Friday 19 December 2014

People of Ar Blog

 The People of Ar blog

Armenian myths, culture and news.

https://peopleofar.wordpress.com/2014/12/

2014 IADT Christmas Card!

Congrats to Kayleigh Scullion and Fionn Boland, two of my star 3rd Year Animation students for winning the 2014 Christmas e-card competition! Well done and a Happy Christmas to all!

http://www.iadt.ie/christmasgreetings2014/

Monday 15 December 2014

Tempus ALIGN WP1 Dublin Training is Done!

From the 8th of December to the 12th of December, IADT hosted 55 Tempus ALIGN participants from Armenia, Russia and Ukraina for a week of ALIGN WP (work package) 1 capacity building training. Thanks to Dr. Tara Ryan for her organisation of the WP1 Dublin training and the cultural events. Thanks also to our European experts Andre, Zbigniew, Inna, Durdica, Sergei and Almantas, Special thanks from me to IADT's Cliona Flood, Laura Venables, Therese Moylan, Marion Palmer, Kay Doyle and Mary Anne O Carroll, as well as to my 3rd Year students Caoimhe, Fiona, Fionn, Glen, and Sophie. Thanks also to our expert IADT guide David Doyle and to RCSI's Martina Crehan, QQI's Bryan Maguire and Laura Harmon (President USI), Kevin Donoghue and Conor from USI!

We thoroughly enjoyed the teaching and learning discussions, and especially the debates around learning outcomes, student assessment and the infamous Driving Test exercise!

We hope the Dublin training will benefit all of the ALIGN HEIs, agencies and stakeholders! WP1 (capacity building) is officially done, though we envisage a continuation of capacity building training for the duration of the ALIGN project.

Onwards to 2015 and to the rest of the ALIGN work packages!



Tempus ALIGN - Day One of WP1 Dublin training


Tempus ALIGN - Day Two of WP1 Dublin training - Laura


Tempus ALIGN - WP1 Dublin training


Tempus ALIGN - The mock validation panel observers


Tempus ALIGN - Comhaltas in Monkstown


Tempus ALIGN - IADT President Dr. Annie Doona presents WP1 Dublin certificates


Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around TCD (Trinity College Dublin)


Tempus ALIGN - TCD


Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around TCD


Tempus ALIGN - Long Room TCD


Tempus ALIGN - Front Square TCD



Tempus ALIGN - Front Gate TCD



Tempus ALIGN - David Doyle guides around National Museum


Tempus ALIGN - National Museum, Dublin


Tempus ALIGN - National Museum, Dublin, Sergei and David Doyle


Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin, Svetlana and Natalia


Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin


Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin


Tempus ALIGN - Jameson Distillery, Dublin





Friday 21 November 2014

All Good Things Graduate!

Last Wednesday (19th of November 2014) the Good Things of IADT Animation were conferred in the RDS! A joy to see most of the gang, gowned up and looking wonderful. Really sorry I didn't get to say 'hi' to everyone on the day. We have every confidence that you will make us hugely proud out there in the big wide world! Congrats to you all! We miss you terribly.


I'm not standing in the middle next year - it looks like I just graduated!



Steve. Lolo, DQ, Mel and Anita!


 Miss Carroll and DQ


Fantastic to have Cathal Gaffney being bestowed with an IADT Honorary Fellowship for his outstanding lifetime achievements in the business of animation and media. Cathal gave us all a great shout (by name) out in his speech, as being people who really influenced his to become involved in animation in the first place, and he also gave prominent mention to one of our IADT stars from the past Bronagh O' Hanlon - Disney's go-to woman! Very generous! Congratulations to Cathal!



Cathal makes his hugely gracious, generous speech! Well done man!



Wednesday 8 October 2014

Dublin Animation Film Festival - IADT Graduate Films and Indie Cork Film Festival!

Best of luck to IADT Animation recent graduates Aisling O' Reilly, Sarah Walsh and Anita Gaughan who are showing their films in the Best Irish Student or Graduate Shortlisted Film category in the 2014 Dublin Animation Film Festival on Saturday 18th of October in The Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire. Well done to all and fingers crossed!


The following films have been shortlisted for the Best Irish Student or Graduate Short Film:

 1. In Sheep’s Clothing – Aisling O’Reilly –  IADT (Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology)

2. Marrying the Sea – Sarah Walsh – IADT (Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology)

3. Shoot – Rory Conway – BCFE (Ballyfermot College of Further Education)

4. Wounded – Helga Kristjana Bjarnadottir – BCFE (Ballyfermot College of Further Education)

5. Vertical Horizons – Anita Gaughan – IADT (Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology)

All of these films are eligible for the Audience Choice Award – voting takes place after the screenings on the 18th of October at the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire.


http://www.dublinanimationfilmfestival.com/best-irish-student-or-graduate-shortlisted-films/ 

Apologies but I won't be there to vote for my favourites - my 'A Warning To All Kings' short film is screening at exactly the same time in the Gate Cinema in Cork, at the 2014 Indie Cork Film Festival! Prayers welcome...


Tuesday 7 October 2014

Tempus Align in Ghent!

Spent all of last week (Sunday 28th of Sept to Friday 3rd of October) in Ghent on Tempus Align Work Programme 1 training in the spectacular city of Ghent in Flanders. Some excellent work by our Align partners from Armenia, Russia and Ukraina, with some real traction on their individual alignment projects. We learned many many valuable lessons from our Align partners, which we will take back to our own programmes, institutions and nations! And we had some fun too, with the entire group coming together to push the project forward, despite many national, sectoral and institutional challenges.

Immense congratulations to IADT's Tara Ryan on her work in developing the WP1 Capacity Building training, and a huge thank you to Andre Govaert for his brilliant organisation of the Ghent events, including the cultural activities! Immense thanks also to our European partners Mila Zarkh, Zbigniew Palka, Inna Pomorina, Paul Hyland and Romain Hulpia for their hugely valuable contributions to the WP1 training.

The final days's KU Leuven postgraduate presentations were an eye-opener - clearly showing how real-world problems, excellent research and funding can result in great benefits for students, institutions and society! A model for us all!

less than 10 weeks to WP1 Capacity Building training in Dublin!


guided tour of Ghent with Antony


Ukraina's Sumy State, hard at work


Armenian working group


Ukraina's Taras Shevchenko University's Andrii and Volodomir with Mila


The fabulous Russian working group!


guided tour of  KU Leuven's Brewing Department

Monday 14 July 2014

2014 Galway Film Fleadh - All Great Things Win!

Congrats, congrats, congrats to Clare Carroll 'A Girl's Best Friend' who won Best First Animation at the 2014 Galway Film Fleadh. Anita Gaughan 'Vertical Horizons' won Best Animation Sequence in an Animation Film and Sarah Walsh 'Marrying The Sea' received an Honourable Mention in the Best Animation Category. Best Animation was won by Boulder Media's Rob Cullen and Brown Bag's Cathal and Doc were presented with lifetime achievement Galway Hooker Awards!

Other IADT student films in competition included ‘Lena and Gray’ (Melissa Malone), ‘In Sheep’s Clothing’ (Aisling O'Reilly), ‘Your Move’ (Simon Riley), and ‘Useless’ (Eva Kavanagh) - all great to see - even if this year's animation screening was on at the ungodly hour of 9.30 on Sunday morning! DQ also screened his 'A Warning To All Kings' and Steve Woods screened his 'Keeping Time' during the week.

Huge crowd of IADT graduates, recent graduates and current students around. The Best Fleadh yet and thanks to Liz Quinn and the Fleadh Team for their immense hard work and for making us so welcome! Well done to all, but a special well done to Anita, Clare and Sarah!




Group Shot Sunday Morning


Anita Gaughan collects her Best Animated Sequence prize at 2014 Galway Film Fleadh!


Clare Carroll wins Best First Animation at 2014 Galway Film Fleadh!


Anita on the steps with Brown Bag glitterati...


Three winners!


Everyone happy.


Clare, trophy and Liam


http://www.iftn.ie/training/TrainingNews/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4287364&tpl=archnews&force=1

Monday 26 May 2014

Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival 2014

Eminent director and great pal of ours Steve Woods emerged as a big big winner at the 2014 Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival, picking up Best Arthouse Film, Best Cinematography and Best Original Music for his latest dance film 'Keeping Time'. Congrats, congrats and very well deserved!


Big Winner Steve Woods eats fish and chips before picking up his prizes!

DQ did a workshop/seminar on Friday afternoon entitled 'Collaboration in Animation' - Festival Creative Director Chris O' Dell said he'd never experienced so much information packed into one hour! I also participated in various technical workshops organised by Chris and judged and presented the festival's Best Animation category.


Chris O' Dell with his baby Bell and Howell

An excellent, excellent festival as ever! Especial thanks to Helen, Chris, Pauline, Hilary, Maurice, Maria and Chris O' Dell!


Chris's Technical Workshop - Sunday morning

Friday 9 May 2014

My Last Short Film - Ever!

The time has come to officially announce that my current animated short 'A Warning To All Kings' will be my last ever.

I've now completed 11 animated shorts - only three of them have been fully funded. My last 5 animated shorts have emerged (self-funded) from my 'cutbacks' internet series. Whilst the self-funded films have won prizes and have been very successful on the film festival circuit, they've cost me (and my family) an arm and a leg to produce and promote. I don't have the financial resources to continue this activity. As a very good friend says 'we gotta give up making short films, they're killing us'. Tony Donoghue describes 'a short film ghetto' from which escape is practically impossible. There's no money in this activity (there never was, I know) but the longer form (specifically tv) projects which I'd hoped would emerge from the success of my recent short film work have not materialised - funders are not interested. Schemes like Frameworks are fantastic, but they're getting harder and harder to access.

I now must concentrate on returning to tv production - the 'machines' series for RTE in 1999 was my last tv series. I don't care if my return to tv production takes years - it must be done. That's where the funding lies.



A Warning To All Kings - image


1991 - Arts Council Film and Video Award for ‘To Forget’ short film (stop motion) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL-NLR3bpeA&list=UUT34LrcyJLGwiMF6CmyhPKA

2000 - Frameworks Award for ‘Florida War’ short film (CGI) 
2002 ‘Forest’ short film (CGI) 
2006 ‘Press p To Play’ short film (machinima) 
2007 ‘biography (of DT Finn)’ short film (machinima) 
2008 - Frameworks Award for ‘T’was a Terrible Hard Work’ short film (stop motion) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APEMB_tDFWY&list=UUT34LrcyJLGwiMF6CmyhPKA

2010 'Mister Heaney - a wee portrait' (short film - stopmotion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtwCCtBOKo&list=UUT34LrcyJLGwiMF6CmyhPKA

2011 May 'leitronium' (short film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KFBR_hUV1s

2011 May 'rinkydink and the salmon of knowledge' (short film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7m7yJJm38w

2013 May 'Furniture, Murder and Love' (short film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msbQW2crEPk&list=UUT34LrcyJLGwiMF6CmyhPKA


2014 May 'A Warning To All Kings' (short film)

http://www.davidquin.ie/CV.html

IADT Technology Showcase Video

Excellent work  by DL832 Animation 3rd year (soon to be 4th year) student Viki Katona on this IADT promo video! Great job! Showcase on the morning of May 14th!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzeieWraP38&feature=youtu.be


3rd Year DONE - Alan Holly - Anim Table Quiz

IADT DL041/DL832 Animation Stage 3 is DONE for this year - most of the exit tutorials done yesterday, on my return from Dusseldorf - well done to all! Then the final excellent IADT AnimSoc lecture, with IADT Animation graduate Alan Holly.


Key learnings from Alan... Keep pitching those projects - projects may be shot down by one panel, but funded by another. Pitch projects only when you're completely happy with them - but pitch documents CAN be simple and concise (the Frameworks proposal document for Alan's CODA was 5 pages of (beautiful, moody) concept images, a script, a budget, a schedule and director's and producer's treatment notes)...

Try to work out exactly what will end up onscreen and try to schedule the production accordingly - don't leave tracts of your film, unplanned and 'not nailed down'.

Other Alan learning... When your film is finished - keep applying for film festivals. Just because your film is rejected by one festival, doesn't mean it won't be accepted for the next festival - it might even WIN the next festival.

Once again - excellent lecture from Alan and thanks to Emily, Ross and the AnimSoc for organising it!


Next, it was upstairs to the Animation studio for a small 3rd year 'exhibition', AnimSoc pizzas and bottles of fizz... After that, an Animation exhibition fundraising table quiz in Bakers. Jazis - a long day, but a great day!


2014 Stage 3 exhibition...


Baker's - the table quiz...


Baker's - the table quiz...


Baker's - the table quiz... Checking them pesky answers...