High Profile Online Destinations

High Profile Online destinations from Simon Robson on Vimeo

This shot champions the central idea of the film; that bespoke online destinations enabling people to exchange knowledge and ideas on climate change could launch the grassroots movement the war effort needs.

On the back of a conversation I had with a work colleague I thought I'd give paint on glass a shot. I did a few online searches and found this site: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue3.2/3.2pages/3.2student.html In the article Wendy Tilby talks about using gouache paint mixed with glycerin liquid. It took me a while to get the consistency right, but it works a treat. Paint on glass is laborious and tricky, but I find it quite theraputic and the results are worth it.

For this shot the guys at Clapham Rd set me up with under lighting and a white perspex sheet with glass over the top.

Basically I've fallen in love with paint on glass animation, despite the fact that it's a painstaking process. I'm pretty sure that, combined with other media, it's going to be a staple of my work from now on...

Over The Counter Culture

Over The Counter Culture from Simon Robson on Vimeo.

This is the first sequence I approached for the film. The idea was about showing a guy literally transformed into the object of his desires. I wanted to shoot this under camera and come up with a bunch of different materials from which to create his face; Cumin, seeds, rubber washers and soldering wire all found their place here. With this shot I also started my love affair (Or nightmare) with creating animation from different layers of coloured paper.



I developed a system (Which I've used all the way through my animation process) where I pre-animate a sequence in computer and then use it as a guide layer in Dragon stop-motion software. This guide layer mixes with what's being seen through my live-view card in my Canon 450D, usually mounted rostrum style over my animation desk. Hey presto, I'm my own organic renderer!



Being super excited by this process I decided I wanted to swap from flat layers to three dimensional objects half-way through the shot, why not!? So the next shot shows the man's car in the form of a simple balsa wood model hurtling down the road overtaking other balsa wood models. Having to lug a huge track down the stairs into Clapham Road basement hammered home the difference between making a tracking camera in software and real life. Interesting wake up call!


I enlisted the help of James Wignall, aka Mutant Hands to design and animate the man as he walks down the street and spots the car he loves at the beginning of the scene. James did a stand-up job. He's now repped by Studio AKA, one of the best animation houses around. Easy to see why...


My mate Jonny Plummer jumped in to create the amazing cash till / tank sequence at the end of the scene. Jonny worked with storyboards I developed and took things so much further. Jonny rocks!

F5

F5: Simon Robson and Tim Rayner from F5 on Vimeo

At the end of April 2009, Tim and I spoke at the F5 conference in New York. We were invited to speak by Justin Cone, director of the conference. The stage provided a perfect venue for us to talk about Coalition of The Willing.

To be honest Tim and I were seriously worried about the event. We were talking at an event full of 'big hitters' and were scheduled to speak after Rachael Maddow and before Charlie White! So we put tons of work into prepping our speech and practiced probably like 8 times. In the end it went really well and F5 proved to be the venue where we met many of our now collaborators! It's a long talk running at around 45 mins, but hopefully worth a watch...

Echolab (Gavin Little)

Echolab (Gavin Little) and I met at the end of 2008 after I'd first returned to London from Sydney. I was introduced to Gavin by Johnny Kelly, a fellow Nexus director. I checked out all Gavin's audio work and was immediately impressed. Gavin and I then spent a few months trying to define the direction for the sound design for 'Coalition'. We established an approach based on manipulating organic sounds which was a little outside Gavin's comfort zone, but he completely threw himself into the challenge. You can hear the results on the work in progress clips of mine that I'll be uploading. Gavin worked hard to get sections ready for the F5 conference in April. He will be creating sound design for the whole of Coalition Of The Willing.

Tim Rayner

I met Tim in Sydney in the Summer (Or Winter if you're in the southern hemisphere) of 2008. My wife (Then girlfriend) attended his evening course at Sydney University entitled 'Philosophy For Change'. After she'd raved about the course and the tutor for 6 months I thought it was time to get in touch.

Tim and I immediately hit it off. We both realised we wanted to say something about the state of the world and our seemingly inevitable decline into climate catastrophe, but we weren't sure quite what. Through many brainstorming sessions in the bars of Sydney and later after my return to London, over Skype, we hatched a plan. In a nutshell, Tim gradually filtered my 'angry man' rantings on the state of things, added his knowledge on swarms and the possibility of open source and web 2.0 collaboration, and formulated the proactive and optimistic polemic which is 'Coalition Of The Willing'. It took me a while to get my head round his polemic, after all its easier to criticise and point fingers then it is to stick your neck out and make a proactive suggestion. I must admit, i still feel 'exposed' by the argument that Tim formulated and that we are all 'animating' to. I fear criticism, people saying 'you must be joking, web 2.0 saving the world...come on!' But I deal with these fears by reminding myself that what we propose in the film is not the final solution, rather it is a suggestion, it is iterative. My brother-in-law is an engineer with an engineer's mind. When i told him i was thinking of buying a Honda Prius he couldn't wait to tell me what a complete environmental aberration the Prius battery is. But my point to him was the same, namely that the Prius is not the final solution, it is an iteration, a step along the way.

I am proud to have been working with Tim. As first writer he has created an argument I am happy to stand behind. Tim has just completed his manuscript for Philosophy For Change, is working on a new book, continues to teach in Sydney and lives much closer to the waves than I do. Take a look at his blog: http://philosophyforchange.wordpress.com/

Clapham Road Studios

Since the end of 2008, Clapham Road Studios in South London have supported the production of Coalition Of The Willing. To be more precise, Matt Day and the boys at Clapham Road have given the space, kit, expertise and encouragement to help me make the stop motion animation I've thrown myself into. Their generosity and support has almost been beyond belief. I have been totally humbled and amazed by their good will and for this I offer my most heartfelt thanks. We are currently building a glass multiplane on which i hope to shoot the rest of my sequences for the film. More on this as it develops.