Stuart Rogers

Have we got a definite plan on this (including a venue)? I'll need to know by the tail end of Thursday afternoon, as I won't have internet access from then until the following week. Assuming the meeting is to go ahead, but the plans change after Thursday, please let me know - my phone number is 07790 815 465. (But expect an ansaphone on Saturday - it would be too embarassing to have my phone ring in the middle of a wedding service!)

A slightly confused. Some bending of the spine (with a tilt of the hips) would be able to give a sense of cowering. This would also allow you to put a little trembling in there.

Let's save Stephen from the embarassment of a wardrobe malfunction - I shall definitely be available for 24th July, so if we have a quoram, let's go for it. I might be able to make other dates, but it becomes much more of a special trip. It would be nice to meet other AMer's face-to-face for once[1]. Come to think of it, maybe we can at least have an annual UK AMer meeting some time, and persuade other non-Londoners to come along. The more the merrier. [1] Apropos meeting other animators ... following on from the recent Animated Exeter festival, I've met up with some local (non-CGI) animators. These animator people are a strange bunch... ! Stuart, who doesn't have internet access at home at the moment, and is making the most of someone else's wide-open wireless broadband link....

I shall definitely be in the south east on Sunday 24th July. Although as it's the day after a wedding (not mine!) I can't guarantee that I won't have an ox-stunning hangover.

Depending on the timing, I *might* be able to make it four. It's one hell of a trek for me, so don't take that as anything remotely close to a semi-definite maybe.

The action is very symmetrical. They react in very much the same way, at very much the same time (yes, I know they're reacting to a sudden, violent event), and at very much the same speed. For each character, left and right arms move in very similar ways. I would suggest making the reaction faster, make them duck more or less to one side or another, and by different amounts. Some extreme facial reaction would help too - wincing, perhaps. Hope that helps. Stuart, who can critise animation far better than he can create it.

The next two phases are to be (IIRC) the Quandry Phase and the Quintessential Phase. Thanks for the kind words and links, everyone - it's nice to know that the hard work that goes into creating silliness is appreciated! Although I've watched this clip many, many times over - enough to see its every flaw, and to be sick to death of it - I think it is by far my best piece of animation, and one of which I'm quite proud. Not only that, I learned a lot from doing this, and feel set to do better on my next piece, whatever that may turn out to be. Stuart

It's from "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - a witty sci fi series on the radio in the UK. The first and second series appeared in the mid/late seventies, but the third series (from which this snippet comes) was only made last year. It also appeared in book form and on the TV. There have been repeated plans to turn it into a movie, and as far as I'm aware it's actually going ahead this time. For info about the radio series see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/ For info about the TV series see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/ Stuart

It's not often I get the time to sit down and actually use A:M - certainly nowhere near as often as I would like. However, recently I managed to cobble together this piece of silliness: http://www.stuart.rogers.clara.co.uk/Mattress_sor3H_320.mov [ QuickTime6 - 5.4MB. I'm sure I ticked the 'internet fast start' box when I built this file, but it doesn't seem to be doing this, so you'll have to wait until it loads. Ho hum.] Strictly speaking it should be in the WIP section, as there's plenty more that needs to be done on it, but enough is enough - I've spent enough time on it and now want to get on with something else. Stuart