Send us your pictures and video by text, email or by uploading. Click here to find out how. »
2:43pm Monday 26th May 2008
A DOG singing Elvis Presley songs, one man's war against slugs in his back garden and a rather sinister rabbit.
Those were some of the bizarre entries in the Solent Animation Awards at Southampton's Harbour Lights Picture House.
Final year students at Southampton Solent University spent more than six months in dark editing rooms to create the three-minute masterpieces as part of their degree.
In what could be described as the city's answer to the Cannes Film Festival, hundreds of people turned up to watch the premiere of the films in the surroundings of Ocean Village.
As the lights dimmed and the curtains were drawn back, the audience was treated to a host of original and visually stunning pieces of work.
Click here to see the animated film
It was a labour of love with students having to write their own stories, invent characters, think up themes, develop their own music and spend countless hours meticulously polishing the final product ahead of a tight deadline set by their course leader.
Now in its fifth year, a total of 13 students entered the competition that saw four entrants walk away with trophies.
Animation course leader Adam Comiskey said: "They shed blood, sweat and tears to finish those films.
"The bar has been raised this year as we have shortened the length of the films to three minutes so they are able to focus on visuals.
"They have worked incredibly hard. For a three-minute film you are talking more than 4,500 drawings per character on screen. So potentially each three-minute film could be up to 10,000 drawings as well as the special effects.
"It's not something you can pull out of a hat at the last minute,"
he added.
Some of the films cost more than £1,500 to produce with students using part of their student loans to bankroll the projects.
But for many the investment will pay off as most are expected to get jobs as animators in video games, advertising and visual effects.
The Daily Echo will be screening a different film every day for the next two weeks on our website starting today with A Piece of the Action by Shawn Martin, which won the award for innovation.
The 23-year-old from Southampton said: "It's about a musician's struggle to find people that appreciate his music. I thought what if someone carrying a violin case was mistaken for a gangster by the mob?"
Shawn spent more than £1,500 producing the film and a week and a half perfecting a 540-degree pan shot during the film that lasted 20 seconds.
bubble, fair oak says...
12:45pm Tue 27 May 08
paul b, says...
4:45pm Tue 27 May 08
bubble wrote:You don't think the measly tuition fee you MAY have paid actually covers the entire cost of your course, do you? No, it's subsidised by me the tax-payer. So actually it IS my money you filthy scrounging student scumbag get a proper job, film-making - which you almost certainly will never get anywhere in anyway - isn't a real job
What a thoughtless,single-m
inded comment..Contrary to popular belief not all students are drunk layabouts!I am one of these film students who spent months doing nothing but working on my film and working part time aswell!...all to get a good job at the end in the industry I want to go into! A LOAN is money you have to pay back..it is not YOUR money. A GRANT is money you dont!.I have £16k debt from my LOAN which I have to pay back and havnt had a penny from YOUR POCKET!I pay tax from my job and i come from a good honest hard working family who have also have never had a penny from the state! so why dont u find out the facts before u start putting people down for their efforts to get an education and make something of their lives at their financial expense NOT YOURS!
Adele, southampton says...
12:17am Wed 28 May 08
Adele, southampton says...
12:26am Wed 28 May 08
Sparkz, Hampshire says...
1:55pm Wed 28 May 08
paul b wrote:This is so funny it's pathetic. Money is nothing compared to the time and effort invested in these films and it shows. If you had any concern over how you're "hard earned" taxes were spent then I'd look to the NHS, which has had billions thrown at in with ZERO application and ZERO result. This contrasts what little money these students had to invest compared to the vast amount of time the spent creating thier films. To be honest, I don't think that matters to someone like you, your argument is weak, poorly constructed and are most likely the words of some washed up, embittered loser who never did anything meaningful with thier lives.
bubble wrote: What a thoughtless,single-m inded comment..Contrary to popular belief not all students are drunk layabouts!I am one of these film students who spent months doing nothing but working on my film and working part time aswell!...all to get a good job at the end in the industry I want to go into! A LOAN is money you have to pay back..it is not YOUR money. A GRANT is money you dont!.I have £16k debt from my LOAN which I have to pay back and havnt had a penny from YOUR POCKET!I pay tax from my job and i come from a good honest hard working family who have also have never had a penny from the state! so why dont u find out the facts before u start putting people down for their efforts to get an education and make something of their lives at their financial expense NOT YOURS!You don't think the measly tuition fee you MAY have paid actually covers the entire cost of your course, do you? No, it's subsidised by me the tax-payer. So actually it IS my money you filthy scrounging student scumbag get a proper job, film-making - which you almost certainly will never get anywhere in anyway - isn't a real job
patrick, says...
12:18am Thu 29 May 08
MB, says...
12:39am Thu 29 May 08
bob a bob, Russia says...
9:01am Wed 4 Jun 08
adz, uk says...
9:37am Wed 4 Jun 08
paul b wrote:hang on a moment. you posted your comment at 9.35am on a Tuesday. Either you do not have a job, do not have a serious job, or more probably you made that comment on your employers time making you the worst kind of scrounger there is.
Scrounging students wasting MY money as usual. Get a job, you bunch of layabouts
I am Krato, says...
2:08pm Fri 6 Jun 08
paul b wrote:Usually I don't really care that much if someone gives a bad comment on my film but someone who puts down even on my talented friends should get a smack in the head. Everybody I know in that course worked extremely hard in making their films. It's ok if it's a constructive crtitisisim, but all you did is cursing my hard working friends. And for your information you're entirely wrong about the concept of the course because you think this is just about filmmaking. The concept is 'Animation' which you probably haven't grasped. Animation contributes not just film making but video games, adverts, music video and other sort of medias that needs animations. In reality we gained much more than just film making, which you never realised. Unless you grasp the whole thing don't bother critisize with a weak arguement.
bubble wrote: What a thoughtless,single-m inded comment..Contrary to popular belief not all students are drunk layabouts!I am one of these film students who spent months doing nothing but working on my film and working part time aswell!...all to get a good job at the end in the industry I want to go into! A LOAN is money you have to pay back..it is not YOUR money. A GRANT is money you dont!.I have £16k debt from my LOAN which I have to pay back and havnt had a penny from YOUR POCKET!I pay tax from my job and i come from a good honest hard working family who have also have never had a penny from the state! so why dont u find out the facts before u start putting people down for their efforts to get an education and make something of their lives at their financial expense NOT YOURS!You don\'t think the measly tuition fee you MAY have paid actually covers the entire cost of your course, do you? No, it\'s subsidised by me the tax-payer. So actually it IS my money you filthy scrounging student scumbag get a proper job, film-making - which you almost certainly will never get anywhere in anyway - isn\'t a real job
Rob v, Southampton says...
11:13pm Mon 9 Jun 08
Add your comment
Register for a FREE Daily Echo account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Search for jobs with the Daily Echo
Search Now »
Find the right person for you with the Daily Echo
Search Now »
Search for homes with the Daily Echo
Search Now »
Search for cars with the Daily Echo
Search Now »
paul b, says...
9:35am Tue 27 May 08