Holiday Madness

So the holidays have finally happened. The 45 week course has finished, and we are all at home. And yet, I'm busier than ever. Even now, my hands are raw from carrying firewood. When I get home, inbetwen doing whatever the family asks, I have to think about how, where and when I'm going to get a job.

The responsibilities of an adult. Whatever misunderstanding as to the value of free time is certainly gone now.

But I'm still furiously busy figuring out when to have the time to do some physical effects. Two years at a computer has left me with an even greater desire for physical fabrication. Props, miniatures, anything I can get my hands on. The real trick is figuring out what to do first.

And I've picked up some useful tools. Among early christmas presents and late birthday presents, I have a Dremel toolkit with just about everything I could think of, a beer belt that holds 6 cans of spray paint, like if Batman took up a tagging career, and a 20kg bag of plaster for casting. All of this would need space, and although I'm still talking to someone about it, I've mety a very generous person who has allowed me a corner room with a window and controlled lighting. Sometime after Christmas, I aim to post again with photos on the progress of the work, and possibly to introduce another honorary member of Brainwheel Pictures.

Merry Christmas!

Nathan Chisholm - Rigger, technical artist

Nathan has been a lot of fun to work with. Without his technical skills and input, a large part of this project would have been left unrealized. In the following video, Nathan demonstrates the capabilities of his new rig:

http://vimeo.com/32837661

And it doesn't stop there. Nathan has given his time and effort to the projects of other students. Here is another video of his work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AzfM6jiPkZI

Although Nathan and I will be going our separate ways in about six days, his contribution was invaluable. Thanks for everything, Nathan.

First Post

At the beginning of December 2010, I was at my desk in between renders furiously trying to design a logo to represent my work. I wanted a name that would represent original and innovative ideas. The idea came to me pretty much like lightning out of a clear sky. Just as quickly as it entered my head, I opened my sketchbook and drew a head with a gear in the back. Underneath it, I wrote the words "brainwheel pictures".

And just like that, Brainwheel Pictures was invented.

Something that Peter Jackson once said was that he didn't consider himself an artist. He said that he worked with too many people to consider himself an artist. My biggest career goal is to be part of a team of original and lateral thinkers. The first time I used Brainwheel Pictures was to represent my own work. In the middle of this year, I submitted an entry to the Make My Movie competition. The idea was about interplanetary postmen delivering mail throughout the galaxy. I pitched the idea to a couple students to see if they were interested, and they liked the idea. Over the course of this year, we worked together on the project. Although the idea wasn't picked, we still had an experience where we worked together on an idea. Through this experience, Brainwheel Pictures came to represent the work of a group.

In the middle of this year, I thought about different ways I could get this work out there. The usual ways are blog sites, showreels posted to online video websites and business cards. How do I create a way to promote this work in an original way?

All plans start on paper, mine usually as a scribble. I wanted textured engraved business cards. Ambitious, but still possible. I'm still working on that. Another idea was to send the work in an envelope of textured paper with a hand carved wax stamp. Not a pipe dream in the least. It's just figuring out the how and when.

Unfortunately, I am not particularly gifted at math or scripting, but creating a blogspot website seemed like a reasonable option. From this website, I would like to regularly update on the projects that Brainwheel pictures does. At the moment, it is just the working of three people. But as this team develops, others will be added to the group.

I'm writing this literally as the final deadline is closing in. More work from the rest of the people in the group will be posted as it comes in, but for now, here is the first of the work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9V4lBmRgRY&feature=feedu

More work to come.