Inigo Townsend

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Jonathan Web – Happy Hour (reference material)

For the simulated work experience project, I was paired with Jonathan in second year to assist him with the development of his final year film Happy Hour. Jonathan had decided to use cut paper animation for this film, and asked for help capturing reference films and developing ideas for his films background settings.

The first task we undertook was to record different walking styles for the 4 characters in his film. He explained to me the different ideas he had for the characters and their different personalities, and we began to discuss ideas of how these could be represented in their movements. I then filmed him replicating these ideas to use as reference for each character when it would come to animating.

This was a useful task to take part in. I do not often act out how I want my own characters to move as i prefer to animate directly without using live action reference. This task showed me how the process can be a useful tool even when not animating natural/realistic characters (something else I tend to avoid).

I then offered to produce some paper cut out settings for Jonathans films using his reference material. Using different coloured card and pens, I recreated the main location of the film – The living room. This meant creating the room from two perspectives: front and back. This further informed me of how to use paper cut in a more stylised way. Up to this point in time I had only used paper cut from a single positioned camera perspective, and the exercise opened my eyes on how to develop my own work in the future.

The idea to use the green paper for the windows was an idea I suggested to Jonathan as it could be a useful way to composite the cityscape into his film. This would add an extra element of realness/movement to the film and could be a great addition to the composition. We also discussed the possibility of using pixelation in the film for his characters or the outside world.

It was a great to meet and work with a second year student and to also learn more about papercut animation. I have struggled this year to find an animation form that I feel suited to. Slowly however, I am finding ways to explore stop motion and paper cut, and I am enjoying the creative freedom that comes with the practice.

I am excited about future stop motion projects I will be creating, and I have offered to assist Jonathan with the rest of the film. I look forward to using cut paper animation in my own work and developing my own style and narratives in the coming months.