Last year, I produced a 60 second animation for a BBC shortcuts animation. I had to listen to the soundtrack and create my own visual response. The brief's requirements was that the piece needed to tell a meaningful story, capturing the tone and essence of the narrative. I chose to base my piece on a soundtrack called 'bats in the attic' which told a short story about a women's journey to overcome her grief. Interestingly, she depicts grief through the form of bats.
The soundtrack itself was a very personal story, and had an atmospheric feel to it. This were the reasons I was drawn towards it.
To be able to translate this story of grief in a visual form offered a great challenge to me, and really tested my storytelling skills. My interpretation was that I was telling as poetic journey, which need to leave people with a meaningful message. This is where I choose illustration.
Initially, I experimented with lots of different methods of producing this film, and couldn't find what worked best for me. I eventually played to my strengths and developed my own filming method. Every frame was individually hand-drawn using pen, and pieced together in photoshop to create the movement. The hand-crafted element helped me add a personal feel to the piece.
These are some stills from the animation. I used the symbol of the heart, bats and incorporated elements of colour to represent grief.
Stills from my animation
After completing the project, I sent my work across to the BBC shortcuts producer; Eleanor McDowall. I received an email back within a few days, where she also copied the audio producer; Jessie Lawson. This was really great exposure, as my work was shared across the falling tree social media pages!
Shout-out on Twitter
I recently discovered that Jessie Lawson even shared my work on her website: https://jessielawson.org/2019/09/16/bbc-r4-short-cuts-producer-2/
My work on Jessie Lawson's website
Overall, I really enjoyed this brief. This project displayed to me that illustration is
multi-diverse. There are so many avenues available with this practice, and this is why
I enjoy it. Every project varies and challenges you in lots of different ways.
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