Dear Mr Stroud,

Greetings! You're a legend and I love your work. Can't wait to read The Ring of Solomon!

As my final degree project, I've spent the past eight months putting together an animated tribute to the prologue of Ptolemy's Gate. I'd love to know what you think of it, if you have the time to check it out?

The trailer for the film
The film itself

:$

Thanks in advance!

Bradley

Bradley -

I've been meaning to reply to you for AGES now: huge apologies for the wait! Wow, your animation is absolutely FANTASTIC, and I was completely stunned when I first saw it. It exactly captures the atmosphere, tension and eerieness of that PG prologue, which is one of my favourite bits of the book. I can't believe how good your depiction is, how crisply edited and beautifully cinematic. The music and s/f are perfect too! I've been lauding it to the skies as I've gone on my tour around the US, and I'll continue to plug it (including to my film agent, as we go hunting for someone to take up the movie options) - because it symbolises just how exciting a movie treatment of Bart could be. I'm awed by your achievement and dedication in making this, and I firmly intend to keep watch on future work by Whitepanda - which I've no doubt will be a famous name before long.

What are you working on now?

With best wishes, and grateful thanks,

Jonathan

Thank you so much for writing this response: by far this is the greatest validation of the work I did. I'm really glad you liked it!

The project started as an independent assignment back in March, and it wasn't until July that pre-production was finished and I was happy with the character and set designs. My tutors gave me the go-ahead and the animation/rendering process took from July until October, with only a week before deadlines to composite the scenes, edit it together, title design, special effects and music (I can't take credit for composing the music: I plucked sounds from a collection of video games and movies, and then sewed them together).

Did you like the design of Bartimaeus? I began with a very simple appearance, as Ptolemy would have been, and then added some flashy details that Bartimaeus would have probably added himself: things like the gold ankh headhead, the pentacle necklace, and the cobra jewellery with ruby eyes. In the trailer it's the pentacle necklace he's dragging across the stone floor, which was my attempt at showing the quiet innocence of Ptolemy contrasting with the demonic, confrontational and powerful nature of Bartimaeus.

Needless to say, please oh please keep me in mind when you go scouting for movie deals and find yourself in need of a graphic designer/animator. I live in New Zealand but I'm happy to travel.

Right now I have clients who I am designing logos and websites for, and I'm planning a few more short films. They're just shadowy ideas at the back of my mind right now, but I'll hopefully bring them to life soon enough.

Thank you for watching my videos and lauding them to the skies. It's a real honour.

Bradley -

Sorry for the slow reply again - I've been working on a new-look Bartimaeus website this year (www.bartimaeusbooks.com), which has taken up a lot of time. And I hope you don't mind, but I've put a prominent link through to your amazing animation (it's on the media page) so that even more people will see it and be thrilled.

Yep, I thought your depiction of Bart as Ptolemy was spot on - exactly the right amount of beauty and demonic strangeness. I'll be sure to flag it up as and when I chat to any future film-maker. You never know...

I hope all your current projects are going well. Keep in touch.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

Sorry for the slow reply myself!

Mind? Of course I don't mind, I'm beyond pleased! YouTube tells me the video's had almost 200 plays off your website alone, which has brought the total number of views to around 4,200 for the film and 3,200 for the trailer, so thank you very much for the boost!

My own website (http://whitepandamedia.com) has recently had a facelift of it's own, what do you think?

Would you mind if I used your feedback here as a testimonial?

I hope plans for film adaptations are going well. If an opportunity comes up, I'd love to be involved in any way, shape or form.

Really enjoyed The Ring of Solomon, I thought it was terrific. My first choice of scene to adapt into an animation would definitely be when Asmira summons Bartimaeus and tells him to kill Solomon and steal his ring. The dialogue, setting and characterisation there was just incredible.

Many thanks for your support,

Bradley