Over the last 2 years, I have approached animation as my own form of protest. My creative process has developed through the use of mixed media. I have a passion for political satire, which is what I lead with when I begin a project. I believe myself to be a storyteller first, a filmmaker second and an animator third. This is because I believe an animation cannot exist without a film makers eye, and a film cannot connect with an audience unless it leads with strong story telling. This philosophy has guided me through exploring sad, painful and political topics in a way that is also accessible to the average viewer.
As a director on Liaf last year, the nature of that meant I could explore mediums freely. My team and I’s film Formula Scum embodied exactly the kind of work I like to make. It was a hybrid animation using stop motion, Cgi, 2D and pixilation. Utilising the freedom meant I could toy with the viewers reality by pulling them in and out of worlds. My 1 minute film existed with a similar pipeline. My main character Dan Brog was animated in pixilation with all other assets composited. at this point, I became aware that I was beginning to find my aesthetic.
Up until today, my grad film ‘Holeyhole’ utilises the same methodology. My creative process is to escape the limits that define animation itself. For this film, I have used as many mediums as I could physically experiment with including 2D, CGI, Stop Motion & Pixilation.
Pixilation seems to be a running theme in my creative process, which is heavily influenced also by my love for theatre and choreography. Additionally, I think the idea of animation as a form of protest also applies in a physical material sense too. Taking the viewer out of a world and dumping them in a new one feels rebellious in itself. Including Live action in animation feels rebellious as people tend to raise eyebrows, questioning if it’s even ‘allowed’…
Moving forward with all this in mind, I want to approach the industry with this philosophy. Entering the professional Stop motion world with this mode of thinking could allow me to influence industry work in a new way!
