Features Writer & Content Producer: Ben Mitchell
Ben Mitchell is a Bristol-based animation/post-production freelancer, independent director, composer and graphic novelist.
As a freelancer he has produced animation work for CBeebies, Channel 4, Plymptoons, Somethin' Else, Wonky Films, A Productions, Moving Productions, New Impulse Media and Happy Hour to name a few.
As an independent director he has produced three multi-award-winning short animated films - "House Guest", "Ground Running" and "The Naughty List" - which have been showcased at over ninety international film and animation festivals including ITFS Stuttgart, Clermont-Ferrand, Encounters, Monterrey International Film Festival, I Castelli Animati and Anima Mundi. He is presently working on his fourth short, "Bullies", and recently released his first original graphic novel "Throat".
Posts by Ben Mitchell...
BAA 2012 Winners
The BAA 2012 Awards ceremony took place this week, with a fairly even mix of obvious and not-so-obvious…
Oscar wins for “Rango” and “Morris Lessmore”
It’s the end of another Oscar season and the nominees are doubtless breathing a little easier this morning,…
BAA – The Finalists
The full list of British Animation Award finalists has been revealed today, with the winners to be announced…
Another BAFTA win for Studio AKA
The winners of this year’s BAFTA Awards have been announced, and having the good fortune of not being…
Animal Instinct: A Conversation with Richard Phelan and Francesca Adams
Animal protagonists have been one of the longest running staples of animation, going back to its inception at…
A Conversation with Sam Morrison
Sam Morrison has been an active presence in the UK animation scene since 1997, when he graduated from…
An interview with Canimation winner Chris Butcher
Chris Butcher’s Red Bull Canimation entry recently won the prize for the stop-motion open category. With an inventive…
Animated Oscars Shortlist Announced
Today the ten short animated films which have officially made it through to the current round of Oscar®…
Animated Encounters 17th International Film Festival – Overview
Anybody who works in film and animation within the town of Bristol seems to have a strong sense…
“Arthur Christmas” Review
Knowing what you might about Sony/Aardman’s latest feature “Arthur Christmas” (from the title and promotional visuals alone you’ll…
An interview with Merlin Crossingham.
With the deadline for Red Bull’s Canimation competition not too far off, aspiring stop motion student animators could…
“The World History of Animation” Book Review
For the animation fan, student, practitioner – in my case, all three – the release of yet another…
A For Animation raunchily return
A For Animation have re-emerged from a long-term hiatus to contribute to the much anticipated feature film adaptation…
‘Encounters’ Festival Trailer Now Online
A Productions Ltd recently completed work on this year’s trailer for the Encounters Short Film Festival held in…
“Pythagasaurus” – Aardman’s Latest Short
This week Aardman have released their latest short film offering, “Pythagasaurus”.
Directed by Oscar/BAFTA nominee Peter Peake, the…
Google’s “Gumby” Genuflection
Google’s tribute to Arthur ‘Art’ Clokey, 12/10/2011
Google is, at this point, well known for its one-day reinventions of…
Animated Encounters launch their 2011 programme
This week saw the launch of the official programme for Bristol Encounters, one of the UK’s most highly…
John Kricfalusi’s surprise “Simpsons” invasion
Animation enthusiasts and “Simpsons” fans alike were given something of a confusing, psychedelic treat last night when the…
Guard Dog Global Jam
A look at Bill Plympton’s worldwide collaboration endeavour
In September of last year Bill Plympton began one of…
A conversation with Adam Elliot
Adam Elliot is an important animator – a descriptive term rarely attributed honestly to practitioners of a medium…
Sumo Science break another animation record
Following on from last year’s Nokia N8 spot ‘Dot’, which broke the world record for smallest stop-motion animation,…
Howl: film and graphic novel review.
It’s always fascinating to see the result of an established practitioner of a separate artistic medium crossing over…
THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
Two new trailers for the upcoming Aardman 3D stop-motion animation feature “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” have been…
Studio Aka’s Grant Orchard on “A morning stroll”
Studio AKA has a long-standing tradition of high-calibre output in the world of animation and motion graphics, from short…
CARTOON NATION: A chat with the talents behind ‘TALES OF THE SPIFFING’
It would be fatuous to claim that Bristol’s reputation as one of the most important animation towns within…