Share a Story ...

Share a Story is a writing competition for children sponsored by First Light. Children were asked to provide a short story and a storyboard to show how their idea could be animated. The winning entries included Jade Marshall's 'Farmer Frank'. Bottletop was commissioned by children's channel CITV to animate the story which revolves around a group of disgruntled farm animals who are determined to stop the hungry crows from eating all the farmer's corn. The short animations will be shown regularly between programmes on CITV.

Bottletop gets stuck in!

Bottletop has been working with CITV on one of a series of interstitial animations showcasing historical figures who have overcome disability and adversity to become outstanding in their field. Working from only one portrait photograph of athlete Wilma Rudolph, Bottletop created a lively and entertaining animation describing Wilma's battle with polio which she overcame to win three gold medals at the 1960 olympics.

Bottletop on the Beeb

On July 14th Bottletop appeared on BBC East Midlands Today as part of a feature on the creative industries in Nottingham. The media centre where we have been tenants since November - Antenna - was the focus of the piece which looked at the variety of activity within the building and the added value for businesses in being part of a creative hub. With some of the team in Manchester, working with CITV, and the inevitable summer holidays we were a bit thin on the ground but we hope we gave viewers a good idea of what we get up to at Bottletop HQ. See the whole piece here

They think it's all over - it is now....

It's all over - Spain was victorious..... and England wasn't. However - one proud Englishman won our Guess The Goals Competition which asked punters to, well, guess the number of goals scored in the entire World Cup. Football aficionado Carl Hadley, who spends his spare time being Head of Graphics at children's channel CITV in Manchester correctly guessed 159! As you can see from the photo he was totally overwhelmed by the generosity of the prize. We offered him a 20 quid CineWorld voucher but instead he opted for hard cash..... so the beers are on Carl! Well done mate.

'Mighty-Mites' for CBeebies

Bottletop has just delivered titles for 'Mighty-Mites', a new children's series for CBeebies. Produced by Elstree-based Wish Films, 'Mighty-Mites' features Sarah-Jayne and her puppet side-kick, Go-Jo, who travel the country helping pre-school children to develop their skills at various sports and activities as diverse as ballroom dancing and dog training. Sarah-Jayne and Go-Jo transform into whirling balls of energy as they travel. Bottletop created an animating energy ball with a matte to enable Wish Films to emulate the transition in post-production for the 25 episodes. Icons were used to describe the sports involved and to enable the pre-school children to take part in a quiz. Bottletop created nearly 200 icons for the show which starts transmission on Monday 26th July 15.30 on CBeebies.

It's FREE, it's fun.....

Whipped to a frenzy by World Cup fever we have decided to run our very own World Cup Comp. Simply guess the number of goals scored throughout the tournament to win. The prize is a CineWorld voucher worth a massive 20 quid - we reckon that will get you a seat, a bucket of popcorn and possibly even a drink. Go on - enter! You know you want to. Entries close at kick-off of the first match on Friday June 11th..... enter here

We're recommended!

Bottletop is delighted to have been re-recommended by RAR (the Recommended Agency Register). Clients are asked for their opinion of our team and our work in complete confidence. On the basis of their glowing testimonials we have qualified for inclusion on this exclusive list for the next year.

Toonattik rebrand ...

Bottletop has been helping CITV rebrand 'Toonattik', GMTV's morning cartoon show which has dropped its in-vision presenters and has gone for a cartoon-led style.

Bottletop supplied all the 3D elements and animated and composited many of the characters into the titles, stings and idents.

Animation commission for EMDA

Following a pitch, Bottletop has been commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) to design and produce three animations to encourage SMEs to contact the agency to further explore opportunities available to help their businesses expand. The animations will run in reception areas, at business events and will be available on DVD.

3D Information graphics

Bottletop has produced 3D animated information graphics for a CITV promotional DVD which will be used to promote the channel to prospective advertisers.