'Needlecraft' FGM Awareness Short Film Released (Updated)

During most of my twelve year stint at TANDEM Films (2002-2014) I worked on many television commercials and promo films in the service of all manner of products and services. I often worked on ads for breakfast cereals, fruit-based drinks, travel websites and even once a TV-based dating service, but towards the end of my time there, an altogether different project came in...

Female Genital Mutiliation (FGM) could perhaps be on of the most difficult and complex issues of any that one could ever imagine making a short film about. Ruth Beni of Animage Films had previously made several pioneering short films using animation to bring attention to important social issues and campaigns. Ruth's idea was to make a film that principally could be shown to school-age children to raise the issue of FGM, promote awareness and further discussion as well as provide links to supportive agencies working in the area. One of the main areas of concern was the extent to which the practice of FGM can happen within 'diaspora' communities, even after migrating from the countries where the practice is known to be most prevalent.

Ruth had worked with TANDEM Films before and approached Director Daniel Greaves to help put-together the short film. Dan pulled-together a small team at TANDEM to work on the project, and I was fortunate enough to be called-on to animate,composite and edit the piece.

Ruth and Daniel especially wanted to achieve a 'hand-stitched' aesthetic for the film. So in as much as would be possible they wanted to create the work using 'practical' (hand-made) techniques. A small team of embroiderers and artworkers were called-on to craft most of the artwork. Stop-motion animator Tobias Fouracre came in to animate as much as possible in-camera using traditional techniques. There was also a live-action shoot required too, bringing-in DOP Simon Paul to light and shoot.

Due to the many complexities of making such a film, the production period was fairly extended and there has been quite a few months passed before the film could be released, but I'm pleased to say that 'Needlecraft' has finally been officially published online.

Although it's been almost a year since the TANDEM Studio has closed its doors, I hope at least this work we did there will go on to to have at least some ongoing positive influence in the world at large ...

And now Ruth Beni has posted a short making-of video about the 'Needlecraft' project on her Animage Vimeo page. I think this shows quite nicely the craft and effort that went into this production.

New Video for Vanderpump & Sykes Solicitors

Well a couple of posts ago, I showed some still frames from a new motion graphics video I delivered for Vanderpump & Sykes Solicitors.

I've now added some stock music (from Tunefruit.com) and got this down to a snappier two minutes in this new edit. The video is designed to play on a loop and run silently on a large screen at the firm's head office.

The video is mostly animated type with some simple 3D elements too. I completed the project using Cinema4D and After Effects.

These days I'm making a lot of short promos and web videos directly for all kinds of clients. Please see www.chrisgavin.com to find out more.

Here are a few stills from the video too...

New Title Sequence for Thomas & Friends YouTube Content

On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning, the 70th anniversary of Reverend W. Awdry creating the first of his 'Railway Series' stories for children was featured.

Growing-up as a child of the '70s, and something of a train-nerd, I loved these books, especially the rich and detailed illustrations. Long after I'd 'grown-up', Thomas the Tank Engine (and his friends) came to television and then became something of a merchandizing phenomenon too.

And now Thomas comes to the interwebs. Commissioned by Hit Entertainment and Produced by Spider Eye Ltd. , a new series of 'comic book' episodes is now arriving at platform YouTube.

I'm pleased to say I was asked to make the title sequence for this series (The first 20 seconds!) back in December and am now engaged in some background artworking for a few of the later episodes too. The first of the new webisodes 'Thomas Goes to New York' is online now, so I'm sharing a link to it here.

My bit is the motion graphics title sequence up until 0:20. Happy Birthday Thomas (& Friends).

Four New Product Videos for Nevion

I'm proud to now reveal the four product videos I have just made for new client Nevion which the company have just published on their YouTube channel. It was also great to be working again with my old colleague Philip Pepper as my Agent/Producer on these.

Nevion produces tech equipment for the TV & Broadcast industry. Nevion's innovative systems are used by content broadcasters worldwide to transport media streams from one location to another and to ensure the quality and reliability of such links.

I was asked to make four product videos highlighting key features for three hardware products and one software product in the Nevion range.

First up, here's the Nevion Sublime X2 Router for switching audio and video signals in tight situations...

For these videos the client had already written the Voice-Over Script. I sourced suitable VO recordings, and meanwhile set-about storyboarding the visuals for each video.

This is the TNS4200 Monitoring Probe for ensuring the quality of video streams...

I presented the client with a fairly thorough storyboard for each video within the first four days of each production to enable discussion and feedback.

This is the NX4600 Media Gateway for encoding and decoding media streams across IP networks...

This is the VideoIPath software solution for monitoring and controlling video networks including Nevion's hardware and 3rd party products too...

I particularly enjoyed making these videos and always love the challenge of presenting complex or highly technical subject matter with maximum precision and clarity.

The Nevion team are showing their products from their booth at the NAB Show for the TV industry in Las Vegas this week. I wish them an enjoyable and productive time at the show.

Stills from New Video for Vanderpump & Sykes Solicitors

Here's news (with a few stills) of a video project delivered for a new client.

I have just completed a six minute motion graphics video for Enfield-based law firm Vanderpump & Sykes.
Visitors to the firm's Windmill Hill office will be able to see the video running on a large HD screen situated in the firm's reception area.



The video is 'modular' in form,comprising of nine sections presenting a menu of the extensive legal services and specialisms on offer.



The video has been devised to run silently to maintain the serenity of the office environment.



With a six minute running time, the video has been designed to loop seamlessly: the content can be run continuously throughout the working day.



The animated typography is set in the 'Agenda' typeface. The warm and autumnal colour palette has been chosen to complement existing print and web material from the firm.



I offer my video production services under my own name, trading as chrisgavin.com. I am available to work for agencies or clients directly and always very keen to take on new projects. Please email if you'd like to discuss developing video content for your business too.

New Video for 'Sofreh: The Art of Persian Celebration' Book Launch event.

I was very happy to be invited recently to attend the launch event for the new book 'Sofreh, The Art of Persian Celebration' held at the English Speaking Institute in Mayfair. Throughout January, I have been working on video content to be screened at the launch event and possibly other occasions in the future.

I worked with the book's author Maryam Khosrowshahi and publisher (Hali Publishing Ltd.) to create two videos to play continuously for the guests. Sofreh is the art of table presentation for celebratory occasions and practiced in Iran and by Persian communities elsewhere around the world too.

The book is presented in two sumptuously bound volumes; book one 'Nowruz' details Persian New Year celebrations whilst Book two 'Aqd' explores the use of Sofreh displays in Persian weddings. The book explores Sofreh as an artform, including detailed studies of its historical and cultural roles.

Find out more about this fine publication at the book's website here.

New Promo Video for Phonebook.club

Here's a new app demo / promo video I have just delivered for Phonebook.club. The video is now being used online to promote the new smartphone app and raise awareness for a crowd-funding campaign now taking place on Indiegogo here.

The video is quite a mixed media piece, combining footage, photography and a little stop-motion and CG work too. I wrote the script and completed all of the video production work on this one. The video was delivered in around a four week turnaround from initial briefing.

For anyone interested in how I create this kind of work, the client has also uploaded my rough animatic to Vimeo. This is a very crude version of the video I made early on in the development process. So in the interests of 'showing the workings' here is my animatic (rough version) of the same video.