Summer 2012 NUCA Alumni Magazine

BB's World has been featured in this summers edition of the Norwich University College of the Arts Alumni Magazine.  You can read the full piece online here.

Updates

Hello everyone! I must apologise for the lack of updates on this blog. I've been quite busy the last couple of months.  I took some time off after the mad run up to the BB's World opening event.  So spent a few weeks relaxing and catching up with family and friends.  :-) 

On the BB front Ryan and I have been battling to get the best quality version of the film onto DVD.  Which I believe has finally been achieved this weekend. Who knew dvds could be such a pain eh?! I have been scribbling/typing away by filling out lots of festival entry forms. Fingers crossed for those!
We are also in the progress of trying to arrange some local screenings of the film including storytelling and live music.(very similar to the opening event) We're hoping we'll have a couple of events on towards the end of this year.  So watch this space!

So a lot of things going on behind the scenes but not much to update about on here. :-) Might be quiet for the next few months but hopefully we'll have some announcements towards the end of the summer.  I will end this post with some stills from the film.

BB's World Screening

Test screening of the film at our local cinema before the big event.

The last few weeks have flown by and after a year and a half in development BB's World has finally been finished and had its first screening as part of the BB inspired event.  The evening consisted of music by Nick Ellison and Gregg Cave, storytelling by Jo Blake Cave, readings by actor Robin Browne before BB's World was screened at the end of the night.  It was a really great night with several members of team BB travelling from all over the country to attend the screening.  :)  I want to say a big massive thank you to the whole team and everyone else who provided me with support throughout this mammoth project.  I will leave you now with some photographs from the event. 

Dedication plaque to BB at the new indoor venue of the screening, Sudborough Village Hall.

Cake spread at the screening :)

Ryan. Ros and I with Robin Browne, narrator for BB's World, who provided readings for the event.

Purple Emperor inspired cakes made by my Mum

Musicians for the night - Nick Ellison and Gregg Cave
Photo by Kate Dyer

Jo Blake Cave - Storyteller
Photo by Kate Dyer

Here I am with butterfly man Matthew Oates and the film commisioner Rosalind Stoddard
Photo by Kate Dyer

A few members of Team BB who made it up to the screening.
Andrew Ralston, Alex King, Ryan Kyle, Andy Eathorne
Valentina Grasso, Me, Rachinta Platts, Terri Ellis and Chloe Rodham
Photo by Kate Dyer

Sudborough Green Lodge
The two cottages the team rented for the night through Fermynwoods Contempory Art 

BB's World Screening: Venue Change

Due to unsettled weather forecasted for next weekend and the ground being very wet, we have decided to move this Saturday’s (April 28^th) screening of BBs World to Sudborough Village Hall, Main Street, Sudborough, NN14 3BX The hall is in the middle of the village on the only road that goes through the village and parking will also be on this road.

The nice thing about this new venue is that it is in the villiage of BB's last home, The Roundhouse.

The event is scheduled to start at 7pm as originally planned  (it is only 10 minutes drive from Lyveden New Bield) and at least we will be warm and comfortable.

If you have any queries, please contact Ros on             01536 370108      

BB's World Projection Test at Lyveden

So the film is finally complete and last night Ryan, Andy and I travelled up to Lyveden New Bield to meet up with Ros and the projection guy, Ken. The aim of the meeting was to test the projection of the film outside and to make sure the place would be suitable to fit 60 odd people, a campfire, projector and screen.  We also had to have a good think about how the weather might effect the original plan to hold this event outdoors.  It was quite a nice evening although slightly cold.  The atmosphere at the wooded area at Lyveden is so peaceful.  You really feel like you're taken away to another time. This small area of woods is the perfect setting to have an event celebrating the life of BB.

Ryan looking tiny against nature

We did some projection tests with two of Ken's projectors.  The second projector being the winner giving us a beautiful full HD projection!  This was something we wanted to get spot on so we're really pleased with the results! :)

Ryan and Andy checking out Ken's test setup for the projection

So after two hours standing outside in the freezing cold with wet soggy feet our decision on holding the event at Lyveden was made for us.  With the biting wind and the muddy ground sinking under our feet we decided to move next Saturdays screening to an indoor venue.  The screening will now be held at Sudborough Village Hall, Main Street, Sudborough, NN14 3BX
It is a shame that we can't hold the first screening in these beautiful woods but we had to accept that mother nature was against us this time.  Rather than force everyone out into the cold we decided it would be much better if we were all comfortable and inside in the warm.  Fingers crossed there will be a chance to hold another outdoor screening at Lyveden later in the year.  I will leave you with a picture of the soggy ground and my sad wet feet so you can see what we'll be missing out on by having the screening indoors.  :)

:(

The final week!

My workstation. Post-it central

My lovely checklist and shot reference sheet

It's been a busy couple of weeks but we're almost there now! :) Just a few more tweaks and the credits slides need to be completed then it'll be time for the render before laying down the final sound on Sunday.  Hopefully this time next week we'll have the film rendered in lovely full HD and ready for projection! yay!

Sound Session with Phil

The start of this week saw Phil coming up for a visit to Northamptonshire to give me and Andy a hand in Logic. I know Phil from my university days when he was working as a sound technician at the Norwich Art School. He provided no ends of help to me and all my classmates on our graduation films.  He is a brilliant sound designer and has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve! :) We adjusted the sound for the first half of the film before Phil had to leave to catch his train.  It was a really great session and now the rest of the soundtrack is up to me and Andy to do next week! Fingers crossed we can remember everything Phil showed us. :)

After Effects Time!

Lovely dual screen is perfect for After Effects

So the animation period is over! The last few months have seen us work our way through 66 shots and they are all looking great! It is now just 27 days until the screening and the production has moved from Flash into After Effects for some fun compositing! :)  Ryan has already started integrating the butterflies into the shots with BB and they look lovely.

I have taken a week off work over the Easter break so I can spend the next 8 days getting this film finished! :)
Today Phil Archer a sound technician from my old uni will be paying us a visit so we can lay down the soundtrack on the film so far.  Exciting stuff!  Will try and update again soon but it's gonna be a busy week so I'm not making any promises. ^-^

The BB Society - New Website

It has been a while since I visited the BB Society website but I discovered today that it has undergone a redesign and is looking lovely.  :) I thought what better place to share it but on the BB's World blog. :)

The film is coming along well.  We've been getting the music wrapped up by local musician Gregg Cave this week and the compositing stage for the film has started. Only a couple more weeks until the animation is complete and we'll then fully move into the post production stage in the first couple of weeks of April.  Fingers crossed for the final push!

BB's World Screening

Today is exactly two months until the screening of the BB film.  So I thought it was the perfect day to release the details on the screening. :)  We have also finally settled on a much simpler title BB's World.

At Lyveden New Bield National Trust property

near Oundle, Northamptonshire PE8 5AT

7-9pm Saturday 28 April 2012

The launch of a newly commissioned animated short as a tribute to BB, naturalist and children’s author, created by Steff Lee and her team with narration read by actor Robin Browne. The evening will also include readings and music relating to BB and his interest in the Purple Emperor butterfly delivered by storyteller Jo Blake Cave, musicians Gregg Cave and Nick Ellison and actor Robin Browne.

Tickets: £6 price (£5 senior citizens, students and unemployed)

Cake and hot chocolate included

Online bookings here
For further information visit www.rosalindstoddart.co.uk
or contact Rosalind on 01536 370108 or ros@rosalindstoddart.co.uk

Animatic and Foley session

Ryan and the two Andy's popped over for a meeting last week to discuss foley and look at the animatic.  Ryan hooked the laptop up to our TV and we all gathered around the big screen which was fun. What I originally thought might be a quick look at the animatic turned into a very detailed break down of it.  We spent nearly 5 hours looking at the thing! With some tea, biscuits and chats in between. :)  It was great to have some fresh eyes on it as I've been staring at it alone for weeks. Now we've got some animation complete its getting easier to see how shots are working together. We made a few tweaks and cut some shots and I'm feeling good! :) I've had my doubts over the animatic over the last few weeks but these have now pretty much gone.

Animatic shot featuring the young BB fishing by the river

Last week also saw a little facelift on the blog with a new banner at the top featuring the new promotional still for the film.  I want to say a big thanks to Simon and Rachinta for helping me out with this one. The image will be part of a press release for the screening which I will be able to post more details about soon. :)

The animation output has been speeding up this last month with 20 shots ready to go! :)  Not quite half way but we're getting there.  We've had to say a sad farewell to Mui this week.  He is off to Germany for some kinda animation adventure. :)  So good luck to him and a big thank you for all he has contributed to the project.  With that one goodbye I wanted to end this post with a hello and welcome to our newest animator, Valentina, who has joined the team this week.  

Riverlands - a journey on the Nene

The weekend before the screening of our BB animation Ros is holding another BB related event featuring the work of the 3 Jo's! For more information see below.

Invitation to the premiere of

RIVERLANDS

– a journey on the Nene

Rosalind Stoddart invites you to a VIP performance of RIVERLANDS

at All Saints Church, Aldwincle, Northamptonshire

7.30pm on Saturday 21 April 2012

Refreshments afterward at around 8.45pm at Pear Tree Farm Tearooms

Please join us for the national premiere of a performance by poet Jo Bell and storyteller Jo Blake Cave. Inspired by their journey along the Nene in the footsteps of nature writer BB, this hour-long performance brings you atmosphere, mesmerising stories, humour and humanity. Experience the first performance of an arresting hour-long piece by two nationally acclaimed performers, in a magical Northamptonshire space.

This evening will also mark the first availability of Alwalton – Wallaston, a visual response to our journey on the Nene by Jo Dacombe and Kate Dyer. A limited edition will be for sale at this performance.

Please RSVP to Rosalind Stoddart  on 01536 370108 or

ros@rosalindstoddart.co.uk

Narration Recording with Robin Browne

This Saturday the wonderful Robin Browne paid us a visit to lend his voice to our BB animation. Robin is an actor from London and importantly was the narrator for the BB audio books.  He has a fantastic voice which is perfect for the gnomey narrator of our film.  I want to say a big thanks to Andy E, Ryan and Ash for their help on the day and setting everything up so we could achieve the best recording possible. I have been listening to the results this afternoon and they sound great! Now I just can't wait to lay the tracks down on our next animatic.  :)

1st Week of 2012

So the first week of 2012 has whizzed by and we are now 15 weekends away from the BB Animation screening.  This will be happening on the 28th April in the lovely Northamptonshire woodland.  More details to follow over the next couple of months.

This week has been very busy with everyone getting into the swing of things after the Christmas break.  We have welcomed some new animators onto the project.  Hello to Filip, Chloe and Alex! A schedule of all the remaining shots has been set up taking the animation production into March.  We have been using the amazing Trello to help get us organised.  (It is the best!)

This weekend also saw us testing the equipment and space for audio recording in preparation for the narrator travelling up next week.  We had lots of fun playing with the microphone and Ryan did a good job at test reading the gnomes lines.  We managed to get some nice recordings so looking forward to getting the final narration sorted.

This is all for now.  I will update again when I have a chance.  Now it is time to get back into Flash. :)