Getting totally dicked around by ANDHOSTING.com. Simple request to change name servers on my domain, paid the bill twice because the original first payment was a no show according to them….
Been over two weeks of asking them to do it to no avail. My new host in the UK is waiting with baited breath just as keenly as I am.
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Did some more diving at the start of the week….. No pictures this time, just a bit of video Jonny shot..
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Remember that car I started to build? Well the plan was to have it kinda finished by now… but that little four week holiday I had put an end to that. So I have a new plan. Im going to buy new battery cells for my lap top and use the time on the train going to and from new job to carry on working on it. I reckon thats a good way to go. Plus, with me now having the official designation of animator # 3, I cant really see any other way to continue modelling than on the train!
So this is where I have to leave the car, until I have either a new laptop or new batteries for the old one….
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Just one day left, then its back on the old 4:55 from Havant to waterloo…. a 90 min sesh in the gym then off to the new job. Am I nervous? Not really… just keen to get a start> Little fish in a big pond springs to mind. I really cant wait to get there and find myself working on my 3rd feature film….. but my first as a CG animator.
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Filming in Great Yarmouth this week because Nickelodeon would not have any access to me whilst on Potter… so that got a few locations sorted and we did them this week. We are then in the studio all of next weekend and the following weekend….. so I am going to be shagged proper by the end of it all. Still, its all for a good reason as I have my eyes on this puppy….
OK….
It has been said that this artwork on the rear actually color shifts…
The plan is to use it for modelling on the train to keep sharp AND make the trip go quicker….
So, thats it… besides the fact that the DBC reunion is really shaping up to be fantastic…..
Many many years ago, I was asked to do an interview for a Rainbow Web Site. Many of the questions are a little out of date seeing as I have moved onto CGI etc etc etc
Craig Crane
Rainbow Days
In 1994, Tetra Television revived Rainbow in a redesigned format, with new,updated puppets. The programme was shown in the CITV slot at around 4.20pm. One of the highlights was Craig Crane’s “George”, described in the London Evening Standard as “a cross between Prince Phillip and Victor Meldrew”. Craig has been kind enough to answer a few questions which we posed earlier this year.
How did you get involved in puppeteering?
Mmm? Well, I started off being enthralled with the Muppets. I was only 7, but I knew even then that I wanted to do this as a job. I then started at 20 years old to chase up Henson to get started. Who were/ are your major influences?
Jim Henson & Frank OZ.
How did you get to work with George on Rainbow?
I had just finished a very disappointing stint on Spitting Image, and I saw John Thirtle (creator of Button Moon) building what looked like the new George & Zippy. I quizzed him for more info, then called Paul Cole at Tetra for an audition. I got it! Your version of George appears to be more “streetwise” than his previous incarnation, was this a conscious updating of the character?
I know. I could never be as George like as Roy was. It would have been unfair to just of copied him. So, I decided to include a bit of me, and also cater for the change in viewers expectations. The 70’s were a very different time compared to the mid 90’s. I didn’t feel that today’s audience would accept the same George that we did as kids, what with Nintendo this and Play Station that, and all the other techno stuff which seems to fill our screens. I had to find the perfect balance of the old and new. I think it worked, and I think the hiatus of 3 – 4 years kinda helped. I had to cater for the new kids more than the old ones like us!
How did you go about researching George?
Well, of course I had my memories of George , but I also watched a lot of old tapes that Tetra sent me. I spent an entire weekend just watching Rainbow! Were you allowed to change things in the scripts? Was there anything which you were asked to do which you felt was not within the confines of the character?
The best thing about the new Rainbow was that it was, indeed very new. We were all in this together. If we had ideas or script changes, we were allowed to include them. A lot of stuff came from impro that we did in the rehearsals. If it was too far out, it never got in. We would also find new problems once we got to the set, so stuff would come about from that situation as well.
What did you like most about working on Rainbow?
I loved the fact that it was a great team, a great company to work with and every day was a laugh fest. Paul Cullinan (BUNGLE) is a hoot, as is Ronnie. We would just turn up and have a laugh. I know that it all sounds very “SHOWBIZZ” and all, but it really was like that. And the humour was always very crude!
…. and what did you like least?
Early morning drives from the South Coast to London in mid-winter!
Rainbow or Rainbow Days – which did you prefer?
Two completly different shows, from two different ages. I have never connected the two. The characters are roughly the same, but we have to remember that it is for the kids, not the adults who watched it years ago. I am sure that the TELETUBBIES will change over the next few years (should it be lucky enough to last as long as the original Rainbow!).
What does the future hold for Rainbow?
Watch this space! Who knows?
What is your proudest achievement?
Becoming a father. Can’t be beaten! Are there any ambitions/ projects you would like to achieve, or someone you particularly want to work with?
I would love to be able to do a really far out puppet movie where anything goes. As for the last part, I guess that I would just like to be able to continue working with talented people. Is there a puppet you would have liked to have worked with and who would be in your puppet hall of fame?
I would loved to have worked with Jim Henson, but I never got the chance. I have done bits and bobs with Frank Oz on the “Muppet Christmas Carol” (we did the skating penguins with him). That was cool. Just to watch the way that he works is enough to make you realise that you are never as good as you think you are. He is the best.
What are you working on now/ in the future?
I am still at Nickelodeon (Bogey, Bert the Fish, Elvis, Billy Bob Roach & Bugsey. Other than that, I can’t say, but there is a lot on at the moment! ….sshh!
What’s Phibber the Toad up to these days?
Last I heard, he is writing a few scripts for his memoirs. He is also in a glass case in Noel Edmonds’ office, alongside Waffle. Well, thats what I heard anyway.I loved that Toad, he should come back. BRING BACK THE TOAD!!! What question should we have asked you, but didn’t?
Have I lied to you at all in any of the answers I gave you. HA HA HA! What are this weeks six lottery numbers? What’s my favourite movie? (The Appartment). Do you have any puppets at home? (NO WAY! It is after all, just a job. I like puppets, I just don’t LOVE puppets!) That’s like asking a policeman if he wears his uniform in the house.
Craig Crane, Thank You Very Much!!
HA HA YOUR WELCOME… AND GET A LOAD OF THIS! No idea if the characters will ever be back, but I think its safe to say it wont be with me on board! Well, unless……..
Well, here I am… everything is hanging to dry having been rinsed, soaked in milton, rinsed again and hung to dry.
Im fed, watered and feel that the 80 minute dive may finally be catching up with me.
Two awesome dives in two days.
So here we go again
As before, we head of out along the RNLI launch… having sweated buckets gearing up, the cool water is welcome in this mad heat!
Then, looking down to check out the viz, we spot either Linda or Izzy from Selsey Ocean View with one of the Open Water course divers. I cant believe its not even been a year since I did mine, having been gripped by The Life Aquatic .
So with that photo having been taken from the surface, the prospects for a good dive are high. Remember, this is UK diving. Not something that Divers clamour for in general…. well, besides me and Scuba Jonny.
Selsey is and always has been a fishing village. Topside, you cant escape it as boat bob on their moorings, and fisherman dart down the Kingsway in their 4×4 pickups transfering the morning catch. Below the surface is no exception. Lobster and crab pots litter the sea bed…. and you can see the hapless critters in there…. within a few hours, they will more than likley be dressed crab at the Lifeboat inn.
You cant meddle with the pots. BIG NO NO. After all, thats another mans livelyhood. Besides, I love me some gooood crabmeat.
Speaking of food, its time to break out the Bananas again!
I guess they had had their fill, but we carried on. The under current was a little strong, so we decided to cut across a little towards to old life boat launch again. It seems to change its appearence with each dive….
I love these huge underwater plants. They just loom out of nowhere, but when you get a patch of them like this, you know there is going to be some neat sealfe sheltering under them. We saw some amazing fish as the shoaled past us… and if only Jonny had been a little quicker with the camera when we saw the long Eeel. Man, he looked pissed…. maybe because thats the 2nd day in a row he missed out on the Bananas!
But I think for all his photographs of the trees and undersea forestry (not sure how best to describe it), I think J-S-L is most pleased with these pics
we plan to go out again on Monday… My last chance to dive during this summer break. Still, at least I’ll have the memories of it all to keep me going till Mays liveaboard in the Red Sea
OK, so just under a week and a half before I start on Harry Potter 5 so I am trying to cram in as much cool stuff as I can. I dont think tomorrow mornings early dental appointment can be considered “cool”, but todays dive certainly was.
As has become customary, myself and Scuba Jon lauch ourselves from the lifeboat in Selsey.
This months heat wave means that as soon as you start to “gear up” you just cant wait to get into the cooling sea. Today was no exception. As soon as we were in, it was time to loosen the wetsuit around the neck a little to flush it with some cool water.
Then its down we go as we embark on a dive that will hopefully beat last weeks earlier attempt with zero viz (which was my fault as I got the tides mixed up!)
Its feeding time at the underwater Zoo! You may not ever be able to fully appreciate it from the pic, but there were hundreds upon hundred of these guys just going bananas for bananas! Must be something they cant het their fins on so easily in these here parts. They would suddenly change from being very very shy and timid to bold and daring as they swim up close and personal in order to get some grub. Not even the bubbles from my reg would phase them. And to tink, topside people are probaly cursing this heatwave right now. Down here its PERFECT!
I want to be a fish!
Having fortunatly never had the need to draw my knife underwater, due to entanglement or to ward of Killer Spider Crabs of Selsey Bill, I decided now was a good time to practive how to un-sheath and re-sheath the blade without slashing my BCD.
Then having messed around a little, it was back to the job at hand… to relax and chill before having the head on back. Its amazing that in such a small space, there is so much to see and do… and it seems to shift and change with each tide.
Finally, it is time to head back as air is getting a little low. Not dangerously low, but I like to keep on the safer side of things! On the way back I stumble across this little fella. hard to see at first, but one you know he is there…..
And before you know it, I have finned all the way tp the point where there is nowhere left to dive. Time to head back to Selsey Ocean View dive shop, hot cup of tea (thanks Anya), a couple of sticking buns and some well deserved impuls buying in the shop!
Well, just two weeks now to go before I head of to what has affectionaly been re-monikered as HOGWARTS in these here parts.
So with two weeks to myself, what have I got planned…. Well, lets re-phrase that… what did I have planned and now what do I have planned now thanks to some major re-shuffling….?
Well, typical for Nickelodeon, they want me to squeeze in a few days shooting (6 in total) before Potter takes over my life… so its off to Norfolk for three days location shooting and then two weekends in Aug in the studio at Rathbone place… Looks like I may have to impose myself on the old man for a few weeks…. So, all those nice dives I had planned have now wittled down to just a handfull, but look on the brightside… can pay the council tax in full and put some cash aside for next years red sea trip…. Having already cancelled one trip to the red sea this year, I am determined to enjoy next years trip. Im not too keen on the idea of crossing the Egyptian border into Sudan at the moment. It seems very unstable in every area besides Port Sudan. I think my trip for next year will just have to be the standard living on a boat for a couple of weeks and non stop diving….. I have a funny feeling that by next may I will really be needing that time off.
But anyhoo, its these next two weeks ahead of me that I am most looking forward to. Im really hoping that the shoot for Nick will be a good one, as I am also planning on it being my last. I think after some 12 years of service, its really time to move on. I cant see me accomodating them anytime between now and feb, and they would most probably want to shoot stuff specific for the Autumn and xmas schedules…. but with only weekends being available to me, I very much doubt they would be able to cover the increased fee that working at weekends will entail once I am working FT elsewhere.
Anyway, I keep on bloody digressing as I wax lyrical about this that and the other! The main purpose of this thread was to try and fathom how I was going to structure these next two weeks…. because like all two week holidays, the first week drags, and then the last week zips by and before you know it your on the 04:45 from Havant to London Waterloo (reminds me, I have to find a Gym in Soho).
Well, next week sees my Nans 99th birthday party….. Its only Chloe and I going because Charlotte has a prior engagement and MC is working. Lets just hope the little terror behaves herself. May divert through Croydon to see some relatives….
Then the following Wednesday Thurs and Fri filming in Norfolk…… Mmmm, its looking kinda fragmented now, bits here and there….. Looks like I may have to go away and think about this…
I need to:
Dive Animate Transfer records to CD for Dean Gym Swim Finish the car I started to model a few weeks back Review the new Gnomon Cloth DVD for the mag Try to locate the last few missing names on the college reunion list plan the finer details of the reunion… Transfer the old college tapes to DVD Get the tapes back to their respective owners
Holy Crap….. I appear to have a lot more on my plate than I thought….
Mmmm, went out this morning with Jonny Simpson-Lee again. But it was a spring Tide… and viz was crap. So, came home, rinsed gear and then watched RED SEA WRECK HEAVEN in the cinema. Awesome!!!!
Last night, had a few glass’s of red whilst entertaining Dave, Nikki and Mark. Watched into the blue (again, in the cinema!)…. so kind of glad the viz was bad this morning as I was a little tired.
Nice to actually have some people I share something in common with in Selsey that doesnt have o revolve around TV, CGI or anything else I do (well, besides diving as they are all terrible dive addicts).
