Monday, 8 October 2012

1st days at Uni



Tuesday 2nd October and Wednesday 3rd October

So the first week of Uni. Very exciting and rather daunting, considering I hadn’t been in formal education since the 90s I was a little worried about how I’d fit in and how I’d adapt to the situation.
But after my first few days I think I’ll be alright… I think HND is the perfect system for me as it is a practical course based on learning whilst actually doing the job rather than getting stuck in a class room bogged down by thick, waffling text books of theory.

The first two days of our course were all about finding our feet: meeting the tutors who will be our guides for the next two/three years; getting to know our classmates and exploring some of the venues we’ll be working at during the course.
The tutors are all very nice, they all have a great deal of experience in the industry and are all still working so we can rest assured that everything we are taught is up to date and significant to what we are learning. These guys exude practical knowledge and natural authority, leading from the front so to speak, this was one of the things that had originally attracted me to the Royal Navy over the Army and Air Force, Officers are much closer to the level of the Junior Rates and are much more willing to get stuck in with the lower ranks and work things out together rather than just sit back ordering people around.
Our tutors come across as very approachable and if we’re having trouble with the work we can go to them and work it out, I’m sure that I’ll be doing this quite a bit on this first year of the course. Whilst I’m comfortable with the more artistic elements of Production Art when it comes to the technical elements of sound and lighting I haven’t the foggiest what anyone is talking about. (I don’t think I’ve ever heard that many acronyms in conversation before, not even in the Navy, and they really do love those abbreviations!!)

My classmates are a lovely bunch, I don’t think I’ve ever fit in/felt accepted by so many people in one go. There are people from all walks of life, ages, creeds and experience. We already seemed to be getting on but thanks to the ‘getting to know you’ exercises we participated in we’ve really come together well and there is a lovely team spirit forming that I hope will follow us on all the way through into our future careers in the industry.
Plus we are already planning regular get-togethers to socialise outside of class which I’m sure will strengthen our bonds even more.

This first week we spent time both at the Matthew Boulton Campus and the MAC in Edgbaston. At Matthew Boulton Campus we spent some time in the control room with Ruth and Anthony, a space that I’m sure will become very familiar to us and I think we’ll be able to personalise a bit so we can make it ‘our own’. (We need a fridge to store all the energy drinks and milk for tea/coffee that I’m sure us production artists will be consuming in great quantities!!).
At the MAC we have yet to visit the control rooms but I’m sure we’ll be getting there very soon.

So after our first week of classes the future is looking very bright indeed!!
BRING IT ON!!

Friday, 5 October 2012

Armies on Parade 2012



So while I'm getting the hang of this whole blogg thing. I figured I'd talk a bit about what I've been working on before starting at Uni.
I have always been quite the geeky nerd: I love Science Fiction and Fantasy in all it's mediums, including model building/painting and table top wargaming.
Since I wrecked my leg and had to leave the Royal Navy, the Games Workshop hobby world has become a huge part of my life; it's kept me sane, kept me active, helped me to form and maintain a social life and in a round about way put me on a completely new career path
.

Last year I couldn't come up with any suitable ideas to participate in the new Armies on Parade competition, but just after Christmas I was really starting to get back into Lord of The Rings and loving the new Easterling models, and then it hit me: do an oriental themed display board for your quickly growing Easterling army.
And thus was born my Armies on Parade project for 2012, the biggest hobby project I've ever undertaken, it took nearly 9 months of research, design, material selection, building and painting... I was still putting the finishing touches on the models a week before the regional 'Parade Day'!!
But in the end it was worth it: I WON!! and thus I was able to go on and take my display to Gamesday 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham, the biggest hobby fair in the world!!
Granted I came nowhere near to winning on the big day, out of the 250 odd competitiors there were some truly amazing pieces of model art, but according to other competitiors my board and the two on either side of mine received some very positive reviews and with the Hobbit film premiering at the end of the year it's very possibly that photos of my LoTR themed board will be showing up in White Dwarf and websites.

I do not have plans to start another AoP project for next year, I'll have to concentrate on my Uni work and because of this Games Workshop has to revert back to being just a hobby. But this experience has encouraged me to consider painting something up for next year's Golden Demon painting competition the ultimate model painting competition...

What follows is my project plan for this years competition entry.

ARMIES ON PARADE 2012


Armies on Parade is your chance to plan, collect, model and paint an amazing new army, display it on a two foot by two foot board and show it off in all its glory in your local Games Workshop Hobby Centre.
Every store winner will then go on to proudly represent their community at Games Day, where all the winning boards from across the country will be on display and the ultimate Armies on Parade champion will be chosen.  (From Games Workshop Website)

Parade Day: 8th September
Games Day Final: 23rd September

Project Title:  The Corruption of Khamûl

Gaming System:  The Lord of the Rings - Strategy Battle Game

Army:  Easterlings
Easterlings are amongst the most fanatical followers of the Dark Lord Sauron and the best equipped of all the warriors at his command. Unlike the rabble of Orcs that spew forth from the Black Gate, the armies of the East are well-trained and disciplined warriors that will fight fiercely for Sauron, who they view as a vengeful deity. As children they are schooled in the art of war, and their womenfolk fight alongside the men as equals - in Rhûn all are prepared to fight for the Dark Lord. Trained to fight in deadly phalanxes, their spears form a hedge of sharpened blades that is virtually impenetrable - only a foolish general would send his warriors to take on a block of Easterlings head on.

Display Concept:
The Easterlings greatly resemble Samurai in both in appearance and background. The idea of this project was to expand on this resemblance, to display an Easterling army in an oriental themed setting:
-The Ringwraith Khamûl, a once great and powerful Shogun now corrupted by the Ring given to him by Sauron, sits astride his winged Fell Beast (a mutated Japanese Dragon) observing his troops as they train and drill in the courtyard of the inner keep of his palace.
-An allied Khandish King (similar to Mongolian warlords) arrives through the gate in his chariot, escorted by Easterling Kataphrakt knights.
-Archers practice their aim on straw dummies.
-Swordsmen train against Amdûr, Lord of Blades and a Dragon Knight.
-A War Priest tends to a shrine under a twisted Sakura tree.
-Spearmen and Archers guard the wall/moat and the walkway of the palace tower.


INSPIRATION AND RESEARCH


BOOKS
·         The Lord of the Rings: The Fallen Realms
·         The Lord of the Rings: A Shadow in the East
·         The Cambridge Illustrated History of China - Patricia Buckley Ebrey & Liu Kwang-Ching
·         A World History of Architecture - Michael W Fazio; Lawrence Wodehouse; Marian Moffett
·         The Complete Handbook of Architecture: From the First Civilizations to the Present Day - Patrick Nuttgens; Richard Weston
·         Japanese Art and Design -The Toshiba Gallery; Joe Earle; Victoria and Albert Museum; Ian Thomas
·         Masterpieces of Chinese art - Rhonda & Jeffrey Cooper
·         The Samurai Sourcebook – Stephen Turnbull
·         Samurai Warfare – Stephen Turnbull
·         Osprey - Elite 023 - The Samurai – Anthony J Bryant & Angus McBride
·         Osprey - New Vanguard 043 - Siege Weapons of the Far East (1) AD612-1300 – Stephen Turnbull & Wayne Reynolds
·         Osprey - New Vanguard 044 - Siege Weapons of the Far East (2) AD960-1644 – Stephen Turnbull & Wayne Reynolds
·         Osprey - Elite 082 - Samurai Heraldry – Stephen Turnbull & Angus McBride
·         Osprey - Fortress 034 - Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710-1062 – Stephen Turnbull & Peter Dennis
·         Osprey - Fortress 005 - Japanese Castles 1540-1640 -  Stephen Turnbull & Peter Dennis


INTERNET
·        http://www.japan-guide.com
·        http://www.helion.co.uk/


FILMS
·         Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers
·         Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King
·         Sucker Punch
·         13 Assassins
·         Curse of the Golden Flower
·         Memoirs of a Geisha
·         Red Cliff
·         Spirited Away
·         The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
·         Mulan
·         Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
·         Hero
·         The Last Samurai
·         Shogun Assassin
·         Samurai X – Trust and Betrayal
·         The Seven Samurai
·         Zatoichi (2003)
·         Zatoichi – The Last
·         Millennium Actress
·         Kung Fu Panda
·         Kung Fu Panda 2
·         House of the Flying Daggers