Day at the beach

Based on my good friend Alan.

Annecy Festival and China Shop Bull

Hello,

Im going to be at the Annecy Festival in France this year so if anybody is going aswell, let me know.

I started drawing random thumbnails at Christmas. I did a few pages. I wrote down the most interesting ideas or in this case, things that repeated themselves over and over again. The most common image was a horned figure, a Minotaur.

Off the back of these ive written a comic story to tie all the pictures together. Its called ‘China Shop Bull’. No doubt Its going to take awhile to draw, but it will be worth it. I mean it has a minataur in it, it cant be bad. Fact.

heres how it might look, cheers

Screening at Glastonbury 2009

The Glastonbury Festival will be screening Bus Stop Boogaloo at the Village Screen (sited at the meeting point at the festival, one of the busiest places on the site) between 10:00 and 03:00 every day from 22-26^th June.

So if anybody is going this year, be on the lookout for animated granny boobs.

gus

MIAF 2009

Im glad to say Bus Stop Boogaloo is being screened at this years Melbourne International Animation Festival, down under. Thanks go to Malcolm Turner for giving the cartoon a shot.

Totem Pole Print for SALE

Heres a close-up shot


Information about the print advertised above

'Totem Pole' Digital, 2009, Gus Hughes
A martian attacks a city while satan toasts some marshmallows.

Size 7" x 37" including 1/2" white border,
Eg Gloss paper,
190gsm,
Limited edition of 20,
Signed and Numbered.
Professional custom framing available.

Feel free to email me with any enquiries.

Rock n Roll werewolf on trampoline

Animex 2009

Although I couldn't make it this year, Id like to thank the curator of 'Animex Screen' Chris Wyatt and the festival director Chris William's for screening Bus Stop Boogaloo last tuesday.

Happy tenth anniversary and CHEERS!

Chad Banger on Funny or Die

pig in flight

Heres a picture i made for my sister sharron this christmas.

Click for instant moustache gratification.

Lazy cat

Heres a left over cat sketch I liked.
Anyway, im attending bristol encounters festival next week, so see you there.
I cant wait!

push

A bit of art from Ian Fentons "The Big Push".

Northern lights and grannies tights...

HURRAY! More festival news since yesterday.
Bus Stop Boogaloo is being screened at this years 6th Northern Lights Festival (NLFF) in Newcastle on wednesday 3rd of December. Cheers to Kate O'Hara and everyone at Lifesize Pictures in Sheffield for selecting us.

Double trouble at Bristol Encounters Festival.

Bus Stop Boogaloo will be screened at the Bristol Encounters Festival during the
UKFC DIGITAL GENERATION 1 programme
Friday 21 November 12.30
Watershed Cinema 3
£6 (concessions £4.50)


Additionally, Rachel Roberts, producer at Lupus Films informs us that

“ 4mations is one of the media sponsors of Encounters Festival 2008. As
part of this, we will be screening a programme of 4mations
commissioned content, this will be screening
in the Delegates lounge on a television set up there. See screening
programme attached that will appear in the Encounters programme.

The Animation Day is on Wednesday, 19th November."

so there you go, If you’re attending this year, keep an eye out for Chad Banger as well!


The UK film council are screening this years Northern Film and Media "Stingers Scheme" films in Newcastle on
Monday the 10th of November [time and venue to be confirmed].
It gives me a chance to see everyone’s else’s films.
Looking forward to it, should be fun!


Other news, James Harris recently spoke to Martin Vovk in a fit of modesty over at 4talent about Chad Banger and the new 4mations website. I get a small mention as well… ooooo. Heres the link

Chad Banger goes live on 4mations - Monday 27th October.

First festival encounter!

Hey, I was informed today that the Uk Film Council have selected Bus stop boogaloo for a screening at this years Encounters Short Film Festival in bristol. The festival is on between the 18th and the 23rd of November. Looks like a cool festival, Im very gratefull and excited. More information on this soon.

ugly gits

So before chad banger gets his online premiere on 4mations, i thought id post a development picture from my first week on the project.

here i was trying to find a style for the cartoon using charcoal and markers. I think the charcoal made it look a bit different and sloppier than my usual work. it was very liberating after doing a cut out film for so long.

eventually one of these ugly gits made it into an episode, so it worked out nicely.

* chad banger used to be jeremy leghead, but we found an existing cartoon featuring a guy with a leg for a head... how strange is that?

pitchy pitch

After a month of sausage influenced art, We are finished 4 episodes in time for the 4mations launch which is on the 8th? hmmm, when chad banger goes live i will let you know through this blog. Im not so good with dates, but i am very happy about the mini series.

I have some other possible projects with james harris at the moment, none of them are certain yet but im getting some designs together for a pitch regardless. More on these when i actually have some work completed.

Also, im going to be at the virgin media shorts award/screening event in london on the 29th of this month for Ian fentons Big Push short. If anyone wants to meet up for a drink..

"The Big Push" mentioned in

The Northern Echo newspaper article

and Frames Per Second Magazines article

a few good men

Good news, Ian fentons "The Big Push" has been shortlisted by Virgin Media Shorts amongst 11 other films out of 1400 entries! This means that it will be screened by virgin for 12 months in independent cinemas and a host of other platforms.
It was completed for Northern film and media and funki group back in june last year and i had fun working on it,
Its open for public vote for a cash prize, so if you have a spare minute, you know what to do
Congrats Ian!

Im working on a new project in august with 4mations alongside comedian/writer/animator James Harris. 4mations is a new animation website formed by channel 4, aardman and lupus films. Im glad to say they are paying us to do a few short animated episodes about... lets just say james is brilliant.

Also check out stephen kiernan. The guys a very talented graphic designer who works for atomic here in dublin and has just started to post online. Check him out, you will see more of his work in the future. He sports a hearty beard...graphic me up.

Low res bus stop boogaloo stills.

These images havnt got any pillarboxing (the black stuff that goes above and underneath widescreen films), didnt want to waste any screen space. Hope you guys like them.

well, as far as my involvement goes, the film is finished!!, it just needs to be put on digibeta including our sound and music. im writing a description of the film for upcoming festival applications and then i will probably have to do some posters or something to that effect.

might have to do an online trailer aswell, well im definetly proud of it and everyone that worked on it.
i have a lot of new ideas now, so maybe i can do another one in the future if i get a chance again.

i have a bunch of art work from the last few months that i want to upload when get time. its refreshing to be working on new stuff finally.

ps. lou romano is amazing

Hey yall,

well Im in the uk until the 8th, its my last visit for the film and im feeling very optimistic about it. The foley and music is completed tomorrow and it sounds great so far. after that we have to do some audio mastering to make sure all the levels are right and then it will be all the pieces will be put together in newcastle. 

tomorrow we are also doing the final image rendering, at this stage its a strange feeling, it took so long in the works that without it, i feel like their is a big gap in my life. I never want to see a bus stop ever again, thats for sure

very much enjoying moving onto other projects now,  I  have a funny little project in the works, more info on that later , i hope that all comes to together.

 time off during this month is definitely on the list.

check out this cool little film "the yellow envelope" by delphine herman. great style with an unusual story, a great combination.

 

hey everyone,
on the 10th of july the film will be finished!!, thats when the sound and everything else will be put on digi beta tapes.i cant believe we are nearly finished. Paulina has just about completed her final character animation scene, she will be doing some touch up type stuff over the next few days, fair play to her, she is working very hard.
my sound guy steve is working on some music at the moment, he should have a test by friday so im looking forward to hearing that, it will be like adding the final pieces to the project.
i myself have some adjustments to do with backgrounds, but art wise, for the most part im finished.
my smoke man aodhan has done some really cool work despite living in germany currently.
siobhan my producer is a star and her husband ian has been crucial to this project. im aware that all this talk is like as if the film is finished, but i cant help myself.
I should also mention james harris and nicky peacock recorded voices for me in a studio recently, they both did a great job. nice one

i have one more visit to middlesbrough on the 1st of july to do final changes and make sure everything is ok, then im home to dublin.

although not built yet, the film website will be www.theboogaloomovie.com

however, the movie itself will not be viewable for a few months because of film festival terms and conditions.
i will put up a trailer, artwork and maybe some other stuff, so i will keep everyone posted about that.

things are very busy in every way at the moment and i have to say life is crazy sometimes. hope things improve.
regarding the film, we are nearly finished the animation blocking stage now and its beginning to take shape, all on track for the uk film council in july.
heres some stuff i did for my mates at seed animation.

Happy Chrimbo yal,

Here a low res test animation teaser thing we did for our Digital City Fellowships. The animation is by Paulina Brinck, art by me and the sound was kindly created by Stephen Hancock and Stephen Bird.
I suppose stephens like being sound engineers.....
more soon

Here it is, Noisy pacemakers can be very pleasant to the ear...

Hey,

Things have been very busy lately so i havnt really had time to post stuff. Just to let you guys know, the short animation I worked on in june is now up online.

Please check it out and vote for me!

The Big push

Ill be back posting regularly again soon.
cheers

Hey

At the moment Im doing some freelance design with a cool studio called Flickerpix from belfast. Check out their website, Its pretty nifty.

The film is still chugging along but I wanted to post a sketch i did today after looking at Pete Spence's blog about The Bourne films. He is a talented bloke so keep an eye on his new bloggy blog. anyway, it got me in the mood for an action character. In this case, one of those wierd european villains that you see in die hard films. This guy tried to shave while trying to control hostages and made a bit of a mess. If you look click the picture, you can see little toilet tissue patches on his chin. maybe it wasnt obvious enough. ah well

Peace

Well the story is WRITTEN!! WAHAY. There is also some serious progress design-wise. So much news that i cant mntion it all, ill just post a few pics instead.

The new Penelope Pot character design.

These are not portfolio pieces, just excerpts from my latest sketchbook.

Some coffee shop sketches and some other bizarre drawings of banshee's (I used to have nightmares about these types of characters when i was a kid, It has been etched in my mind for years)

Rough gesture drawings and the first business man sketches. There is also some sequential thumbnails that i was using to help give me an idea of how the character would look or react in this situation.

Some more graphic character designs, using colour on a simpler level, also the introduction of the head based on an onin for penelope pot.

I thought to myself, if my observation drawings arnt helping the granny character develope, whats the most feeble thing in the world? A schrimp.

This page isnt as busy but i liked where the character is going, proportion wise.

This is the short films new protaganist and you can see the change over from business man to a frustrated jazz musician. I reckon its funnier.


Ideas for the cat character in our teaser trailer.

Hey,

Im glad to say the latest animation was completed and handed in on time to the Northern film and media. The animation will be available on youtube and for ipod download on the funki group website (september). Its also quite a tasty little animation.
Ill post the link on this blog as soon as i can.

Heres another ill looking old woman, kinda evil aswell.



Pre- production for the short is comencing again in a big way. will be postin some of that soon.

Speaking of "posting", blogging seems to be opening alot of doors for people these days, I say cash-in baby, CASH-IN!!

Hey everyone,

Well we found a new house which is close to work which is cool so we are really happy and its going to be were we hide away to complete our film over the next few months.

Me and Paulina are getting a little busy with our northern film media trailer which is due in literally three weeks. Siobhan and Ian Fenton and keeping us organised, encouraged and directed thank god. For that we are truly grateful. They kick arse..
Also the NFM were very kind with the funding and it was all a joyfull experience.

So to get this blog up to speed, the nfm trailer will be fully animated in three weeks. The short film will be prepared for the big doe in late august(final script and design)
and we are doing an additional trailer and design package for the digitalcity, to be finished in late september.

I should mention I met two cats from the Copernicus studio in canada at the Annecy festival this year. Bradley and Philippe were really cool guys and they have some crazy talent. The studio itself do really cool music videos and the like so check em out.

The trailer im working on now uses the bus stop boogaloo character but we are experimenting with a different style from the short film. I love experimenting with different design styles so definetly looking forward to posting the new trailer and hearing what you guys think.

so... cant wait.

Thank,
Gus

Well Annecy was great!!! Met up with some great folks and the booze was flowing.

Bus stop boogaloo got some interest and I was truly glad it went down well. At the moment we are working on a trailer for Northern Film and Media featuring our character Penelope Pot. That should be ready in 4 weeks and will showcase our character for the first time fully animated. After that we will be looking to finish the short film early next year and we are lucky enough to have a very talented writer and producer on our side.

I briefly met the very talented Ciaran Duffy from Ireland, but we lost each other... typical. Check out his blog, really nice paintings and illustration work... top notch.

I met Amid Amidi accidently in a bar and think my uncontrollable sweating scared him. Regardless, check out Cartoon Brew Films
Cool guy... Cool website...

In the same bar I also met the very friendly James Calvert from The People’s Republic of Animation. Check out their project Sweet and Sour ... pure class!

There is a bunch of other people I met aswell, so I will mention them in my next post. Ill keep you guys posted.

This is a picture I nicked of my doppelgänger Martin Bell having a cracking time in france, the resemblance is uncanny, except for my shining ginger beard of course.



There is other news but I am moving house at the moment and its hard to find time to rant so, till next time.
Gus

As the title mentions, today I finished my degree and I have to say that Im really excited about the future, Id like to thank my family and friends for being supportive over the last two years and a BIG CONGRATULATIONS! to my fellow students. Also my supervisor Chris Williams, Nick Daniel, Siobhan Fenton and Clive Tonge for all their help aswell.

Bus stop boogaloo is now involved with Digitalcity and ill spread the news when we officially start with them in two weeks.

Check out Seed animation's website. They have some great work and they are mighty cool blokes.


Im now available for freelance work so give me a shout at gushughes@gmail.com

and check out my portfolio


Peace

Im off to the Annecy animation festival in france shortly, it will be my first time there so I cant wait. Ill be there with some friends and if anybody is going this year, get in touch with me and the drinking will commence. Here a pic of me a few months ago with long hair and a sore liver. That other guy with the sauve hat is my friend simon. I had to crop this photo for reasons I cant mention. anyway, I felt the photo is a good example of things to come. Party time folks

Good news folks,
Just wanted to briefly say the we have been awarded 4 thousand pounds from Digitalcity to develop the project!!! Hurray!.

The image below is for a mini animation collaboration project with the very friendly and talented Siobhan and Ian Fenton. Me and Paulina hope to do some bits and bobs with Lynchpin in the future, so hopefully we will get this project together soon. Plus i got my Annecy Animation Festival tickets.
Also check out Curtis Joblings blog,he draws pictures of monkey's and zombified cats so its all gravy.
Dont have time to mention anything else but i can promise many posts in the next couple of weeks.
Peace

Well folks, My new portfolio >blog< is up and running so check it out!

and heres Pegro and his poo, just for you.

peace

Just to keep this thing tickin over while im finishin university, Heres a pic of me and my sis when i was back home in dublin recently. its hard work being THIS handsome,
gus

Hey there,

A lot of really good things have happened since my last post and its the middle stage in the project were im not sure enough about funding to post a definite answer. People are beginning to show serious interest in the project so its great.

To keep this blog ticking over heres the AO size posters we got from the ExpoTees exhibition a few days ago.

A thank you to Michelle Tellam for organising everything and getting the posters printed.

Just a quick sketch.

Yo, I felt a little timelapse sketch coming on tonight so heres the finished result. Ill throw the video up once its compressed! Her name is "Musataaannng Sally", cheers

Greetings blog viewers,
The latest animatic is being reworked to give the characters a bit more personality and the jokes and comedic timing need to be fixed up. Its a safe bet to show it to random people to see how they react. They will either laugh or cry and at this stage i would appreciate either. gus

hey,
The latest animatic is being reworked to gie the characters a bit more personality and the jokes and comedic timing need to be fixed up.its probably a good idea to show it to random people to see how they react. They will either laugh or cry and at this stage i would appreciate either. gus

Hey folks,
Bit of news about my university written report. Im in the final stages of practical work and the written bit, well.....not much, just the fact that i started it which is the hardest part. Also im looking for a producer for the film. It will hopefully make a good impression on the funding people and it should be interesting to have someone elses input in the project.
Im having a look at a mentor for the summer to help me with the production(if it gets made).

and finally my new motto is "a character design a day keeps unemployment away"

cheers,
Gus

This is Monosyllabic Jeff, a dodgy character i felt deserved posting... he has a cowboy hat, bandana and fleece coat combination and lets not forget the bag of broccoli! its tragic,
anyway cheers for having a look.

This is a timelapse video of me drawing Penelope Pot.
cheers, gus

More news,

Where getting ready for a third meeting with digital city and this time I dread it will be formal, not sure when it is going to happen but im presuming within this fortnight.....who knows. Apart from that Im starting the final character pose sheets this week, im not sure if i mentioned it before but the script and animatic was completely refined and character traits and acting completely changed...recently based on the animex festival feedback a few weeks ago. I showed the animatic around and got some very frank advice. Its lookin good now, a tad more commercial but better nonetheless.

Today I am going to post some of my work on various forums to get some feedback. Mainly for myself so i can take a step back from the computer screen and also the results can help me with my university report.

Cant wait to see where this all goes!

cheers,
gus

its ten past eight in the morning.....eeeek, but here is a new pic! hurray

This is a character concept for a seperate university project. I thought he might make an intresting background character in the film....... more soon,
cheers, gus

Hurray, The Bus Stop Boogaloo script is now complete!! and also, today me and Paulina had a meeting with Digital City Creative director Gareth Edwards. We discussed Bus Stop Boogaloo and how we intend on developing it after we finish university. It was an informal meeting so we felt relaxed and could have a decent conversation about our short film with no bullshit.
I have to say i feel much more confident about the project and its future.... good times right now.
Whether or not Digital City take us on board the funding scheme in the summer remains to be seen because we still have formal interviews to do.
Either way it was a good experience and Gareth was a great guy and offered some great advice!
cheers, gus

Hey, heres the first of the new year!

Hey there,
Well christmas is here and amongst all the shopping and festive chaos....i am desperatly trying to fill a observational sketchbook. My girlfriend threw a 100 page sketchbook on front of me 2 days ago and told me i had to fill it immediatly. Fair enough i thought, what else am i going to do, watch family guy? She has the right idea...a slack free christmas.
All i can say is airports have strange looking people....just odd looking folk and if you lucky enough to have your sketchbook and a 2 hour wait for your flight, try your best to scribble them down, i did and i have to say its probably more intresting than the zoo.Where do these people come from?.
Anyway, regarding the film, the animatic has been refined once more with additional shots and some grey areas where cut out and resolved. We will find out what my supervisor thinks in the new year, although i am pretty sure its good to go. The main characters have also been thrown on the chopping board, especially the granny character Penelope Pot who looks asian for no good reason, hmm.
Im back in dublin for the holidays and unfortunatly i dont have a scanner or photoshop in my house over here so that means no posts untill atleast 2nd january...eek. sorry guys.
Have a great Christmas and New Year!! I will see you on the other side ,hopefully with a MASSIVE upload of sketches:}

Heres some granny doodles and random sketches not all relating to the film. cheers gus

Well heres another late night animation addition from Paulina Brinck. Other good news is the upcoming animatic, due next week. I really cant wait to hear peoples reactions toward the story!! Its gonna be fun, oh yes. cheers, gus

Heres the first Bus Stop Boogaloo pencil test by Paulina Brinck.

Cheers, gus

Here is a drawing of the Penelope Pot character beside a layout for the film. The Penelope Pot character devlopement sketches will be up as soon as i get a chance to finishe them:s. But for now I used this picture to compare styles and make sure everything is flowing correctly, also coming soon this week is the first bus stop boogaloo pencil test! cheers, Gus

Im going to use this blog to post the progress of my animated short film ''Bus Stop Boogaloo''. It is a part of my final year project for university and me and the film animator Paulina Brinck hope to have it finished by summer 07. Fingers crossed:)
anyway its very early stages at the moment, the script hasnt been finalised yet.....but i am working on sketches none the less, so heres some!! cheers