but it was great to hear this assembly of unfinished footage still getting a lot of laughs and applause. It lives on... Bravo!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-35534979536499462242018-08-05T08:38:00.000-07:002018-08-05T08:38:11.576-07:00Behind The Scenes On Sherlock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The dvd release of Sherlock Gnomes includes a little piece about the hand-drawn 'Mind Palace' sequences that I designed and then brought to life with my co-animator Aude Carpentier.<br />
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Huge thanks to director John Stevenson - and all the production team - for giving us the freedom, support and expert guidance we needed to create these little sequences, dotted throughout the film. It was such a fun project, I've never had a happier experience on a movie.<br />
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The link to the clip can be found <a href="https://vimeo.com/283293622" target="_blank">HERE!</a><br />
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And for other bits and bobs, there is always <a href="https://www.neilboyle.co.uk/" target="_blank">my WEBSITE</a><br />
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-8925928945535622472018-03-24T07:55:00.000-07:002018-03-24T07:55:04.256-07:00Sherlock Gnomes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sherlock Gnomes has been released this weekend in the USA. I was invited to join the production last year in order to create some short hand-drawn sequences that would illustrate the inner workings of Sherlock's brain.<br />
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Working alongside two encouraging producers, Carolyn Soper and Steve Hamilton Shaw, the fabulously supportive director, John Stevenson, and the amazing vocal talents of Johnny Depp, I designed the sequences in a black and white, pen and ink style (a small nod to the original illustrator of the Sherlock stories, Sidney Paget) and then animated them with my frequent co-animator Aude Carpentier.<br />
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It was a tremendous fun to work on this project, and I am delighted that many film reviews have singled out our little moments for praise:<br />
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"'Sherlock Gnomes' even boast a few moments of genuine inspiration. Whenever Sherlock Gnomes enters his famous 'Mind Palace', in order to sort through every piece of information he has in his enormous brain, the animation shifts to dynamic 2D black-and-white, and the film takes on a playful, buoyant energy." <b>WorldProNews</b><br />
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"One very peasant surprise was the use of 'old-school' 2D drawn animation to show the inner workings inside Sherlock's head (the end credits call it his 'mind palace'). In one sequence his Baker Street digs become an M C Escher maze of curling staircases, all rendered in a 'pen and ink' style that recalls master animator Richard Williams." <b>WeAreMovieGeeks </b><br />
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"Depp's voice performance as the quirky Sherlock Gnomes...takes off during fantasy sequences done in a lively black-and-white line drawing animation style that illustrate his peculiar brain and way of thinking." <b>LATimes</b><br />
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"...cartoon dream sequences illustrating Sherlock's leaps of deductive logic serve to shake up the movie every now and then." <b>Entertainment</b><br />
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"...it has occasional fun ideas, such as rendering the inner workings of Holmes's mind in hand drawn black-and-white." <b>NYTimes</b><br />
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"...clever 2D black-and-white sequences." <b>Hollywood</b><br />
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"...the whole film should have been done in this style." <b>Letterboxd </b> <br />
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I feel tremendously privileged to have worked on this film alongside such a talented, and happy, crew. And it's always lovely to see London on film, particularly from the viewpoint of 8 inches off the ground, which was the average gnome-sized viewpoint of this movie!<br />
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(For more information on my various projects, go to www.neilboyle.co.uk or <a href="https://www.neilboyle.co.uk/" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a><br />
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-2170168572558220232017-03-23T14:39:00.000-07:002017-03-23T14:39:00.492-07:00GorillazJust released tonight - the latest Gorillaz music video!<br />
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I've had enormous fun animating on this the past few weeks, with a room full of great artists.<br />
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To watch it click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJp6xlKEug&t=3s">HERE</a><br />
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To watch the 360 interactive version then <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVaBvyzuypw" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a><br />
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Enjoy!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-29934159026956767922017-01-22T12:58:00.000-08:002017-01-22T12:58:24.305-08:00The Simpsons - rebooted postBack in 2014 I wrote a blog piece about my involvement as animation director on the Sylvain Chomet-designed opening 'couch gag' for an episode of The Simpsons. Within 24 hours I was asked by the production company to remove the blog piece as they preferred to credit only the directors they represented, and not the hard working crews who toiled behind-the-scenes to bring these short films to life. Personally, I love the talents of the crews I work with, and many of these artists I've worked with again and again so that they've become a kind of 'family' to me - they're people I admire, and learn from, and who I completely trust to deliver great work when the pressure is on. Sadly the production company for this sequence recently went into liquidation, but that does mean now - finally - I can reinstate my post and once again celebrate the great work of this fantastic crew. Time for the back-room boys and girls to come back into the spotlight once again :-)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look kinda familiar?<br />Rough animation drawing of French-style Homer,<br />by Neil Boyle</td></tr>
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Toward the end of 2013 Sylvain Chomet was approached to create a special one-off 'couch gag' for the opening titles of The Simpsons. To bring his ideas to life he turned to London-based production company 'th1ng', where he was then represented as a commercials director.<br />
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Once Sylvain had written a script and redesigned the Simpsons family in his distinctive style, our small crew in London set to work.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model sheet by Sylvain Chomet</td></tr>
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The shot was designed to work as a single, locked off master shot, with each of the characters having their own moment in the spotlight as the gag progressed. In a long shot like this I think the hardest thing to keep control of is clarity: figuring out what happens, to whom, and when. The 'blocking' of a shot should ensure that your eye is directed around the screen seemingly effortlessly, without everything descending into a confused muddle. Because the blocking needed to be so precise I decided against planning the sequence in static storyboard form and instead opted to draw up animatic drawings, full size onto 15 field paper, plotting the positioning and timing of each character on a line test machine.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neil Boyle at work on the animatic</td></tr>
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Getting everything roughly posed and working harmoniously took me about a week and a half of sketching and shooting. But it was enormous fun. Figuring out the blocking is one of my favourite parts of the film making process - it's a strange combination of performance, psychology, geometry... and general plate spinning.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The animatic - plotting out out the action in pose form.</td></tr>
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In the meantime Kirk Hendry set about creating the colour scheme for the Chomet-style Simpsons living room, as well as the overall lighting scheme: the lights going off, flickering back to life, and the ambient glow of the TV screen bathing the room in a bluish glow. He also created many moving shadow effects, and dozens of subtle optical effects to add extra texture to the shot.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirk Hendry, creating lighting and textural atmosphere...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...as well as subtly different colour temperatures for the 'feel' of the shot.</td></tr>
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When all this work was sent off to France and the USA for approval by Sylvain Chomet and the Simpsons producers, we got to work on the animation itself. Because we had 'fenceposts' for the timing and positioning of the characters already roughly blocked out in the animatic, it was easy to split the animation between myself and fellow animator Peter Dodd, knowing we wouldn't be obscuring or overlapping each other's work.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Dodd, animating Bart and Lisa locked in combat.</td></tr>
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As I've written in many posts here, the animatic system really helps keep things on course, while still allowing a great animator like Peter to improvise with his own creative touches.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EE45F-evJo0k5OE3sSYAgs4IWiMYIn6E02rfuveMylFtTdpwa1SfyUyAz6U5BnLR1PSgMxobZGZ9905sVSGAZZP-K_EG0k_asz-cTg2FihNb4SF01tuVdZAOgSvEoGJM18z_gSx2uMA/s1600/PeterCharts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EE45F-evJo0k5OE3sSYAgs4IWiMYIn6E02rfuveMylFtTdpwa1SfyUyAz6U5BnLR1PSgMxobZGZ9905sVSGAZZP-K_EG0k_asz-cTg2FihNb4SF01tuVdZAOgSvEoGJM18z_gSx2uMA/s400/PeterCharts.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the mind of a great animator: Peter Dodd's amazingly labyrinthine workings-out look like a work of art unto themselves. But the end result looks effortless.</td></tr>
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As each piece of rough animation was completed, the team of assistant animators leaped in, either doing touch-up and inbetween on the original roughs, or a full clean-up and inbetween, depending on what was required.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwVfWgm7_wrIp8mhRgfFGzxa_KERM_1ma15vWvI8FCVKZrg-dUHD7f6180HZ3LhvKvD7x2uDE6glne4_vfn6v60q_1e_1Sktylr_L7ZPo_DOIh3spiW0bLakcmWMzuidE1BVJSQIB4yo/s1600/IMG_4248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwVfWgm7_wrIp8mhRgfFGzxa_KERM_1ma15vWvI8FCVKZrg-dUHD7f6180HZ3LhvKvD7x2uDE6glne4_vfn6v60q_1e_1Sktylr_L7ZPo_DOIh3spiW0bLakcmWMzuidE1BVJSQIB4yo/s400/IMG_4248.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Justine Waldie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWDtykbdF_KVbxrLjU8JJwJdzskvXONxtzkltvLBJ1kyHzkYGVLtSmihyphenhyphenitxMLf9iEqKizZGxF733hTrkRQ84GOScvorUGSTD0jGbrrt-ISeFm7FIIcWRwPVXytwZoWE8x_1M7RpfJvU/s1600/20131205_094323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWDtykbdF_KVbxrLjU8JJwJdzskvXONxtzkltvLBJ1kyHzkYGVLtSmihyphenhyphenitxMLf9iEqKizZGxF733hTrkRQ84GOScvorUGSTD0jGbrrt-ISeFm7FIIcWRwPVXytwZoWE8x_1M7RpfJvU/s400/20131205_094323.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An emaciated Santa's Little Helper - my favourite part to animate.<br />Animator Neil Boyle, assistant animator Justine Waldie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAWEf3c3FTVfuOx_8fLsdQANSrv529HjQmYbZXkivWasfWphoHO7vZLUlPA2c03p-CBknw8puf1pYo1_VGeqTam9siNz_PdCVcNnWRTj7M61PgVPmK9lruzszo9B1q9tutTOPtXI6C4E/s1600/20130206_182411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAWEf3c3FTVfuOx_8fLsdQANSrv529HjQmYbZXkivWasfWphoHO7vZLUlPA2c03p-CBknw8puf1pYo1_VGeqTam9siNz_PdCVcNnWRTj7M61PgVPmK9lruzszo9B1q9tutTOPtXI6C4E/s400/20130206_182411.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Aude Carpentier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxucGtIQS6q2FgksMfQRF9Bgm6lDmdDhCbb3Wyg5dWsv9CFzpAqIAMX-4V0QFbAOZs1LKQnhfaDzAhw7-KeBt092ULG_N72ITdpRKe3_b_RcVVV2xdZNMOtlWwItStuDKp67gOOCcs10/s1600/P1020437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxucGtIQS6q2FgksMfQRF9Bgm6lDmdDhCbb3Wyg5dWsv9CFzpAqIAMX-4V0QFbAOZs1LKQnhfaDzAhw7-KeBt092ULG_N72ITdpRKe3_b_RcVVV2xdZNMOtlWwItStuDKp67gOOCcs10/s400/P1020437.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Aude Carpentier assisting Peter Dodd's animation of the<br />goose, escaping its fois gras destiny.</td></tr>
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It turned out we created quite a mountain of paperwork: sixty seconds worth of animation, featuring seven characters (including the snail on the TV!) all of which were scanned and painted by Donna Spencer, before being seamlessly composited and lit by Kirk.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwpC1lI7CowbMoW1n_BLhVtqJl4Fk0vQS9vQYUvtIAkkMGChkPggCTUSekPfsA_6vBfJmE1MbnBD8HrYlHL0yYGffDIbM0bsEyNPk3dVrKfPYQ9q2y9LmRlMKcxNyvCBoOOTAG7cSV_U/s1600/IMG_4263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwpC1lI7CowbMoW1n_BLhVtqJl4Fk0vQS9vQYUvtIAkkMGChkPggCTUSekPfsA_6vBfJmE1MbnBD8HrYlHL0yYGffDIbM0bsEyNPk3dVrKfPYQ9q2y9LmRlMKcxNyvCBoOOTAG7cSV_U/s400/IMG_4263.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Alan Henry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEfBNnDEpT6dGPuREhYSd0_w0t5Ykr-67zOg69zsfNsVpzBIQ9E_jiwfN85zAfZzqMfhYKMkhr-3UOw_shtZ1Lp60muBcieAzSI9XgQeHJmMF5l2NZyrWg21Rlzffg2NcL5D0YflLXS0/s1600/IMG_4270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEfBNnDEpT6dGPuREhYSd0_w0t5Ykr-67zOg69zsfNsVpzBIQ9E_jiwfN85zAfZzqMfhYKMkhr-3UOw_shtZ1Lp60muBcieAzSI9XgQeHJmMF5l2NZyrWg21Rlzffg2NcL5D0YflLXS0/s400/IMG_4270.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Angeline De Silva</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjg7d2v34IUlhMiyOIx0xD5qohgHtFwWYftI6QkhdrdCi2-uSeSU-PAQIKe1Cxe_Pv-w-zEPFOrkEj2v4ToQWY2R4VVdf3h0oybgw21wKGDh48QOF2SiqhDZo-IWKQ2Ra0Cn-jFT1A1gw/s1600/20131115_181351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjg7d2v34IUlhMiyOIx0xD5qohgHtFwWYftI6QkhdrdCi2-uSeSU-PAQIKe1Cxe_Pv-w-zEPFOrkEj2v4ToQWY2R4VVdf3h0oybgw21wKGDh48QOF2SiqhDZo-IWKQ2Ra0Cn-jFT1A1gw/s400/20131115_181351.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirk Hendry at work compositing: at this stage only Homer, Santa's Little Helper, the goose and the foreground snail are in colour and in place.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gerry Gallego simultaneously assisting and growing a magnificent moustache<br />for charity.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Jay Wren</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7njQhRmVd2_uGC1DNmzAde9OeH-_U_XAsJU0W98qdcU3dgsaio7m_DF54S81Y1y2X4YIit0y8g5RRczOjSRd8yqqoQNwsXtjbOe4ScGIUeydSx8LBlxQ3dCvIas1nzGn6LgRq6ejcgi0/s1600/IMG_4289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7njQhRmVd2_uGC1DNmzAde9OeH-_U_XAsJU0W98qdcU3dgsaio7m_DF54S81Y1y2X4YIit0y8g5RRczOjSRd8yqqoQNwsXtjbOe4ScGIUeydSx8LBlxQ3dCvIas1nzGn6LgRq6ejcgi0/s400/IMG_4289.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assistant animator Katerina Kremasioti</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Atkinson adding the final grading touches at 'th1ng'.</td></tr>
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A really lovely job to work on - it's rare you get to create a short piece of commercial animation that is not selling something, but is produced just for its own entertainment value. </div>
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A fantastic treat, and a wonderfully talented crew to work with. Fingers crossed another unexpected treat won't be too far away...</div>
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-31425564474854009352016-04-09T02:55:00.000-07:002016-04-09T02:55:01.416-07:00Made Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We're thrilled to have our new live-action short film 'Made Up' as part of the Lakeshorts 2016 International Film Festival. <br />
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This (very short) short is all about the mysteries of how women learn the art of applying make-up on moving trains - a subject that has both perplexed and entertained me over thirty years of commuting through the packed London Underground transport system!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGzO-Aef_oBIxb0DsBtvFk_hChb9f992JdV3CKDjHfNxTkFAvUzKoA3qE95PdHx9SmmY5CxqK984OfW-s_i8jZcICF2HXp5eG2C6S3phBomg5s9ho7PECWTMYAbs45oA8oGoLAcl_b_8/s1600/MadeUp05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPGzO-Aef_oBIxb0DsBtvFk_hChb9f992JdV3CKDjHfNxTkFAvUzKoA3qE95PdHx9SmmY5CxqK984OfW-s_i8jZcICF2HXp5eG2C6S3phBomg5s9ho7PECWTMYAbs45oA8oGoLAcl_b_8/s400/MadeUp05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We're honoured to be one of only 8 films selected from over 900 entrants, screening at the Gala Selection, on May 7th. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXRq4yFMbsbl8j9mMn_oaqWlrj1LZihFiDIl-CC4nYsDDkAGDl-X1SAUGST4iGVjSlXv4wFztfLIMJxSQP3oKvYlWmjfweQ36ia8eRmjX-lZbP8PFvHKECKtk8mpsB7OHP57x08Ef63E/s1600/MadeUp06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglXRq4yFMbsbl8j9mMn_oaqWlrj1LZihFiDIl-CC4nYsDDkAGDl-X1SAUGST4iGVjSlXv4wFztfLIMJxSQP3oKvYlWmjfweQ36ia8eRmjX-lZbP8PFvHKECKtk8mpsB7OHP57x08Ef63E/s400/MadeUp06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For information on ticket sales, or to check us out on the 2016 Sizzle Reel, click <a href="http://www.lakeshorts.ca/">HERE.</a> </div>
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-29284451037276513732015-10-21T03:10:00.001-07:002015-10-21T03:10:57.100-07:00The Future Has Arrived<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Back To The Future 2 day everyone!<br />
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Having been lost in time myself (I haven't blogged here for nearly 6 months) I can't resist adding my own little piece to the worldwide celebrations.<br />
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The first Back To the Future film is, as far as I'm concerned, the greatest narrative screenplay ever written. Beautifully structured, superbly paced, and with flawless internal logic. And most importantly, it's just damn good fun.<br />
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When I got my big break to work on the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit I was excited to get to meet director Robert Zemeckis and watch how he works. And having heard (this is back in 1987) that he was going to direct two sequels to Back To The Future as soon as he'd wrapped Roger Rabbit, I couldn't resist being an annoying little nerd and cornering him at a Christmas party to try and prise out some information about the upcoming movies...<br />
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"Well," he said, "the first one's set thirty years in the future, and the next one's set way in the past - it's gonna be a western." <br />
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An enigmatic smile. A long silence. "And that's <i>all </i>I'm gonna tell you."<br />
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And despite a bit more prodding, he wouldn't budge. Like everyone else I had to join the cinema queue 18 months later and find out for myself.<br />
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But these three films remain my favourite trilogy ever. Had Bob Zemeckis been born Jean-Luc Zemeckis, and had Back To The Future 2 been subtitled, critics would have raved about how it plays with Cinematic Point Of View And Self Referential Reflexivity - or somesuch - but being a 'commercial' film this was pretty much overlooked. Whatever. They made a load of money, and spread a lot of joy, and people are still celebrating today.<br />
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So, if you're a fan, have a great day. The Future has arrived. (Sadly, minus the flying cars.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jgGR6QDX-Pc5Hj9AUacKbyOwOh4Q9jk9mmVtKXSDmD5iDfKJQCCbG96M-JUFF6C7JhYsNlwkytAuaA-AnTlyGOzpy1CB1MRMq7cw71VJ7vYqCnIDgvXWyiv_kkYPqO8boRcK_thPUjc/s1600/bfi-00m-o0a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jgGR6QDX-Pc5Hj9AUacKbyOwOh4Q9jk9mmVtKXSDmD5iDfKJQCCbG96M-JUFF6C7JhYsNlwkytAuaA-AnTlyGOzpy1CB1MRMq7cw71VJ7vYqCnIDgvXWyiv_kkYPqO8boRcK_thPUjc/s400/bfi-00m-o0a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Zemeckis directing Michael J Fox on Back to the Future 2</td></tr>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-51321288369269433752015-04-21T01:50:00.000-07:002015-04-21T01:50:17.619-07:00Big Screen Adaptation of Kensuke's Kingdom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's an exciting day, as finally I can reveal some concept art from the forthcoming animated feature production of Kensuke's Kingdom - an action adventure film based on the much-loved and best-selling book by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse).<br />
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The project was brought to me and fellow director Kirk Hendry by producers Sarah Radclyffe, Barnaby Spurrier and Anna Webster, and it's a story we immediately fell in love with. It's a perfect mix of action, adventure, high emotion, and fun, set in a dazzling - and sometimes deadly -tropical paradise.<br />
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As the producers work hard to raise the financing for this project, Kirk and I have developed concept paintings working with the multi-Oscar-winning production company Framestore. These images are now exclusively up at <a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/concept-art-revealed-for-feature-film-kensukes-kingdom-exclusive-112049.html">Cartoon Brew</a><br />
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Enjoy!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-67963834758102044712015-03-31T14:37:00.000-07:002015-03-31T14:37:30.033-07:00Stromae's Carmen <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the past few months I've had the pleasure of animating on a new music video for megastar Stromae, directed by Sylvain Chomet, and produced by production company<b> th1ng </b>in London.<br />
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It's just been released today onto Buzzfeed and you can watch it <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/kelleydunlap/premiere-stromae-carmen-music-video#.ld2nRObwb">by clicking HERE!</a><br />
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Enjoy!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-75867348021111540462015-02-08T15:35:00.000-08:002015-02-08T15:35:54.180-08:00Gallery<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kxPxLKhxEz1kTT4jdTb5q-YUcrJuP1A06l6cYwUNaf3qtDNO8j0M9yR3t9CE7IcQqqtKGv5_KYH0dXQEMkXlKjVk6ZRrdvA1rllAmxRD7AtQZ97tgALV42AmkOptCvyKtE421zkvR1g/s1600/IMG_1318+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kxPxLKhxEz1kTT4jdTb5q-YUcrJuP1A06l6cYwUNaf3qtDNO8j0M9yR3t9CE7IcQqqtKGv5_KYH0dXQEMkXlKjVk6ZRrdvA1rllAmxRD7AtQZ97tgALV42AmkOptCvyKtE421zkvR1g/s1600/IMG_1318+(2).jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork from The Last Belle - black lines photocopied from ink drawings onto<br />
cel, with hand-inked shirt pattern, and cel paint on the reverse.</td></tr>
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Long time - No blogging...<br />
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The usual excuses apply: I'm in the middle of drawing a fun, but time consuming job. But the interesting thing about this project is that it could prove to be (possibly?...probably?...) the final traditional pencil-on-paper job I ever get paid to do. The Cintiq, and software like TVPaint, are spreading through the 2D animation world at a rapid pace, and almost all the London animation production companies are now operating paperless.<br />
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Of course I'll always have pencils, pens and a stack of paper at home for my personal work - old habits die hard, and I can't think of a more immediate way to connect my imagination to the outside world. But in the working environment the noise of a room full of flapping sheets of paper is being replaced by the low hum of computer fans, and the sound of scratching, swishing pencils is being supplanted by the silence of nylon nib sliding over glass. Only the muttering, sighing, and outright swearing as you try to get your drawing just right remain the same as they always were.<br />
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One of the upsides of non-digital work is that you're left with actual, tangible pieces of artwork you can hold in your hand, or stick up on your wall. Over the years I've collected (or rescued from the bin) bits and pieces from various films and commercials (and due to my connections with the Richard Williams Studio, many are from there). Looking at them up close can give you a real insight into the craftspeople who produced them, and how they worked.<br />
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So with that in mind, here's a gallery dedicated to an almost lost way of working...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoe1ghdSJX6baAfqNrk2y_cU5GNd9j27J0XfhyphenhyphennZT4zZnnA2_MI-MK8e-o9ztytJJqeV4hzOji7himLzUjG7D7a5VkLuZK7mxJo3qrvWwaXMoTzLB7uuEh5utaeEnP3qcKBdtMXANXNw/s1600/IMG_1888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGoe1ghdSJX6baAfqNrk2y_cU5GNd9j27J0XfhyphenhyphennZT4zZnnA2_MI-MK8e-o9ztytJJqeV4hzOji7himLzUjG7D7a5VkLuZK7mxJo3qrvWwaXMoTzLB7uuEh5utaeEnP3qcKBdtMXANXNw/s1600/IMG_1888.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An original cel from a Harlem Globetrotters commercial animated by Richard Williams<br />
and (I think) Tom Roth. Soft waxy pencil on frosted cel, cel paint on the back.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoHbb-883sg0zfy_wasnM6UMOpUTIaBRIlbbZtfLLrqAA5e3tt9lJ_YAkfqh2Cztqh2Lx19NYwZsoVIB_gxBCW6yFNUx886YtSjFu-z0RcBCIIheG-Gl532uaQSRk5Jh5jVdM7XXD9jI/s1600/IMG_1886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoHbb-883sg0zfy_wasnM6UMOpUTIaBRIlbbZtfLLrqAA5e3tt9lJ_YAkfqh2Cztqh2Lx19NYwZsoVIB_gxBCW6yFNUx886YtSjFu-z0RcBCIIheG-Gl532uaQSRk5Jh5jVdM7XXD9jI/s1600/IMG_1886.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a close up of that head. Bear in mind that this commercial<br />
was mostly animated on ones, so 25 of these 'drawn-paintings' would have <br />
to be produced per second of screen time! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To see the final commercial (unfortunately very low-res) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NWLgklZYM0">Press Here!</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU8OYjhHgTYk9mSm3-9DYRMRUWVMUYn2u117lCkPeJINAQ0_UDav1FOF18JaPsCctBQ4XwQ8MDSSUz0G7rLCDlig1HcPKQ7gS6d-xgrUazQDJYpZMp6Oj4tSF2cAU5csaosRj9pZyZG0/s1600/IMG_1889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnU8OYjhHgTYk9mSm3-9DYRMRUWVMUYn2u117lCkPeJINAQ0_UDav1FOF18JaPsCctBQ4XwQ8MDSSUz0G7rLCDlig1HcPKQ7gS6d-xgrUazQDJYpZMp6Oj4tSF2cAU5csaosRj9pZyZG0/s1600/IMG_1889.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another insane amount of work, this time for a commercial animated by Richard<br />
Williams and Simon Wells. The style had to mimic the work of famous<br />
newspaper cartoonist 'Kal'.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1Sx1sVzINR0KsQMkRC4jzSoaLi6KIAr7jYFMhs8FBXxWeiAyiSydZ-S7RhbhNg5rhM2Qxt5yqfHF7gxT1ot-vA3eN6a3JrUpAB_n-Zlhrnsf2Ve2R1KO_ZeKEPIR-pDkwPn9hydopjk/s1600/IMG_1890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1Sx1sVzINR0KsQMkRC4jzSoaLi6KIAr7jYFMhs8FBXxWeiAyiSydZ-S7RhbhNg5rhM2Qxt5yqfHF7gxT1ot-vA3eN6a3JrUpAB_n-Zlhrnsf2Ve2R1KO_ZeKEPIR-pDkwPn9hydopjk/s1600/IMG_1890.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a close up of all that cross-hatching. You can almost smell the late nights<br />
spent at the studio producing this commercial!<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnNUVpasP7c">Here </a>is the final commercial, once again in appalling ultra-low-res, but better than nothing...</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiw2v3ebmgdUigFNARuU40aaVL-z1Wcmg4nDopPmXPPwf4XGiGvgNhZ9rXvEx0J_2IyJwXJl-BxftqKlcIOtCvAekNr9mjxHuwcpdjgazyGDVb8rMYz8P9rFBkfp2FcZyG3RkRV115uM/s1600/IMG_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiw2v3ebmgdUigFNARuU40aaVL-z1Wcmg4nDopPmXPPwf4XGiGvgNhZ9rXvEx0J_2IyJwXJl-BxftqKlcIOtCvAekNr9mjxHuwcpdjgazyGDVb8rMYz8P9rFBkfp2FcZyG3RkRV115uM/s1600/IMG_1892.JPG" height="640" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork painted (in guache?) directly onto cel by Richard Williams. I love how<br />
delicate the brushwork is - this really can stand up to being framed and mounted<br />
on the wall!</td></tr>
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You'll find this piece of artwork about 47 seconds into these <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqptHlkjAA">Titles.</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3UDRhGCvu8IEplnEkngps57zT78XA6G83u7hiJxfxhq2pGONJtqZfsj7fjxGqbeJzDTnSybM1iqGK63wXKTGSDJG0XXYvHMLzP4vCdwgQhGlWC602l7uMtMKbZM-kmS7ui7mIy5H1tc/s1600/IMG_1898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3UDRhGCvu8IEplnEkngps57zT78XA6G83u7hiJxfxhq2pGONJtqZfsj7fjxGqbeJzDTnSybM1iqGK63wXKTGSDJG0XXYvHMLzP4vCdwgQhGlWC602l7uMtMKbZM-kmS7ui7mIy5H1tc/s1600/IMG_1898.JPG" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wax and soft coloured pencils on frosted cel, cel paint on reverse. This commercial<br />
(for breath freshener!) was animated by Russell Hall, assisted by Bella Bremner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9WzAGHPOPt-9aCtPSRcXG33Jpj8NfIcRvn7FmXERHhm3pziM5fgpdvdyAf1blW_06zSiWzbnvDeIMvU86Ol3Y_aUqq9vAsz1wIQhhhjrparemGAPvw2WSfIFoSI9NsTl0U7QRfaL_Ic/s1600/IMG_1899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS9WzAGHPOPt-9aCtPSRcXG33Jpj8NfIcRvn7FmXERHhm3pziM5fgpdvdyAf1blW_06zSiWzbnvDeIMvU86Ol3Y_aUqq9vAsz1wIQhhhjrparemGAPvw2WSfIFoSI9NsTl0U7QRfaL_Ic/s1600/IMG_1899.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up close, I love the different textures here: sketchy, but controlled, linework;<br />
rendered light and shade; hot and smelly looking smoke, shaded and smudged. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxjZ-KUAfw">Here's</a> the final commercial, which I remember being a big success with audiences at the time. </div>
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Personally I'm excited to see where the new technologies will take us. Taking the best of the old, and mixing it up with the best of the new, should open up all sorts of fresh avenues. But I love to have these little fragments of artwork around me. Etched into their surfaces, trapped for all time, are the brushstrokes, penstrokes, and sheer skill of the amazing artists who created them. </div>
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I'll have more goodies from the archive in the next post. Stay tuned... </div>
Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-61127840249807147842014-12-27T01:35:00.001-08:002014-12-27T01:35:49.243-08:00100,000Champagne!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCZdRg_5gElxOsDJXmuNeuXmA8VsXAkngUY_9_eHz0TtfL1TKtHa3-Do9u_UfQIkYCEOs6TYHCcDIuVahYkILDw4wNkvU_svY1TvqEkXAeVAwSl73wFGtyLQn37H1A3z6AVCDGiCA6Rk/s1600/100,000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTCZdRg_5gElxOsDJXmuNeuXmA8VsXAkngUY_9_eHz0TtfL1TKtHa3-Do9u_UfQIkYCEOs6TYHCcDIuVahYkILDw4wNkvU_svY1TvqEkXAeVAwSl73wFGtyLQn37H1A3z6AVCDGiCA6Rk/s1600/100,000.jpg" height="400" width="396" /></a></div>
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A huge <em>Thank You </em>to all our YouTube watchers who have raised The Last Belle viewing figures to 100,000 this holiday!<br />
<br />
Though the making of The Last Belle was totally analogue and traditional, the chance to put it online where it can find friends around the world is still an amazing thing to me.<br />
<br />
So to all our viewers, and blog readers, in the UK, the USA, France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, India, Russia, Australia... all of you everywhere... many, many thanks for your support. And to those of you who celebrate it, may we wish you a very Merry Christmas and New Year!<br />
<br />
Keep reading in 2015 for more behind-the-scenes stuff. Thank you! Merci! Danke! Gracias! Grazie! Spasibo! Dhan'yavada! Cheers!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-22400397924721065352014-12-11T14:39:00.000-08:002014-12-11T14:39:17.048-08:00Pure, Distilled Charm..!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkzrU9Nxj8uk5DiKA8d9x6-3BS95z_9weA6kahFhmhnfnaysbFH9WPjLlzcRIVXtAINs6ol41sGdPB7zbQimvridyBVE8zlYEZ_0oHAlkh-mv4ZpkW-em9lec0Tr5qfNSIV-uoruvC70/s1600/moviemusicmania.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkzrU9Nxj8uk5DiKA8d9x6-3BS95z_9weA6kahFhmhnfnaysbFH9WPjLlzcRIVXtAINs6ol41sGdPB7zbQimvridyBVE8zlYEZ_0oHAlkh-mv4ZpkW-em9lec0Tr5qfNSIV-uoruvC70/s1600/moviemusicmania.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
A wonderful review of the recently released score to The Last Belle, courtesy of film music website <a href="http://www.moviemusicmania.com/">Movie Music Mania</a><br />
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"Hancock has concocted a compact work of pure, distilled charm!" screams the headline.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The performance by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra is rich and vivacious, and Hancock knows how to write music that really lives and breathes. What's more, he demonstrates a knack for detail, the minor flourishes he adds and emotional shades he is able to execute really elevating the score to an impressive level of complexity. Don't be fooled by your preconceptions of a "short film score", because Stuart Hancock once again demonstrates that good things can indeed come in the smallest of packages. Bravo!"</span><br />
<br />
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You can read the full review <a href="http://www.moviemusicmania.com/score-reviews/the-last-belle-stuart-hancock">HERE.</a><br />
<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-23176910467543767882014-12-02T00:34:00.000-08:002014-12-02T00:34:41.925-08:00Score Is Released!Calling all fans of exciting, romantic and fun movie-music: the award-winning score to The Last Belle will be available to buy from today (Dec 2nd)!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOSwBbYvzI2IXlSD6Do7AUFJsuyPFVMqeTLjonM9jAlTAaYZrW9jOm6sm_Lk7EqZc262EeWctelbNW0bz-cO8S6rpBE8WF1gYpfh6-wYHz2wErGnuReTCp3eX0Rk_r5uYfbbKjidrxXw/s1600/LastBelleAlbumCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOSwBbYvzI2IXlSD6Do7AUFJsuyPFVMqeTLjonM9jAlTAaYZrW9jOm6sm_Lk7EqZc262EeWctelbNW0bz-cO8S6rpBE8WF1gYpfh6-wYHz2wErGnuReTCp3eX0Rk_r5uYfbbKjidrxXw/s1600/LastBelleAlbumCover.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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All 14 minutes of the lush score, recorded by the mighty Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, are being released by Moviescore Media and will be available as a digital download either directly from <a href="http://moviescoremedia.com/">them</a>, or from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Belle-Original-Soundtrack-Recording/dp/B00PX6B6HW/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1417213216&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Last+Belle">Amazon US</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Belle-Original-Soundtrack-Recording/dp/B00PY52V0I/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1417213377&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Last+Belle">Amazon UK</a>, and many other outlets.<br />
<br />
<br />
To quote from Moviescore Media's press release:<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: small;">"MovieScore Media finds love (and great film scores) in the most unusual places - this time we release a digital EP by award-winning composer Stuart Hancock who once again proves that small films do not necessarily have small scores - in fact, a symphonic orchestral score can do wonders to fill the 2-D animated characters with life! Performed by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;">The Last Belle </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Arial; font-size: small;"></span></span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>is a rich, colourful and versatile score which gives you an emotional rollercoaster in just 14 minutes. The music follows the two parallel storylines, alternating between a hopeless romantic ("I’ve Got Myself a Date!", "Giddy Rosie", "Finding Love in London") and a carnivalesque rush which sounds like the most insane moments of Danny Elfman’s career ("Going Down the Tubes", "Rushing to Ripov’s" ). The score recently won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Park City Film Music Festival, Utah."</strong> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELYpwiBQdOD4Gc3QPLoTYcO_E2iKCnZT6jQX7c95tfMl0nposvXiIP98wEuEyv4Y7mzknqOEH7vzKnm5Z6-_XqpO-bnLCggBEW7835EmHrXTK8hWknUJoOI1japtaOQX4mxcAI0TcVdc/s1600/Moviescore+Media.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELYpwiBQdOD4Gc3QPLoTYcO_E2iKCnZT6jQX7c95tfMl0nposvXiIP98wEuEyv4Y7mzknqOEH7vzKnm5Z6-_XqpO-bnLCggBEW7835EmHrXTK8hWknUJoOI1japtaOQX4mxcAI0TcVdc/s1600/Moviescore+Media.png" height="64" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you'll pardon the mixed metaphors, it's the perfect Christmas stocking-filler for your ears..!Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-41710703002488306152014-11-18T14:55:00.001-08:002014-11-18T14:55:51.426-08:00Musical Gong!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRFazmSJSi8hArG0I3496JHjwRCI_WNvGxll3Jy_0aBSGB-_Om4Bvxw-7Uau7Qw827RdOIhMEYpWGjrYzAaduNgihxkXBfjVzaiVl8bxvvlxF1xa6cjVAVoO2lGoFFqjVOQqQr_f32Fg/s1600/safe_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRFazmSJSi8hArG0I3496JHjwRCI_WNvGxll3Jy_0aBSGB-_Om4Bvxw-7Uau7Qw827RdOIhMEYpWGjrYzAaduNgihxkXBfjVzaiVl8bxvvlxF1xa6cjVAVoO2lGoFFqjVOQqQr_f32Fg/s1600/safe_image.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here's an early Christmas treat: an exciting new award for The Last Belle! <br />
<br />
Composer Stuart Hancock has just won an amazing Gold Medal for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF-RAgAOmgU">his score</a> to The Last Belle! The award was part of the Park City Film Music Festival, held in the same area as the Sundance Film Festival. And as if one gong wasn't enough, Stuart walked away with another two for his work on the short film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCfgHG8tlYg">'Hawk'</a> and the documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPFR_iQAXg">'The Desert Treasure'</a>.<br />
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(For UK readers wanting to hear more of Stuart's work, tune in to the BBC each Saturday for the new series of the action/drama <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U-R1pl4F8w">'Atlantis'</a>.)<br />
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For me, recording the score to The Last Belle was absolutely one of the highlights of the whole project. The film was always designed to work as a musical piece, alongside the obvious visual elements, so I'm thrilled the score has garnered this top award - congratulations Stuart!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBBLsCAuVDe6utrdDMRqkXfHfUyOYl1zEz8RwaqXL4AlA5ELV6fogOYLgnAJyXtJOecwwUvFUwsUkyNhAqpka1TVVUm3c7olaFM3HdkPcyDQHv6Xm0WgKlnrNfGvMq0_mARp2PF4UCEo/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBBLsCAuVDe6utrdDMRqkXfHfUyOYl1zEz8RwaqXL4AlA5ELV6fogOYLgnAJyXtJOecwwUvFUwsUkyNhAqpka1TVVUm3c7olaFM3HdkPcyDQHv6Xm0WgKlnrNfGvMq0_mARp2PF4UCEo/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The orchestra begins to assemble, ready to record The Last Belle...</td></tr>
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-72359601689010957022014-10-12T15:27:00.000-07:002014-10-12T15:27:16.939-07:00Between 1996 and 2000 The Last Belle production was housed in a studio at the delightfully named <a href="http://londonguidedwalks.co.uk/blog/hidden-london-wardrobe-place">Wardrobe Place.</a><br />
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It's an utterly secluded little courtyard, and despite being within a two minute walk of St Paul's Cathedral, it's unknown to most Londoners, hidden away as it is behind an dull little tunnel. Inside house number 2 (which came complete with a standard London ghost - never seen by me but spotted occasionally by others) we drew, painted and shot quite a fair chunk of The Last Belle.<br />
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It was a fantastic place to come to work every morning. From my top floor room I could stretch my eyes over the rooftops opposite to the dome of St Paul's Cathedral; working late into the night I would be kept company by the chiming bells echoing around the moonlit courtyard walls. It was a pretty Dickensian existence, only with electricity, running hot water, and a 35mm rostrum camera in the basement. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layout maestro Roy Naisbitt, producer Rebecca Neville and director Neil Boyle on the front steps of the studio.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Sticking to my rule that every location in The Last Belle must be based on a real place (for new readers to this blog there's more on locations <a href="http://thelastbelleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/on-location.html">Here</a> and <a href="http://thelastbelleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/more-on-location.html">Also Here</a>), I snuck our studio building into the film, whizzing past in the background during a fast camera pan: <br />
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I was adamant the right-hand basement windows must be lit up for this night-time shot. The reason? Because it was behind these windows that our rostrum camera was tucked away. As a tip-of-the-hat to our brilliant cameraman John Leatherbarrow I made sure the camera room windows were blazing away in honour of the many late nights he put in painstakingly photographing our artwork one frame at a time.<br />
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Each time this shot flies by it reminds me what an amazing job John did - indeed, what an amazing job the <i>whole</i> crew did. We had absolutely no money to play with, but even if I'd been given a million pounds I couldn't have gathered a more talented bunch of artists.<br />
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Thank you all! And please switch off the lights when you leave.<br />
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<br />Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-78646249945661770012014-08-30T15:03:00.000-07:002014-08-30T15:03:17.180-07:00A Moment In Time - Part 3A long silence from me...<br />
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...but finally the holiday season is passing, the Christmas commercial pitches are rolling in, and I'm back at the keyboard of this blog.<br />
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Today's offering is a little addendum to my recent posts on the legendarily unfinished movie 'The Thief and the Cobbler'. During my recent surge of studio spring cleaning I came across this little curio, which was made back in 1982:<br />
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I believe it was made as part of the drive to raise financing for the film, and was modelled on the famous toy puzzle where you have to navigate ball bearings, in their correct order, into hole-shaped slots. The ball bearings in this version are a golden colour, to echo the 'Three Golden Balls of Fate' atop a palace minaret, part of the storyline from the movie.<br />
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I have no idea how many of these were made - I would assume hundreds. Does anyone else out there have one tucked away at the back of their pencil drawer, like me?</div>
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And finally, here's a vintage Behind-The-Scenes-On-The-Thief picture taken by Simon Maddocks, the great photo-chronicler of so much British animation history (for which, thanks).</div>
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I had no idea this photo even existed until very recently. It shows a frighteningly young me sitting with assistant animator Tanya Fenton at one of the production parties (Summer? Christmas?) in 1991. It's very strange - in a 'Back to the Future' kind of way - to stumble suddenly across an unknown image from your life nearly a quarter of a century before...</div>
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All I can do now is marvel at the fact that in those days, sitting cross-legged on the floor all evening was a comfortable proposition...</div>
Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-51692568918311264812014-06-30T13:44:00.000-07:002014-06-30T13:44:30.932-07:00If Desks Could Tell Stories...After weeks of 'spring cleaning' my studio space is finally clear...<br />
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Entirely barren in fact, apart from a few kilos of dust. I am moving out of this work space and on to pastures new. But the drawing desk is coming with me. This is the desk (same desk - different studio space) where I first sat down in October 1996 to produce the first of 35,000 drawings for The Last Belle. This is the desk at which 95% of my work on The Last Belle was laid out, drawn, redrawn, erased, thrown in the bin and rescued from the bin. I've sat at this desk squinting at drawings, yelling in frustration at drawings and laughing at drawings (is it slightly embarrassing to admit to laughing at your own drawings now and again?) This desk has seen me sit at it all day and sometimes all night, both clean cut and unshaven, both elated and despairing, and on one occasion almost entirely naked (long story).<br />
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In short, we've been through a lot together.<br />
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But for a short while - between moving from my old studio space to my most recent studio space - my beloved desk had to go into storage. For an agonising few months I had to go without the perfectly tilted drawing board, the ergonomically designed shelving, and the exquisitely placed shallow pencil drawers. Instead, for the duration, I had sit on a bench (far too low) at my girlfriend's kitchen table (far too high). My 'drawing board' was a jagged 'L' shaped offcut of perspex (far too thin, so it wobbled) propped up against two piles of magazines (far too unstable) with an anglepoise lamp (far too hot) shining up behind it. It was in this makeshift torture chamber I animated this scene:<br />
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And here's the funny thing: when The Last Belle was finally finished and cut together, this scene - born in complete agony and discomfort, and without the aid of my beloved drawing desk - leapt out as my absolute personal favourite. </div>
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There's probably some profound philosophical insight I should be able to gain from this... but I'm buggered if I can figure out what it is.</div>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-30559282768245568572014-06-05T01:51:00.000-07:002014-06-05T01:51:36.913-07:00A Moment In Time - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A wonderful afternoon was spent last Sunday at the British Film Institute, watching the first ever UK screening of the assembly cut of 'The Thief and the Cobbler', digitally restored and archived by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The print is a copy of how the famously 'unfinished' film stood on a single day in May 1992, when production was shut down by Warner Bros and the Completion Bond Company: a mixture of finished full colour footage, line tests, storyboards, 'missing scene' captions, final music, temp music, and the original character voices. It's an insight into what the final film might have been, but also an insight into how an animated film is constructed, the very workings of its birth.<br />
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It is 22 years since I saw any of that footage up on the big screen, and it brought back a flood of memories. Despite the struggle I remember going through on some of those shots, it all sailed past effortlessly on the screen - which hopefully means we got it right!<br />
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Considering the sad fate that befell the film, the event was an actually a very happy and uplifting day. As Richard Williams pointed out after the screening, the legendary animation artists who worked over so many years on this film - many of them now long dead - would have loved the audience reaction to their work, the laughter, the engagement with this intricate hand-crafted world shining up on the screen. Thanks to this preservation print, The Thief and the Cobbler is now no longer simply a film, or even an unfinished film, but a unique preservation of a craft, and its craftspeople, captured in time.<br />
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Here are some pictures from the post-screening reception, all taken by 'Thief' FX animator Simon Maddocks (with thanks):<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neil Boyle, Rebecca Neville, Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton</td></tr>
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Layout and design maestro, Roy Naisbitt</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Williams, Heidi and Brian Stevens, 'Thief' DoP John Leatherbarrow</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The party continues late into the evening... John Leatherbarrow and<br />
'Thief' FX animator Mark Naisbitt</td></tr>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-82590522350187153452014-05-14T13:21:00.000-07:002014-05-14T13:21:40.539-07:00A Moment In TimeCalling all UK animators: on June 1st there will be a <a href="https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/default.asp?doWork%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle=Load&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Aarticle_id=32BA8D74-D3E3-4F55-81BF-BDAAF24E44F0&BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Acontext_id=CA41CDFF-116A-4BEF-BD3B-B6CF52DA742B">SCREENING </a>of 'The Thief and the Cobbler - A Moment In Time', where Richard Williams' workprint of his unfinished feature (now digitally restored) will be shown, followed by an interview with the man himself.<br />
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I spent four years working on this film - a mere drop in the ocean compared to the decades that artists like Roy Naisbitt, Errol Le Cain and Ken Harris put in - but I did manage to rack up just over 1000 feet (about 11 minutes) of animation in those years, working with my two superb assistants Bella Bremner and Tanya Fenton. I can't wait to see everyone's work up on the big screen again - it feels like a lifetime ago...<br />
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In keeping with the Richard Williams theme, my ongoing Studio Spring Clean has unearthed a copy of The Association of Illustrators Newsletter, dated July/August 1976. I was still in short trousers, doodling in the corner of my junior school textbooks, when this interview with Dick was written. But it very much sums up his continuing approach to the craft of animation. Here are a few extracts (the author/interviewer is uncredited):<br />
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Richard Williams: <em>"(At age 21) I couldn't stand Disney's work... and I managed to make an award winning 30 minute cinemascope film (The Little Island) which owed nothing to him. Over the next 10 years I made several non-Disney films but was gradually becoming frustrated at my lack of knowledge... of technique. So instead of fighting it, and saying 'I don't want to be like my daddy' I decided to find out all about Disney's technique. Now his story-telling I've never liked, but what did fascinate me was how he got so <strong>good </strong>so <strong>fast</strong>.</em></div>
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<em>...Knowledge doesn't corrupt, it only helps you. I may be arrogant as an artist, but I'm certainly not arrogant as a craftsman... We said: 'Let's get that knowledge before all his animator's die'.</em></div>
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<em>The tricks we learned from these great men, and from studying prints of Disney's films in detail, we paractised on the commercials we were doing at the time.</em></div>
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<em>I agree that you should have your own original approach, get away from talking bunny rabbits, and all the other cliches, but don't throw out all that technique</em>." He gets up and walks across the room in a very wobbly manner, as though with some dreadful nervous disease<em>. "If you want your character to walk like that, OK. You're avant-garde</em>." He walks back, firmly planting his feet on the floor<em>. "It's actually harder to do it (this) way - to give your characters weight. If you know all the tricks... you don't have to sweat blood getting it right. That way you can get more <strong>life </strong>into what you're doing.</em></div>
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<em>Anyone who ignores Disney is stupid, or else scared that he'll lose his own identity. My guys don't lose theirs; each one directs his own commercial, but if he wants it, there's a load of experience behind him he can call on.</em></div>
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<em>The only advice I can give students who want to come into this business is to draw things in movement. Forget cartoons. It would be a lot easier for us if there were more draughtsmen and fewer cartoonists around. Anyone who can <strong>really </strong>draw gets a place here. If you're a student, don't skirt round old traditions. Go through them, and when you come out the other side, you've got to be better. Don't burn the library. Otherwise you're like the carpenter who looks at a beautifully made old table and decides to make his own out of orange crates. Very exciting, but liable to fall to pieces."</em></div>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-34296452468074721942014-04-30T02:43:00.000-07:002014-04-30T02:43:32.416-07:00A Visit From Mr NaisbittMore trawling through the Last Belle archive has turned up some old pics of a visit to my ex-studio space from Mr Roy Naisbitt, circa 1998.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roy Naisbitt laying out one of his huge backgrounds for the<br />
Underground tunnel sequence in The Last Belle.</td></tr>
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I've detailed on this blog before (<a href="http://thelastbelleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/roy-naisbitt-part-1.html">Part One HERE</a> and <a href="http://thelastbelleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/roy-naisbitt-part-2.html">Part Two HERE</a> ) the process by which we designed this sequence. But it was always an exciting day when Roy would arrive in the studio with a new section of artwork completed, ready for me to add the character animation.<br />
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The problem was, our studio wasn't quite big enough to lay this monster out...</div>
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...so we had to snake our way through various offices, and walk the length of the building to get a feel for how the artwork was flowing.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neil Boyle and Roy Naisbitt discuss how the<br />
action will play out. Tracer/colour modellist<br />
Samantha Spacey can be seen half a mile off,<br />
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<br />The arrival of one of Roy's completed backgrounds always brought the studio to a standstill, as people wandered up and down along the length of it, heads swivelling, hypnotised. And, as you would with the launch of a new ship, there was usually a bit of a celebratory drink to follow.</div>
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The day after, sitting in the peace and quiet of my office, I'd take the first section of the background, stick it on my drawing board, and stare... How on earth was I going to move my character believably through this labyrinthine perspective..?</div>
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The answer - as always - was: go make a coffee. Have another think. Make another coffee. And when you can't put it off any longer, reach for a blank sheet of paper, reach for a nice soft pencil, and just start drawing.</div>
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It was so much fun.</div>
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(The final sequence can be seen at 10:02 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja1sjfnfjg0">here.</a> )</div>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-35030364733296563472014-04-12T13:28:00.000-07:002014-04-12T13:28:32.873-07:00Matt GroeningBy strange coincidence my studio Spring Clean has just unearthed this old snapshot from 2008...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRaSSFsUV2HvXijaeSAxIJUzuobGwPrCRDL9WOlvmx9WgXpdIgSYEFu8v6lj3W0DQX-AUZBpkmXP5yXtpQNpeReZLaUsr3pp86DEKMuhU5TCcXUjdcDUwUToT_wRf05L8mfgrDAa9BTc/s1600/MattGroening.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" closure_lm_884611="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRaSSFsUV2HvXijaeSAxIJUzuobGwPrCRDL9WOlvmx9WgXpdIgSYEFu8v6lj3W0DQX-AUZBpkmXP5yXtpQNpeReZLaUsr3pp86DEKMuhU5TCcXUjdcDUwUToT_wRf05L8mfgrDAa9BTc/s1600/MattGroening.jpg" height="288" width="400" yta="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Groening, Neil Boyle, Sophie and Pieter Van Houte, and Richard Williams.</td></tr>
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<br />
... at the same time that production company Th1ng releases their 'official making-of' (WATCH <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgxoNo9_qU">HERE.</a>) our Sylvain Chomet-themed Simpsons couch gag. There's also an article to accompany the video in <a href="http://beakstreetbugle.com/articles/view/332/translating-the-simpsons-sylvain-chomet-french-couch-gag">The Beak Street Bugle.</a></div>
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The dinner took place at Le Petit Zinc restaurant in Annecy, France. Matt Groening was at the film festival promoting 'The Simpsons Movie' and Richard Williams was publicising 'The Animator's Survival Kit - Animated' (which is what I was working on at the time), and we all decided to get together for a slap-up meal. We had a great evening as a variety of anecdotes flew across the table. Despite Matt being beseiged by throngs of autograph hunters wherever he went - in the restaurant, on the walk back to his hotel, on the way to the toilet - he was endlessly gracious to his fans. A real gentleman, and a true artist in his philosophy of life. I really enjoyed his company. </div>
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On this evening I couldn't have guessed in a million years I would get the chance to make my own very small contribution to his legendary Simpsons show... Life is full of surprises. And some are as happy as this. </div>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-32314517030454983832014-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:002014-04-03T13:32:11.311-07:00Bits, Bobs, Odds and SodsI'm having a massive spring clean in my studio, and all sorts of... <em>stuff</em>... is appearing from the bottom of dusty boxes. Or more likely, emerging from the pile of crap crammed down the back of my drawing board. Out of sight, out of mind...<br />
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Now here's an object you don't see much of any more:<br />
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It's a colour swatch for animation cel paint, and it's almost totally extinct. Back in the day these things cost an absolute fortune to buy because the printing of the colours on the swatch had to reflect the<em> exact </em>hue you were going to get in the pot of paint, with complete accuracy.</div>
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I also made up a few do-it-yourself marker-pen swatches using Pantone pens:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqKIsEyL6thp3p2EEIfu3x_gRsaYs35quudRWfFIu_aW-dE509-HRAF86yipNQL0Ex95Lb3czrvvNczukdOJGaQ6lLibd6Sg607s3PNKu_h-pmuyivIFS7E4H-tMoqgVE6jLkvL0eI0Y/s1600/PantoneSwatch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_787422="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXqKIsEyL6thp3p2EEIfu3x_gRsaYs35quudRWfFIu_aW-dE509-HRAF86yipNQL0Ex95Lb3czrvvNczukdOJGaQ6lLibd6Sg607s3PNKu_h-pmuyivIFS7E4H-tMoqgVE6jLkvL0eI0Y/s1600/PantoneSwatch.jpg" height="290" width="400" yta="true" /></a></div>
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I used these to help select the colours for my animatic drawings:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iMubOlACPGTwoANaOnAXDWH2CScxmlOqG2ztkGpzPWSd5474cOUcBczTKX26Bz1ZqwN5za9nDJIHRr1ZnCJGymvW7HnoVIFvUo1G2ivVcSXqr0RiJELUtDrJI2Vc_Nv5Khljyuq8EoY/s1600/IMG_4459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_903173="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1iMubOlACPGTwoANaOnAXDWH2CScxmlOqG2ztkGpzPWSd5474cOUcBczTKX26Bz1ZqwN5za9nDJIHRr1ZnCJGymvW7HnoVIFvUo1G2ivVcSXqr0RiJELUtDrJI2Vc_Nv5Khljyuq8EoY/s1600/IMG_4459.JPG" height="213" width="320" yta="true" /></a></div>
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From this we could find the equivalent colour in the cel paint range. The particularly nasty shade of orange on his Bermuda Shirt was shade 046 - just bright enough to induce migraine-blindness having painted a few hundred cels...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUR6SVHzME56Yo3nvh5s1NSBkGFJAYlwt78JZiBwhgMULkN1Jt2dBVa6Af_Qv0bYo1o8StPPSHeSQxJV2eHCk-HoqsbySRBqA3EU_UtVA8_p3jbrB0ZAbRL-KkEpTKNacmKfkTtsc0rU/s1600/IMG_4457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_75695="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUR6SVHzME56Yo3nvh5s1NSBkGFJAYlwt78JZiBwhgMULkN1Jt2dBVa6Af_Qv0bYo1o8StPPSHeSQxJV2eHCk-HoqsbySRBqA3EU_UtVA8_p3jbrB0ZAbRL-KkEpTKNacmKfkTtsc0rU/s1600/IMG_4457.JPG" height="400" width="266" yta="true" /></a></div>
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I can't remember how many bottles of 046 we got through, but the inch of paint you see here at the bottom is all we had left before finishing the 'shirt sequences'. The shade of yellow/orange we used for Rosie's hair ran out on the final cel. And the photocopy machine exploded and died after the last cel went through. It was all very symbolic.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBnyG0-nkzCHRXGh1ylkvDSOQgcTvRaTaC1ChP_JVS50E4E___iNGTTg1k8sUxxus-KgDu8NS8nqUiP_GVGcwl-8g8sepTZQckgP2Rq34lrDerYQ7CVbANI3l2g2bd9xnSz-bZcJ2haY/s1600/IMG_4458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_38710="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiBnyG0-nkzCHRXGh1ylkvDSOQgcTvRaTaC1ChP_JVS50E4E___iNGTTg1k8sUxxus-KgDu8NS8nqUiP_GVGcwl-8g8sepTZQckgP2Rq34lrDerYQ7CVbANI3l2g2bd9xnSz-bZcJ2haY/s1600/IMG_4458.JPG" height="640" width="480" yta="true" /></a></div>
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Here's a final cel (from about 10:48 in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja1sjfnfjg0">YouTube video</a> ) which took a bunch of different colours to paint, each colour being applied to the whole sequence of cels in a run, before waiting for them to dry and applying the next colour. I'm reminded looking at this cel that I decided to save a bit of time by colouring the dark underside of his shoes, the bucket handles, and the shadow side of the brush with grey marker pens (top-cel'ing, as they used to call this, where the usual paint colour was applied to the back of the cel, and an additional 'fx' layer of pen, paint, or pencil rendering was added to the front of the cel). In this sequence the movement is so fast your eye can't detect the slightly scribbly pen texture of these areas. At least, I hope you can't...</div>
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So farewell to the Cel Paint Swatch - once outrageously expensive, now a defunct museum piece...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZASlji_We76jtRoMclFQN4KQw5bkgqmdBncihXTEKz7791SP8sVold6xwcQ2EegdrFP6-diFX5EuRBs0t8N46V-z7CqrI3CZyBB5N4B1lz18fAmaU1R9eLf28yEfkkjd4MKu7g5Y1km8/s1600/IMG_4456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_769933="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZASlji_We76jtRoMclFQN4KQw5bkgqmdBncihXTEKz7791SP8sVold6xwcQ2EegdrFP6-diFX5EuRBs0t8N46V-z7CqrI3CZyBB5N4B1lz18fAmaU1R9eLf28yEfkkjd4MKu7g5Y1km8/s1600/IMG_4456.JPG" height="320" width="213" yta="true" /></a></div>
<br />...although I can't quite bring myself to throw it away. <br />
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Might I need it again? <br />
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Never say never...<br />
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1737424502661190370.post-63000644933163775432014-03-23T15:38:00.000-07:002014-03-23T15:38:00.954-07:00Thank You, Everyone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDja3jpVCWnuqyf026h3FVQDoEOokElJdYRo0Rq1qQxEbrSRalM5sclL36X9VjA4sALmruWSG1u4Oq9hC2nUU002ZfwoNK0bLVZ000uzyvU1Tt55womiABEcNZcX0hj9mOfkX76mSh7E/s1600/last_belle_email.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_977744="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDja3jpVCWnuqyf026h3FVQDoEOokElJdYRo0Rq1qQxEbrSRalM5sclL36X9VjA4sALmruWSG1u4Oq9hC2nUU002ZfwoNK0bLVZ000uzyvU1Tt55womiABEcNZcX0hj9mOfkX76mSh7E/s1600/last_belle_email.jpg" height="240" tta="true" width="400" /></a></div>
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What an amazing two weeks this has been for The Last Belle! Since arriving on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja1sjfnfjg0&list=UUIDyg_PAfEdIkCLaKvj7cNA">YouTube</a> we have had over 25,000 views, more than 800 'Likes', and a huge number of amazingly supportive comments posted underneath. Lovely stuff written by the followers of <a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-brew-pick/the-last-belle-by-neil-boyle-96849.html">Cartoon Brew</a> too, and a quick search of the internet (embarrassed to admit it, but we all do it don't we..?) has turned up more happy sentiments in English, French, Russian and a host of languages - for which I am eternally grateful to Google Translate.</div>
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So, to all of you out there, from me - and all of us at Last Belle HQ - <strong>Thank You </strong>for taking the time to support the film and to leave your thoughts. It is truly one of the happiest responses I have had to anything I have helped create. </div>
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Thanks too to the many lengthier private emails people have taken the time to write - I hope I have managed to respond to you all. There are questions still to be answered: will the film be released onto DVD? Will the soundtrack be released? Will original cels become available? I hope the answer to all these will eventually be 'Yes', but stay tuned to this blog for more details as they develop...</div>
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But the thing I have felt happiest about these past two weeks is not so much to do with The Last Belle itself, but the number of people who have written saying that watching our film has helped inspire them to start their own short film, or has reinspired them to finish off a project that has stalled. Some of you will have read an <a href="http://thelastbelleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/what-we-can-learn-from-pins.html">earlier blog entry</a> I made encouraging people to dive in at the deep end and get going with a short film project; it is a process that is exciting, terrifying, educational, frustrating, satisfying, often tedious, sometimes exhilarating, and for which - regardless of how large or small your vision - you will never have enough money to 'do it properly'. In other words, filmmaking is as capricious as Life itself. And every once in a while it can have a happy ending too, as these past two weeks have demonstrated to me.</div>
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Thank you all again for your support, and if you can stand it please continue Posting, Facebooking, Tweeting and Linking so we can get the film out there to as many people as possible. In the meantime I will continue to burble away on this blog, with more behind-the-scenes stuff, bits of artwork found stuck behind a drawer, and the occasional good-natured rant.</div>
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See you back here...</div>
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Neil Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06040458436858774869noreply@blogger.com0