Amelia’s Magazine | Kingston University: Illustration and Animation Ba Hons Graduate Show 2011 Review. Animation.

Kingston Illustration graduate exhibition 2011 Zach Ellams
Detail of artwork for The Deptford Mice by Zach Ellams.

As for the animation from Kingston, decease I didn’t manage to take much of it in at the exhibition so I’ve had a scout around on the internet in the intervening days. I absolutely adore Sophie Powell‘s The End, featuring talking planets and a Japanese voiceover.

I also love her Order/Chaos project with jiggling balls:

…and her collaborative project based on the Salmon Rushdie novel Luka and the Fire of LIfe, especially the ominous moving mountains.

Sophie Powell is inspired by murder mysteries, contagious smiles, pop up books and animals in clothes. Sounds good to me.

When Zach Ellams is not collaborating with Sophie he is making wonderful animations of his own. I was drawn to his 3D illustrated artwork (see above) for The Deptford Mice, which was made for a theatre performance in Wimbledon with Tim O’Leary. It’s a dark fantasy adventure of brave mice battling the sewer rats lurking beneath London.

Dawn Smit hung a load of images from the wall in an energetic way that caught my eye.
Kingston Illustration graduate exhibition 2011 Dawn Smit

Moira Lam made a hypnotic showreel of quietly turning music boxes for End in a Box.

The Morse Mystery is a funny and effective little animation with a story to tell, by Welsh born James Lancett.

Sean Weston goes up close and personal to tell the story of Bobby and Billy.

For Reincarnation by Angus Dick a man turns around and around the world, becoming a dragon, emerging a man.

And finally, two further versions of Luka and the Fire of Life, with some wonderful perspectives, firstly from a flying carpet in Katherine Robson‘s video.

And from behind eyelids and confronting monsters in this one by Ben Tobitt.

If you liked this animation why not read more about the illustration upstairs and downstairs too? I’ll leave you with an image of Rob Ryan in his cycling gear. It was a great exhibition, need I say more?
Kingston Illustration graduate exhibition 2011 Rob Ryan

Categories ,Angus Dick, ,animation, ,Ben Tobitt, ,Bobby and Billy, ,Dawn Smit, ,Dragon, ,End in a Box, ,illustration, ,James Lancett, ,Katherine Robson, ,Kingston University, ,Luka and the Fire of LIfe, ,Moira Lam, ,Monsters, ,Morse Mystery, ,Novel, ,Order/Chaos, ,Reincarnation, ,rob ryan, ,Salmon Rushdie, ,Sean Weston, ,Sophie Powell, ,The Deptford Mice, ,The End, ,Tim O’Leary, ,wimbledon, ,Zach Ellams

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Amelia’s Magazine | Single and Video Review: Zebra and Snake – Sweetest Treasure

Zebra and Snake
I am seriously loving the video for Zebra and Snake‘s new single Sweetest Treasure – made by Sing J. Lee, a young award winning director from the North West – and featuring a fearless tribe of children who do battle with scary-toothed monsters in the woods. Zebra and Snake are Matti and Tapio, who hail from Finland and are currently settled in Helsinki, where their combined loves of synths and classical music has informed their own creation: fuzzy 80s influenced electronica with great melodies, of which lead single Sweetest Treasure is a great example.

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Sing J. Lee said of making the video: ‘I had a great time working on Sweetest Treasure for Zebra and Snake. It transported me back to my childhood where I ran around my back garden pretending I was on some epic adventure.’ The idea began with the idea of incorporating children and monsters: Matti and Tapio wanted to include Nordic influences in the short story format, where a small kid is trapped by monsters, and Sing J. Lee added references to the games he enjoyed as a child. To keep the mood light hearted the monsters were made from balloons, the blood from powdered paint. The video was shot in various locations in South Wales and Epping Forest. Take a peek, it’s insanely moreish. Zebra and Snake go on a mini tour later in February, to support the release of their new EP on 100%.

Categories ,100%, ,80s, ,children, ,electronica, ,ep, ,Epping Forest, ,FInnish, ,Helsinki, ,Matti, ,Monsters, ,Nordic, ,review, ,Sing J. Lee, ,single, ,South Wales, ,Sweetest Treasure, ,Synth, ,Tapio, ,video, ,Zebra and Snake

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