TXT ISLAND on Best of Animation 5 DVD

Well I had a nice birthday surprise yesterday. A big cardboard box couriered to my house with 20 copies of the new 'Best of Animation 5' DVD inside. The compilation is put together by the good people of the Stuttgart animation festival and includes their pick of ten films from the 2010 edition. There are many fine short films to be seen here and TXT ISLAND too! It's a genuine honour to have my bit of work included on this, many thanks again to Andrea and her team in Stuttgart.

Here's the DVD running order, a most international selection of world-class shorts...

'A Family Portrait' dir. Joseph Pierce
'Horn Dog' dir. Bill Plympton
'La dama y la muerte' dir. Javier Recio Gracia
'Logorama' dir. Francois Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, Ludovic Houplain
'Love & Theft' dir. Andreas Hykade
'Prayers for Peace' dir. Dustin Grella
'Runaway' dir.Cordell Barker
'Sam’s Hot Dogs' dir. David López Retamero
'TXT Island' dir. Chris Gavin
'YELLOW CAKE' dir. Nick Cross

Stuttgart 10

Back in May 2010, I was invited to Germany by the organisers of the Stuttgart Animation Festival. TXT ISLAND showed there in the International Competition programme. I was in Stuttgart for three days; here's a little montage of touristy clips. I've only just got around to putting this together over the Christmas break.

I'd just discovered that Sam's little Panasonic Lumix FX150 camera could shoot HD video (1280x720 @24fps) at this point , so I was shooting everything in 'movie mode'.


Stuttgart 10 : shortfilm by chrisgavin from Chris Gavin on Vimeo.

Stuttgart Fantastisch

Back in the UK today after my long weekend at the Stuttgart Animation Festival. Had a fantastic weekend and met lots of interesting folk. TXT ISLAND was shown in the International Competition and a special 'British Shorts' programme put together by Kevin Franklin.


Stuttgart is a pleasant city. I had lots of fun shooting little video clips after discovering that Sam's little point and shoot Panasonic FX150 shoots 720HD at 24P!

A great view of the city can be had (for free) from the top of the tower above the Bahnhof.

The modern Art gallery on SchlossPlatz is worth a look too.

At the festival, TXT ISLAND was shown in competition programme 5 and the British Shorts showcase. I also did a directors Q&A and a 'making of' presentation too.

Bratwurst and beer. Festival food Stuttgarter style.

The final night party features an impromptu session from a fine sousaphone, melodica and rapper combo!