Week 1

Final Film - What Will It Be? 

Self Portrait, fine liner and watercolour, K. Sucikova

I am super excited to finally start working on my Final Film, especially after seeing how great the completed films look on an end of year show at Leeds Arts University. I have made a solid decision ( if you know me you must know I tend to be indecisive ) to focus entirely on stop-motion animation just before presenting my topic of research for Context of Practice.

Alum Pot Cave has been of interest to me, it is my favourite cave in Yorkshire Dales and I cannot imagine anyone who would not find its views stunning. Sadly, I do not own any photographs from this wonderful place as caves do get wet and I do not have the equipment or the experience of Cave filming and photography. However, this video gives an idea of the overall feel of the place. Video posted in 2016 by Ben and Dave Caving YouTube channel 0:00:17 you can see a challenging squeeze which can be done in both directions, however, at the end is a few metres climb which I personally find more challenging than the squeeze itself. 00:00:50 you can see an abseil down a pitch that can be done on a rope or a ladder, just before emerging in front of stunning views of a waterfall 00:01:10. Or Video posted in 2016 by Terranullius YouTube channel starting with a rebelay and a long descent down (which I found particularly challenging when I had a chance to do it, the rope is very heavy and my hand got very tired holding the dead-rope up, to control the speed while feeding it through my descender. Forcing me to make several stops on the way down.).

Generally, I do not see enough speleology in animation, although I loved the felted cave scenes of This Magnificent Cake at MAF 2018, which seems to absorb and soften the light impacting upon the cave formations in its rich texture. It looks effortless, natural and in a way creates an illusion that it is not man-made.

 This Magnificent Cake 2018 - click for source of the image  

So you can see, I have a subject for strong inspiration that I would like to focus on. Last year I have stumbled upon a festival for Speleology focused films, Speleo Film Festival and as a keen caver, I would love to submit to it. Not in 2019 though.

There are also 4 live briefs to complete as part of LAUAN603. I am considering so far:

LoopdeLoop - most likely for a character animation
11 Second Club - practising lip sync
Sustainability Award - I have been meaning to submit to this since Year 1, will keep it in mind
LAU Live Briefs presented through Opportunities - I will keep an eye on these if one comes up that fits into my practice and one I have knowledge and skill for completing.

I have also been approached by an organisation, Zero Carbon Headingley, to produce an animated short to a set brief, together with G. Dixon-Lynch, with whom I have completed The Bins and The Bees 2019.