Fife lecturer's shock at animation award

Jonathan Mortimer (31), was given the accolade of best Scottish animator for 2016 by TMT News (Technology Media Telecoms) for his animation and storyboard portfolio.

His work features work on short animated films, mobile games, and a short on the bombing of Hiroshima during World War Two called 43, which secured him the top animation prize at the Swan Lake Moving Images and Music Awards festival in Germany in 2011.

His Manga-style, one minute 55 seconds long film is called 43 after the number of seconds it took the atomic bomb to hit the Japanese city of Hiroshima when it left an American warplane on August 6, 1945, killing up to 166,000 people.

Jonathan said: “I honestly don’t know who nominated me for the award. I just got a phone call one day telling me I was being considered and then I got an e-mail a few weeks later telling me I was successful.

“Obviously I’m really chuffed about it. I do a lot of different kinds of work in 2D animation for the likes of adverts, games and storyboards on a freelance basis so maybe one of my clients put my name forward.”

Douglas McMillan, Head of Department for Creative Industries at Fife College, said: “We are extremely proud of what Jonathan has achieved and I know this award will not only inspire him to go further with his work, but will also inspire his students. This award is a great demonstration of the high standard of expertise and creativity that our lecturers possess that they can then pass onto the students at Fife College. Well done Jonathan, very well deserved!”

To see some of Jonathan’s work, including 43, visit jonmort.wordpress.com.