Download Festival 2009

I just realised I haven't got photos of my Download Festival Dog Head Sculpt on my blog. So here are some. I created it for the festival in 2o09. It was great fun to do as it was my first sculpt from foam working from a specific image. But blimey did my hands hurt afterward. I created it by getting the basic shape and then sanding the detail. It was covered it in fibre glass then latex mixed with paint to get the initial colour.

Apparently it got sold on ebay for a bit of cash. And i didn't see any of it! Unfair.

Set Decoration Course with Simon Wakefield

I have just completed a course with Simon Wakefield at Film Design International at Pinewood Studios. To be honest I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did but I loved the whole process. We broke down the script, marked on drawings the props we needed for the sets and went around different prop houses to choose the props and get a quote on how much they cost to hire. I learnt a lot and even though I think I would miss the design and make aspect of other roles in the art department I could definitely see myself set decorating for a few films!

Harry Potter, Leavesden Studios Tour

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/mar/04/harry-potter-studio-tour

I need to work on this! It would be amazing to create some of the sets for the tour. It looks awesome cool.

Stephen Spielberg's Warhorse

While I was working on Horrid Henry I met some of the crew working on Warhorse and got a tour around one of the sets on their final day of shooting. How lucky! It was a beautiful set and I would love to have been involved in the creation of it. I can't wait to see the film next year when it comes out, it already looks like an Oscar winner. And I've got tickets to see the theatre production later on this year, which is something I've always wanted to see so I'm sure it'l get me all hyped up!

(the picture above came from the empire website at the following link http://www.empireonline.com/gallery/image.asp?id=49474&caption=&gallery=3109)

Horrid Henry

From October - December 2010 I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity by Richard Bullock to help as an Art Department Assistant on Horrid Henry. I'd sent him some links of my work at university and it was enough for him to give me a chance to work in the art department.

Horrid Henry was a great project to work on as a lot of the props had to be created due to most of the scenes being set in schools. I helped by making classroom props and helped dress some of the sets. I had a great time and can't wait to see something I was involved with at the cinema.

Coldplay's "Christmas Lights"

In November 2010 I helped on the day of Coldplay's Christmas Light's shoot. It was a very very long and cold day, 19 hours in total, 8am until 4am the next day. I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life. Painting some of the scenery with numb fingers proved to be very difficult. The set was beautifully designed by Misty Buckley and built on the Southbank near the National Theatre. I arrived when the stage looked a bit like the photo above and straight away I felt at home due to the theatrical aspect of the set. It was the exactly to my taste, with the lanterns and layered details. I just loved it. I helped by painting a few details and working on the curtains at the sides of the stage. We dressed the set and then spent most of the time waiting backstage until our big moment - pulling back a piece of scenery on cue..

It was a great day and even though I was so freezing and had about 4 hours sleep that night it was definitely an experience I wouldn't have missed.

I've put a link to Pulse Film's website below where you can see the video in full

http://www.pulsefilms.co.uk/#/view/2836

(the pictures in this Coldplay blog were not taken by me. I found them on the internet.. just to clarify!)

BBC's Toast

So I haven't updated my blog for a while but here we go. Every time I sit at my computer to update I feel like I'm back at school trying to start an essay. Hmm.

Right lets rewind back to the summer of 2010 when I worked in the art department of BBC's production of Toast. The sun was shining and England were still in the World Cup.

I spent the majority of my with the BBC running back and forth from the printers, art shops, shoot locations and sweet shops to find items to dress the set. Hours were spent searching around Birmingham City Centre finding props, collecting materials and of course dipping in and out of the odd pub to check on the football! Any props that we didn't have we had to create ourselves so we spent some time making sherbet fountains, grocery labels with 50's pricing's, and measuring carpets to see if there was enough to fit in the set. It was a great experience and was exciting to get my first credit on TV and imdb.com!

http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm4178687/#ArtDepartment