Ockeroid

Ockeroid is a web animator and composer of music.




Ockeroid has a really unique style with is very angular drawings and low framerates, it gives his animation a unique charm that I really like.

CatFat

CatFat is an online animator based in London. Me and CatFat were in the same tournament (NATA) during first year. He is a very talented animator with an excellent eye for detail.

Web precense

Here is a list of places I am on the web.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFgFFZYmCPJ7xZ_8cExzF2A

Tumblr: http://ryanlancaster.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lankie

Gmail: lancasteranimator@gmail.com

Ryan & The Ghost

In the first year of college me and Lija both had an inside joke in which I am a detective and I have a partner who is literally a ghost. Over the years this inside joke has changed and been brainstormed on to form a full on show that me and Lija plan to create.

We want to create a series of irreverent web cartoons based on it. Maybe this isn't the most professional thing to do but we both find the project very fun to do and it is a good opportunity to work on my animation skills and to collaborate with my peers. Also Ryan and the Ghost is literally the best thing in the world.

Weebl

Weebl's stuff has been producing original animation since the early 2000's and is still going strong today. I actually had the pleasure of working for the creator of Weebl's stuff (Jonti Picking) in making some small sketch animations for  a separate youtube channel last year. I also met him during a small meet up of youtubers in Leeds this year and hd a good talk on animation. Weebl's stuff is a great source of irreverent web cartoons and a good source for potential work.

Cartoon Brew Student Animation Festival

Cartoon Brew is having it's 5th annual Student Animation Festival. This is the first time I have ever heard of this festival and I feel it is a great opportunity to submit my own student film. the deadline for this is June the 6th, with a prize of $700 to the 10 films that get selected for screening and a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 tablet as the grand prize. Hopefully I can complete my student film by the 6th so I can submit it in time.

BAF 2013 and 2014

Around November time of 2013 I attended the Bradford Animation Festival. Truth be told I did not find is as engaging as I did in the past two years. I found that there were an over abundance of short films and not enough interesting talks from animators for my liking. It didn't help that I left through the third day half way due to illness. Still I managed to watch a lot of interesting films from professionals and students alike.

With BAF 2014 coming up, I have the unique opportunity of being able to submit my Extended practrice project as a student film. This could mean that it would be shown to a lot of people in the festival and I could potential win an award. It is something That I would definitely want to try out at least.

Zane Whittingham

Recently I went to a lecture featuring Zane Whittingham, an animator with 20 years of experience and organiser of All Animated, a network of animators in the north of England. He has worked for companies such as CITV and Teleimagination and primarily works using Flash animation, which is very interesting to me as that is the software I use the most. He spoke about the importance of knowing how much you are worth in the industry and that college work is essentially your first job. When it came to working for free he instead suggestion working 'for other things' such as publicity, but never truly for free. He also suggestion making networks and interacting with other animators through conferences, making a strong network is the best way to succeed when going freelance.

Ga-Ma-Yo

Ga-Ma_Yo is an informal network of people in and around Yorkshire who make games. While videogames are not the area I want to go in, A lot of the teams that are local are often indie companies, which usually make more use of more 2D graphics than 3D. This could provide a good opportunity to collaborate with game makers by making graphics or animating for them. Animation can be applied to a lot of industries and doesn't necessarily have to stick with short films or series'

NATA 2014

The Newgrounds Annual Tournament of Animation has begun again this May! NATA is an excellent opportunity to test your animation skills. Unlike other competitions, NATA brackets you against other animators of you pass through to the open round, Should you win you'll go to the semi finals then the finals. Their is often a cash prize at the end as well as the opportunity to get a trophy. From past experience the tournament is very intensive and requires a lot of work over a long period of time. I will not be entering this year as the open round is already half way complete and I feel with other college work I would not have time. Next year will be my first time having the chance to enter NATA without college work to do though, SO I will be looking forward to that.