Adam Phillips (animator)
Encyclopedia
Adam Phillips is an Australia
n freelance animator
whose online alias is Chluaid . His main body of animation work, for which he is best known, consists of flash animation compositions published on his website Bitey Castle and on the flash portal Newgrounds
(there, as of March 2010, his movies have over 14 million views and he is one of the highest ranked artists). He is the creator of the Brackenwood
series.
Adam Phillips was a featured artist at the Adobe
Design Center for the month of December, 2006.http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/gallery/swf/index.html#u_sContent=adamphillips The alternate soundtrack for the YuYu in that link was composed by Lee Miller.
. He displayed a precocious artistic enthusiasm early in life:
In 1989, Phillips moved to Queensland to find work, and was later injured in an industrial accident. During his convalescence he dedicated himself to drawing, and in 1993 was hired by Disney
to work as a tweener
in Sydney. He was promoted in 1995 to the position of character animator, and in 1998 to effects director, a role in which he worked on several sequels to well-known Disney films.
In 2000, Phillips began his first animations in Flash, focusing on stories remembered from his childhood. Phillips is a devoted Ween
fan and his flash work soon grew to include an official video for the Ween song Transdermal Celebration
, as well as a winning entry in the cartoon category of the Flash Forward Film Festival in early 2003. Later that year, Phillips created Bitey of Brackenwood, the second episode in his Brackenwood
series and runner up in The Greatest Story Never Told (TGSNT) flash competition. During this period, Phillips also began writing book chapters for flash guides.
At the end of 2004 Phillips left Disney "to pursue [his] own interests." Since that time he has produced much content for his Brackenwood setting, including Prowlies at the River, said to be in the Top 5 Most Influential Flash Films of all time. The movie also won the TGSNT 2 competition's grand prize. He has also continued to do outside work as a freelance animator, writer and special effects designer for clients such as Kelloggs, EA Games and Wizards of the Coast (Dungeons and Dragons).
Additional to plans for a television series and various books set in his Brackenwood world, Phillips is teamed up with a co-writer, working together on a cinematic Brackenwood feature film.
Phillips is also working on the "Bitey Castle Academy" which would teach art and animation techniques to other artists. The 'Academy' section of his website so far offers 4 chapters of a downloadable ebook on how to create graphics and animation in Adobe Flash CS3.
Since 2007, Adam has been using ToonBoom software and has been quoted in many interviews as saying it is his "new favorite" animation software. He used ToonBoom Animate Pro for the most recent Dungeons & Dragons shorts. Unofficially, but condoned by ToonBoom, he is posting Animate 2 screencapture demonstrations on his YouTube channel.
At the moment, apart from a Brackenwood feature film, Adam is writing up a fresh new series separate from Brackenwood. It is untitled but information occasionally pops up on his blog and Twitter page.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n freelance animator
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
whose online alias is Chluaid . His main body of animation work, for which he is best known, consists of flash animation compositions published on his website Bitey Castle and on the flash portal Newgrounds
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
(there, as of March 2010, his movies have over 14 million views and he is one of the highest ranked artists). He is the creator of the Brackenwood
Brackenwood
Brackenwood is a series created by Adam Phillips, webmaster of the website. It currently includes a continuing series of short Flash animations about the inhabitants of a small fictional forest planet called Brackenwood...
series.
Adam Phillips was a featured artist at the Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
Design Center for the month of December, 2006.http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/gallery/swf/index.html#u_sContent=adamphillips The alternate soundtrack for the YuYu in that link was composed by Lee Miller.
Biography
Adam Phillips was born and raised in Narromine, New South WalesNarromine, New South Wales
Narromine is a town located about 40 kilometres west of Dubbo in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the centre of Narromine Shire. At the 2006 census, Narromine had a population of 3,599 people...
. He displayed a precocious artistic enthusiasm early in life:
My mother recognized my talent for drawing when I was a toddler, and she maintains that I could hold a pencil correctly before my two legs could support me. I would sit on the floor for hours drawing spiders on my fingers and toes, and filling sheets of butcher's paper with doodles and scribbles."http://www.chluaid.com/brackenwood/bio.htm
In 1989, Phillips moved to Queensland to find work, and was later injured in an industrial accident. During his convalescence he dedicated himself to drawing, and in 1993 was hired by Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
to work as a tweener
Tweening
Inbetweening or tweening is the process of generating intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second image. Inbetweens are the drawings between the key frames which help to create the illusion of motion...
in Sydney. He was promoted in 1995 to the position of character animator, and in 1998 to effects director, a role in which he worked on several sequels to well-known Disney films.
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
fan and his flash work soon grew to include an official video for the Ween song Transdermal Celebration
Quebec (album)
-Personnel:*Dean Ween – bass, guitar, drums, guitar , keyboards, vocals, sitar , vocoder*Gene Ween – synthesizer, guitar , bass, guitar , keyboards, vocals, omnichord, drum machine...
, as well as a winning entry in the cartoon category of the Flash Forward Film Festival in early 2003. Later that year, Phillips created Bitey of Brackenwood, the second episode in his Brackenwood
Brackenwood
Brackenwood is a series created by Adam Phillips, webmaster of the website. It currently includes a continuing series of short Flash animations about the inhabitants of a small fictional forest planet called Brackenwood...
series and runner up in The Greatest Story Never Told (TGSNT) flash competition. During this period, Phillips also began writing book chapters for flash guides.
At the end of 2004 Phillips left Disney "to pursue [his] own interests." Since that time he has produced much content for his Brackenwood setting, including Prowlies at the River, said to be in the Top 5 Most Influential Flash Films of all time. The movie also won the TGSNT 2 competition's grand prize. He has also continued to do outside work as a freelance animator, writer and special effects designer for clients such as Kelloggs, EA Games and Wizards of the Coast (Dungeons and Dragons).
Additional to plans for a television series and various books set in his Brackenwood world, Phillips is teamed up with a co-writer, working together on a cinematic Brackenwood feature film.
Brackenwood
- Auld Sage - Auld Sage sings a song from ColdplayColdplayColdplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. Although not an official episode of Brackenwood, it is the first look at Brackenwood and one of its inhabitants. - Bingbong of Brackenwood - The first official episode of Brackenwood, which introduces Bingbong.
- Bitey of Brackenwood - The second official episode, which introduces Bitey.
- Prowlies at the River - Brackenwood episode 3.
- littleFoot - Part 1 of Brackenwood episode 4. - Created after Prowlies at the River.
- the YuYu - Part 2 of Brackenwood episode 4. - The first episode to be sponsored by Newgrounds.
- Waterlollies - Brackenwood episode 5 - Sponsored by Newgrounds and fan donations (also released via Youtube by the creator himself.)
- The Last of the Dashkin - Brackenwood episode 6 - Sponsored by Newgrounds.
Other animations
- 30 shorts in 30 days
- Pokies - Phillips' first flash
- Night Shift
- HitchHiker
- Taken - for Halloween 2005
- 3:33am - for Halloween 2006
- Frank
- The Wish
- Angry Man
- Transdermal Celebration music video, as mentioned above.
Books
- Flash MX Most Wanted: Effects & Movies - has a chapter in which Phillips describes his work on Hitchhiker: Part Two.
- New Masters of Flash: Volume 3 - one of the chapters is written by Adam Phillips, studying lighting effects in depth and their implementation in Flash (focusing on the Brackenwood flashes).
- Bitey Castle Academy: Flash CS3 Animation - ebook chapters sold individually from his website, teaching Flash for graphics and frame-by-frame animation. The first two chapters are free.
Upcoming projects
Adam Phillips' long term project is making a Brackenwood feature film, and he has stated that there is a far larger story which has been only hinted at in his short Brackenwood episodes. As of August 2009, the Brackenwood feature film script is in development.Phillips is also working on the "Bitey Castle Academy" which would teach art and animation techniques to other artists. The 'Academy' section of his website so far offers 4 chapters of a downloadable ebook on how to create graphics and animation in Adobe Flash CS3.
Since 2007, Adam has been using ToonBoom software and has been quoted in many interviews as saying it is his "new favorite" animation software. He used ToonBoom Animate Pro for the most recent Dungeons & Dragons shorts. Unofficially, but condoned by ToonBoom, he is posting Animate 2 screencapture demonstrations on his YouTube channel.
At the moment, apart from a Brackenwood feature film, Adam is writing up a fresh new series separate from Brackenwood. It is untitled but information occasionally pops up on his blog and Twitter page.
Awards
- 20032003 in filmThe year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
—Flashforward (New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
'03): The Hitchhiker: part 2 wins the Cartoon Category. - 20042004 in filmThe year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
—Flashforward (San Francisco '04): Bingbong of Brackenwood (Finalist in the Cartoon Category). - 2004—TGSNT: Bitey of Brackenwood (Runnerup)
- 20052005 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
—TGSNT: Grand Prize for Prowlies at the River - 2005—Flashforward (San Francisco '05): Prowlies at the River wins the Cartoon Category.
- 20062006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
—Flashforward (Seattle '06): littleFoot wins the Cartoon Category. - 2006—Annecy International Animated Film FestivalAnnecy International Animated Film FestivalThe Annecy International Animation Film Festival was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring every two years, the festival became annual in 1998...
(AnnecyAnnecyAnnecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
'06): littleFoot officially nominated in the Internet Category. - 20062006 in film- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
—Flashforward (AustinAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
'06): the Yuyu wins the Cartoon Category. - 2007—Flashforward (BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
'07): 30 Shorts : 30 days wins People's Choice. - 2008—NewgroundsNewgroundsNewgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
: Waterlollies : NG Tank Award for Best Movie of 2007 - 2008—12th Annual Webby AwardsWebby AwardsA Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
: The Brackenwood Series : Official Honoree, Animation - 2008—12th Annual Webby AwardsWebby AwardsA Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
: The Brackenwood Series : Official Honoree, Best Use of Animation/Motion Graphics - 2010—W3 Awards W3 Awards: The Last of the Dashkin : Silver Award Winner
External links
- Bitey Castle website - Site contains Adobe Flash content embedded, which requires the Flash browser plugin to be installed.
- Sarus Lessons - introduction to learning Sarus
- Adam Phillips at Newgrounds
- Adam Phillips 3 part interview on Coldhardflash
- Review of Prowlies at the River on NewgroundsNewgroundsNewgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
- ColdHardFlash's analysis and review of "the YuYu"
- The Daily Crumb's review of 'Waterlollies'
- Adam's Agenda
- Adam Phillips' Twitter