Live from BCFE Animation Graduate Showcase at the IFI

With four of its former animation students nominated for Academy Awards earlier this year, the spotlight is firmly fixed on  Ballyfermot College of Further Education.  This week the colleges current animation graduates held their Animation Graduate Showcase 2010 in the Irish Film Institute and the Comic Cast was there to report on the event. We talk to students Nicola Hyland, Ray Johnson and Leo Crowley as well as Gareth lee, the head of the animation degree course. We also meet up with storyboard artist Stephen Byrne who graduated from the college last year to see the life of a graduate one year on. Enjoy!

Download Show: The Comic Cast BCFE Animation Special

Also available through itunes

The above image is from Aoife Doyle‘s hilarious short ‘Nana’s Strawberry Preserve’ which was screened on the night.

And the Oscar goes to . . .

 

A limo pulls up to the red carpet, cameras flash in a blinding flurry, people jostle each other just to get a look – who could it be? Why it’s the Comic Cast of course! They’re all here to see us review Nathan Edmondson/Christian Wards’ Olympus, Guy Delisles’ Albert and the Others, Mark Waid/Peter Krauses’ Irredeemable, Tommie Kellys’ Road Crew 1: For Sale, Marvels’ Girl Comics and Miguel Martin’s The Weekly Woe. Over drinks in the VIP lounge, we’ll debate Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland and the DVD release of Fantastic Mr. Fox. We’ll be speaking to Rob Curley of Sub City/Atomic Diner about his latest comic Róisín Dubh in collaboration with Maura McHugh and Stephen Daly and he gives us the low down on Free Irish Comics Day 2010. And if all that didn’t deserve a standing ovation, we report live from the Oscar party in Ballyfermot College in black tie where the college that spawned four of the Irish nominees waited with baited breath, as did we, to see who would claim a golden statuette at 4am in the morning! We’d like to thank ourselves for all our hardwork. And God.

Download Link: The Comic Cast 09/03/10

Re-Writing the Book of Kells: An interview with Tomm Moore

This week the Comic Cast talks with Tomm Moore, the director of  a very exciting and beautiful new Irish animated film The Secret of Kells (in cinemas March 6th). Tomm studied classical animation in Ballyfermot College in Dublin before co-founding the Cartoon Saloon animation studio in Kilkenny. We ventured down there to discuss the making of The Secret of Kells, writing and illustrating two comic books that will act as prequels to the film as well his work as artist on two Irish langauge comic books of An Sclábhaí and An Teachtaire. The comic books of the movie of the book? And you thought Tristram Shandy was confusing! Enjoy.

Download link: The Comic Cast 17/02/09

Show Links:

The Secret of Kells trailer

Tomm Moore’s Blog

The Blog of Kells (fascinating and honest production blog for the film)

Cartoon Saloon

The Secret of Kells official website

The cast of The Secret of Kells do The Last Supper

Tristram Shandy?