Mine and Louise Lawlor’s animation in collaboration with poet Musa Okwonga for Smile for London: Word in Motion 2012. On the London Underground this weekend, check the website for details!

The idea was based on the idea of a computer not being able to keep up, relating to the idea of modern hectic life and the fact that we cannot stop.

Smile for London is back again, this time using poetry as a way to cheer up busy london commuters. They are working with the likes of Scroobius Pip, Jarvis Cocker and Cerys Matthews. These poems have then been transformed by a variation of animators into pieces of moving image for the tube.

Myself and Louise Lawlor under our name Collective of Two were graciously asked back by the wonderful Jo and Alex heading the Smile for London campaign this year. We were asked to animate a poem to be screened on the underground and we naturally accepted!

A picture of us at the launch with poet Musa Okwonga

We recently attended the launch, and are very excited about seeing the the films on the tube this week. If you’re in London get yourself down to the tube station between 7am – 10pm and 4pm – 7pm. Ours is on in the afternoon, please let me know if you see it!

Here is a teaser to wet your appetite:

Owing to my Animated Alphabet being reblogged across the net recently as gifs, I decided to experiment with it a little. The Letter ‘A’ of my alphabet, datamoshed with new sound. Like a sort of digital vs. analogue experiment.

Enjoy! Feel free to gif.

I just found the wonderful animations of David O’ Reiley, particularly love this one, the story is touching and the animation style is fabulous, called Please Say Something:

You can also check out his brand new animation, which is very odd and amusing called The External World.

Made by 3 animators in 3 days with 450 frames, amazing piece of animation. Love that it’s using different tools to create animation, reminds me of my excel animation (:

Very clever music video where everything takes place on the computer, especially love the chat roulette parts. Made for the band Vortex Park and made by Alex Wolf. Found on Swissmiss.

This is my second entry for the smile for london competition, the first of a series of experiments were I use the queen as a way to cheer commuters up in the morning by doing things you wouldn’t expect. Inspired largely by Terry Gilliam and Monty Python style animation.

And here is the finished version, I may do a version with sound for my own amusement sometime later. For the actual competition however it has to be soundless. Enjoy!

Cool brief from Smile for London that I want to adapt for my self initiated brief:

From the website:

“We’re turning the screens on the Underground into a digital playground.

From 17th January 2011, just at a time when Londoners are feeling the January blues and in need of a lift, we’ll be taking over the platform screens for two weeks on weekday mornings with a creative intermission; a programme of film, art and animation, exhibiting the best of London’s emerging and established artistic talent. In addition, during weekday evenings, the screens will showcase unmissable arts events in the capital.

We’re launching the campaign with a call for submissions. The brief is to create a twenty second silent piece of moving image with a view to pushing the boundaries of the medium. The submission process is open to all, and successful applicants will see their work showcased alongside respected artists and film makers.  Join in and help us make this a permanent feature.”

For more information see: http://www.smileforlondon.com/

Or see some current entries: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/smileforlondon/videos

Finally this is a simulation of how the software would work. It would be a little more flexible in terms of users being able to move their heads a little more(but only front facing) and with more accurate eye tracking but you get the general idea. If you are programmer interested in making this software real, I would love to hear from you!