54 Hours

54 Hours is a film that I helped to develop and Co-Directed with the talented Bruce Alcock from Global Mechanic.  The film was completed to coincide with the anniversary of the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing disaster.  where 132 men went to the ice and 78 froze to death over the course of 54 hours.

I grew up knowing about this story as members of my family, Ruben and Albert John Crew, were involved in the disaster.  As the anniversary approached I developed an initial pitch for the project that was presented to the National Film Board of Canada.  We got the green light to move forward in January 2013.   The fantastic Michael Crummy, who lives in Newfoundland, was brought on as writer .  Bruce Alcock, a fellow Newfoundlander who is lives in BC, was brought on as a Co-Director and together we were able to complete the final film in time for it the centennial events in March 2014.  It premiered at the Rooms in St. John's, Newfoundland, where we had over 400 people in attendance, many of whom were family members of the men who were there.  

The film went on to play at a number of film festivals and won the Yorkton Film Festival 2015 Founder's Award.

"This short animation is a remarkably vivid account of the 1914 tragedy in which 132 men were stranded on the ice during a severe snowstorm off the coast of Newfoundland. 78 men froze to death on the pack ice. In the spring of 1914, the last of the wooden seal hunting ships in a steel-dominated industry was the Newfoundland, manned by men from across the province. The ship was unable to reach a seal pack due to its lack of ice-breaking power, and 132 men were ordered off the boat and onto the ice to hunt. The ship had no radio equipment, and the men spent two unbearable nights on the ice. Survivor testimony, striking archival materials, weather visualizations, inventive animation and puppetry are seamlessly blended to recreate this harrowing ordeal. "

Explainer videos

Sometime ago, I was able to work on some corporate explainer videos.  It was interesting work that allowed be do art direction, story boards, and animation.  Generally, I would get a completed script from my contractor and I would take the client brief and the client's existing marketing and branding materials to develop the visuals for the video.  I ended up doing about 15 or so of these videos.  I'll post a few of them below.

More festival updates

I'm heading out tomorrow to attend the Ottawa International Animation Festival where Little Thunder is playing as part of the Canadian Film Showcase. I will be at each screening so if you are in Ottawa and attending the festival be sure to say hi.

I've also recently was notified that Little Thunder will be screening at the 21st Annual St. John's International Women's Film Festival, October 26-30.

Little Thunder is in a few more festivals...

So great news. Little Thunder has been accepted and is playing at the 30th Atlantic Film Festival here in Halifax, NS. It will be playing as part of the Atlantic Shorts 5 program on Wednesday September 22, 2010 at 9:20 pm at Park Lane 8 and again on Friday September 24, 2010 at 12.00 pm at Park Lane 4. I'll be at the Wednesday night screening along with the Directors Alan Syliboy and Nance Ackerman. Say hi if you're there.

The other big news is that Little Thunder has also been accepted as part of the Canadian Film Showcase at the Ottawa International Animation Festival this October. This is kind of a big deal for me as the last time I was there it was as a student and now I have something in the show. Click here for show times at the OIAF. I'll be in Ottawa for the festival so if you are at the OIAF then maybe I'll see you there.

Stop Motion Reel

Here is a reel of some stop motion animation I did on Poko and Lunar Jim. I had so much fun doing this stuff. One of the biggest challenges was on the Poko indoor sets we weren't able to use tie downs. We used rigs and magnets to keep the characters from falling over. Once again this is the raw animation with temporary audio, no rig removal or colour balancing. Music is Bugle Call Rag by Benny Goodman.

Lunar Jim looking for Pop Berries

In this episode of Lunar Jim we find our heroes looking for Pop Berries so they can have some pie. The only problem is that Pop Berries are hard to pick.

Little Thunder Festival Updates

I just got wind of this today. Pretty awesome stuff! Little Thunder played last week at the 2010 First Peoples Festival in Montreal. Here is what they thought of it.

"For its vivacity, humour, and its light, impulsive brushstrokes sketching playful figures, and for the stone canoe carried off like a leaf in the eternal currents of the Mi'gmag legend this film brings to life, the 2010 First Peoples Festival jury awards the Best Animation Film prize to Petit Tonnerre "(Little Thunder)

In other news, Little Thunder has also been selected for the 40th edition of the Giffoni Children's Film Festival ELEMENTS +3 section, in Italy July 18-31, 2010.

...and Little Thunder has also been selected to the the Gimli Film Festival in Manitoba, July 21-25, 2010.

On your mark. Get set...

Here is some more stop motion goodness for you. In this clip, Poko, Bibi, and Minus are playing Olympics and are about to have a race. As you can see Minus is having a hard time getting started but don't worry he does much better in another event later in the episode. I had a lot of fun on this episode and had a good time hiding the rigs on the characters whenever possible. While animating on Poko the indoor sets had painted floors and as a result we weren't allowed to use tie-downs on the characters. So we had to use lots of magnets and rigs to keep them from falling over. Fun times.

Poko and his train

Here is some stop motion animation that I did on Poko sometime ago. It is the raw animation without the colour balancing or the audio. I think that you can still follow along with the audio voiceover. So Poko wants to play with his train and Minus won't let him and Mr. Murphy isn't much help. Good times.

Little Thunder

Little Thunder has been accepted into the Montreal First Peoples Festival. The film is listed by it's French title " Petit Tonnerre" and it is playing at the opening Gala. If you are in Montreal feel free to check it out otherwise I thought that I would post the film itself here on the blog to make it easier for people to find.

Little Thunder Update

If you happen to be in Toronto this weekend you can watch the NFB film that I animated and co-directed, Little Thunder, at Sprockets: Toronto International Film Festival for Children.

If you are in Halifax, Little Thunder will also be playing at the VeiwFinders International Film Festival for Youth as part of the Jr. High/High School Program: Our Nation First. April 22 at 10:00 am, Dartmouth Crossing - Theater 7.

And as always, if you can't make it to either of those screenings, you can hop over to the National Film Board website and watch it streaming online anytime. If you do watch Little Thunder on the NFB website please feel free to click on the "i like" button if you enjoyed it.

I really had a great time working on Little Thunder and I hope that people enjoy the film.

Razzberry Jazzberry Jam

This is some animation that I did while working on a show called Razzberry Jazzberry Jam.  A very fun show that teaches kids about music.  Check it out on CBC, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00AM, Saturdays 6:00 and 9:00 AM, and Sundays at 7:00 AM.  

A brief flash of Flash

Here are two small scenes I did for George of the Jungle awhile back. Just your standard monkey attack.

Some stop motion animation

Here is some animation I did on the second season of Lunar Jim while working with Halifax Film. In this episode there is a large creature that is jumping around shaking everything when it lands, causing much chaos.