I'd have to concur that this was a particularly strong year in both the 4th Year personal films and the 3rd Year group films. I may be a bit blunt in my assessment, but I feel that last year's crop of 4th Year films included far too many Flash produced efforts with little more than moving graphics. Many of them were very good in terms of storytelling and filmmaking skills, but were frankly disappointing in terms of character animation.
This year was a pleasant surprise for me, as I feel that the majority of 4th Year students really aspired to more personality based, full character animation. Though there were some very impressive CG films, I'll admit I'm still biased in favour of hand drawn animation and I found much to like this year. The highlights for me were Andrew Ferguson's "The Street Magician" and Matt Kalinauskas' "Two by Two", both of which showed great flair for cartoony design; Melissa Maduro's "A Romance in Graphite" and Marion Coffey's "The Little Colour Thief", both showing simple elegance and charm in their appealing, fluid character animation; and of course, Vlad Kooperman's very impressive "C Block", which I know received a very positive reaction from everyone in the theatre. And these are just a few of the better ones, as there were many other notable films I enjoyed very much.All in all, a very impressive and entertaining screening yesterday at Sheridan, and I think the graduating students should be very proud of their achievements. I look forward to seeing great work from them onscreen in the years to come and I'll always have fond memories of working with them in my class back in their 2nd Year.
Do they get a lot of time to work on their films? How many other classes are they doing that have different projects?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it, Pete. You're one of my idols when it comes to cartoons, so it's inspiring to hear that from you.
ReplyDeleteAndrew - Just to let you know, I found out after we spoke about my perhaps getting a copy of your film that there was a DVD compilation of all of the 4th Year films, and I was able to purchase one through Alan Cook. I watched back your film again yesterday, as well as about a handful of my other favourites, and I really am astounded at the high calibre of talent on display this year. If my Character Design class played even a small part in inspiring some of you guys in your work, then I take great satisfaction from that.
ReplyDeleteKali - Since I just teach in 2nd Year, I'm not sure exactly what the schedules are like in 4th Year and whether there are many assignments given in addition to their ongoing film work. Perhaps Andrew or another 4th Year grad might like to field that question?
Ya- I'd like to know!
ReplyDeleteMy Industry Night is Thrus. the 8th- and I'm slightly nervous, haha.
THANKS FOR MY CARICATURE AND PRINTS, PETE !!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'M HAPPY !!!!
Awwwn, Pete, thanks for the praise. We couldn't have gotten through Sheridan without you!
ReplyDeleteWord Pete. pete we owe a lot to you for the good memories in and out of class!
ReplyDeletethanks a lot. you were more then just our teacher, you are a good friend.
this is your gangster friend,
Farrukh! lol