5 reasons to be excited

War Horse trailer: is Spielberg's thoroughbred on track for an Oscar? | Film | guardian.co.uk

This blog entry is mainly a way to vent my energy so i can sleep. I'm too excited!

1. I'm seeing Arcade Fire at Hyde Park tomorrow and I dont think I've been this excited for a gig in a long time. Mumford and Sons and Beirut supporting will be fantastic.

2. Then the next night I am going to see Warhose at the theatre which I have been dying to do so for a few years so I'm really excited. I can imagine the puppets will blow me away.

3. I've been invited to the Horrid Henry screening on Sunday which is nice! It'l be great to see a couple of things I've helped with be on the big screen! And to catch up with the crew I met when working on it.

4. I received an email earlier for the FDI anniversary party. Although I've not done the course yet I have full intentions to do so and it will be a fantastic networking opportunity to I might go. Plus it'l be nice to meet up with a few people who I met down at Pinewood on the set dec course.

5. I was about to sleep with all this buzzing around my head when I realised the Warhorse trailer is out! I for one cant wait for this film, I very much like a good old Spielberg Epic. Plus after seeing a scene being filmed it'l tie in quite nicely.

That is all. Goodnight.

Jack the Giant Killer

This week I have been working in the art department on Jack the Giant Killer with the scenic painters. I was 'very highly recommended' by Richard Bullock which was a bit of an honour and it was nice that my work on Horrid Henry paid off. I won't give away anything away (just incase) but I can tell it is going to be an amazing production. The budget is big enough that they can do some incredible set builds.

It was a great confidence boost to get paid for something I really enjoy doing and to be involved with such great people. I just wish I could have stayed for longer. I'm hoping that there is a fair bit of work left that they could use an extra pair of hands for so I might get another call up in a few weeks. Here's hoping!

Saw this picture on the Guardian website and thought it would do nicely to brighten up my blog.

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.