Hello you sunny lot!

I just got back from France on Monday as I went to the Annecy 2010 animation festival which was pretty cool. The majority of films I saw were pants, but there were a fair few absolutely excellent ones that made the trip worth while (along with Annecy being one of the most beautiful towns I've ever been to, made it an extra little bit more worth while).

This is the Newport Uni crew who attended the festival, along with David Silverman and was taken at a picnic by the Lac d'Annecy not long after Martha, Emma, Lorna and I came last in a massive mad pedalo race, in which we won a bunch of radishes... yay!

One film which really caught my eye at the beginning of the week (but I didn't get the chance see) was Sinna Mann (Angry Man) directed by Anita Killi, which then won three awards in the closing ceremony; the Special Jury Award, the Audience Award and the Unicef Award.

The best screening I went to had to be the award winning shorts of the 60s. It was so refreshing to see such amazing stop motion and hand drawn animation with no computer effects, it really inspired me and made me want to start animating as soon as possible!

Problems arising though, I'm moving back to the baron lands of St. Helens, Merseyside in three days so no more Newport University studio time for me. That, along with the 70p I had last time I checked my bank balance, means it will be a while before I can afford a good quality camera as a starting point to my very own little animating area. These are minor details though... keep calm and carry on and what not and I'll be back in Annecy with my very own film being screened before you know it!