Butterflies
A young artist sits on the sidewalk, struggling to make a living. She makes drawings for the passersby.
A businessman recognises her talents and offers her a paying job.
The prospect seems inviting but the reality threatens to kill her imagination...
Featuring the voices of Rachel Griffiths and Nicholas Hope, Butterflies is a multi award winning stop motion animation.
Festival screenings included: Sitges, Annecy, Brooklyn, Melbourne, Sydney, DokLeipzig, Santa Barbara, Cinequest, London Animation Festival and many more. Media about Butterflies includes: If Magazine, Skwigly, and Animation World Network.
Behind the scenes: Watch the animators hard at work on shot 4180.
For more behind the scenes stuff, check out the blog.
Gloomy Valentine
The lyrical and monstrous are interwoven in Gloomy Valentine, a stop motion, animated short film that tells the story of Gloomy, a woman struggling to overcome the sadness of a broken heart. Aesthetically influenced by gothic surrealism, Gloomy is haunted by memory and is ultimately consumed by nightmarish shadows.
Directed by Isabel Peppard, the script for Gloomy Valentine was inspired by Song for a Gloomy Sunday. The song itself inspired a theme of the gloom that love leaves when it goes and within this theme the lyrics planted a few images such as the animated shadows and bleeding heart.
Watch it on Youtube as part of Dark Whispers Vol 1 or find it on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV etc.
Things Left Behind.
Things Left Behind is a short documentary that presents a modern take on the age-old pursuit of gold. Using a metal detector Shane finds things that people have lost, thrown away or left behind over the past century or so...
A few years ago, in the inner-city park hidden under a cliff, there came a strange beeping sound. Outside was a guy with a small metal detector device strapped to a broomstick. A week or two later he was back with a full-scale metal detector. What drove him to continue to scour the park for treasure? The answer was gold.
But as he dug through the park, he brought up much more than gold. He uncovered layers of forgotten history, dropped from the pockets of who knows who… but as he said: “their loss is my gain.” The idea that anyone could walk into a park and find and 1860s gold coin is an alluring one… but with modern metal detection equipment it is possible – in fact it is easy.
You just have to be lucky…
The Value of Gold
Why do people love gold? Les Riddell, a master craftsman goldsmith based in the historic gold mining town of Cromwell, New Zealand explains, while demonstrating the traditional process of making a gold ring.
Turn Me On - the history of the vibrator.
Turn Me On explores the history of the vibrator. Through a group of sexpert characters, the documentary uncovers the socially camouflaged sex toy - hidden in the underwear drawer since it was invented over 120 years ago. Turn Me On reveals a social and sexual history that some people would prefer remained a secret.
Turn Me On garnered international festival audiences, an ATOM award, and a nomination for the Australian Film Critics Circle award for documentary in addition to multiple runs on Television.
Grace Under Water.
Directed by Tony Lawrence, Grace Under Water tells the story of Lou who is losing the cold war with her stubborn and enigmatic stepdaughter Grace when an unexpected challenge arises from the depths of a warm, dreamy afternoon at the local pool.
Shadows from the past bear down on the present as Lou is forced to face the truth about herself and the frustrating child she is trying to love. Grace Under Water is an eloquent exploration of the balance of fear and delight, estrangement and closeness that only a family can understand.
Music videos.
Music video produced for the band Lo-Tel / Sony Music, directed by Peter Carstairs.
Audiac - If you were ever meant to be there