More 4 recently ran a Stanley Kubrick season which was promoted by this stunning advert.
Being a fan of Stephen King, I of course love The Shining and have seen both the famous Kubrick film and lesser-known TV adaptation. Kubrick's film is far superior when it comes to style and so many iconic moments from the film have been captured in the new ad, from the snowy maze to the psychedelic carpeted corridor where Danny rides his trike. Throw in some of the original spooky music and some uncanny lookalikes for cast and crew and you've got a highly accurate re-creation.
A great ad. A great film. A great novel. If you haven't already, I would recommend checking out all 3.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Monday, 21 July 2008
Ray of Sunshine on a Monday Morning....
It's Monday morning. I've been out all weekend and despite a fairly decent night's sleep I feel as rough as ever. I get to work and I have 30 new emails, most of them needing a response in the next hour. I also have briefs to write and forums to moderate. It's typical, but without having at least 4 cups of tea first, it's a bloody nightmare.
Just as I'm getting in a tizz about what to do first I see a Google alert in my inbox picking up this boy's blog:
http://calvinsmodels.blogspot.com/2008/07/calvin-wins-shaun-sheep-prize.html and I realise what I great job I have.
W&G and Shaun are some of the few sites that have a fully-automated art gallery to encourage kids to be creative and get their work on the web. We're also their first point of contact with [enter popular animation company name here] and receiving a certificate, prize, or even just a message on the forums can be a huge confidence-booster. It also inadvertently helps them become more computer-savvy - it's funny to watch some of the kids in the forums learning basic html to make their posts bold, italic and underlined using tags, completely unaware that they're learning as they go along. lol.
It's been great to see the same members come back to our sites over and over, often on a daily basis to chat to their friends, post their art and get constructive and encouraging feedback. At the moment community features are booming, and I hope that this trend will continue a long way into the future.
Just as I'm getting in a tizz about what to do first I see a Google alert in my inbox picking up this boy's blog:
http://calvinsmodels.blogspot.com/2008/07/calvin-wins-shaun-sheep-prize.html and I realise what I great job I have.
W&G and Shaun are some of the few sites that have a fully-automated art gallery to encourage kids to be creative and get their work on the web. We're also their first point of contact with [enter popular animation company name here] and receiving a certificate, prize, or even just a message on the forums can be a huge confidence-booster. It also inadvertently helps them become more computer-savvy - it's funny to watch some of the kids in the forums learning basic html to make their posts bold, italic and underlined using tags, completely unaware that they're learning as they go along. lol.
It's been great to see the same members come back to our sites over and over, often on a daily basis to chat to their friends, post their art and get constructive and encouraging feedback. At the moment community features are booming, and I hope that this trend will continue a long way into the future.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Freebie Friday!
It's days like today when I love my job even more than usual.
To start the day the whole office was showered with gifts: Angry Kid season 2 and the Shaun the Sheep box set - sweet! It never occured to me at the time to ask why we were being given free stuff (my student instincts kicking in again) but I assume that it keeps the staff happy and *just might* inadvertently increase their knowledge of the 2 shows.
Later on in the day, the whole online team took a trip up to the Aztec West Studios to meet the team working on the new Timmy series, which was mind-boggling! This spin-off from Shaun is aimed at pre-schoolers and is set in a nursery where Timmy is joined by lots of other young animals. Timmy is away from the farm, where he is used to being spoiled, and has to learn some of life's lessons on his own. Each episode he learns a different lesson - the one we watched was about saying sorry. The way the story has been scripted is very effective and I think it will be very easy for kids to relate to.
After watching the pilot episode the differences between Timmy and Shaun were quite clear - Timmy is aimed at a pre-school audience - the pace is much slower, the story less complex and the colours much brighter! Saying that, the subtle Aard humour runs throughout and the story flows beatifully, it was highly entertaining to watch.
As with Shaun, kids are going to love the fun story and cute characters, and parents are going to be happy to let them site goggle-eyed in front of the TV because of the take-home messages, in addition to the cute characters of course!
What parent could resist, eh?
To start the day the whole office was showered with gifts: Angry Kid season 2 and the Shaun the Sheep box set - sweet! It never occured to me at the time to ask why we were being given free stuff (my student instincts kicking in again) but I assume that it keeps the staff happy and *just might* inadvertently increase their knowledge of the 2 shows.
Later on in the day, the whole online team took a trip up to the Aztec West Studios to meet the team working on the new Timmy series, which was mind-boggling! This spin-off from Shaun is aimed at pre-schoolers and is set in a nursery where Timmy is joined by lots of other young animals. Timmy is away from the farm, where he is used to being spoiled, and has to learn some of life's lessons on his own. Each episode he learns a different lesson - the one we watched was about saying sorry. The way the story has been scripted is very effective and I think it will be very easy for kids to relate to.
After watching the pilot episode the differences between Timmy and Shaun were quite clear - Timmy is aimed at a pre-school audience - the pace is much slower, the story less complex and the colours much brighter! Saying that, the subtle Aard humour runs throughout and the story flows beatifully, it was highly entertaining to watch.
As with Shaun, kids are going to love the fun story and cute characters, and parents are going to be happy to let them site goggle-eyed in front of the TV because of the take-home messages, in addition to the cute characters of course!
What parent could resist, eh?
Sunday, 6 July 2008
The Dream Team!
I love all things sentimental - our department recently got some group shots done for a magazine (cheers to Gav Strange) - they're brill!
Still images too boring? Check out Gav's mash up of the 'Aardance' and Benje's timelapse video below of a typical day in the online department - gripping stuff!
Still images too boring? Check out Gav's mash up of the 'Aardance' and Benje's timelapse video below of a typical day in the online department - gripping stuff!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Chop Socky Chooks - Kickin' it on the Web!
The new Chop Socky Chooks website launched this week, which is super-exciting as it's the first site to be 100% designed and built by our very own Aardman boffins!
You can take a look at www.chopsockychooks.com. There'll also be a new game introduced to the site in a few months which I think will be a stunner, I can't wait toplay test it!
It's extremely humbling to work with such a talented bunch of people....
:-)
You can take a look at www.chopsockychooks.com. There'll also be a new game introduced to the site in a few months which I think will be a stunner, I can't wait to
It's extremely humbling to work with such a talented bunch of people....
:-)
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