LEO BRIDLE // NEWS

National Maritime Museum

I got to make a bunch of little films for the National Maritime earlier this year, and they are now online.

I think the coolest one was this huge 3D version of a canaletto painting that we did for the lobby of the museum. If you go down there you can see it up on the screen for most of the summer!

Before that, I also directed some little educational films that play on ipads that visiting children can borrow. If you take a picture of certain objects with the ipad camera, then the programme recognises it and shows you a relevant animation.

The whole bunch were produced at Beakus. Big thanks to Phil Norman, Jesse Collett,  Maja Tetlak and Eleni O’Keefe

Here is one of my favourite ones from that series, thanks to the hard work of Jesse Collett.

You can see the rest on the Beakus website here

Latest train news

A few bonus Train of Thought screenings in the past couple of weeks - firstly we were honoured to be included in Vimeo’s screening at SXSW in Texas last month. That’s a festival I’d love to go to at some point.

This saturday I gave a presentation about the inspirations and technical side of the film at Aniscape in Leicester. 

and lastly, we are screening at HAFF in Utrecht this week as part of Paul Ward’s “Magic and Materiality” screening. The description of the screening seems perfect, and matches a lot of stuff that was in my mind as we were planning the film in the first place. I’ve copied it below.

Almost 3 years now since we finished that film, so I really ought to get my act together for a new one…

In viewing these films, it is the oscillation between credulity and incredulity that most interests me - the ways in which the animation is simultaneously held up as ‘magic’ and as a ‘technical process’. This means we as viewers are participants in a dialectic between enjoying the spectacle or trickery and admiring the ingenuity of the practitioner - one of the central tenets of any form of magic trick. In his book Performing Illusions (2008), film scholar Dan North talks about the development of special effects in the cinema, tracing them back to the magic theatre, and talks about a dialectic between ‘revelation and concealment’. This is what underpins the films in these programmes: the idea that it is more magical - indeed, some might argue it is only magical - when we are aware of someone behind the scenes, pulling the strings. (Paul Ward)

Christmas Card

I made a christmas card with some cool magnetic paper that I spotted in an art store a couple of weeks ago. It’s based on the Chinese Tangram game - you can rearrange the magnetic pieces into the shape of a christmas tree or something else to stick to the front of the card.

Perhaps a non-denominational Christmas candle…

… Or a traditional Christmas cat.

I was pretty late making these, and wasn’t able to give many out before people disappeared for christmas. So, I put together a quick, interactive website version that doesn’t rely on royal mail to get delivered by the 25th.

Check it out here!

Happy Christmas!!

Inside Film

I just finished some animation for a new film created with Inside Film - a great organisation that helps prison inmates to make films.

The film in question is about the massive divide between rich and poor in London. The film was started about 9 months ago, but now in the wake of the summer riots and the growing Occupy movement it’s subject is more relevant than ever.

I designed and animated an intro and outro for the film, featuring collaged versions of the directors, Prince and Hassan.

The film is showing at the Bank of Ideas in London soon. Here are a couple of images from the animated bits for now.