Welcome to the final Post With The Most of 2017. It's New Year's Eve. The house in which I'm writing these opening words is hushed and I'm in a suitably contemplative mood. It's been a rather strange and unsettling year. It has felt sometimes as if the world is in reverse. Real comfort then in taking a few quiet moments at the turning of the great clock to celebrate the achievements of our bright young things and marvel at the huge creative distances they've travelled in so short a time.
The What If Metropolis project is an ambitious one for new-comers to Computer Animation Arts - in simple terms, it requires our first years to envision, design and model a fantastical digital set and adopt unfamiliar ways of looking, thinking, and designing in order to do so. The project requires them to collaborate with established artists and thus resist any existing stylistic preferences of their own; students need to demonstrate the flex and dexterity to work within the parameters of another person's artistic headspace. There is real joy in seeing students create work they couldn't have predicted for themselves, witnessing that threshold moment when they realise they can respond, adapt and transform.
I had the pleasure of attending the Year 2 Collaboration crit presentations in the last week of term. Sometimes these crits can be rather awkward affairs, as hatchets not quite buried reveal their edges and silences speak loudest. While I'm certain there were a few bruised egos in the room, everyone was professional, supportive and the work on show was a lot of fun with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. I was personally very proud of our Year 2 students - for their maturity in the face of conflict and their commitment to getting their projects over the line. Enjoy this representative clip from Arrowpark Productions (comprising Anastasija Strelcova, Alex Park and Ellie Row), which gave everyone a bit of a giggle on crit day.
A Third Year's Christmas is a bit of an odd one - so much still to do in advance of January's deadlines (Minor project & Thesis) and so many reasons not to do it - those mince pies won't eat themselves and granny wants to see you... We hope they've got the balance just about right and judging by the round-up of recent blog updates, our third years have been working hard. Let me take this moment to wish them all the very best of luck as they power-up for deadline day.
Loyal readers of the PWTM will now that Red & The Kingdom Of Sound has already been screened for audiences in France and Germany. On January 18th, the musicians of the Filharmonia Śląska, Katowice, Poland, will be the next European orchestra to accompany Red on his adventure through the Kingdom of Sound. I'll be flying out to oversee the event - next stop on Red's tour, the Lyon Biennale in March!
Every year the quality of what comes out goes an extra mile. Amazing job to everyone and here is to a promising new year!
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