Friday, November 14, 2008
Concept work
sorry we havent posted in a very long time, but more or less since we got back from Stockholm not a great deal has happened. so here, for your viewing pleasure, is some concept artwork for the animated film Dan's directing for the final project of the semester, working title "Eat Your Greens" about a farmer who, in a desperate attempt to avoid eating his prize veg, eats his own hands. Nick's working on Natxa's film about a baby being born in a supermarket, as cinematographer and cameraman extrodinaire I believe.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
another blog
so, it's been a while since we blogged again. so....first things first..
DAN AND NICK ARE THE WINNERS OF THE BEST FILM IN THE MY TAMPERE COMPETITION!
so we won €500 each, which is a bit of a result, although there's been no word from the MindTrek people about how and when we're going to get it...! but yes. that was a bit of a result about that. the two-day conference was pretty fun, we got really really nice free food for two days, and on the night in between there was a party which involved an open bar and free food. so that was very, very drunken and fun.
so we finished our workshop with Chris Hales on interactive film, which was pretty interesting. we can't post it on the internet as it needs a microphone to work but we'll show you one day.
and then it was time for our trip to stockholm, which was really fun. the ferry on the way was pretty...drunken. nine and a half hours of nothing means there's pretty much nothing else to do. although we did watch a whole bunch of old people dancing.
so we got into Stockholm at 6.30 wednesday morning, exhausted and hungover. but we watched the sunrise from the dock which was nice. the short version of our trip there was that we saw lot of the architecture, which is amazing, and saw the modern art museum (which had a really good max ernst exhibition on) and just generally chilled out. we met a really nice bunch of people, some girls from new zealand and canada, a dude from canada and went out a whole bunch. its pretty expensive to do pretty much anything in stockholm, especially drink, but still we had a god few drinks and just generally a good time. so....yes. one day maybe i'll pluck up the energy to write a full report on what's going on, but seeing as we'll have to re-tell everything we did when we got home anyway, youll all manage, im sure.
DAN AND NICK ARE THE WINNERS OF THE BEST FILM IN THE MY TAMPERE COMPETITION!
so we won €500 each, which is a bit of a result, although there's been no word from the MindTrek people about how and when we're going to get it...! but yes. that was a bit of a result about that. the two-day conference was pretty fun, we got really really nice free food for two days, and on the night in between there was a party which involved an open bar and free food. so that was very, very drunken and fun.
so we finished our workshop with Chris Hales on interactive film, which was pretty interesting. we can't post it on the internet as it needs a microphone to work but we'll show you one day.
and then it was time for our trip to stockholm, which was really fun. the ferry on the way was pretty...drunken. nine and a half hours of nothing means there's pretty much nothing else to do. although we did watch a whole bunch of old people dancing.
so we got into Stockholm at 6.30 wednesday morning, exhausted and hungover. but we watched the sunrise from the dock which was nice. the short version of our trip there was that we saw lot of the architecture, which is amazing, and saw the modern art museum (which had a really good max ernst exhibition on) and just generally chilled out. we met a really nice bunch of people, some girls from new zealand and canada, a dude from canada and went out a whole bunch. its pretty expensive to do pretty much anything in stockholm, especially drink, but still we had a god few drinks and just generally a good time. so....yes. one day maybe i'll pluck up the energy to write a full report on what's going on, but seeing as we'll have to re-tell everything we did when we got home anyway, youll all manage, im sure.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
My Tampere Contest
A quick note to let everyone know that our film we entered for the My Tampere film comp. is up at
www.youtube.com/dancastrofilm
or
www.youtube.com/nickjrowley
check it out, let us know what you think.
d+n
www.youtube.com/dancastrofilm
or
www.youtube.com/nickjrowley
check it out, let us know what you think.
d+n
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sorry for the delay...2
Right. Second post. So after Tallin there was....Lapland. Getting up there on Wednesday night was hilrious as have never got an overnight train before, but because we bought the cheap bummish student tickets obviously we dont get beds or anything, we dont actually get seats easier but we took them anyway. So we got drunk. In finland, and this sounds like a joke but actually isn't, it's the thing to do...ten minutes into the train journey there was a trail of people going into the restaurant car. So we had a few beers and went, then got told off for drinking our own beers there. But the guy that was running it closed bar anyway so we sat there til 4am, when he got stressy with us and told us to go somewhere else. Which we did - Michael had taken his trousers off by this point so we hid them in the carriage. He found them.
So then we woke up still drunk, piled off the train in Kemijarvi (very northern finland) and onto a bus...the bus took two horrifically hungover hours then we got to our cottage that slept 16 but was going to sleep 20 for the next three nights. I had a whole heap of pictures but apparently my mp3 player hates macs, because I plugged it into Glenn's laptop to check some of the photos out and charge the battery and it wiped EVERYTHING. im not joking. all the music, all the photos, everything. but i got some more the next day off nick and yolanda and we're ok...i just lost some of the really nice ones from when we were climbing the local 'mountain'. during the day me and nick and michael took the boat out on the lake, which was wicked.
so that night we got stupidly drunk and were doing shots of some of the most disgusting drinks you could imagine, including the one from Riga vlad had brought up to Tallin for me. It tasted like death. Sufficed to say, for me it was a messy night....one of only 4 in my whole life, so was a bit disappointed in myself with that, but i felt so much better afterwards, proving that drinking is fine just dont mix. dear oh dear.
the next day we got up and went for a walk with glenn and clemens, just for a couple of hours to check out what was around. we found a wicked little beach with a crazy barbecue hut in it, and then some nice woodland...easy walking, but still good. that night nobody really seemed up for it, but we had a barbecue and stuff so yeah. actually, i think that was the night we played with tinfoil and dressed up. not as good as the edinburgh Foil Party of course, but you have to excuse everyone here - they just don't do things like we do them back home..!
So the next day me nick and Glenn packed a lunch and went walking. everyone else had gone to some tourist centre and watched some movies and stuff and then gone off on a hike, but we thought we werent paying for a taxi to go walking, that kinda defeated the point. so we walked, and then got lost, and then found, and then didnt know where we were, and then were lost in the woods and some hikers with a proper map found us and showed us where we were - nothing serious, just funny. so then we climbed this really steep hill which in winter is a ski slope, and we got to the top of it, which was good. hardish, but after Trailwalker, you have to think "ive done worse than this", which is a nice mentality i think.
so then we went back and had a couple of beers in the evening and did some really gay activities that the student tutors had prepared for us, even though most of us wanted to do have a barbecue at the beach - oh well. me and michael had a sausage eating contest which i won anyway. i felt so sick i thought i was going to die of sausage poisoning.
the next day we packed our shit and went home on another night train, but without any booze this one was pretty horrific....it was incredibly busy and some people kept getting moved around and stuff. hardly slept at all. but made up for it the next day.
anyway, it was a good break, didn't really want to come back to Tuomiokirkonkatu (where we're staying) - even sharing a bed with Nick is better than the Cuckoo's Nest-esque halls here. ah well. all in all everything's fine.....we're nearly halfway through already, which is absolutely crazy. we're gonna be working so hard soon as well that its just gonna fly by i reckon. jess and mum and dad are coming out on consecutive (?) weekends in October which is wicked, we had the option to go to St Petersburg then, but frankly I can't afford it and strangely I'm not really bothered about it. We're going to Stockholm in early September so I'll sort my money out for then, and then it looks like a day after I get back to the UK I might go out to Hamburg to visit Doug for a couple of days, purely because it's cheaper and easier to go from there than it is from here (annoying).
Will try and remember to keep better posted in the future, sorry for the essays guys!
So then we woke up still drunk, piled off the train in Kemijarvi (very northern finland) and onto a bus...the bus took two horrifically hungover hours then we got to our cottage that slept 16 but was going to sleep 20 for the next three nights. I had a whole heap of pictures but apparently my mp3 player hates macs, because I plugged it into Glenn's laptop to check some of the photos out and charge the battery and it wiped EVERYTHING. im not joking. all the music, all the photos, everything. but i got some more the next day off nick and yolanda and we're ok...i just lost some of the really nice ones from when we were climbing the local 'mountain'. during the day me and nick and michael took the boat out on the lake, which was wicked.
so that night we got stupidly drunk and were doing shots of some of the most disgusting drinks you could imagine, including the one from Riga vlad had brought up to Tallin for me. It tasted like death. Sufficed to say, for me it was a messy night....one of only 4 in my whole life, so was a bit disappointed in myself with that, but i felt so much better afterwards, proving that drinking is fine just dont mix. dear oh dear.
the next day we got up and went for a walk with glenn and clemens, just for a couple of hours to check out what was around. we found a wicked little beach with a crazy barbecue hut in it, and then some nice woodland...easy walking, but still good. that night nobody really seemed up for it, but we had a barbecue and stuff so yeah. actually, i think that was the night we played with tinfoil and dressed up. not as good as the edinburgh Foil Party of course, but you have to excuse everyone here - they just don't do things like we do them back home..!
So the next day me nick and Glenn packed a lunch and went walking. everyone else had gone to some tourist centre and watched some movies and stuff and then gone off on a hike, but we thought we werent paying for a taxi to go walking, that kinda defeated the point. so we walked, and then got lost, and then found, and then didnt know where we were, and then were lost in the woods and some hikers with a proper map found us and showed us where we were - nothing serious, just funny. so then we climbed this really steep hill which in winter is a ski slope, and we got to the top of it, which was good. hardish, but after Trailwalker, you have to think "ive done worse than this", which is a nice mentality i think.
so then we went back and had a couple of beers in the evening and did some really gay activities that the student tutors had prepared for us, even though most of us wanted to do have a barbecue at the beach - oh well. me and michael had a sausage eating contest which i won anyway. i felt so sick i thought i was going to die of sausage poisoning.
the next day we packed our shit and went home on another night train, but without any booze this one was pretty horrific....it was incredibly busy and some people kept getting moved around and stuff. hardly slept at all. but made up for it the next day.
anyway, it was a good break, didn't really want to come back to Tuomiokirkonkatu (where we're staying) - even sharing a bed with Nick is better than the Cuckoo's Nest-esque halls here. ah well. all in all everything's fine.....we're nearly halfway through already, which is absolutely crazy. we're gonna be working so hard soon as well that its just gonna fly by i reckon. jess and mum and dad are coming out on consecutive (?) weekends in October which is wicked, we had the option to go to St Petersburg then, but frankly I can't afford it and strangely I'm not really bothered about it. We're going to Stockholm in early September so I'll sort my money out for then, and then it looks like a day after I get back to the UK I might go out to Hamburg to visit Doug for a couple of days, purely because it's cheaper and easier to go from there than it is from here (annoying).
Will try and remember to keep better posted in the future, sorry for the essays guys!
Sorry for the delay...1
Ok, so firstly i should apologise for it taking so long to write the blog....there's been so much going on that I haven't really had a chance. Where to begin..
...i think the last time anything got mentioned was just before I went to Tallin and Annie cam to visit Nick. Weekend before last I went off to Tallin in Estonia with the majority of the group, partly to be touristy and partly for a booze cruise for Lapland. Also, Jono Dave and Vlad were in Riga (Latvia) so they came up to visit. The ferry was pleasant, but very very cold, and we had to get up really really early to go...well, earlier than Im happy with on a Saturday anyway.
It's been a long time since i've stayed in a proper hostel, and getting in as always was quite funny, if slightly shambolic. So then we started walking around, and after spending a HIDEOUS amount of money on phonecalls to Vlad, then Nick because Jono's number wasn't working and I needed Vlad's Latvian number....etc......who should I be walking behind but the very men themselves. So we said our hellos and parted from the rest of the IMPs, who went to McDonalds to eat. No thanks. So Vlad's Estonian mate Grete took us to a supermarket, we bought some cheaper nicer more Estonian food and went to a park and ate. Then we went to the art gallery, where Grete blagged us in for free, then we went to some crazy outdoor concert place....then we went to the pub. Beer, by the way, is much cheaper in Estonia in pubs and supermarkets, but vodka is almost the same.
Anywho, we also met Jaak, an Estonian guy from Grete's art college who was going to study in Edinburgh for the semester, so we started drinking with him (good guy). Then, after we were already pretty drunk, we went to go and watch some "audio visual festival" in a church, which turned out to be some of the worst animations youve ever seen. SO that was weird. Then after that we went to one of the strangest bars I've ever been in, which you needed an electrical keycard to get in (thanks Jaak) and it turned out to be pretty much somebody's hollowed out flat which theyd turned into a bar. Dave got shouted at for leaving the toilet door open by accident. funny.
So anyway we got really drunk then the lads had to leave to get the last bus back to Riga which was a bit shit, as time just seemed to fly by. But it was really nice to see them, and was a good relief to have a little taste of back home in seeing them, even if it was a completely random place to meet them.
So then I went drinking with Jaak and we went to like 5 bars before I thought it was time to go and find the rest of my group, so I smartly went wandering around Tallin by myself off my face. Then by some miraculous coincidence Kathrin walks round the corner saying she was just coming to find me... so we went to where everyone else was, which was literally the worst bar I have ever seen, populated by what appeared to be the entire Eastern Block, looking very hard and angry and listening to the worst trance you could imagine. So once again I stumbled away, took some dark alleys wondering where they would lead and, incredibly, ended up back at the hostel. It was at this point that the fact that Kathrin had given me her postbox key from Tampere, instead of the key to the hostel, seemed a lot less funny than it did the morning after. Anywho, once again by coincidence Dirk and Franzi walked around the corner in my hour of need. So all was well.
Next day, basically, bought a shitload of beer and came home. absolutely knackered.
so that was Tallin. photos below. during the week (well, monday tuesday) i had a bit of work to catch up on, so that was pretty busy. haven't been out in tampere for a couple of weeks actually! work work work.
Also, I've decided to attempt to finish the Mr Hudson video that I started but got bored with earlier in the year. I think it's a good opportunity, plus, itll let me get some more 'alone time' - working with 18 people the whole time can be quite tiring. So itll give me a chance to bugger off and do my own thing instead of killing time watching cartoons or whatever.
...i think the last time anything got mentioned was just before I went to Tallin and Annie cam to visit Nick. Weekend before last I went off to Tallin in Estonia with the majority of the group, partly to be touristy and partly for a booze cruise for Lapland. Also, Jono Dave and Vlad were in Riga (Latvia) so they came up to visit. The ferry was pleasant, but very very cold, and we had to get up really really early to go...well, earlier than Im happy with on a Saturday anyway.
It's been a long time since i've stayed in a proper hostel, and getting in as always was quite funny, if slightly shambolic. So then we started walking around, and after spending a HIDEOUS amount of money on phonecalls to Vlad, then Nick because Jono's number wasn't working and I needed Vlad's Latvian number....etc......who should I be walking behind but the very men themselves. So we said our hellos and parted from the rest of the IMPs, who went to McDonalds to eat. No thanks. So Vlad's Estonian mate Grete took us to a supermarket, we bought some cheaper nicer more Estonian food and went to a park and ate. Then we went to the art gallery, where Grete blagged us in for free, then we went to some crazy outdoor concert place....then we went to the pub. Beer, by the way, is much cheaper in Estonia in pubs and supermarkets, but vodka is almost the same.
Anywho, we also met Jaak, an Estonian guy from Grete's art college who was going to study in Edinburgh for the semester, so we started drinking with him (good guy). Then, after we were already pretty drunk, we went to go and watch some "audio visual festival" in a church, which turned out to be some of the worst animations youve ever seen. SO that was weird. Then after that we went to one of the strangest bars I've ever been in, which you needed an electrical keycard to get in (thanks Jaak) and it turned out to be pretty much somebody's hollowed out flat which theyd turned into a bar. Dave got shouted at for leaving the toilet door open by accident. funny.
So anyway we got really drunk then the lads had to leave to get the last bus back to Riga which was a bit shit, as time just seemed to fly by. But it was really nice to see them, and was a good relief to have a little taste of back home in seeing them, even if it was a completely random place to meet them.
So then I went drinking with Jaak and we went to like 5 bars before I thought it was time to go and find the rest of my group, so I smartly went wandering around Tallin by myself off my face. Then by some miraculous coincidence Kathrin walks round the corner saying she was just coming to find me... so we went to where everyone else was, which was literally the worst bar I have ever seen, populated by what appeared to be the entire Eastern Block, looking very hard and angry and listening to the worst trance you could imagine. So once again I stumbled away, took some dark alleys wondering where they would lead and, incredibly, ended up back at the hostel. It was at this point that the fact that Kathrin had given me her postbox key from Tampere, instead of the key to the hostel, seemed a lot less funny than it did the morning after. Anywho, once again by coincidence Dirk and Franzi walked around the corner in my hour of need. So all was well.
Next day, basically, bought a shitload of beer and came home. absolutely knackered.
so that was Tallin. photos below. during the week (well, monday tuesday) i had a bit of work to catch up on, so that was pretty busy. haven't been out in tampere for a couple of weeks actually! work work work.
Also, I've decided to attempt to finish the Mr Hudson video that I started but got bored with earlier in the year. I think it's a good opportunity, plus, itll let me get some more 'alone time' - working with 18 people the whole time can be quite tiring. So itll give me a chance to bugger off and do my own thing instead of killing time watching cartoons or whatever.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Production Photos
There's far too much for me to get through in terms of news, so I'll give the bulletpoints - I went to Tallin and met up with Jono and Dave and Vlad and Annie came out and visited Nick. Been having lots of fun, have been preparing for trip to Lapland which we leave on overnight train on in....5 hours.
Will post a proper blog if I get time before we leave, main reason for this was to post some production photos from A Truly British Guide to Tampere, the short me and Nick are working on for the My Tampere competition, the deadline for which is next week. All going well, just into doing the sound and editing the bits and bobs together now - working on two different computers is a pain in the arse but me and Nick will work it alllll out. Film's in the style of an old school information film, but with a moderny animation thing working for us. the images are a bit square but thats a pixel thing....it looks fine as a film. hope to upload it soon as.
Enjoy, hope you're doing well.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Catching Up
Hi guuuuuys
So it's been a bloody long time since our last post, and that's mainly becasue TOAS has STILL not provided us with the blessings of an internet connection, something which many third world countries are now fully capable of achieving. welcome to TOAS, worst landlords in the history of housing. worse than Sciennes. unbelieveable, right?
so what have we been up to...well, i forgot to write in my diary all week so that is indeed a question. Well, last saturday I went to a Ska gig to watch some Finnish Ska Punk (who were fairly terrible and dressed like This Is England...taste of home) and a band called the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, who were actually all pretty amazing with a great sax player as the front man. im thinking of learning the drums when i get home, if i can afford it...why not. bloody cool instrument, jazz drums.
so, since then, we sauna'd (again) and i got really high off the hot/cold thing this time which was sweeet...me and nick have played a lot of basketball at the gym, and i've been trying to exercise, but we have a lot of work on, and its only going to get worse..! socialising after gym from here on i think.
ok so then we...went to helsinki, which was a bit of a let down, but me a kathrin stayed behind after everyone had gone and watched a Finnish big band which was cool, then we went home late...we had a whole bunch of lectures from different courses which are getting more interesting now (except for non-linear scriptwriting which is boring...), we've been out a couple of times to the worst club ever (which nick forced me into and cost me 7€ last night, i am NOT happy about that). last night we went to an island on the lakes, and there was a big fire we cooked sausages in and a big band playing and we got drunk. it was really surreal but really good! that seems to be the name of the game around here.
Kat's scored us tickets in Helsinki to watch German play Finland on wednesday, im going to Tallin in Estonia next weekend then we have four days in a cottage in Laplap the next weekend. Im burning through money at the moment but after next week, the only big expenditure for a while will be going to Stockholm, which we'll be doing in October, and fuck it my student loan came in so i may as well spend it eh? screw it. its all gotta get paid back anyway.
sorry for the essay, ill try and post more regularly from now on so you dont have to spend an hour reading what is essentially a bulletpoint list of what we've spent someone elses money on...! will keep you updated.
miss everyone at home very much, hope youre all taking care of yourselves and each other!
hopefully will be posting some production photos of our entry for the 'My Tampere' film competition up soon, but the deadline is immediately after our trip to lapland, meaning we basically ahve to finish it by the end of this week...aaargh! so dont hold your breath.
love,
dan
So it's been a bloody long time since our last post, and that's mainly becasue TOAS has STILL not provided us with the blessings of an internet connection, something which many third world countries are now fully capable of achieving. welcome to TOAS, worst landlords in the history of housing. worse than Sciennes. unbelieveable, right?
so what have we been up to...well, i forgot to write in my diary all week so that is indeed a question. Well, last saturday I went to a Ska gig to watch some Finnish Ska Punk (who were fairly terrible and dressed like This Is England...taste of home) and a band called the New York Ska Jazz Ensemble, who were actually all pretty amazing with a great sax player as the front man. im thinking of learning the drums when i get home, if i can afford it...why not. bloody cool instrument, jazz drums.
so, since then, we sauna'd (again) and i got really high off the hot/cold thing this time which was sweeet...me and nick have played a lot of basketball at the gym, and i've been trying to exercise, but we have a lot of work on, and its only going to get worse..! socialising after gym from here on i think.
ok so then we...went to helsinki, which was a bit of a let down, but me a kathrin stayed behind after everyone had gone and watched a Finnish big band which was cool, then we went home late...we had a whole bunch of lectures from different courses which are getting more interesting now (except for non-linear scriptwriting which is boring...), we've been out a couple of times to the worst club ever (which nick forced me into and cost me 7€ last night, i am NOT happy about that). last night we went to an island on the lakes, and there was a big fire we cooked sausages in and a big band playing and we got drunk. it was really surreal but really good! that seems to be the name of the game around here.
Kat's scored us tickets in Helsinki to watch German play Finland on wednesday, im going to Tallin in Estonia next weekend then we have four days in a cottage in Laplap the next weekend. Im burning through money at the moment but after next week, the only big expenditure for a while will be going to Stockholm, which we'll be doing in October, and fuck it my student loan came in so i may as well spend it eh? screw it. its all gotta get paid back anyway.
sorry for the essay, ill try and post more regularly from now on so you dont have to spend an hour reading what is essentially a bulletpoint list of what we've spent someone elses money on...! will keep you updated.
miss everyone at home very much, hope youre all taking care of yourselves and each other!
hopefully will be posting some production photos of our entry for the 'My Tampere' film competition up soon, but the deadline is immediately after our trip to lapland, meaning we basically ahve to finish it by the end of this week...aaargh! so dont hold your breath.
love,
dan
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