Introducing...Chris Randall!

Picasso Pictures: What's your full name?

Chris Randall: Christopher Randall

P: Where in the world were you born /grew up /currently live?

CR: I was born in Birmingham and grew up in Birmingham and currently live in Birmingham.

P: How did you get into Animation? When did you know it was for you?

CR: I saw Koyaanisqatsi at Uni and subsequently started experimenting with old 16mm Bolex cameras doing object animation and time-lapse but never took it seriously as I wanted to be a Director of Photography. A few years later at Central TV, I animated a skit of myself as a puppet complaining about having no time to cut a showreel for a forthcoming appraisal, which I then showed at the appraisal. The Head of Promotions saw it and used it to pitch for a large ad campaign, which we won. 3 years later and 3 Promax World Gold Awards later, I realised I might be on to something.

P: How would you describe your style? How did it develop?

CR: I have no idea how my style developed. It just happened. I tend to be a bit of a chameleon in what materials I use and how I do things or tell stories. I’ve always been a fan of old wooden things and love carvings and carpentry, I guess if there’s one cohesive element, a lot of my stuff has a kind of woody, vignetted look like everything’s been covered in creosote and then sandblasted. But I love experimenting and animating with different materials and techniques whether the images are captured in-camera or computer.

P: Who/What has been your biggest influence in your career?

CR: My Dad, because I usually wear the same expression of consternation/concentration when I’m working as he did/does. My first ever boss - Peter Tyler, an ingenious visual effects cameraman under whose tutelage I learned how to light and think laterally.

P: Is there one specific project that you feel best sums up your style?

CR: I’d say the Pilsner Urquell Legends thing, not just because of the desaturated sepia look to it, but the trickery of the whole ink concept within it. I was really proud of that bit of writing. It’s nice to weave a bit of slightly twisted logic into things so that a small part of your audience’s mind is questioning how on earth something was done. That’s the beauty of shooting stuff in camera.

P: Where do you see the future leading you career wise?

CR: I love the ideas part of development and being able to write treatments on ideas, so maybe more of that in future perhaps. One day I’d like to sculpt I think, long after caring what a time-remapped keyframe is or does.

P: What inspires you?

CR: Inside the studio: telling a half-decent story and making the visuals as rich as possible. Outside the studio; well Scuba Diving is the closest I’ll ever get to a zen experience, at around 55 minutes a time. I don’t necessarily have to see anything, the experience of being suspended underwater is enough for me. Night diving in particular is particularly good, that’s when all the weird stuff comes out. Flying kites (big ones!) on big desolate beaches and going as fast as humanly possible. Cycling for very, very long periods of time is good for ideas. There’s also museums and art galleries. Thunderstorms in other countries. Things in skips. Making furniture from things in skips.

P: Whats Birmingham like to work? Is it inspirational place to work? Tell us some good points!

CR: Birmingham’s great. I’m sure it will be even nicer when they finish building it. Joking aside, Birmingham is a city of makers. It always has been and long may it stay that way. I’m lucky in that I can delve into a mine of really good, talented, down-to-earth people to work with. I don’t think I could have set up my studio in any other place with such a hard-working and amenable support network. That’s the best positive there is. That, and convenient motorway links. And a lot of canals. And a lot of skips.

Link to Chris's work

Introducing... weareseventeen

We love nothing more here at Picasso HQ than introducing new and exciting talent to our roster.  The innovative creative motion-graphics and design studio weareseventeen have just joined us, following their 2012 success at Promax this year where they scooped three Golds and two Silvers! We talk to the founders George Alexander and Steve Simmonds to find out more about them and their stunning portfolio of work...

Picasso: So who are weareseventeen ?
weareseventeen: We are George Alexander & Steve Simmonds

P: Where in the world were you born/grew up?
George : Outer Hebrides / West Highlands of Scotland
Steve: Slightly less scenic than George I was born in the beautiful urban landscape of Croydon, South east London.

P: Where in the world do you currently live?
G: Stoke Newington
S: Well after living in London for the last 8 years my wife and I have taken the kids for a slightly greener lifestyle in leafy Surrey.

P: How did you get into Animation? When did you know it was for you?
G: I’d always wanted to be a designer of some sort when I was younger, interiors or products to begin with. Moving to London in 1997 I got a job at a small 3D Studio and have never looked back. 
S: It was graphic design that originally captured my imagination along with a love of art. Animation came second when I was introduced to broadcast by my godfather who worked at Sky.  I then blagged my way into Ravensbourne college and studied motion graphic design, and it was here that I learned that motion design was for me.

P: So who are weareseventeen? How did you come about? And where did the name come from?
G: I’d been waiting for a long time to meet someone I’d want to go into business with. Steve & I met while working together in 2005, and after a year we decided to set up on our own, having built up great relationships with many broadcast clients. I’ll let Steve tell you about the name – to this day I really have no idea.
S: It took 6 months of working in our underpants from home before we finally got dressed got ourselves a small studio over by the British Museum. Since then we have grown, and just moved into a new larger studio space in East London.The name weareseventeen comes from the Brodmann area, which is a numbering system which maps different areas of the brain. Area 17 is the primary visual cortex part of the brain responsible for processing visual information. This all sounds very clever but the deciding factor when choosing the name was how it looked on paper and we thought seventeen and 17 offered some nice logo opportunities. 

P: How would you describe your style? How did it develop?
G: With my role being more of a conceptual and strategic one than a design / animation one, I’d say my style is an inquisitive, investigative and logical approach to briefs. I like to think.
S: I don't think we ever consciously developed a "house style" but people often refer to our style as being colourful, vibrant and energetic. We come from Broadcast design backgrounds so we have a lot of respect for brands and brand awareness. We try to inject an element of fun into our work, despite the level of sophistication in what we do. 

P: Who/What has been your biggest influence in your career? 
G: Hard to name a name. I have worked with many brilliant people in my time. I have always really liked the people who ask questions, analyse deeply and find a way of conceiving ideas that feel unexpected but at the same time like the only possible answer.  
S: I personally have taken influences from all over. When I was starting out, it was names like Shynola, and Precusor and watching their work at festivals like onedotzero that gave me something to aim at. I have a bunch of very talented friends who all graduated from Ravensbourne and constantly inspire, surprise and push me to do bigger better work. And now there is all the inspiration you could ever need in the form of blogs and webpages that are constantly showing me interesting and unusual things.

P: Where do you see the future of weareseventeen?
G: As our reputation grows we would like to continue to be considered for more high profile commercial and brand projects, plus ultimately being known for insightful and unexpected thinking as well as beautiful moving image work. 
S: We have just moved into a new studio, which will hopefully be our home for the next five years at least. Work wise we want to make exciting and progressive new work and have fun doing it.

P: Is there one specific project that you feel best sums up your style?
G: Our style of course varies depending on what is right for the brief and the client, but our work has always stood out as colourful, tactile and beautifully finished. But we’re open minded about style and it ultimately comes down to the brief, whether the right answer is 3D, 2D, No D? Is that a thing?
S: A few months back we completed a piece for BBC Worldwide for the BBC Knowledge Channel, which was predominantly 2D animation with the odd bit of 3D, rendered in a flat illustrative way. This is close to the sort of work we were doing at the start, and it won two Gold at Promax earlier this year.  I think we all really enjoyed working on this project and it has been really well received too.

P: London is the focus of the world right now, (with The Games etc!) can you give us your insight on living and working in the capital, is it an inspirational place to live and work?
G. It's a relentless city to live in and that suits me Monday to Friday, the pace is infectious and means a lot gets done in those 5 days. As a city it inspires me to work hard.
S. I agree with George, "relentless is the word. However we have a new studio now and it feels like a shield from the mayhem outside. I've just moved out to the country and it's made me realise just how bonkers London is.

Weareseventeen Reel 2012 from weare17 on Vimeo.

Picasso People: Dorianne Fibleuil, in-house 3D Animator

The lovely Dorianne Fibleuil, graduate of the esteemed French computer graphics institute Supinfocom, is bringing her French flair to many upcoming projects and now has another reason to be proud as her graduate film 'Le Taxidermiste' was in competition at this year's distinguished Annecy Festival . We caught up with Dorianne to talk design, software and jellied eels...

Picasso: Who are you and where are you from?

Dorianne: Hi! My name is Dorianne. I come from Les Ulis, a nice little town near Paris.

P: Where and what did you study?

D: Well I didn’t start with 3D! I first went to Ecole Estienne, a graphic art school in Paris, where I chose to specialise in engraving. It was an excellent experience but I later decided to join the Animation course where I got to experience a variety of animation techniques over the two years. From here I decided to go to the much acclaimed, Supinfocom in Arles! It was three intense years learning 3D all day long. And here I am :)

P: Tell us about your graduating/degree film, and the fact it was in competition at Annecy?

D: We were really happy and excited when we saw that our movie was selected for Annecy! It's a great opportunity. We met a lot of interesting people during the festival.

I co-directed "Le Taxidermiste" with 3 others: Paulin Cointot, Antoine Robert and Maud Sertour. The film is about a taxidermist who has just died. His widow and a funeral team pay him their last respect through an unusual ceremony. We decided to push it further with the taxidermy element. We wanted to focus on the atmosphere and took time to work on all the details and textures… There are a lot of things that you don’t notice when you first watch it :)

P: What software do you use?

D: I mainly use 3ds Max, but I feel comfortable on Maya as well, and I have a some knowledge of XSI. I also use Zbrush, Photoshop, and After Effects for compositing.

P: What inspired you to get into Animation?

D: I was inspired by the master of VFX: Ray Harryhausen’s King Kong, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Clash Of the Titans... it was magic! I had a preference for "hand made effects” which led to an interest in digital effects and animation. I always liked drawings to give freedom to my imagination, so for me animation was the best way to mix reality and fantasy, and make people believe in it all, like magic.

P: What is your biggest influence and why?

D: I have been mainly influenced by books and by art in general, plus tv shows, and cinema... I think I'm influenced by mostly everything!

P: Talk me through a typical day in the Picasso Animation Studio.

D: A typical day.... I usually arrive at work and go straight to the kitchen to prepare my breakfast, toast with butter and raspberry jam, and English tea!

Then I will ask Jane [Executive Producer] about client feedback and pop up to the 4th floor, switch on the computer, have a chat with the directors to see which direction I should take. I also usually make myself a to-do list for the day, as some days I have to do lots of retakes as well as start working on new stuff, it can be quite complicated! I try as much as I can to have everything done around 5pm, in case I have some retakes to do before Jane sends to the client.

P: When you are briefed on a new job…what do you do? Take us through the process

D: When I'm briefed on a new job I just try to think about the best and quickest way do to it in order to be able to deliver it on time. It is also important to know how the directors see it, what they want to be able to deliver, something close to their wish. And also give to client what he wants.... There is always a balance to work out between the director's and the client's wishes. It’s not always simple!

P: What has surprised you about London – are the English all crazy? Have you eaten a Roast Dinner/Jellied eels yet? :)

D: My first surprise in London was when I noticed that most of people are really nice and polite. (In comparison with Paris!) I was also really surprised to see the diversity of London's city landscape…woods, parks, buildings, cute houses, you get everything in London! I never get bored.

And yes, I had a Roast Dinner once, my Australian flatmate make me discover it! I really like it! About jellied eels, I'm quite sure that I will never try to eat this…doesn't look very yummy!

Le Taxidermiste Trailer from Le Taxidermiste Team on Vimeo.

NuFormer's interactive 3D Mo-Cap projection technology has arrived!

The Magic Lantern, credited to both Athanasius Kircher and Christiaan Huygens in the early 17th Century, was perhaps the first use of projection mapping, enthralling audiences across Europe, conjuring visions of deceased relatives and demons in dark parlours and dirty alley ways. However, in 1802 Humphry Davy created the first iridescent light by passing a current through a thin strip of platinum and from light bulb to overhead projector, the magic lamp became something very magical indeed.

Today, Netherlands based NuFormer are perfecting and utilising their own developments in 3D projection mapping, recently adapting the technology to include motion capture capabilities. This, the latest in a long line of pioneering advances for one of the world's leading 3D projection mapping companies for the company, who are confident these new advances will see the face of public marketing change forever...

The Tower prior to the projection

Picasso: What was the inspiration behind this new Mo-Cap tech you've developed? Was it demand, or was it the next obvious step? 

NuFormer: Mocap Mapping was Rob’s (NuFormer’s MD) innovative idea to combine a real-time motion capture setup with a 3D video mapping projection setup. On-site an actor in a motion capture suit impersonates the 3D character in the video mapping in real-time. The actor can see and hear the audience and talk to them directly, creating spontaneous and live interaction.

This combination is extremely versatile because every separate element of the show is custom-designed, from the 3D character, to the smaller pre-rendered animations (such as the elevator in our test) and the ‘environment’ (the time machine). For the test we created ‘Perry Dox’, a stranded time traveller from the year 2525.

 

Mocap Mapping can take very many forms. A brand can for example use it to launch its new product in a unique way. But the 3D character can also be a brand’s mascot, a dinosaur or a soda bottle; anything really. The essence of Mocap Mapping is that it offers an original, inspirational and highly interactive experience for the audience.

 

The crowd stare up in wonder

P: How long did it take to develop this until it was ready to test live?

NF: The idea for Mocap Mapping had been around for a while. In 2011 research was done to see how and if we could make all the different systems and techniques come together. Also we put together the best possible team for the test. In January an official start was made with the preparations for the test in March.

P: Is there more for you explore and develop in the 3d projection world?

NF: We are continually searching for new ways to integrate interactivity in 3D video mapping projection. We are very keen on developing new innovative approaches in-house. Continuous research and development is highly important for us, it is after all one of the reasons our clients come to us. We believe that 3D video mapping still has a big future ahead of it. 3D video mapping has potential for so many different industries, from the entertainment industry, such as theme parks and the marketing and PR industry to name just a few.   

The crowd turned up to see this new technology in action

P: What would be your dream location to use this technique?

NF: We would love to surprise an impressive square filled with people with a spectacular Mocap Mapping projection on a large monumental building. It would show the next level in Mocap Mapping with multiple 3D characters in it that all interact with each other and of course with the audience. 

The Way We Were...(n't)

Here at Picasso HQ, we stumbled across a marvelous and totally relevant find for the upcoming Jubilee. Would you believe, HRH Queen Elizabeth visited Picasso Pictures soon after her coronation in 1952, such an honour! Then we found some rather fun snaps of us all in the fashion of the day, doing the things we loved to do, haven’t we aged well?!

So Happy Jubilee everyone! We hope you all have a marvelous long weekend and the sun shines on each and every one of you.

From all of us at Picasso Pictures.

x

Her Majesty at Picasso HQ 1952

Anyone for Cake? says Mel.

Sam made a lovely cuppa.

Jane still only drinks tea from bone china.

Did someone say cake? said Rich

Amelie in Action, she had quite a swing.