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Stag or Hen
I have just completed and uploaded the short animation below called 'The Wurzels - Sleigh Ride'. This was a three week turnaround animation as a bit of fun before Christmas...
Mission Graphics is home to the freelance works of Hamish Baird and showcases the wide range of services he provides as an 2d animator , artist and designer.
Hamish has over 10 years experience working as a creative freelancer and offers a wide variety of creative services, providing an easy portal for high-end creative solutions. He is also currently moving into the realm of 2d/3d motion graphics with the aim of producing short promotional films for both advertising and education.
'I believe in creating strong working relationship with my clients in order to develop and maintain a true understanding their project's objective and in turn, output the highest quality artwork.'
'Creativity is a natural extension
of our enthusiasm'
Please get in contact to discuss your creative requirements...
Showreel
I have over ten years experience in the UK animation industry both for television and for the internet and have worked as a 2d character animator for respected studios such as Aardman Animations, The Brothers McLeod and AProductions in Bristol, UK.
I can provide a full sevice for animation from the design of the characters, to rigging the models, through to animating the characters. I can also provide the artwork for backgrounds and props through to compositing the whole animation using either Adobe After Effects or Premiere.
Background design for the Bugbabes animation.
On the menu bar above, you will find a tab called 'Tariffs', where I have aimed to outline three levels of animation production for my clients. As always though, I encourage you to pick up the phone and have a chat, to see how we could create a solution that is both realistic and affordable.
'Dogg'
The Brothers McLeod
This was a short film commissioned by the Brothers McLeod. The aspect I most enjoy about working for them is the level of freedom to improvise and experiment with the character as it makes the whole process more organic.
On this animation, I was the sole animator responsible for delivering all the scenes animated to their loose brief.
'The Law Centre'
Sandra and Robert's Story was again comissioned by the brilliant Brothers McLeod and yet again, I was afforded the project as the sole animator resonsible for creating the walk cycles and general animation for the short film.
'The Comedy of Errors'
The following three animations were produced by the Brothers McLeod for the Royal Shakespeare Company. This one was simple in the sense that I was able to re-use some of my animation but then awkward when I had to animated the characters moving round one and other. This is because I had to move the various animated levels alternately, between the foreground and the background.
'A Midsummer Nights Dream'
One of the benefits of working on a series of short animations where your using just a few characters is that the 're-use'factor increases, allowing you to chop bits from other animations and paste them into the scene your working on.
I try to use this technique in moderation as otherwise you end up with all the animations looking the same in terms of movement.
'The Tempest'
The final of the three 'Billy' scenes and in many ways the most enjoyable, as I love to animate water.
Also this is the first time that I had animated someone being struck by lightening and so it was interesting to simulate the X-ray effect and to create the illusion of him being electricuted.
'Feel' - Music video
The Bombay Dub Orchestra
This was a fantastic project to do as I was given carte blanche to create a music video for this song. Originally I had intended to use live action in it, but the more I listened to the song the more I felt I wanted to go down the route of just pure animated graphics.
I am still very proud of the end result but with programs like 'Motion4' out there I can help but wonder, what I would do if I was offered another one to do.
'Tower Hamlets'
Wonky Films
This was another project where I was brought onboard as the sole animator. I was responsible for rigging the characters, reating the walk/run cycles and worked closely with Mike from Wonky Films to produce this short film.
Short films like this are a fantastic way to describe one's product or service as they appeal to all ages and are enjoyable to watch and easy to follow providing the script has been writing clearly.
'The Moonbird'
The Moonbird is one of The Brothers McLeod's own short films and was aired on Channel4 Christmas eve 2010. This was the first time that they had venture into this type of genre, illustrating the diversity of their film making aspirations.
I was one of several animators brought onboard to animate the various characters and found the experience really enjoyable due to the dicotamy of good vs evil within the characters themselves.
'Frankenstein's Cat'
AProductions
This clip is the trailer for Frankenstein's Cat and in due course I will put together a clip of the various scenes I was involved with animating. Written and created by Curtis Jobbling, the series was a huge success and won a number of different awards at various animation festivals.
I was brought onboard as a Character Animator by AProductions in Bristol and was led by the brilliant Jane Davies - my animation guru!
'BB3B'
BB3B was the series that I cut my 'animation teeth' on. Straight out of my three month animation course at UWE - Bristol, I remember it as a hugely enjoyable experience but also rather painful, as there were so many time saving techniques and tricks that I had yet to learn. Overall the experience was brilliant and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jane Davies for her help and guidance.
'Pedro & Frankensheep'
What can you say about Pedro & Frankensheep!? They're brilliant and illustrate perfecly why I enjoy working with The Brothers McLeod.
Again, this is just the trailer and in due time I will post a short clip of the scenes that I was directly responsible for.
'Texaco Hector'
The World of Arthur Cox
I had the opprtunity to work with Sally Arthur and Sarah Cox on this series of short films for Texaco relating to children's road awareness.
The final product was a series of engaging and beautifuly stylised animations that I am very proud to have been a part of.
Whilst I do try to stick to these tariffs, I understand that there are times when a more tailored approach is necessary. So, if you'd like to discuss your project and its production time/cost/content, please feel free to give me a ring anytime....
I have many years of experience designing and illustrating characters for both static illustration and for use in 2d animation.
If you need a character designed for your product or service, I can work with you to design one that meets your needs in terms of style, humour or flexability.
In respect to animation, I can design an rig the characters so that they are ready to be dropped onto your animation 'stage'. Walk-cycles, run-cycles, 360 turnarounds and lip-sync libraries are all elements I can provide too.
Just call to find out more...
When working roughly at the conceptual level (including the storyboard stage) it can not only help to solidify the concept, but also has the added benefit of adding new ideas or revealing potential issues that may crop up later in production.
The use of storyboards in the pre-production of a film are essential in order to help to lay the groundwork for visually telling your story.
They help to highlight potentenial weakspots in the storyline as well as planning camera moves or sequence cuts.
The short films below were witten and directed by Peter Peake and produced by Aardman Animations in Bristol, UK.
I worked closely with Peter as the storyboard
artist on three of the Pib & Pog episodes.
Storyboards should be quickly and roughly illustrated but thought about in great detail in advance.
Once the storyboard has been completed, we can take it one step further by creating an 'animatic'.
The animatic utilises the illustations from the storyboard and syncronises them with the audio track, creating an even stronger representation for how the final film will play out.
Please us the arrows on the side of the clips to view the other animations
Looking for an alternative website solution?
Most people who are starting up a business feel the need to have a web presence, but between the acquisition of the domain name, web hosting package and the design and maintenance of the site itself, the start-up costs can quickly spiral out of control.
Why not use Wix?
My solution for keeping my client's costs down, is to take advantage of the new field of 'Cloud computing', in particular a site called Wix.com.
Wix gives you the tools to create a professional website, with the options of adding an e-commerce shop, as well as a bolt -on blog and the best thing about it is that you don't have to know any HTML or coding, leaving you to concentrate on the look and functionality of your site.
Using Wix is an easy solution that saves you time and money in the long run as it enables you to remain in control of the content without having to repeatedly pay a website design company to update your site.
How can MissionGraphics help?
I offer the training needed to get you started with Wix, as well as providing the usual services of graphic and logo design to help you build a strong brand and get your product or service off the ground. For more details, please get in touch on 07779 472 168.
To check out the Wix website and to evaluate whether it might be the right solution for you.
Click on the Wix logo for more information...
Over the years, I have found it beneficial to be flexible with both my media and my styles, resulting in a broader range of services for my clients to choose from.
I prodominantly use Flash and Photosphop for creating artwork but occasionally use Illustrator or Corel Painter depending on my requirements.
Get your project off the ground by taking advantage of the breadth of services that MissionGraphics provides.
I have also started using Apple's Motion5 due to its 2d/3d interface, as well as some awesome effects, such as pyro, smoke and environmental effects.
If you're looking for an original graphic illustration, I can provide a range of styles based on your preferences/brief or you can supply me with an example, and I would be happy to replicate it.
A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic, simple in form and conveys an intended message.
One way to think about it, is to imagine a vehicle driving past you with your logo on the side and to realise that to make an impression, it needs to be simple enough to remember or recognise.
I am passionate about designing logos and love the challenge of finding a way to unify all the elements of somebody's business into one simple static graphic.
Movie poster designs...
Choose the movie poster that you want your stag or the Hen to be in and I'll do the rest.
Have all the members of your party where the cast list would be...
Caricatures...
Send me photos of the Stag or the Hen and I'll design an illustration based on your idea....
...sit back and wait for their reaction!
Stag and Hen weekends are a blast and part of ithe fun of it is establishing the bond between the group and creating a t-shirt is a great way to do this. The mission I take on, is to create a design that your friends will continue to wear long after the hangovers have passed!!
I can work with photographs to create exclusive caricatures of your stag or hen to create for example; a customised movie poster for a truly authentic design.
Turnaround for designs are about a week, so get in touch and book yours now and remember that getting the design is only half the process as you'll need to find a printer too.
Every other month I contribute to the 'Healthy for Men' magazine by way of illustrating a comic strip called 'Lazy Dave'. This is a strip based around the character Dave who frequently begins a new project but then gives up a he realises it's just too much effort.
Lazy Dave
Bubbleheads
As part of Mission Graphics' creative services, I take on commission based paintings for prodominantly landscapes, but all other subjects may be considererd. I can work to any size or budget and am happy to tailor the style to a certain degree too.
For more information or to discuss a potential commission, please get in contact.
Motion Graphics is a new direction that steps into the realm of 3D and visual effects.
Projects that this will relate to are:
Text
Sketchbook
Illustration
Motion Graphics
SHOWREEL 2011
