Dice Productions News

Man in a Cat screening at Light House

2011-03-30T11:18:00.001+01:00

We've had two screenings of our animated short All Consuming love (Man in a Cat) so far, and now there's a screening at Wolverhampton's Light House cinema on Tuesday, 5 April. In even better news, it's free to the public, so you can come along, see the film and watch the five other Digishorts filmed commissioned along with ours.

Here's what's going on:

On Tuesday 5 April from 7pm the Light House in Wolverhampton will be screening six short films made by the most exciting filmmaking talent emerging from the West Midlands region. In partnership with the UK Film Council, Digishorts was a yearly scheme run by Screen WM offering West Midlands based filmmakers and animators the opportunity to produce innovative and striking short digital films. In its eighth and final year, the slate of films produced demonstrate regional filmmaking at its strongest.

I think we'll be doing another panel discussion after the screening and we'll be hanging around for a little afterwards to have a chat, so do come and say hi.

To book a free place at the screening, email ayesha@light-house.co.uk.

See you there!

Pitstop campaign animation

2011-02-22T15:08:00.000Z

An animation we produced for Take a Pitstop has made its way online.

The idea was to raise awareness of Lymphoma in the under-30s so we tried to make something funny but got across a very serious message that could affect people's health.

We worked with animator Matt Partridge with art direction from Zinc Design. The voices were done by Louis and Tom and the script was written by Ian.

Viva Los Birmingham

2011-01-31T13:39:00.003Z

Man In A Cat's set in Birmingham dontcha know? More specifically New Oscott - it's got a big Tesco.

Hmm... If you count all of those trees I'd say there were more trees per capita then any other city in the UK (Sutton Park skews the figures).

One of Dulux's More Unusual Colour Charts

2011-01-29T12:39:00.000Z

A Little Peek

2011-01-27T02:40:00.005Z

You've all been incredibly patient waiting for Man In A Cat to raise it's misunderstood head. So, here's a little pic to tide you over while we do the final push.

Yorkie Online!

2010-12-23T22:30:00.003Z

Our favourite cat dwelling hermit has got hold of a phone and is now preoccupying himself online and making a few friends on Facebook.

Go and say hello by clicking the phrase moist innards.

Man In A Cat Dialogue Recording

2010-12-23T22:19:00.003Z

Ah, the days when people wore just one layer... Here's us recording with Kevin Eldon, Josie Long and Isabel Fay for Man In A Cat:

Bend Your Neck For Turkd13

2010-11-01T02:59:00.006Z

We couldn't be arsed to do anything special for you this Halloween, but Turkd13 (if that IS his real name) certainly could! He sweded Mr. Dice! Unfortunately he couldn't record any video, but here's a nice making of...

Turkd13, we doff our cube to you.

Jiff Goldbroom Makes An Entrance

2010-10-29T13:50:00.007+01:00

Jiff Goldbroom's been around for a while. He's our Dicey pseudonym for any spontaneous sillies and way to play with unstructured ideas away from the glare of our main YouTube channel. But today we made and uploaded something that people actually wanted to watch on there!

Last night Ian emailed me about the Charlie Chaplin's Time Traveller video that splashed onto the Internet (First I'd heard about it) and an idea to have the woman with the obnoxious Nokia ringtone talking. Dom Joly's mobile phone character was immediately the obvious choice.

I combed through some sketches and then the most difficult bit was dubbing me saying "20s" without it sounding complete cacky pants. Et voila, a quick silly viral ripping other people's talented work! Big thanks to Graham Linehan and chums for telling Twitterland about it.

Here's the original and our slice of silly:

Well Yoko likes it...

2010-10-26T20:51:00.007+01:00

Sooo... Yoko Ono said she liked the John Lennon video. Yawn... No big ting.

This basically means that everyone else in the world can hate it now as it's served its purpose. Yoko bloody Ono loves it!

Lennononandonandon

2010-10-25T13:36:00.013+01:00

Last week BBC Comedy asked me to animate to a rap by the very clever Dan Bull to commemorate John Lennon's 70th Birthday and a blue plaque unveiling. After working out how to avoid some massive copyright litigation parties, I smashed it out in about 3 days. All animated and prettified in Flash.

Dan crams in as many John Lennon/Beatles songs and albums into the narrative as possible. So as big Beatles fans it was fun to geek out all over this baby, and of course I managed to shoehorn in a bit of nudity and a scat-laugh.

There's always something you could alter, but we're pretty chuffed with how it turned out with the small amount of time we had. Here's the original BBC website link.

*Update* Ooh, and apparently we were featured on the BBC homepage too. Zing!

An Appeal by The Society of Cruelty to Animals

2010-10-02T18:46:00.009+01:00

Amongst all the madness we finally got round to completing a new sketch...

So many animals are forced to live an unnatural and humiliating existence. Just £50 a month can give back an animal's dignity through the rigorous corporal punishment scheme run by The Society of Cruelty to Animals. Help us stamp out cruelty to animals.

Massive thanks to Chris Stokes (Director/Camera Operator/Photoshopper/Co-editor), Richard Heathcote (Voiceover), Fullrange (Über equipment), Mike and Matt (SoCA staff). Also, we did try to find royalty-free music, but it turns out nothing optimistically begs for charity quite like Coldplay. So well done to them too.

Dice Interview on 'Who's Laughing Now?'

2010-09-21T11:36:00.003+01:00

We've had a nice long interview with the Simon Harper from Midlands-centric comedy site Who's Laughing Now?

You can see it.................. HERE.

The interview was mainly prompted by our upcoming Popcorn Comedy show on the 7th October at the Birmingham Comedy Festival featuring Tim Key! More about that later.

Shortlisted for YouTube Play!

2010-09-21T08:48:00.006+01:00

Those bloody lovely people at YouTube did it again! DON'T TOUCH made it from being one of the 23,000 entrants to the final 125 for the biennial YouTube Play competition. It's seems strange to be considered in the same league as PES and I Met the Walrus, especially with a pretty old video.

If we make the final choice we'll be presented at a special YouTube Play celebration event at the Guggenheim Museum on October 21. Then, will be available for public viewing at the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Bilbao, Berlin and Venice from October 22 to 24.

The judges arrreee:
Laurie Anderson, Animal Collective, Darren Aronofsky, Douglas Gordon, Marilyn Minter, Ryan Mcginley, Takashi Murakami, Shirin Neshat, Stefan Sagmeister, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (By the way, I'm having to type all of these names out), and Nancy Spector (Phew).

Screening at ArtsFest

2010-08-24T10:24:00.003+01:00

On 11th and 12th September from 6pm Message in a Bottle, Bored Stiff and Chat-Up Lines will be shown as part of ArtsFest's comedy hour at The Crescent Theatre in Birmingham. And it's FREE I tells ya!

What we've been up to this week

2010-08-02T13:20:00.001+01:00

It's been a busy week for us. On Tuesday night we met up for a drink in Soho with Dave and Louis from Rocket Sausage, who are going great guns with their sketches featuring on Big Brother. Lots of silliness and a homeless scouser with three terrible jokes punctuated the evening, but somehow we got round to more serious matters, so hopefully we'll be doing some collaborational doo-hickeys with them in the not-so-distant future.

On Wednesday we recorded the audio for Man in a Cat with Kevin Eldon, Josie Long and Isabel Fay. We'll do a proper round-up of how that went soon with some pics and maybe even a video.

Then on Sunday we went to Fazeley Studios to film the second segment of our new sketch with filmmaker and photographer Chris Stokes. Well, I say new, but it was written aaaaaaages ago.

Anyway, much fun was had and we had the added bonus of being given a load of very tasty equipment from the legend that is Lee from Fullrange. We got upgraded to a beast of a camera with a dedo light and a field monitor. Woop!

We got some really funny stuff so I'm quite hopeful for how this one will turn out when it's cut together.

That's all for the mo, but check out Rocket Sausage's films, have a look at Chris Stokes' website, and give praise to Fullrange for their generosity.

Say hello to Kevin, Josie and Isabel

2010-07-21T17:11:00.007+01:00

Well flip me sideways we confirmed a very special cast to fill the roles of Yorkie, Susan and Michelle!

First up is the genius Kevin Eldon, who has appeared in almost every sitcom and sketch show worth it's weight in gold for the past 20 years.

Kevin came to fame on Lee & Herring's TV shows with the characters Simon Quinlack and False Rod Hull, you probably best know him from Big Train, Blue Jam, or one of the seemingly infinite guest appearances which captured your imagination for the 5 minutes he was on screen.

This man is ingrained in my comedy DNA.

Josie Long is possibly the best female stand-up comedian in the UK right now, she's certainly the most heart-warming. As well as the slew of panel shows she was also a regular co-writer for Skins.

The first time I saw Josie Long live was in 2007 at a corporate party at the Edinburgh Fringe, she got us all to sit cross legged around the small stage. It was lovely.

Isabel Fay is a fantastic comic actor who is part of internet comedy production outfit, Clever Pie. She's been in E4 sketch show, Dog Face, BBC's How Not To Live Your Life, and has already acted with Kevin Eldon before.

For those who still don't know their cheese from their beans, here's just some of the many faces of Kevin Eldon.

Popcorn In The Independent

2010-07-19T14:03:00.010+01:00

This week's Birmingham Popcorn Comedy is hosted at The Victoria on Thursday 22nd at 7.30pm and The Independent reckons it'll be one of the ten best comedy gigs in the UK!

We'll be playing host to Nick Mohammed & Terry Saunders as well as a batch of funny new videos from the internet. Here's some more info:

Nick Mohammed - “Delicious... Mohammed is sharp, with great comic presence” Julian Hall, The Independent, “An absolute treat... Brilliantly observed... Choke-on-your-beer funny” Roger Cox, The Scotsman

Terry Saunders - "One of a generation of young, articulate, post-Lee & Herring comics" - The Guardian

Get your tickets here: http://popcornbrum.eventbrite.com/

Dice Interview In The Birmingham Mail

2010-06-18T16:04:00.006+01:00

In their infinite wisdom, the Birmingham Mail decided to have a good old chat with us about all things Dice Productions, Popcorn Comedy and Man in a Cat. Hooray!

You can read it in full by clicking here.

In summary, Ian said that we're planning to move to Belgium to become industrial cleaners, specialising in discontinued abattoir equipment. He said: "Frankly, running a comedy night like Popcorn, writing comedy, and making an animated short film about a man inside a cat has taken its toll." Biting his nails profusely, Ian added: "Just leave me alone. I need to cry and pack my industrial scouring pads and medicinal vodka."

It's a compelling read.

To see us, Adil Ray and Fergus Craig at Popcorn Comedy at The Victoria on Thursday 24th June, go to: http://popcornbrum.eventbrite.com/

Here's a photo of the beast itself.

Man In A Cat Updates On Their Way

2010-06-02T22:53:00.004+01:00

We've been realising how many firsts and blummin' cool things are going to be in Man In A Cat that you don't even know about yet! More videos and updates to come later this month. Meanwhile here's three, count 'em, three explosions!

Popcorn Comedy: Simon Munnery & Cardinal Burns, Thurs 27th May

2010-05-18T11:01:00.000+01:00

As usual we'll be bringing some funny new videos from the internets, and are quite excited to be able to host sketch duo Cardinal Burns and Simon Munnery. Here's some more info on them:

Cardinal Burns Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns have performed to sell out audiences across the country, from their critically acclaimed debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, (**** Irresistible, The Guardian) to a total sell-out run at London's Soho Theatre.

Simon Munnery Also known by his stagenames of Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium, Simon has made a career out of his own brand of slightly awkward, uneasy humour that edges on the surreal.

Date: Thursday 27th May
Venue: The Victoria, Birmingham

Doors: 7.30pm, Show: 8-10pm
Live acts: Cardinal Burns and Simon Munnery
Hosted by: Dice Productions

Louis Hudson: BBC online correspondent at your service

2010-05-07T02:57:00.006+01:00

After getting my knickers in a twist about living near a shoddy polling station we seem to have done a pincer move on all of the local media - right up to the point where the BBC coverage of the election featured my dashing mug. Apparently David Dimbleby also gave me a double take and almost audibly murmered to himself, 'I wish I could vote for him.'... apparently.

So after all that, we'll be talking to some media types in the morning. Also, I did get to vote, So win, win.

In the words of Amy Commander, I'm as famous as What's-her-name. You know. That woman... The bigot.

Man In A Cat Diaries YouTube Channel

2010-04-08T17:22:00.005+01:00

For fear of this becoming the Man In A Cat /Popcorn /Man In A Cat blog, we've set up a new YouTube channel dedicated to any behind the scenes interviews, 'making of's and in-progress linetests. Subscribe to it at: http://www.youtube.com/AllConsumingLove.

In other news, I got me a big lightbox! A lot of scenes could do with being cleaned up in A3 and I want something proper to draw on. Here's the evolution of my (until now) homemade lightboxes. That little one is still my trusty companion. His name is Arthur. The red one is Gordon, named after the then Chancellor of the Exchequer. This new one is secondhand but I didn't catch it's name. I'll have to take it to the vet to find out what sex it is. What do you think?

In unconfirmed news we have a very lovely producer attached, plus I'll be sharing some new offices to get me out of the house and stop me becoming the summery equivalent of Jack Nicholson in the Shining. More on that later.

Here's a little making of to show us out:

Popcorn Comedy, The Victoria, Thurs 22 April 2010

2010-04-04T23:24:00.011+01:00

We're back at it again this month with Popcorn Comedy at The Victoria on Thursday 22nd April 2010.

Doors will be 7.30pm, for an 8-10pm show.

Tickets are £5 (£4 Concessions) and you can book them at popcornbrum.eventbrite.com, or on the door, but as there will be limited capacity pre-booked tickets will get dibs on seating.

As usual we'll be bringing some funny new videos from the internets, and are quite excited to be able to host The Penny Dreadfuls and Matthew Crosby. Here's some more info on them:

The Penny Dreadfuls are Edinburgh Festival regulars with a penchant for Victoriana, who have been broadcast on BBC7 & Radio 4. They're currently working on their new show 'The Never Man' which marks their first show set in the 21st century.

Matthew Crosby is best known as part of award winning Pappy's Fun Club, having their own shows on Channel 4 and Radio 4. Matthew is renowned for doing stand up in his own right and is a very clever fellow indeed.

Here's some videograms as an appetiser:

Man In A Cat is Commissioned!

2010-04-02T16:32:00.011+01:00

Start the fanfare please Freddo!

We're amazingly chuffed to say that out of over 130 proposals All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) has impressed Screen WM and the UK Film Council enough to become one of the final 6 commissioned films! It's not all that often you get to be completely self-indulgent on a project for 6 months, especially with the support and backing of some the most experienced people in the country.

So far we've had to be fairly hush hush about the development process, if only because we'd look like wankers if the film never actually took off, but now would be a nice time to say thanks to the people we've met and who have helped us get here.

The process up to getting commissioned has been fantastic. Before that development process it was getting hard to know what to do with the story. On the first day of development we met Kate Leys, who just with a few anecdotes and case examples, completely opened our eyes to the art of story telling. That was really empowering.

I also had the priveledge of bashing out ideas with Camilla Deacon of Lupus Films and about 15 other talented animators in London. That was really invigorating and affirmed a lot of what we've been learning over the last 3 months. Big thanks to The Square for seemingly unlimited chocolate, fruit, coffee and some quite spiffing toilets! Not unlimited toilets. That would be incredible... ANYWAY.

Simon Flynn and Dan Lawson from Screen WM, and June Goldrei on behalf of UK Film Council were in charge of commissioning the final films. They had the balls to see that this could work, and their notes and questions have made sure the story has developed in a very nurturing and understanding way.

Overall, we're really thankful that we've been given the chance to make this unsual and edgy film, and that everyone involved were nuts enough to with the idea in the first place. Now we've got to hammer out the last few kinks in the script without desmantling the whole thing, get the look of it all completely pinned down, get some communal office space/therapy for me, and round up some amazing talent to help out with the project. All within the next couple of weeks if we're to have a good chance of finishing this by the end of August! Ha ha ha!... Oh my God.

Recommence the fanfare please!

Wait! Is that...? Nah. Couldn't be. Doesn't matter.

Things we learned by hosting Popcorn Comedy

2010-04-01T12:39:00.011+01:00

We hosted our first live event last month in the shape of video and stand-up night Popcorn Comedy at the Victoria. We'd done one before at the Electric Cinema last October, but that time we'd had the helping hand of Popcorn's founder Jon Petrie.

This time it was just us. It was a really great night and we learned a lot about running a night. Here's some of the things we learned (or already knew) and will be putting into practise for the next Popcorn Comedy on April 22nd.

(By the way, we're not claiming to be experts. These are based purely on our experience)

1. The Venue

The capacity a venue says it has is not necessarily accurate. Check for yourself.
Get solid agreements on things like hardware, chairs and staff.
Double-check your tech specs. Need a certain cable? Make sure you have your own.
Set up the room as early as possible.
Think about lighting, music, intermissions and anything else to improve the atmosphere before, during and after the show.
Make a customised playlist for background music.
Make sure bar staff know when the doors open.
Most venues can offer free venue hire if you can assure them they'll make money on drinks/food through hosting your event.

2. The Tech

Make sure you know what each act needs tech-wise, (ie cables, hardware, disc formats).
Make sure cables are long enough to be accessible to a technician and/or the acts.
Test everything early, and then check it again. You may need to run to Maplin.
Remember to turn things like glitter balls and stage lights off before the show, especially if showing films. Easily forgotten.
Test playing any DVDs all the way through beforehand (sound + picture). If pausing a DVD player for any length of time, check that it won't time out/play a screensaver/switch off.
Always have a backup DVD.

3. The Crew

You'll need at least three people. One to be a technician, one to greet/take money, one to look after the acts/fetch things/make sure the audience is ok.
Define people's roles so everyone knows what they're doing.

4. The Acts

Book them well in advance.
Get an idea of what they'll be doing in advance. Tech specs, arrival times, payment, etc.
Give them a detailed idea of where they need to be, when they need to be there, when they're going on, how long they have, and when and how they'll be paid.
Offer a complimentary drink or two as a courtesy.
Always pay comedians after they've performed, some are superstitious about being paid up front. Good knowledge.
Get them to sign a form to say they've been paid.

5. The Audience

Let them know the format, the timings and what they can and can't do.
Ask for applause, especially for film showings. Otherwise there won't be any.
If there's a bar, direct people to it before the show, at the intermission, or afterwards.

6. Marketing

Get listed on as many online listings sites as you can with the same blurb/info.
Simple flyers with date, time, venue, price and acts are good. Get them in lots of venues.
Make sure you have a good poster/flyer presence in the event venue.
Posters elsewhere aren't really worth it. They'll be taken down.
Facebook event page/fan page is a must. Keep messages to an effective minimum.
Twitter also a good way to let people know. But keep it light and conversational.
Sell tickets online through something like eventbrite to get an idea of numbers and pre-sell.
Invite someone to review/take photos. They'll be useful for promoting your next event.
Pass around and collect mailing lists around in the interval.

7. Other bits

Get a money box and make sure you have a sufficient float if taking cash.
Eat well before the event, you won't have a chance later.
Don't drink too much.
Don't disobey the last two points in conjunction.

So there you go. If you've got anything to add, put it in the comments.

Hopefully we'll see you at the Victoria on the 22nd!

MerchanDICE!

2010-03-26T15:55:00.004Z

Huzzah! Some shiny shiny new button badges have arrived courtesy of awesomemerchandise.com. Not completely sure what we'll do with these, but I suppose it's a good exercise in vanity isn't it?

Popcorn Comedy is Ready for Launch

2010-03-21T08:51:00.018Z

Behold the shiny poster! This week's the week that we host Popcorn Comedy at the Victoria and things are hotting up.

We're quite proud of this month's video funny-mix, with some fresh new corkers as well as a couple of favourites from the last Birmingham Popcorn. We're also really excited about what Brian Gittins and Rob Rouse have in store, and they'll be showing some of their own video content in the true Popcorn fashion. You can see more about them in our last post.... here.

As much as we loved The Electric last time, the upstairs of the Victoria is going to have a great buzz to it with a much more informal atmosphere where you can get a drink, walk/shuffle around or even have a meal before hand.

Doors are open at Thursday 25th March, 7-10pm. Tickets are £5 (£4 Concessions) and you can book them at popcornbrum.eventbrite.com, or on the door, but as there will be limited capacity pre-booked tickets will get dibs on seating.

See you there!

Brian Gittins and Rob Rouse for Popcorn

2010-02-17T14:39:00.018Z

We've got our live acts for Popcorn Comedy at the Victoria and they are... Brian Gittins and Rob Rouse. Woop!

Rob Rouse is one of Britain's most respected Stand-ups gathering a long list of TV credits, and is about to embark on his new show 'My Family And The Dog That Scared Jesus'.

Roadside cafe owner, Brain Gittins has been described by Ricky Gervais as "One of the best comedy characters of the decade". With his style of anti-jokes you keep thinking he’s going to say or do something revolting but he constantly up-ends your expectations winningly. He can also be found out and about with fellow grease merchant, Angelos Epithemiou.

Popcorn's Victoria debut is Thursday 25th March from 7pm. You can get your tickets for £5 (£4 Concessions) from popcornbrum.eventbrite.com

So while we start putting some videos together for you, here's a gimpse of Rob's stand up and Brian chewing the fat with Angelos Epithemiou.

Popcorn Comedy is back in Birmingham

2010-02-10T14:06:00.005Z

We'll be bringing Popcorn Comedy back to Birmingham in March to inflict inoperable injuries to your sides with the best stand-ups, character comedians and videos once again.

Since the last Popcorn Comedy at the Electric Cinema - where we had the awesome Holly Walsh and Doc Brown - we've been drinking in the atmosphere of the London Popcorn nights, and we've decided, Birmingham deserves a slice of the action.

So Popcorn is back, but this time we're gonna switch it up a bit. The next Brum night will be on Thursday 25th March at The Victoria Pub. It'll be different to the night at The Electric, but we'll still have some top acts and the very best comedy videos going.

We'll update you with more details about acts, times, tickets and more soon. But in the meantime, tell everyone you know, Popcorn is coming, 25th March at The Victoria, and take a look at the Popcorn comedy website for what you have in store.

See you there,

Dice

Man In A Cat's Shortlisted for Funding

2010-01-06T23:19:00.008Z

All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) has been shortlisted for Digishorts funding! Nice Stuff!

X-Factor styley, over 100 entries have been whittled down to 12. After the development process 6 of those will be commissioned. Next week we'll be starting off with a day of discussion and workshops with the other shortlisters and Kate Leys. The development process will go on through till March when we'll see... If all goes well and we get the green light, we'll be chucking up regular updates here for you to track the progression of the film.

While 'Man In A Cat has been talked about for a while, and the tester trailer alone has got over 850,000 views, it had to stand on ice for a while as our other projects and work relationships developed. But after having the storyboards on my wall for over a year it'll be great to get some outside input. I'm particularly excited to see how the original story changes. While I love the idea of a Man, Woman, Cat love triangle (not like that), there's still plenty that could be done on the script.

So let's start from the beginning shall we? Here's where the original idea taken from my sketchbook when I was 16, which was taken from Tony Lopes' Odd Streak strip.

Huh, will yer look at that. Message in a Bottle was on the same page. Page 32 was obviously drinking well that year.

The Secret Identity of Santa Claus

2009-12-18T02:50:00.004Z

Unwanted husband and father, Paul Slater is a check out assistant in Tesco. But Paul leads a secret double life... He is... Santa Claus!... in the Tesco Christmas Grotto Mega Value Clearance section.

Click here to watch it in all it's full HD glory!

Like the awkward time when you watched a loved one dissapointedly unwrap your present bought on a shoestring budget, I would have liked to have offered you a slightly bigger, more raunchy present, but time's been tight lately. Where's the sherry. Sherry will dull this guilt.

Trivia: I wrote this when I was 13. Gadzooks! 10 years ago! In the '90s! Jesus. Here's the original sketch while I go and spin out in the corner.

Circa 1999

Christmas Card Animation For Go'Proces:

2009-12-08T18:51:00.007Z

Danish company Go'Proces: came to me with a script for an animated Christmas card. So I made one. It's only occurred to me recently that Scandinavians have a particular sense of humour. Like the sort of joke that doesn't have a punchline... or a joke. Just a big vast dark cold landscape of subtlety. I like!

As their friend base is exclusively Danish they decided not to go for subtitles, so good luck working out what they're saying! Let me know what you think they're saying so I can laugh at/with you.

Lastly, big up to long suffering Amy Commander for doing the voice of 6 characters - possibly even a man's voice too with help from my computer.

P.S. Seems there's some audio sync problems with this uploaded version.

We Were on The Culture Show Ma!

2009-12-03T22:56:00.014Z

We're all a little excited this week, because Dice Productions had a little cameo appearance on The Culture Show on BBC2 last night... even if that cameo was only about two seconds long. But hey, we were on the Culture Show (on the telly) so who cares, right?

As you can see from the pic above, Message in a Bottle was included in a little montage during Josie Long's segment on the rise and rise of online comedy, which focused squarely on Funny or Die UK and Popcorn Comedy, in which we've had a little more active role through October's Electric Cinema screening. Ian's giggling face was also spotted on the show enjoying Popcorn Comedy at the Roxy Bar and Screen in October.

Watch the video below and skip to 51 minutes in (if you haven't got an hour to spare) to see the clip in full.

If Josie is to be believed (and I think she should be), online comedy is where it's at. We totally agree that being able to produce and distribute your own content gives you so much more artistic freedom to experiment and not be so precious about ideas. Like Jon Petrie attested, you avoid the 'too many cooks' situation. As everyone knows, an overabundance of chefs does not good comedy make.

Now these creations are making their way into the clubs, bars, cinemas and underground Victorian toilets of Britain, through nights like Popcorn, there's never been a better excuse to pick up a camera or sit down at your computer and create something hilarious, challenging or downright baffling.

If we're honest, a glimpse of Ian's face (above) and Louis' hands are not the only things exciting us this week. Hopefully we can tell you more about those things some time in the near future.

To go to an upcoming Popcorn Comedy night, check out the future events section here.

Trick - Another Halloween Short

2009-11-01T16:44:00.005Z

Here's a Halloween short Louis did the animation for quite a while back for Will Rot. Probably best not show your kids this one - not the last ~~20 seconds in any case~~. Make that 30 seconds, sorry eyes.

Featured on Things

2009-10-31T12:33:00.004Z

Straight out of the starting box, we got a couple of features from the brilliant funnyordie.co.uk and flabber.nl (which you may not have heard of, but it seems the whole of the Netherlands have)

How Not To Be Halloween Fabulous

2009-10-30T11:24:00.006Z

Here's a Halloween animated greeting card for y'all that I knocked up!

Seeing as statistically 67% of all males between 16 and 45 will be dressing up as Michael Jackson this Halloween (science doesn't lie people) here's a audio-visual forewarning entitled 'How Not To Be Halloween Fabulous, or How I Learnt to Stop Caring and Started Dressing as Michael Jackson'

For some real advice on HOW to be Halloween Fabulous read Ian's sage words of advice.

Clifton Mallice and his 'Chat-Up Lines'

2009-10-07T23:18:00.009+01:00

Ever had difficulty approaching someone you fancy? Ever wondered what to say to strike up conversation? Well, wonder no more because the legendary Mr Moe Chattam and Clifton Mallice devised many techniques to help people just like you. And they still work today!

Learn his special 'Chat-Up Lines' and you'll be beating off potential suitors within minutes. If you have your own special 'Chat-Up Lines', please send them to us in the YouTube comments box. We need all the help we can get.

Guaranteed to impress, anybody in a dress!

We premiered this film at Popcorn Comedy in Birmingham. For some 'behind-the-scenes' pictures you can take a good, long look here.

Popcorn Comedy comes to Brum!

2009-09-17T08:17:00.040+01:00

That's right, Popcorn Comedy, a comedy night dedicated to bringing you the funniest online videos and stand up, is coming to Birmingham Comedy Festival!

We'll be presenting the opening night of Popcorn Comedy Birmingham at Britain's oldest working cinema The Electric on Monday 5th October at 8.30pm, featuring the rap/stand up stylings of Doc Brown and the wonderful Holly Walsh live on stage, as well as a selection of the newest and funniest videos from the web in glorious high resolution.

We should also be premiering a brand new video on the night too, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Popcorn is sponsored by the good people at Hello Digital.

Tickets are only £6 each. Order here: http://www.theelectric.co.uk/booking/book.php?date=1453

Here's some quotes about Popcorn Comedy if you're not already convinced:

"Popcorn Comedy does the hard work for us, offering a monthly selection of the strongest, sharpest and funniest videos online. And instead of the usual 320 by 240
pixels, here they’ll be transposed to the altogether more satisfying platform of a full-size cinema screen, and mixed with live performances."
The Guardian
"Popcorn is such a good idea you almost can’t believe it’s the only club like it."
Spoonfed.co.uk
"I haven’t been to a better comedy night for yonks and yonks. It is that good."
Robert Popper

The Electric Cinema
47-49 Station Street
Birmingham
B5 4DY

0121 643 7879

It's near New Street Station and pretty much next door to the Old Rep Theatre if you don't know it.

Max Fitness in Atom Upload Showdown!

2009-09-05T10:05:00.008+01:00

Max Fitness has made it into the Atom Upload Showdown! If we win we'll earn some mulla and get shown on Comedy Central! So get over there, brave the 30 second advert, and VOTE FOR US!

http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/showdown_max_fitness/

Chat Up Lines - Behind the Scenes

2009-08-17T13:52:00.009+01:00

Here's some behind the scenes shots, while I edit our latest live sketch. Yep, that's me with a whole lorra wax. It took about 5 washes with Fairy Liquid to get rid that muck, as proven by me sporting the 'Dandy Geldof' after wash 3.

Bit of trivia: Tom and I share the same sweaty shirt throughout.

Off to Edinburgh!

2009-08-05T20:22:00.010+01:00

Ehy! Message in a Bottle will be making an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of Popcorn Comedy's Best Of Show. The shows will be on 6th and 26th August and only cost £5 which is an amazing price 6 top quality stand ups and bunch of videotic gems.

Go HERE to see more details. Don't ask why! Just do it!! It's really good... Oh well read on.

We won't be able to catch the shows, but we'll be catching the aftermath of it on the last weekend of the festival (28th-30th). The last time we were up I was a student there and the smug occupier of a beautiful flat... It's going to be a bit more guerilla style this time round. We'll keep a log and possibly even a fun bit of video to document our travels.

This is bringing back all sorts of memories. If you ever happen to be in the National Gallery of Scotland keep a look out for this painting of 'Jesus'. However, if you look closer it's not Jesus... it's Tom. That also appears to be Andy Murray flogging him. That guy on the left looked familiar too but we just couldn't work it out. After carefully ripping it off the wall and gently ramming it down Tom's trousers we took it away to have a closer look......

..... Turns out it was Dave Benson Phillips.

Featured on AWNtv

2009-07-30T11:36:00.003+01:00

Thanks to AWNtv for featuring Bored Stiff. It always means a lot to get on there.

Popcorn Comedy

2009-07-25T14:31:00.007+01:00

Final screening anecdotalism of the week.

Somewhere else that we've been screened the last couple of months is at Popcorn Comedy. Run by Jon Petrie (brother of the really quite good Ed Petrie), it seems to be one of the most exciting comedy nights out there. By the looks of it, it's much like Filmrats, in that it has the live/video mix, but instead of musical acts has some of the best break through comedians about and has the choice of some of London's coolest little hideaways. Although they're not afraid to tour around having moved up to Edinburgh this August for the festival.

We were really chuffed to have been approached by Jon to screen some stuff and can't wait to actually get down to one of the nights. Especially with such comedy heroes as Robert Popper hailing the boots off it.

Here's a round up of the night by SpoonFed and an ickle name check to ourselves.

Screened at FilmRats

2009-07-25T13:33:00.005+01:00

On Wednesday, was FilmRats, based in the Bristol Pear in Selly Oak. We've had our stuff screened there for the last couple of months but weren't able to make it, so it was a nice surprise to see the evening's films finished off with Bored Stiff and Message in A Bottle.

Organisers Andrew and Tom Hewson seem to have got the event down to a T, warming up the night with some music/live performance, then some films, then polishing of with a final musical act. An audio visual sandwich if you will. I think the guys have got a great feeling for keeping the mood up in the room too. It's easy for these sort of screenings to end up as a endless depressing sludge of grainy experimental films - which is great in moderation - but here the films were mixed up so that there was a nice change of pace and our in-your-face-dirty-little-treats were used as little pick-me-ups at the end. Most importantly though Andrew compared. The most important thing for events like this is to TELL people to clap and get some repore going. For some reason people just don't do it otherwise. I still don't understand why.

The venue's the perfect setting, it's relaxed, nice size and layout, built in projector and a decent sound system. It's a shame no where in the city centre really matches up. Highlights were personal favourites KateGoes plus FaceOmeter, as well as meeting Black Country Cinema collective, Birmingham Salute.

The Great Animation Challenge

2009-07-24T22:46:00.007+01:00

The last week involved a few lovely screening/social events. Here's the first.

On Tuesday was The Great Animation Challenge at the Lighthouse, Wolverhampton, which started off with brilliant round up of animations from last year's Flip Festival. My personal favourite was about a man who's slipped coordinates in 3D space and is trying to fix it by being hit by asteroids. ~~I can't tell you the name of it yet as I don't know...~~ (Skhizein, directed by Jeremy Clapin) I also missed the first half of it. Maybe that added to the feeling of just watching a snippet of someone's life, rather than going through the whole process of setting up the character. I quite enjoy watching films half way through or without the sound on. You have to piece together a story which is probably no where near as interesting as it seems because it's turned into a puzzle, everything they do suddenly becomes potentially important.

After that bit of reflection, came the screening and announcement of the winner of the Animation Challenge itself. The prize rightly went to Joe Lea's interpretation of Underwater Fax of Death, which thanks to other people's attraction to the song means I'm still singing that song in my head 4 days later. Afterwards, I got to catch up with some familiar faces and chat to some new ones... which was nice.

~~P.S. I'll find out the name of that animation and see what I can link to.~~

Bored Stiff Featured on Dailymotion

2009-07-18T12:05:00.007+01:00

Apologies for being a bit neglegent with news, shizzle and other video sites lately. But after finally getting Bored Stiff onto Dailymotion we were featured! Dailymotion are a little bit racier (they have a 'Sexy' category) than their YouTubian conterparts - maybe that's the French influence on the site. We're dandy with that as it means all our poop related silliness gets the exposure it probably doesn't deserve. Thanks Dailymotion!

In relation to that we were given an invite to the preview screening of Mad, Sad & Bad on Monday 20th July by Dailymotion. You can see the trailer here and you can watch the preview on Dailymotion at exactly the same time as the screening (8pm GMT 20th July).

Don't Touch goes to Glastonbury

2009-06-01T23:41:00.003+01:00

*Edit* Looking back through the emails I believe we were shown twice at Glasto, courtesy of the lovely ChewTV.

Don't Touch is off too Glastonbury Festival with thanks to Dave Allen of the mighty Animation Forum West Midlands! From what I've heard it'll be screened on the BBC's back-to-back 25m2 screens. Whoop-di-whoop. Other films being shown are Second Home Productions' The Animal Book, and The Brother McLeod's Codswallop. Fine company indeed.

For info and a bit of a history on Don't Touch lookee here.

Featured on FunnyorDie.co.uk

2009-05-31T10:05:00.004+01:00

Chuffed to see a Bored Stiff and Message in a Bottle is getting some love from the Funny or Die UK team, with Bored Stiff getting a lovely 'Best of the Week' honour.

The website is the UK branch of Will Ferrell's hugely successful approach at online comedy. Funny or Die UK is run by James Serafinowicz who is also brother of our own personal hero, Peter Serafinowicz. What's special about Funny or Die UK is that no one so far has put the amount of effort, professionalism and backing into a comedy video site that has as much an aim to promote emerging talent as it does to provide star comedians with a new media platform.

As Message in A Bottle never really had a proper chance to say hello on the blog , here it is:

Are you... Bored Stiff?

2009-05-15T15:28:00.005+01:00

May we introduce our sticky new born, 'Bored Stiff'. Here's what it has to say for itself:

Dr. Nick Deadly gets bored and takes time out to work on an extra-curricula project. Plus, there was queue for the toilet.

Click here to see it in all its (half) HD glory!

They said, 'It couldn't be done!'... well more, 'I don't want to do it!'. But one digital pen, 3 dogs lives and lawsuit later I had proved them wrong. If you're interested... Excuse me. Yep. Hi... here's the original scribbles I did on a tiny scrap of paper a few years ago. The words are me trying to give it a title.

Help us make some sketches!

2009-05-14T12:20:00.003+01:00

We're looking to put together a team to start making some low-to-no budget comedy sketches. Our aim is to populate our successful YouTube partner page with material to build a strong presence as producers of quality comedy content.

What we need is a camera operator with their own equipment or access to equipment, someone that knows their way around lighting, and someone with knowledge of sound recording for film. All of the material will be written by us, a lot of which is already done and waiting to get made. We will also be looking for additional actors to fill supporting roles once a definitive list of sketches to film has been decided.

The main qualities a team-member should possess are a sense of humour, enthusiasm for making some funny films, and an easy-going approach to help everything move along smoothly. Being local to Birmingham will be a bonus and flexible availability at the weekend or week-nights will help.

Participation will be on a voluntary basis and hopefully for the enjoyment and experience of the process as we're learning like anyone else. However, concerns about personal expenses can be lodged with us on an individual basis and we'll see what we can do.

Of course, you will receive full credit for your work and the potential to join bigger projects as we progress. We will also provide our recommendation to others requiring similar services for team members.

Please leave your details or questions in the comments section of this post, or email us directly at admin@diceproductions.co.uk

Hope to hear from you soon,

Ian, Tom and Louis

Interview with Channel Frederator

2009-05-03T09:36:00.003+01:00

Following our feature on Channel Frederator's Episode, 'Robbery! Notes! Goats! SWINE! #177', we did an interview with the big red robot himself. Here's the jist of it in their words:

Dice Productions' comedy trio (animator Louis Hudson, and writers Ian Ravenscroft and Tom Reid) talk about why they work funny, what’s next for them, and the hardest thing they’ve ever been bludgeoned with.

You can read the interview here, or here's a repost of it for your ever loyal eyes...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dice Productions‘ comedy trio (animator Louis Hudson, and writers Ian Ravenscroft and Tom Reid) talk about why they work funny, what’s next for them, and the hardest thing they’ve ever been bludgeoned with.

Channel Frederator: Louis, where did you study animation?

Louis Hudson: I went to Edinburgh College of Art and graduated last summer. Going to university bought me time and contact with some very talented people, but I probably got most of my education from books like Richard Williams’ Animator’s Survival Kit, internet tutorials, blogs and podcasts. University gives you a lot of opportunities but you have to be very careful not to become ‘institutionalised’

CF: Ian and Tom, did you receive any education in regards to comedy writing?

Ian Ravenscroft: I don’t think formal training in comedy writing is that necessary, but my training as a journalist has definitely improved my style. I think the best training I ever had was to watch other comedy shows, absorb some of the tricks you can play with language and start to look at the world differently. It’s just about observation and trying to see the humour in everything you can. If I didn’t write comedy and laugh at things a lot, the world would seem a lot more cruel and depressing, I think.

Tom Reid: Doing a stint of playwriting at university helped me to focus on dialogue and overall narrative, but I’ve not done anything geared towards comedy specifically. I’d agree that the best education in writing comes from watching the comedy that’s already out there; being subjective about shows allows you pick up new techniques and methods that you can use to shape your own ideas. Other than that, working with others is the best way to craft and shape your own style, whilst making yourself laugh in the process.

CF: What has influenced your work the most?

Ian: In terms of existing work, comedy shows like The Day Today and Brasseye are big influences. I was literally raised watching The Simpsons too, so that has been burnt onto my brain. Spinal Tap and anything in a mockumentary-style like Summer Heights High always get me laughing too, well, almost always.

Tom: In terms of the telly, for off the wall ideas I’d have to go for programmes like Big Train, The Adam and Joe Show and of course the obligatory Python; shows where any concept is viable, no matter how strange or absoludicrous. For language and dialogue, Brasseye and Peepshow are by far my favourites, they’re witty, intelligent and consistently hilarious. In terms of the everyday, taking a twisted view of reality is the best way to get inspiration from the mundane or if that fails just write down real occurrences, it’s amazing how many funny things happen in the real world that never get written down.

Louis: I grew up on the markets and went round pubs with my dad as a little kid. The bizarre drunken stories, strange people, and places I encountered have definitely had an effect. Vic & Bob, Blackadder, Porridge, The Young Ones and old Warner Bro’s cartoons are good old TV favourites, but the biggest influence is the very first time I saw Terry Gilliam’s animations. That actually changed my life – it’s the reason I started drawing jokes. Vic Reeves’, Sun Boiled Onions did a lot of bending on my sense of humour too.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?

We’re making content for MySpace Comedy UK at the moment, and hopefully trying to branch out into live action with that. Meanwhile Louis’ getting his short animated film “All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat)” ready for the summer”. The trailer alone has done very well for us on YouTube.

Alongside that we’re trying to get scripts sorted for a sketch show and sitcom that we’ve been working on too.

Most painful thing you’ve been hit with in the face?

Ian: Definitely a wall. Although it’s debatable whether I hit the wall or the wall hit me. I’ll go for the wall, because let’s face it, who wouldn’t move out the way of a seven year-old running around with his eyes closed? It’s just wrong.

Tom: It has to be a tennis ball in primary school, it hit me square in the nose and made me bleed from both nostrils, it wouldn’t stop for several minutes and made a permanent stain on the playground. Yet another example of why Henmania isn’t for the faint hearted.

Louis: A rowing boat. I still have a dent in my forehead.

CF: WOW.

You guys are the best! Thanks for the interview!

You can check out Dice Productions’ short film “Message in a Bottle” right here on Channel Frederator!

-Bailee DesRocher

Featured on Channel Frederator... Again!

2009-04-29T16:19:00.003+01:00

Yehy. Message in a Bottle was featured on Channel Frederator's episode, 'Robbery! Notes! Goats! SWINE! #177'

Please vote for it at http://www.channelfrederator.com/episode/CFR_20090428

- There's a 21" Cintiq up for grabs! The voting system isn't the most obvious, so here's handy visual aid. Click '(Read more)' near the top of the sidebar, and give a nice fat star rating under my name. We'll love you forever.

Fair Trade on XtraNormal

2009-04-20T10:53:00.000+01:00

Louis stumbled across animation site XtraNormal the other day, and I'm already hooked. It's a pretty powerful online animation tool that lets you make your own animated films without so much as a clue of how to animate. All you have to do is pick a setting, pick some characters, and type in a script for them to read out. I had a play with it by putting one of our sketches called Fair Trade into the system, you can see the results here:

The only downsides are the robotic voices, but to be fair, they aren't that bad. It isn't likely to be free for long, so get your creative juices flowing soon.

Introducing the Facts of Life

2009-04-04T18:39:00.004+01:00

The Facts of Life are indisputable, carved into the stones of history and knowledge forever to lay down the laws of this world. But who knows them? No one, that's who. So we've decided to put things right by finally educating the world of the amazing, true facts that make our planet such a rich and compelling place.

To advance your brain by up to a factor of six, go to www.twitter.com/thefactsoflif e to learn a new fact as they pour into the twittersphere. All of the incredible facts will be streamed on this very blog too, so don't waste any time, advance your mind now with The Facts of Life.

Based in the Jewellery Quarter

2009-03-06T11:08:00.006Z

Bit of a belated move of premises post, but here we go.

Quite a while ago now I moved to St Paul's Square with a new office. It even has a plaque on the building - Something about a Gentleman's

Club and Titty Bottle Park. Classy.

In December Ian and Tom also moved in near by, so now we're living in the Jewellery Quarter like one big blinged up family.

So if you want to pop by for a chat (not about Jesus, thanks) I'll probably be in.

Cat Blog Mentions 'All Consuming Love'

2009-02-12T11:46:00.013Z

SacroBirmania.com - an Italian website that belongs to a cat - has kindly 'paw'sted (groan) about 'All Consuming Love'.

It's interesting that there are very few people out there in the badlands of YouTube who like both, cute cat videos and watching men rumaging inside cats.

Considering that SacroBirmania.com belongs to a cat, maybe YouTube's masses should wait a second just before firing off their wisdom bullets. Ask your cat what their view is. While films about cat related love triangles may seem obscure to us humans, pre-production for this film involved some of the world's most meticulous scientists, sensative equipment and about the broadest range of oppinionated cats known to man (Arnold Plotnick).

So let there be no mistake, it is scientific truth that cats '... Can't get enough of this shit.' - their words not mine.

4mations Top Users

2009-02-06T15:30:00.005Z

At the beginning of January that laser-kitten laden, 4mations website named us as one of their 'Top Users' which was nice.

Thanks.

You can see our 4mations page at: http://www.4mations.tv/DiceProductions

All About Law Illustrations

2009-01-06T14:42:00.006Z

Over Christmas I was asked to do a set of illustrations for several blog characters and a MILFy careers advisor for allaboutlaw.co.uk

Now get back to work or you're getting a lump of coal next Christmas! God knows Santa's got to streamline his production costs somehow.

YouTube Partners (that escalated quickly)

2008-12-03T10:08:00.003Z

We're now proud to be official YouTube partners. Yeehaw!... that really did escalate quite quickly. This means that we'll now earn a share of YouTube's advertising revenue in turn for us making highly viewed videos.

Thanks to CiB's Chris Unitt for plugging us too.

Funny link

2008-12-02T15:29:00.004Z

Flabber, a dutch speaking website, seems to empathise with Giles Quinton's musical ambitions.

That's what makes YouTube worth the effort, all the appendaged information and statistics.

4Talent Magazine: Awards Issue

2008-12-01T14:43:00.006Z

Ian's 4Talent Awards winner profile of James Knott and James Curran can now be bought and enjoyed in the latest edition of 4Talent magazine. Ian will also be giving a little round-up of the 4Talent awards ceremony soon, so watch this space.

Here's what's in the rest of the issue, which is great by the way and wholly recommended:

Our Face to Face talent includes Danny 'Trainspotting' Boyle, Victoria 'Green Wing' Pile, Graham 'IT Crowd' Linehan and Charlie 'Dead Set' Brooker. We also announce our 20 hotly-tipped 4Talent Award winners for 2008, delve into the depths of online drama and take the creative temperature of Barcelona.

Pretty good, huh?

ANOTHER YouTube Feature + Cue for Music Composer

2008-11-30T22:22:00.012Z

WTFs, LOLs and ROFLs are being banded around like nobody's business as the trailer for All Consuming Love (Man In A Cat) gets featured on YouTube. That makes two features in two weeks! If you can't see it being featured, that because it's featured 'Globally' and not in Britain... You'll have to ask YouTube how that one works.

The trailer does feature the opening score to Forest Gump. That was done as a last minute choice as things had got stuck with my sound designer at the time and the music does actually suit quite nicely. So, he next thing will be to get a lovely sound designer onboard and get all that sorted out.

Spotted by Aaron Simpson

2008-11-21T11:13:00.004Z

Found out that Aaron Simpson of 'Cold Hard Flash' fame has spotted us a couple of times on his new site 'Line Boil', which is nice. It's also nice to see that Aaron has set up the new site to cover the world of animation outside of Flash. With the rise the YouTube generation, Flash animation's web presence is in direct competition with every other form of video. So it's good to see him moving with the times whilst still providing an excellent site that nurishes Flash animators' knowledge and skills.

Featured on YouTube!

2008-11-14T15:02:00.011Z

Wowzers!, Zoiks! and indeed Blimey! 'DON'T TOUCH' got featured on YouTube!
Considering I can't stand watching the bugger any more I'm quite proud. I suppose it's appropriate to show you it again... as if it'll look any different featured. *edit - Thought I'd give you the new HD version to oggle at.

All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat) Trailer

2008-11-13T15:32:00.005Z

Here's the lastest glimpse of the upcoming film, All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat). Should be a good'un when it's done.

Ian's 4Talent Gigbeth blog

2008-11-11T14:42:00.006Z

Ian's blog from the 4Talent stage at Birmingham's Gigbeth festival is up on the 4Talent magazine site now.

Find out what he thought of the eclectic mix of acts, why light-sensitive robots are the future and how a two-chord song can knock your block off.

Ian's photos from Hot Monocles' performance at Gigbeth on Friday are up on Flickr now.

For some other blogs on Gigbeth (and a lovely plug for my effort) see Digbeth is Good and have a mooch for other Digbeth-related goodies while you're there.

Websites-a-go-go

2008-11-10T11:02:00.007Z

Been a bit webby lately.

Firstly, following up from the Birmingham Filmmakers meet up, we took things a bit further. So now we have Film Forum West Midlands! Subcribe via emails or RSS and get any of the latest on news, opportunities, collaborations and chances to meet your fellow filmmakers.

Next, St Patrick's Festival is finally back online in the form of stpatricksbirmingham.com. We'll be looking to get a dedicated volunteer blogger for it soon, and get some much needed updates on there.

Louis also was commissioned to design sexypennys.com, which is now being built.

Portfolio Review at Flip

2008-11-03T20:22:00.010Z

A veritable tirade of news lately. On Friday 4-5.30pm, 6 graduate animators, including myself, will be having our showreels ripped to shit by a panel of experts at The light House, Wolverhampton. It'll be like standing on stage with my balls hanging out for inspection. In the best possible way, of course.

The panelists include:

Dan Calvert, a senior animator at Blitz Games.
Mick Foley, from Sumo Dojo Productions. Member of PACT National Council for Animation and a council member on the Skillset Animation Forum
Roger McIntosh, an animation director with credits including, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', 'Peter Rabbit & Friends', 'Kipper' and 'Angelina Ballerina'.

Things that I'll try to get to:

Thurs 6th

7-9pm: Opening party at Millenium Point,

Fri 7th

4-5.30pm Portfolio Review Session (obviously),

6–7.30pm Sita Sings the Blues,

Sat 8th

11.15-12.30pm National Film & TV School Screening,

6.45 – 8.30pm: Student Competition (4 film's from my old college),

8.30pm Closing Party.

Louis & America

2008-11-03T12:12:00.003Z

Just started on a string of commissions for Las Vegas/L.A. based horror filmmaker William Rot. Very nice guy who's working on the feature 'Helter Skelter'.

Definitely exercising my dark side at the moment. I should start watching fluffy cartoons and doing charity work to keep myself clean, but I'll probably just watch porn and cry whilst cutting myself instead.

Birmingham Filmmakers

2008-11-03T09:50:00.008Z

We went to the Birmingham Filmmakers Meet Up and it was very productive.

Organised by FilmDash winner, Rill Marchant, there's finally a time and place for people wanting to get involved in film to chat to each other!

The Meet Ups are a great way for anyone interested in all aspects of film making to come along and meet people who can help them realise their plans. Great films rely on the combination of people's different talents and until now there hasn't been a platform for those people to mingle comfortably in one place.

The Facebook Group has 50+ members at the moment, so comparitively the turn out was shockingly low. However the meetup still served more than it's purpose. Hannah(?) from Team MMUG came along, who, being a lawyer-come-aspiring-filmmaker showed the sort diversity that B'ham Filmmakers combined. And, whilst, Rill explained that she wanted to provide technical services, we're predominately ideas people. We could have started film right there and then! Instead, we got down to how we could make this thing grow.

A proper blog is obviously the first step, concentrating on exposing opportunities and bringing people together from different disciplines of filmmaking. From then we'd need some set goals and ask the appropriae people for their support. Animation Forum West Midlands has hit the nail on the head, and it would be great to eventually have a network that's as effective, possibly even working with them - they've broken a lot of ground already after all.

So here's to a sociable, co-operative, heathly filmmaking comunity. Join the Facebook Group!

Beetroot Boy 2 - Louis gets dirty

2008-11-02T12:27:00.015Z

Beetroot Boy 2 is written & directed by 'topher Holland, with an 'interesting' cameo by me drinking Scotch.

Apparently, the policeman next to the flipchart was in Lost & 3rd Rock From The Sun. We're talking about that sort of calibre people!

Click here to watch the film.

...and another thing.

2008-10-27T13:34:00.008Z

I didn't realise this was up yet, so belatedly here is my interview with Greg McLeod for 4Talent at the screening of the new Brothers McLeod short Codswallop.

Here's the trailer.

Film Dash blog on 4Talent

2008-10-24T16:05:00.003+01:00

Ian's blog on the weekend's Film Dash action for 4Talent is now up on their website, check it out here.

Film Dash: Digital Galore Round Up

2008-10-23T13:00:00.042+01:00

The evening of Film Dash started in true form, by dashing. I fetched a camera from the lovely Warren from @Warblefly and then ran off to the briefing - starting these things already sweating shows that you're serious. A friendly atmosphere was brewing at the Custard Factory and Ian had even met a fan of The Outsider. All anyone knew about the challenge was that we had to make a 1-5 minute film in 48 hours based on a specific brief. Everyone’s brief would be different. The winning film would be screened at the event, ‘Into the Light’, a celebration of Birmingham born film producer, Sir Michael Balcon. When the time came we got our brief:

Incorporate the spoken line, "I don't believe the world has been in such a terrible mess since the flood."
Somehow reference the film, 'The Cruel Sea'.

How nautical. By now Ian really needed the loo so we headed back to my new flat/office, tip-toeing around the subject of trickling water, floods and the cruel ‘it just went down my leg’ sea.

The most exciting thing about the challenge was to learn what we could (or should) do in that time. We knew we could write quickly and wanted to work to that strength. We’ve also filmed sketches very quickly, especially with Tom acting. But bringing everything together and making it look good within the time was the trick.

Pizza, brainstorming and a couple of shakedowns of the whiteboard got us a nice script and a schedule by 2am on Friday night. Not too shabby. On Saturday morning Tom was getting into Mr. C. (Mr. C would have liked that) and all was go! We got a couple of shots done and Sara Leung kindly came round to fill in for the part of the girlfriend.

Apart from, or because of, the lack of crew, actors, and equipment, filming went pretty smoothly. By 3pm we had started editing the first lot of footage down and unleashed Max Fitness onto the world. Snippets of other people’s film’s were starting to pop up in various guises at this point which added to the chase. In the evening we unwound at the pub. Later, we started tightening right back up as Ian and I broke the back of the editing overnight. As expected there was way too much footage, so we stripped down and cross-faded our way to safety.

3 hours sleep later and in a cold sleeping bag, Tom said reassuringly something to me about sausages. I agreed that I liked sausages. A shower, a cupper and a McScwadge burger later, we were back in action. After a couple of reshoots, sound work and some tutting at some very dodgy cuts we were done! It would have been lovely to chat to everyone at the hand-in but by that point we were shattered. Unaware of the relevance we finished the evening with a couple of pints of Landlord. So, so tired.

In the end, I think we can be quite chuffed with our script. It had a few nods to Hitchcock and fitted the brief in a nice Ealing farce comedy sort of way. Whether it came though as well on screen I don’t know. Looking at other people’s films, particularly Dunkirk, maybe we should have gone a lot shorter, simpler and quirkier. Whatever the weather, Film Dash was amazing. It was a great laugh, it taught us a lot and we were part of a really buzzing filmmaking event. It did what it should have done, it left us wanting more! Bring on Film Dash ’09.*

Louis ‘Pumped’ Hudson

*Just realised Pete Ashton said almost exactly the same thing.

Here's a slideshow of some pics taken from the weekend.

The Landlord

2008-10-22T13:44:00.014+01:00

Our Film Dash entry The Landlord is now up for public consumption.

A group of all the Film Dash: Digital Galore! entries, including our effort, has been posted on Vimeo

Check it out, leave us some comments on what you thought of it and remember, it was ALL done within 48 hours with limited resources and no actors, well apart from Tom. I recommend watching the other films in the group too, particularly Dunkirk by Pete Ashton and co, it's like Wall-E but set in Digbeth.

We'll be posting some photos and video from our shoot soon with a little bloggy round-up from Louis I think. So brace yourself for some behind-the-scenes action.

Featured on Dailymotion... again

2008-10-20T16:20:00.004+01:00

Dailymotion, the website that sounds like something it isn't, has featured us in their 'Funny' section. Nicely tucked between a CNN report and the new Coen Brother's film trailer on the homepage as well.

Max Fitness

2008-10-18T15:05:00.006+01:00

Oh yes, we have a new film! It's called Max Fitness, and this is what it's about:

'After a failed career as Britain's second-favourite celebrity fitness coach, Max Fitness turns to German morning television for a final shot at cellulite-busting stardom.

Available on VHS, audio cassette and minidisc!'

Tell us what you think with a comment and a rating if you're that way inclined.

Film Dash update: Totally scripted, cast, locations scouted and schedule planned. Half filmed, waiting for night for scenes of darkness. We're happy so far!

Many thanks to Sara Leung for joining the cast too!

Ian, Louis & Tom @ Dice Productions

We need you for Film Dash!

2008-10-06T09:44:00.003+01:00

With Film Dash drawing ever nearer (17-19 Oct), the time to get organised has come. We've got part of a team and some potential locations, but we'd be happier with a couple of extra pairs of hands (and eyes and ears preferably).

We've got Louis for directing, editing and other technical wizardry, Tom for acting, spontaneity and writing and I'll be on writing, ideas and bits of everything else in between. Here's what we're missing:

What we need: A decent camera (ours is a liability) and some more hands on deck.

What we would like: Some sound recording stuff, some lighting, someone with cinematography skills.

Who we're looking for: Someone who has any of the above, is prepared for an intense but rewarding weekend, won't rock the boat when it comes to ideas and realises that it's for fun as much as anything else.

Having Louis' flat in St Paul's Square is a bonus as we'll be close to the briefing and hand-in locations for the mad dash to the finish line, and it will double as a location and war room (not literally).

If you think you could help or know someone that might want to, get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

To the Dash!

Ian

Updates, plans and fresh impetus

2008-09-18T12:40:00.006+01:00

We've been a bit mean with updates to the news blog lately so I'm going to reinvigorate the ol' bird and give it some fresh impetus. Here's what's happening in our world.

Our other blog UMOKYEAH is chugging along nicely, satisfying our desire to publish silly thoughts and pictures while venting some spleen when it all gets a bit too much.

On the animation front, Louis is multi-tasking through some test footage for the Brothers McLeod while thinking about resolving Man in a Cat with it's intended (and ultimately more satisfying) ending. A trailer for Man in a Cat should be in the works very soon in preparation for some festival appearances (hopefully).

Film-wise, our new 'made-in-a-couple-of-days' ethos is going well. The Outsider got some nice feedback and Max Fitness, again starring Tom Reid, is almost ready to be unleashed. Next up is the Film Dash 48-hour film competition which we'll endeavor to patch something together for, followed by another series of quick improvised shorts.

In the writing stakes, we'll soon be in the process of writing an expanded follow-up series for Max Fitness, a short story called The Third Stroke which we'll aim to make as a film sometime, and another short film which needs an ending. Oh, and I'll be blogging on the Film Dash among other bits for 4Talent magazine while Tom and I will be contributing to new music/film/everything blog/website Aural Pleasure too.

I think that's mostly what's going on. Hopefully we'll update more regularly now and may just send out some calls for help for various things we'd like to do in the near future.

Outsider Featured on DailyMotion

2008-07-26T13:52:00.002+01:00

Well... Yep. Does what it says on the tin. Took less than 24 hours for that to happen. Maybe we should make stuff like this more frequently. Hmmm, maybe we might.

The Outsider

2008-07-24T15:25:00.007+01:00

Our latest film is out now! It's called The Outsider and stars Mr Thomas Reid as Giles Quinton, a man who has left his worldly possessions to live outside with nature. Our reporter (Ian Ravenscroft) went to meet him to see his new life outdoors.

Click the link to see the film and please leave us a comment on what you thought about it and give us a rating while your at it. We'd appreciate that a lot. Enjoy.

Dice in America

2008-06-17T14:09:00.001+01:00

American TV channel, ComedyCentral will be airing 'It Came In Peace' and 'Don't Touch' on its 'Atom TV' programme which picks out the funniest web content for TV. How cool is that? Here's what they say -

Atom TV - Series Premiere - Monday, June 2 at 2:00 a.m.

"Atom TV brings together the best online Webisodes from Atom.com and puts them smack-dab on viewers' TV screens. COMEDY CENTRAL couldn't let these gems stay just on the Web. Viewers can check out a side-splitting smattering of the hottest online offerings every week from the comfort of their couch."

In other news, Louis is now the proud owner of a degree in traditional animation from Edinburgh College of Art thanks to his latest visual offering All Consuming Love (Man in a Cat).

Shorts on the Walls

2008-04-30T13:21:00.001+01:00

David Allen kindly managed to squeeze DON'T TOUCH into the Shorts on the Walls line up today. Ian went along to introduce it.

It got a pretty good reception, including a nice mention from Chris Unitt on CiB. Just found Eight Eyed Sea Bass also liked it. That's nice of them too.

'All Consuming Love' poster

2008-04-29T20:49:00.006+01:00

Here's the flyer of what Louis' been working on for the last 9 months. Tagline - 'Coming out of a cat's ass near you...' It also doubles as a lovely postcard, so now you can inform both distant friends and estranged relatives about the pros and cons of potential beastiality attacks. Useful AND entertaining!

Um, Ok, Yeah

2008-04-23T01:57:00.003+01:00

Ian's started the ball rolling on a new blog, Um Ok Yeah.

"Thoughts, views and occasionally news from the frontline of bemusement" is the tagline, so get used to it. The stuff coming from this blog is more of a symptom of Dice Productions becoming an actual entity. Come summer we'll be fully functioning, hopefully with new website, new logo, a more refined sense of what we do and some blooming shiny nuggets of stuff - including a cult. Ahem.

It Came in Peace Wins Showdown

2008-04-14T20:49:00.003+01:00

At the end of Friday the votes were counted and we won, meaning we now earn revenue when you watch 'It Came In Peace'.

What the hell, watch it a few times.

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Countdown Featured on AWNtv

2008-04-09T10:32:00.002+01:00

Countdown is featured on Animation World Network's online video channel, AWNtv.com

Click here to see and vote for it.

Atom Uploads Showdown

2008-04-06T12:13:00.003+01:00

'It Came In Peace' has been pitched against 'Changes' in the Atom Uploads Showdown.

Give 'It Came In Peace' a high score and we could be earning revenue from Atomfilms.com

Countdown wins E4 E-vids Competition

2008-03-27T12:00:00.005Z

That's right, Countdown seems to be a member of the living dead, ravaging yet another online competition. Curious to think that its belated success couldn't have happened without the YouTube generation. Here's the winners list . . . or not, he links now broken

Louis' Portfolio Site

2008-03-13T00:35:00.002Z

Louis will have a portfolio site set up soon. Click here to visit.

He said he'd sort out the website soon aswell. We'll see what the bottle neck allows.

Featured on HDFest.com

2008-03-09T22:45:00.002Z

The HD FEST website has featured 'DON'T TOUCH' as their short of the week. With a couple of nice pictures and biographical details squeezed in.

DON'T TOUCH in Clipstar Competition

2008-02-18T00:09:00.005Z

DON'T TOUCH has managed to get in the lead on the Clipstar Animation chart. If it's still first by 30th April then we'll win lots of cash.

Here's the link for you vote for us: http://www.clipstar.com/videopage.jsf?video=4_570_60

... and here's the video.

Thanks a bunch for the support from Created in Birmingham's Pete Ashton and Animation Forum WM's David Allen, as well as everyone who votes.

New Stuff Coming

2008-02-18T00:00:00.003Z

The lovely people at ComedyBox are interested in creating a couple of mini series with us. Doubly lovely, they are kind enough for Louis to finish his animation course in Edinburgh first.

Combined with Louis not being as quick as he should have been last summer, looks like we'll finally have a big dirty bag of new stuff to show for the first time in a year.

Viva la Bottle Neck

Countdown Comes 3rd

2008-02-17T23:39:00.003Z

On Christmas Day Countdown was the 3rd most viewed user clip on ComedyBox. Not bad considering the amount of unsavoury voting methods going around.

A fancy commission is now coming our way.

Countdown in Competition

2007-12-16T21:06:00.000Z

Too see our short animation Countdown go here. It's also got attention from those lovely people at Channel Frederator.

Not bad for an old and very small dog.

Louis Gets Interviewed by Channel Frederator

2007-12-06T14:04:00.004Z

Here's a repost of my interview with Channel Frederator's Jeaux Janovsky

Channel Frederator Blog

Channel Frederator Rewind: Countdown Louis Hudson Interview!

December 6th, 2007

Louis Hudson’s Countdown is short and sweet. Like Sesame Street… if Hunter S. Thompson made animated spots for them.

I asked Louis to describe the thought process, etc. that went on behind the scenes of creating Countdown.

Heh, I like that comparison. I’d forgotten about those mental sesame street countdowns. I love Steadman’s and Gilliam’s interpretations of Fear and Loathing too. Terry Gilliam is actually the reason I wanted to animate.

Countdown started as a simple college exercise and the was first proper chunk of drawn animation I’d ever done. So Countdown was an ideas rush, I just mashed as many perverse little characters from my sketchbooks as I could into one big mess.

I draw everything on a homemade lightbox, hand paint the backgrounds and then colour and assemble everything digitally. I like to keep things local, I do the sound design and I sometimes get my girlfriend to do the music. I’m now working on my final year film at Edinburgh College of Art, it’s about a man who lives in a cat. Hopefully, next year I’ll be in Birmingham set up as Dice Productions and working freelance with my friends Ian Ravenscroft and Tom Reid.

Thanks,
Louis

Thank You Louis! We hope to see more from you in the near future friend!

-Jeaux Janovsky

Commissioned for 20 Years of Pixar Exhibition

2007-05-16T10:22:00.007+01:00

A bit more time travelling here.

In the first week of of the 2nd year of my course at ECA we (including some people who had only just joined the course) were marched down to the Nation Museum of Scotland to talk about making individual commissions for the up-coming 20 Years of Pixar Exhibition. A big step up from the usual slack pace that most animation courses run on. A lot of the course members suffered from the animation equivalent of The Bends to get over the learning curve. Some, I'm pretty sure cried themselves dry.

My pitch was originally to create filler animations for all the other films, includng a vague narrative of a museum curator going through it. Practically, this proved impossible to do as more people changed their ideas or ran away from the whole mess completely. So in the end, I tied the ideas together as a slightly ill-paced short, 'DON'T TOUCH'.

The original, if not slightly prentious sounding bumpf was,

"I wanted to depict the intense fun that some children get from smashing things, running as fast as they can and causing general chaos! The animation plays on the anguish and frustration that childhood frivolity can cause grown-ups."

So for an O.K. student film, it's done pretty well. 2 years from the supposed date of this post it will have recieved over 250,000 views on YouTube which is very nice.

You can see all the other films at the 20 Years of Pixar mini-site (if it still exists). My personal favourites were:

Imagination Station - Grace Chan,
Vinyl Days - Mark Wagner,
The Penguin and the Piper - Aaron Johnston,
Yu-Lung’s Pearl - Natasha Harrison

Birmingham Big Screen / Time Travel

2006-12-08T12:04:00.005Z

Shhzzzwaaap* Bit of time travelling here. Hello 2006!.. Heh... Nah, better not. Best you found out yourself. No, honestly. It's... Ahh, no. I shouldn't have mentioned it.

Having un-earthed events and tings that happened before the blog exsisted, it seems to make sense to use the blog as an archive. So now when someone says, "Heh. Do you remember that day with the Doritos?" You can say, "No, but what was the approximate date and I can find out about it on the blog."

'It Came In Peace' makes Birmingham Big Screen's December lineup. Lots of other animations there, but one that jumps out is Natalie Ann Hinchley, whose name will be popping up all over the place. Brother McLeod's 'M-Man' is also in the line-up. There is a video of the screening, but old big boots Tony B. talked all over it. It all started to go wrong after that.

Lets see if the time continuum stands up to this callous abuse.

Finalist in MTV Uload Competition

2005-11-01T15:18:00.001Z

Countdown made it into the final selection of MTV's Uload competition! Unfortunately the lawyer's shook their heads at it for being 'too lude'. Oh well, in a way that's an extra achievement.