'Trixie the Little Carousel Horse' by Rochelle Hodgson

Rochelle takes every opportunity to make textile based work and her animation project has been no exception. Trixie herself is a riot of pattern and colour and the sets that Rochelle has made are painstakingly and delicately embellished fabrics. Rochelle has set herself a big task in putting these two time consuming techniques together but you can tell that her love for textiles work has overshadowed her animation. I would have liked to have seen movement in the sets, perhaps the Indian paisleys dancing to some traditional music and the fish swimming around the Great Barrier Reef. Perhaps Rochelle could have taken inspiration from Luka's use of time-lapse photography animation technique to really show off the process of the stitching and embellishments.

The final film is however a quiet piece that may appeal greatly to it's intended pre-school audience. If you have any comments please post them here to Rochelle who will use them to further her work and working processes...

'The Little Anglerfish' by Kerry Ann Smith

I can't find fault in this animation, those who have been taught by me will find that a rare occurrence! Kerry has worked so hard on every aspect of this animation but most especially on these cutout characters. Each one was threaded by hand and she worked long into the night to make them. I'm sure you will agree that their movement is beautiful. At first I wasn't sure about Kerry's choice of music but now I see the finished piece and the way that the fish dance I can see that the music fits the story and characters well. This story is so much more sophisticated than the first version for her illustration project, it has been a great opportunity to develop an idea and Kerry has succeeded so well because she has refined her work at every stage.

Please take the time to leave a comment for Kerry, she will use them to analyse her work and further her future work and working processes...

'Rockin' Horse' by Pip Renault

When I was talking to Pip about how he would record viewer's reactions to his animation he told me that people wouldn't actually laugh out loud when they watch it. I laugh out loud every time I watch it, I bet most people do. The best part of this story has to be 'Gator' thrusting to Twisted Sister and electric bolts shooting from his fingertips as he transforms 'Rockin' Horse'. I also like the head banging scene but with more time would have asked Pip to give the disco lights more movement. 'Rockin' Horse' is aimed at young teenagers but I think it would appeal to a much wider audience.

Leave your comments for Pip to help him improve his work and working process...

'Ook and the Blue Wheels' by Luka Pinto

The amount of test animations Luka made to prepare for this final animation have ensured that he has really maximised the potential for movement in his work. Sometimes the jumping of shots where he has photographed the frames without a tripod or seeing the photographer's shadow at the edge of the frames makes the animation look crude but it could also be seen to go along with the rebelliousness of the story. The action is fast paced, Luka had a lot that he wanted to fit into this short film, a great deal of the story has already been edited in the development of this piece. But again the speed fits the story and the music. The time-lapse animation is brilliantly done, tiny glimpses of great drawings flash past, you have to watch it again and again.

Send Luka your comments here on the blog, they will be used to help him improve his work and working process...

'The Adventures of Mikey Rabbit and Mr Prang' by Jake Stoodley

The Adventures of Mikey Rabbit and Mr Prang began as a great story with really interesting looking collaged characters and sets. I feel that the final animation seems to have become jumbled and difficult to follow, this may be a conscious decision to follow Mikey's drunken Saturday night but it may leave the sober viewer confused.

Comments please to Jake to help him improve his work and working process...

'Stubs at the Beauty Contest' by Sam Halliwell

'Stubs' is a seriously misunderstood and dangerous character. He developed quite naturally through giving a found object, (a broken toy horse) a name, character and background. Once Sam discovered that there were other Stubb's horses the story grew. I like the juxtapostion of photographic background and the crudely drawn Stubs against George Stubb's beautifully painted horses but I feel that there is a lack of action movement in the fight scene that might leave the viewer confused at the ending. The story however is wonderfully bonkers and as before I'm (a little) older than Sam's target audience of 16 year olds so my opinion may go completely against the grain of the public view. Please leave your comments here and help Sam keep improving her work and her working process...

'Bliiink' by Lucy Dobin

Lucy has been working on this story since September first of all as a series of sequential illustrations and then as this animation. I've seen it a fair few times so it is testament to the strength of her story that it still makes me laugh every time. It's been lovely to see Lucy bring movement to her illustrations, the spiders and tumbleweed ensure that the final frames are still full of life and the build up of the music accentuates the drama of the end of the story.

As before, any comments about Lucy's animation will be used to help her improve her future work and her working process, they are most useful so please let us know what you think...