British Animation Awards Screening

...And silly me forgot to comment on the BAA Screenings in Birmingham last weekend. It took place in a small cinema venue in the Custard Factory (which is essentially the UK's second city's answer to London's Soho). Proceedings were hosted by the ever-talented, ever-vocal and (most notably) ever-American Marc Silk and the attendees were a selection of animators and film makers, young and old in the field, all interested in seeing some great pieces and more so in the after party drinks afterwards. A good couple evenings.


Some of the more prominent animations shown were:

Being Bradford Dillman

While rife with dark undertones "Being Bradford Dillman" is a sweet story when it comes down to it, with a great drawing style suited to the slightly depressing, though full-of-heart subject matter.

The Eagleman Stag

A great looking stop motion piece which had been awarded a BAFTA and is out for a BAA as well. Personally, I found the main attraction to be the voice acting, and the verbosity of the script. The all-white aesthetic was nice, but the voice and the words being said were enthralling and entertaining to unreasonably appealing levels.

A Morning Stroll

Throwing some sort of time travel mechanic/generational throwback into a piece is going to have hooked from the outset. So when Studio AKA (a company already known to be unafraid of the quirky, shall we say) pull out this, a comparison of society across different time periods, each sampling their own visual style, animated flare and a truck load of hearty chuckles to boot...new trousers may have needed to be purchased.

All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat)

Even though this was about the 3rd/4th time I'd seen this on my travels, Man In A Cat is something you could watch for years and still find hilarious. It's a man in a cat for pete's sake. Start off with that premise in a funding meeting and you watch those men in the stuffy suits sitting opposite hastily scribble the zeroes in their chequebooks. Great laughs all around.